Justified By Faith (Galatians 2:15-21)
In the first century, we read about Jews becoming Christians. They came to Christ and received forgiveness of sins, as we learned about in Acts 2. However, they also believed that a true child of God was marked by their ability to keep specific laws. An actual child of God needed to be circumcised and eat clean foods. They had grown up believing those two actions and a couple of others were the defining marks of a child of God.
So far in Galatians, we have learned that the Christians in Galatia are being taught a distorted gospel. Paul reassured them in the first chapter that the message he preached to them at the beginning was directly from God. The original gospel was the one true gospel. Men have created a new version of the gospel, which includes Judaism and forces Gentiles to live like Jews. These teachings even carried away Peter and Barnabas at one point.
Justifying God's Children By Faith
The rest of Chapter 2 and all of Chapter 3 address the false teaching of Jewish Christians.
Galatians 2:15--16 (ESV) --- 15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
The first point that Paul makes sounds offensive, but he does this for a reason. He says, "We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners." This is the way Jews viewed Gentiles. They ate unclean meats, were uncircumcised, and refused to listen to and abide by the OT law. This made the Jews feel morally superior to the Gentiles. Paul says this to strike a chord with the self-righteous Jews. But he doesn't end there.
He says in verse 16 that works of the law justify no one. The Jews, like the Gentiles, have become sinners (Romans 3:9-20, 23). We have fallen short in some way and deserve the curse. Rebelling in one part of the law has made them guilty (James 2:8-13). So he doesn't clear the Jews. All are unworthy.
We can only find a clearing of guilt through faith in Jesus. We have to put our faith in his ability to save us. Listen to how verse 16 is translated in the NET.
Galatians 2:16 (ESV) --- 16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
So even the Jews need forgiveness and rely on Jesus to save them. This is the main point that Paul will hit on repeatedly in this text. The Jews aren't children of God because they do Jewish things. They are children of God because they put faith in Jesus. They, too, were found to be sinners.
Sinners Trying To Be Justified (17)
Galatians 2:17 (ESV) --- 17 But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not!
This text is one of the most confusing in the book. What does he mean when he says, "in our endeavor to be justified in Christ?" Is he talking about the Jews initially coming to Christ? Maybe he is talking about trying to justify themselves by works of the law while being in Christ. It's hard to tell.
If he is talking about the initial Jewish salvation, the question that follows is rhetorical. Of course, Jesus is not a servant of sin for forgiving the Jews of their failings. If that is true, why trouble the Gentiles? He can forgive them as well.
If he is talking about trying to be justified in Christ, the question is condemning like Romans 6 (Shall we go on sinning that grace may abound). In this case, he wants the Jews to understand that they become sinners when they try to be justified by works while they are in Christ.
Both of these ideas are true, and they are found in Galatians.
Rebuilding The Law of Moses (18)
Galatians 2:18 (ESV) --- 18 For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor.
Verse 18 leads me to believe that he is talking about seeking justification through keeping the law. Paul depicts this as rebuilding what he tore down. In other words, the Jew tore down the law-keeping system when he accepted Christ. Rebuilding that law-keeping system will only make him a sinner again. That's what the purpose of the law is. The law was given so that we might understand our sin, not so that we can be justified through it.
Paul says this in greater detail in Romans 7. The law did not justify our sinful passions. It aroused them and brought about more sin.
Romans 7:4--6 (ESV) --- 4 Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.
It's like a rebellious child being told not to do something. We see the law as a challenge to overcome instead of ways to show love for our master. Paul also says something in this Romans text that is very important. He says, like a wife is set free from her covenant with her husband once he dies, we are set free from the law when we die in Christ. Baptism is our death and resurrection to new life in Christ.
Listen to how this lines up with the rest of our Galatians text.
Dying To The Law (19-21)
Galatians 2:19--20 (ESV) --- 19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
These Jews relying on the law have failed to recognize that they died to the law. The law killed them when they fell short of it. Now they want to resurrect that law? Paul says Jesus came to give the Jews life as children of God, apart from the law. When they accepted Jesus, they accepted the crucifixion of themselves. They live to God because Christ lives in them. They are children of God because they put their faith in the Son of God's love for them.
The Jews now live to serve Christ. It's not about keeping the law that God commanded before Christ. Their lives are about discerning what pleases Christ and doing it with all their heart. Do you know what Christ didn't tell his disciples to do? He didn't tell them to circumcise Gentile believers. He didn't tell them to eat certain foods or keep the religious practices of the Old Testament.
Embracing The Grace of God (21)
Galatians 2:21 (ESV) --- 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
The last verse of Chapter 2 describes what these Jewish Christians are really doing when they hold on to the law like they are. Paul says they are nullifying the grace of God. In their effort to be justified by the law, they have made the death of Christ meaningless. Doesn't that sound horrible? Can you imagine saying, "Thanks Jesus for dying for us. We will accept a little forgiveness to reset us, but then leave us alone. We can handle it from here." How foolish is this? They couldn't keep the law, so God gave them Jesus. Now, they want to set Jesus aside and try to keep the law again. That's not what God had in mind when he gave Jesus.
There is a stubbornness about this. The Jews are too proud to embrace Jesus for all of their forgiveness. It's like a child's pride who thinks they can do something that an adult can't do. Despite the warnings and the encouragement to do something the easy way, they press on to their pain and suffering.
What Do We Learn?
Too many times, I have heard Christians look at texts like this and claim, "This is about the Old Testament law. We aren't under that anymore, so this doesn't apply to us." That's the most ridiculous thing I've heard. Of course, it applies to us. How?
Many people believe they are good because they live under their own law-keeping system. It's not even God's law-keeping system of the Old Testament. It's something else. They consider themselves justified when they do more good than bad things. That's not the Old Testament. The Old Testament required complete obedience. One sin required sacrifice, and one act of rebellion was unforgivable. The point of the Old Testament was to help men see that they fall short. The law-keeping system of people today makes people think they are good when they aren't. But, when we are honest with ourselves, we know that we fall short of every law system. We never live perfectly.
When Christians live under any law-keeping system, we rebuild what we tore down. If you were baptized and immediately thought you had to keep all the laws to be good enough, you've got it wrong. I remember feeling this way too, but it's the opposite of what Paul says here. We died to that system, and now we live because Jesus loved and died for us.
Galatians 2:20 (ESV) --- 20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
You are not God's child because you are strong enough to be righteous. You are a child of God because you put your faith in Christ and accept his love with a submissive heart.
Is That You?
Have we nullified the grace of God by acting as if righteousness comes through the law? It doesn't. Righteousness comes through faith in Jesus. We now live for him to be glorified because he makes us righteous. He doesn't make us righteous because we are good enough and do all the right things. Don't get the order backward.
We aren't children of God because we go to church, give money to the church, refuse to steal, kill, or cheat, or because we got dipped in water. We are children of God because Jesus is faithful. He loved us enough to die for us, and we rely on his sacrifice daily. We must hold on to him with everything we have and let him be our life.
Live For Jesus
Verse 20 says, "I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me." This means that Christ is the source of life in us. Then, he says, "The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Please take this phrase and write it down as your source of motivation. Why do I resist this sin? Because "He loved me and gave himself for me." Why do I do this tough thing? Because "He loved me and gave himself for me."
Put that phrase in your bathroom, bedroom, office, car, and kitchen. Remind yourself of it often. It is the reason we live and have hope. This is what we put our faith in. Jesus is faithful, and he will save us from ourselves. He will provide the forgiveness we seek and experience the blessing he promises.