Galatians

Saved by faith. 2:15-21

In this passage we have a summary of the argument used by Paul in his argument against Peter at Antioch. Peter had withdrawn from his fellow Gentile believers over purity issues, and as far as Paul was concerned, his behaviour struck at the very heart of the gospel. A believer is perfectly pure in Jesus! The argument contained in these verses serves as a defining statement which guides the rest of the letter.

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 judged right with God by obedience to the law of Moses. Rather, a person stands right with God by faith in the faithfulness of Jesus, namely, his sacrifice on our behalf. It is for this reason that Paul, Peter and all believing Jews, have put their trust in Jesus for their salvation.

v17. But there is a problem. If a believer applies this doctrine without strict attention to the law, it may seem that they are promoting sin, and implicate Jesus in their slack behaviour. In this verse Paul has outlined the charge against him. In promoting a doctrine of right-standing before God which fails to give due regard to the sin-restraining function of the law to promote holiness, Paul is promoting sinful-living, and because of his apostolic standing, is implicating Jesus in his sin. "No way", says Paul.

v18-19. In these next verses Paul answers the charge against him. A believer who returns to law-obedience to restrain sin and progress their holiness, ends up as a "lawbreaker", and this because the law was never designed as an instrument of moral improvement. The function of the law is to make sin more sinful and so drive the sinner to God for mercy. So, the person who has allowed the law to drive them into the arms of Jesus is now free from the law; the law has served its function. As Paul puts it, "I died to the law", now set free to live for God.

v20. Paul now explains how it is that a believer, who has been set free from the enclosure of the law, finds that they are now free to do what the law requires, as opposed to the believer who submits to the law and ends up doing the opposite of what the law requires. A believer who rests wholly on the right-standing that is theirs in Jesus, has died with him and risen with him. Their old life of sin is covered by Jesus' sacrificial death, and in the power of the risen and indwelling Christ they begin to "live" as the righteous person they are in Christ.

v21. Paul concludes with one last point. At no point does he set aside God's kindness in the giving of the law. Throughout Paul's letter to the Galatians he continues to stress the value of the law, but when it comes to standing right and holy before God, yesterday, today and tomorrow, if the law could do that then Jesus died for nothing.

Christianity, as it is commonly practised, is as much a religion of works as any other man-made religion. From our childhood we were taught that "Jesus loves good little boys and girls" - remember "trust and obey for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey"? We were carefully instructed about the "golden rule", the ten commandments, and the issues of personal piety - tithing, church attendance, Bible reading, prayer..... We were taught that our Christian lives move forward in the faithful doing of good deeds, that our obedience maintains God's approval 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 advanced through obedience. As we obey, so we are changed into the likeness of Christ, approved before God and showered with his promised blessings.

When we use the law to promote our approval rating before God, we end up under his wrath. The law does not have the capacity to promote our standing 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 in Jesus is the way we begin to live for God. Allowing ourselves to be led by the Spirit is the way to stifle the desires of the sinful nature and begin to live a life worthy of our standing in Christ, 5:16. So, rest wholly on the grace of God through faith rather than law-obedience.

1. List some laws you were taught to keep, and think of a circumstance which might make the keeping of them an evil rather than a good.

2. Paul encourages us to "carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ." But, if we are "not under the law" why does Paul encourage us to keep the law?

3. If God is a merciful and forgiving God, why not just live a selfish life and trust him to forgive us.