The passage
      v15-16. Paul begins by basing his argument on a proposition that Peter, and all believing Jews, accept to be true. All know well enough that a person is not justified (just-if-I'd never sinned, righteous before God, in a right relationship with God, accepted as God's friend, forgiven) by obedience to the moral law. Rather, a person is justified exclusively by faith in Jesus Christ. He next repeats the proposition in relation to himself (and of course, all believers) and clinches his argument by quoting scripture, namely, Psalm 143:2b.
      v17. Paul next summarizes the argument which was used against him by the judaizers, the members of the circumcision party, and exposes its lack of logic. "But, if as claimed by the pietists that we (believing Jews) become sinners when we apply the doctrine of justification in our day-to-day living for Christ, then logically Christ is a partner in our sinning. God forbid!" For Paul, being without the law (that is, not under the law as a means of maintaining and advancing a person's standing before God), does not promote moral laxity.
      v18. A believer's salvation is not undermined by applying the doctrine of justification in our day-to-day living for Jesus. Living by grace through faith does not promote sin and undermine our standing before God. Rather, what promotes sin is again submitting to the law, as if obedience maintains and advances our standing before God, for when we submit to the law, we place ourselves again under the curse of the law.
      v19. The law functions to expose sin, enact the curse and drive us to God for mercy that we might be saved by faith. So, it was "through the law" that Paul came face-to-face with Jesus, and by faith aligned himself with the crucified messiah, whose perfect obedience became Paul's obedience. Paul is therefore release from the law ("died to the law") as a means of maintaining his standing before God. "In Christ" he is freed from the inevitable curse of the law for disobedience and receives the inevitable reward for faithfulness, namely, life. He is now finally free to live a God-consecrated life.
      v20. Freedom from the maintenance of the law does not lead to sin, rather it leads to godly living. The life of a believer, lived in dependence on the indwelling compelling of our crucified Lord, slowly but surely begins to reflect Christ's obedience.
      v21. Paul ends his apologia by directly refuting the slur made against him, namely, that he, in his gospel of grace, nullifies the grace of God. So, Paul climaxes his argument by rejecting the charge outright that by setting aside the law as a means of maintaining and advancing right standing before God, he rejects the kindness of God in giving the law in the first place. Not so, says Paul; if right standing could be maintained by law-keeping then Christ would have died for nothing. The truth is that righteousness, right-standing in the sight of God, is ours as a gift of God's grace on the basis of Christ's sacrificial death, and by no other means.

Believing and doing
      Christianity, as it is commonly practiced, is as much a religion of works as any other man-made religion. From our childhood we are taught that "Jesus loves good little boys and girls". We are carefully instructed about the "golden rule", the ten commandments, and the issues of personal piety - tithing, church attendance, Bible reading, prayer..... We are taught that our Christian lives move forward in the faithful doing of deeds of piety, that our obedience maintains his approval, increases it and secures his blessings. This teaching extends into sectarian differences. For example, Adventists believe that to obey the Sabbath law of no work on Saturday, further brings one under the grace of God and of the bestowal of his blessings. So in general, we tend to see the Christian life proceeding through obedience. As we obey, so we are changed into the likeness of Christ, and so we are approved of God. It is not that we have ignored the doctrine of justification by grace through faith, rather we have tended to limit it to conversion.
      When we use the law to maintain God's approval and improve our approval rating, we end up under his wrath. The law does not have the capacity to align us with God. The law is more likely to drive us into disobedience and away from God, than bring us into his presence and under his approval. For example, a literal application of the Sabbath day law is rightly applied to the keeping of the seventh day, Saturday, but in the keeping of it we can easily break fellowship with other Christians, even regard them as inferior and disobedient. In so doing, we break the law of love.
      "Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law", 3:25. For a Christian, the law only serves as a guide to right living. Our Christian lives proceed by putting our confidence in the risen Lord. Trusting the indwelling Spirit of Christ is the way we begin to live for Christ. To live by the Spirit, led by the Spirit, 5:18, is the way to stifle the desires of the sinful nature and live a life worthy of our standing in Christ, 5:16.

v15
      hJmeiV pro. "we ...." - Serving as the subject of the sentence covering v15, 16. "We" = "we apostles", or "we believing Jews."
      fusei (iV ewV) dat. "by birth" - by nature. Instrumental dative. "We who were born Jews", NJB.
      ex eqnwn aJmartwloi "Gentile sinners" - sinners of Gentiles, nations. "Gentiles" is anarthrous (without an article), but none-the-less the specific sense "Gentile" is most likely intended. Possibly a common Jewish descriptor for Gentiles. Lightfoot suggests it is a touch ironical.

v16
      eidoteV (oida) perf. part. "know" - knowing. The participle is possibly causal, "but because we know that ....... we too have trusted Jesus in order to", Williams, cf. Moffatt.
      oJti "that" - Epexegetic, explaining what "we know."
      ou dikaioutai (dikaiow) pres. pas. "is not justified" - is not put in the right, set right. We are not right before God, righteous before God, by law, but by faith. The meaning of the verb "justify" has been hotly debated over the years. The opposing "declared right" (forensic = Protestant) and "made right" (ethical = Catholic) debate is an unnecessary diversion since what God declares so, is so. If God, by grace through faith, declares we are right/righteous, justified (just-if-I'd never sinned), then we are right/righteous before God, possessing an eternal right-standing in his presence. This, of course, is ours "in Christ", and it is because we "are right", as far as God is concerned, that we then strive to "be right" - be what we are (even though we constantly fall far short). "Does not come into right standing with God", Williams.
      ex "by [observing the law]" - out of, from [works of law]. This phrase probably serves as a descriptor of legalism/pietism, the idea that "performance will win acceptance before God", Bruce. Paul's treatment of the law is a matter of constant debate in that he both affirms the doing of the law, but also depreciates the doing of it. Clearly, the intended purpose of obedience is what matters. There is nothing wrong with using the law as a guide to Christian living, but to use the law to gain, maintain, or progress right-standing before God is to again place ourselves under the curse of the law. Only perfect obedience justifies. Even Paul, who, when it came to the legalistic observance of the law, was "blameless", knew that he was not justified "by doing what the law commands", Moffatt.
      ean mh "but" - if not, except. An adversative sense is possible, as NIV, although an exceptive sense is also a possibility, exceptive of the main verb "justify"; "is not justified except though faith." "The only way to get right with God is through faith in Jesus Christ", Barclay.
      dia + gen. "by" - through, by means of. Taking an instrumental sense indicating that faith is the means of justification. Note how Paul uses three prepositions serving to identify faith as the instrument of justification: dia, ek, en, "through/by means of, from, in." He is possibly struggling to find just the right word. Unlike the work of obedience, faith is simply the acceptance of God's free gift of righteousness in Christ. Righteousness is based upon this acceptance, is "through / from / in" it.
      pistewV (iV ewV) "faith" - Possibly used here in the sense of a "committal of oneself to Christ on the basis of the acceptance of the message concerning him", Burton. "Faith in Christ is the sole and sufficient means of justification", Fung. It is worth noting that "faith" is nowhere defined in the New Testament, although Heb.11:1 comes close. But note below.
      Ihsou Cristou "[faith] in Jesus Christ" - [faith] of Jesus Christ. The genitive may be subjective, "through the faithfulness of Christ" or "through Christ's faith in God", but is usually regarded as objective, ie. Christ is the object of the faith, so NIV etc. Although not the majority view, a subjective sense has much in its favour; it is certainly theologically sound, even if not intended by Paul. Note the sense of the second use of this phrase in the sentence where again the genitive may be taken as subjective, rather than objective: "even we (Jews) have believed in Christ Jesus in order that we might be justified on the basis of the faithfulness of Christ", Longenecker.
      kai hJmeiV "so we, too" - even we. "Even we who are Jews by birth", Bruce.
      episteusamen (pisteuw) aor. "we [too], have put our faith in" - believed. The aorist is probably constative where the action as a whole is in mind rather than duration (punctiliar or otherwise), although ingressive also works where there is a slight emphasis on the beginning of the action without excluding its continuance, so NIV in translating it as a perfect tense. "So, we put our faith in Christ Jesus", CEV.
      iJna + subj. "that [we may be justified] - Expressing purpose, "in order that."
      ek "by [faith in Christ] - of, out of, from [faith of Christ]. Here expressing means as constituting a source, "by means of, from." As noted above interchangeable with dia.
      oJti "because" - Here expressing cause.
      Psalm 143:2b, "no mortal man shall be justified before you." In Paul's quote of this Psalm he drops the "before you" and adds "by works of the law". Clearly, this propositional truth is accepted by Peter and all Jewish believers. The debate most likely centers on the doctrine's application in the business of Christian living, rather than conversion - of becoming a believer, getting right with God.

v17
      de "-" - but. Adversative. The proposition detailed in v16 is accepted by all Jewish believers, including Paul and Peter, but not so the central proposition in this verse, namely, that an application of justification in the Christian life promotes a state of sin - separation from God. "But, if ....."
      ei "if" - Introducing a conditional sentence, 1st class, where the condition stated in the protasis is assumed to be true, although here, only true for the pietists. The grammar in this verse is difficult and it is possible that Paul has lost his way, ie. an anacoluthon. It depends on whether we read ara, "then" ("does that mean that ..?", NIV) as interrogative, introducing a question, or inferential, introducing a statement, see below. If a statement, the gist of the conditional sentence is: protasis = "if seeking to be justified in Christ we are also found (aor.) sinners (with Gentiles)", apodosis = "then Christ is a minister of sin." The "absolutely not", usually a response to a provocative question, must then contain an ellipsis, missing words. Having made the statement Paul obviously wants to refute it. "So, is Jesus the minister of sin? Absolutely not!" It is, of course, possible that the "absolutely not" is not Paul's response, but the response of an imagined interlocutor, here obviously Peter. "You may repudiate the position with a mh genoito, but that is the position your logically place yourself in by your action, for if I rebuild what I destroy ..." Moule IB.
      zhtounteV (zhtew) pres. part. "while we seek" - seeing. The participle possibly forms a temporal clause, as NIV, but is also possibly causal, "since / because." "Seek", possibly in the sense of "desire / hope", but better to attempt to attain some state or condition*; "because I work at standing approved before God, by grace through faith."
      dikaiwqhnai (diaiow) aor. pas. inf. "to be justified" - Complementary infinitive to the main verb "seek".
      en CristoV "in Christ" - Short for, "by means of faith in Christ."
      euJreqhmen (euJriskw) aor. pas. "it becomes evident [we ourselves are sinners]" - we are found, discovered [also sinners]. In the sense of "found out by God to be ..." How is it that "we are found to be sinners on the grounds that [because] we seek our justification in Christ", NJB? The answers are many and varied!!!! Of first importance, it is difficult to determine whether the statement is of fact, or contra to fact. Most commentators take it as a factual statement, eg. a believer who is grace orientated will be lax when it comes to the law, certainly with regard ritual regulations - circumcision, .... = "sinners" in name only, or, particularly of Gentile believers, they are "sinners" in that they do not possess the law, etc. Yet, it does seem more likely that it is contra to fact, as far as Paul is concerned, although not as far as the pietists are concerned. What we have here is the claim of the pietists, which Paul argues is illogical. Given that Christ is the source of the doctrine of justification, a doctrine accepted by the pietists, to then argue that its application in the Christian life leads to a state of sin, obviously implies that Christ is responsible for the sin. So, "sinners", only as far as the pietists are concerned.
      ara "does that mean that" - then. A marker of a negative response to questions, usually implying anxiety or impatience - `indeed, then, ever.' "how, then, could Christ ever be a servant of sin?"* Not all commentators read this particle as interrogative, but rather inferential, so Moule IB. An inferential statement seems best; "if, ....... it follows that Christ has acted as the servant of Sin!", Bligh.
      "It would surely follow that Christ was at the service of sin", NJB. With this, the apodosis of the conditional sentence, Paul presents the logical conclusion of the proposition in the protasis. If the argument promoted by the circumcision party is true (and at this point of time accepted by Peter), namely, that justification by grace through faith apart from the law leads to a state of sin because it removes the constraint of the law, then obviously Jesus is responsible. mh genoito "Absolutely not!" - let it not be. As noted above, it is unclear who actually says "absolutely not" and whether more is said. See above. Probably the statement is Paul's; "So, does Jesus promote sin? We would all agree, absolutely not!"

v18
      gar "-" - for. "Absolutely not! For sin is promoted, not by Christ, but by me if I return to the law."
      ei "if" - Introducing a conditional sentence, 1st class, where the stated condition is a reality.
      palin oikodomw (oikodomew) 1st. sing. pres. "I rebuild" - again I build up. The first person is often regarded as inclusive (a rhetorical feature), but it is likely Paul has himself in mind since he is the one whose application of justification is being criticized. Possibly a tendential present expressing a contemplated action; "if I start building up again ...", REB.
      aJ "what [I destroyed]" - that which. Namely, the law as a means of justification. "If I try to rebuild again the whole structure of justification by the law", Phillips.
      katelusa (kataluw) aor. "I destroyed" - I annulled, annihilated, destroyed. The aorist serves to underline the punctiliar nature of the action.
      sunistanw (sunisthmi) pres. "I prove" - I demonstrate, show, present [myself]. Possibly "show myself to be a sinner", but probably stronger, "constitute myself a transgressor", Weymouth; "make myself a sinner", Phillips; "then indeed I do put myself in the position of a law-beaker", Bruce.
      parabathn (hV) "a lawbreaker" - one who disobeys the law. Possibly "lawbreaker" in the specific sense of overturning the primary function of the law, namely to expose sin and thus drive us to Christ for mercy. Yet, more likely the meaning is equivalent to "sinner", being outside God's grace, a state caused by a reliance on the law for justification which reliance serves to inculcate the curse of the law and thus undermine a believer's standing before God. "The way in which I would really prove myself a sinner would be by rebuilding .....", Barclay.

v19
      gar "for" - for. Here expressing reason; introducing an explanation as to why the rebuilding of the law in our life actually makes us a sinner.
      dia + gen. "through [the law]" - through, by means of. Referring to the intention and function of the law to expose our loss before God and thus drive us to him for mercy, 3:19-25. Possibly causal, "because of the law."
      egw "I [died] - The personal pronoun takes an emphatic position in the sentence. Paul continues the personal defence of his theological position, although the situation he describes is obviously inclusive of all believing Jews.
      apeqanon (apoqnhskw) aor. "I died [to the law]" - Used figuratively of ending contact with something and thus being rescued or released from its dominion and control. The possible meanings are:
        i] Released from the condemnation of the law by identification with Christ who, by his acceptance of the punishment due our sin, exhausted its penalty, cf. Tannehill. "The law released me from its servitude by condemning Christ, making itself guilty, and so losing the right to condemn", Bligh.
        ii] Released from the curse of the law; cf. 3:10-14. The covenantal approach adopted by N.T. Wright, cf. The Climax of the Covenant, 1991, Fortress, ref. Dunn, Jesus Paul and the Law, SPCK, and Sanders, Paul the Law and the Jewish people, Fortress - the new perspective. With this argument, Paul doesn't devalue the Law/Torah, rather he makes the distinction that for the covenant people of Israel, their disobedience of the Torah has enacted the curse of exile, thus the Jews are lost before God, lost to the blessings promised to Abraham. When Christ, the messiah of Israel took upon himself the curse of the law, the covenant was renewed and the curse lifted. Those children of Abraham who take up the faith of Abraham and rely on Jesus the messiah are released from the curse of the law and so share in the promised blessing of life.
        iii] Released from the law's purpose to expose sin. "The law condemned me [in order to lead me to Christ for mercy] so that I might live for God." The law enlivens sin and thus condemnation, that we might access mercy. "The law showed him his need of redemption and referred him to faith", Zahn / Bruce. True, but probably not the point here. In passing we should note that law, by itself, does not promote rebellion, which is why it can be used as a guide to Christian living. Rebellion, and thus cursing, is prompted by the law when God's people seek to obey it for the maintenance of the covenant;
        iv] Released from the control of the law. "Freedom from the jurisdiction of the Mosaic law for the living of our lives", Longenecker. "In obedience to the law I set the law aside", Bligh. Replaced by a life lived "in Christ", Bruce. Yet, the law does remain a guide to Christian living. "My very attempt to obey the law compelled me in the end to live a life in which the law has for me become a dead letter", Barclay;
        v] Released from "the law as a valid instrument through which one is put right with God", TH. "Died to the law as a way of salvation and turned to Christ", Hunter. Even the most legalist Jew would reject the notion that obedience to the law gained salvation. God's election of Israel was wholly of his grace; keeping in with that grace is another matter.
        vi] Released from the law as a means of maintaining and advancing right standing before God.
      Of course, I am biased, but I suggest that option [vi] is the better interpretation. Paul's claim to be "released from the law" rests on his understanding of the gospel. In his being "crucified with Christ", that is, in his identification with Christ's obedience ("the faithfulness of Christ"), culminating in his sacrifice upon the cross, Paul, along with all believing Jews and ingrafted believing Gentiles, is released from the law as a means of standing approved before God, and therefore as a consequence, is no longer under the curse of death, but rather the blessing of life.
      Paul's understanding of this "release" is based on Biblical theology and the teachings of Jesus, of which teachings Paul functions as an exegete. The Deuteronomic Covenant formerly confers on the people of Israel their standing as God's elect people, called by grace; "I am the Lord your God, the one who brought you out of Egypt where you were slaves", Deut.5:6. On their side of the agreement, the people of Israel are to be faithful to God's revealed will. Maintained faithfulness will bring blessing, life, rebellion will bring cursing, death (exile). Israel's inevitable rebellion saw the emergence of a faithful remnant which ultimately became a corporate entity in Christ, the son of God, the one faithful Israelite. Unlike Israel of old, Jesus did not waver in the test of the wilderness, nor curse God in his abandonment. Jesus was the obedient faithful son. As he said of himself, he came to fulfill the law, proclaiming a righteousness that exceeds that of the Scribes and the Pharisees (Sermon on the Mount), and to live this perfect righteousness on behalf of a humanity stained by sin.
      So, when Paul says "I am released from the law", he is speaking of his release from the law as a means of maintaining and/or progressing his standing before God, which standing is secured by identifying with "the faithfulness of Christ" crucified. Thus, "in Christ" he is freed from the inevitable curse of the law through disobedience and receives the inevitable reward for faithfulness, namely, life.
      nomw/ (oV) dat. "to the law" - to law. Dative of reference; "I died in relation to / with respect to the Mosaic law."
      iJna + subj. "that [I might live]" - Usually translated as introducing a purpose clause. Moule notes that there is a rational link between "died to law / sin / world" and "live to God." Ridderbos opts for a consecutive clause (result) and this does seem more likely. So, we die to the one and as a result we live to the other.
      zhsw (zaw) subj. "I might live" - "Live" in what sense? Most likely live in the sense of "living for God", so ethical. Possibly referring to the spiritual state of "new life in Christ." "That we might live a God-consecrated life", Ridderbos.

v20
      sunestaurwmai (sustaurow) perf. pas. "I have been crucified [with Christ]" - The perfect tense indicating a completed past event with ongoing ramifications. As noted above, the "I" serves to personalize the debate, but is inclusive of believing Jews, and by extension, ingrafted Gentile believers (not so Sanders, Dunn...!). It does seem likely that the phrase exegetes "I died to the law", as if a parallel statement and so see above for possible interpretations. "We share Christ's death to the old order under the law."
      Cristw/ dat. "with Christ" - Probably a dative of association. "We were put to death in association with / in the company of Christ.
      de "-" - but, and. Continuative, as NIV.
      zw (zaw) pres. "I [no longer] live" - Again we have the problem of what "life" is intended; is it "alive", NJB, or is an ethical sense intended, referring to the manner in which we live? Probably manner is intended. Paul's life was once controlled by the law, now by the indwelling compelling of the Spirit of Christ.
      oJ acc. rel. pro. "the life [I live in the body]" - [and] that which [now I live in the flesh]. Accusative of content. Probably Lightfoot is to be followed; Paul is speaking of the particular life a believer lives in their day-to-day life through the power of the indwelling Spirit, a life that is lived by a reliance on the transforming power of Christ. "This life I now live (driven by the indwelling compelling of the Spirit of Christ), though still in the flesh,", cf. Bligh.
      th/ fem. dat. article. "-" - [I live by faith in] that. The "that" is probably the "faithfulness of Christ", v16.
      tou uiJou tou qeou "the Son of God" - The genitive "Son of God" serves as a title of Christ, so "I rest on Christ's faithfulness, the Son of God, who ....."
      tou agaphsantoV (agapaw) aor. part. "who loved [me]" - the one having loved. Substantive participle seems best, as NIV, although causal is possible, "because he loved me."