Day 900: Dead to the law, alive to God - Galatians 2 vs 17 - 21

17 But if, in our endeavour to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? 18 Certainly not! For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. 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. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness (justification) were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. Galatians 2:17-21 English Standard Version

I was glad to read that a very learned Bible teacher named William Hendriksen said that vs 17-19 of today's reading were difficult. There are verses in the Bible where we must tread gently and not leap to conclusions. It seems that some had suggested that by highlighting faith in Christ as the way by which God's forgiveness comes to us, rather than our efforts to keep the Law, it made Christ party to our shortcomings. It's as if Jesus encourages His followers to reject the Law that was given through Moses. But Paul's answer seems to be that they were missing the purpose of the Law. It was never intended to be a ladder of salvation.

I think the best explanation for vs 17-19 is what Paul writes in vs 23-27 of the next chapter. He says there that “before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.” But does this mean that if the Law has served its purpose, Christians can now live in any way they please? What do you think Paul’s response to such a suggestion would be? (vs 20)

No, Christians can't just 'live as they please' - because they have died to the old self-seeking life they used to live, and their lives are now tied into the life that Jesus Christ lives through them. And, just as Jesus always sought to do the will of His Father, so true faith will also always want to live in a way that pleases God. In Chapter 5:13, Paul goes on to say to them: “You were called to be free - but don't use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.”

But having said that, the big issue still at stake here was whether a man or woman is made righteous in God's sight through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, or through his or her efforts at keeping the whole law of God. What is the danger of insisting that Christians have to fulfil all the laws in order to be saved? (vs 21)

If we teach people they can only be right with God if they worship on a certain day, or go through the rite of circumcision, or only eat certain foods, then what we are actually saying is that what Jesus did at Calvary wasn't enough to merit God's forgiveness. We are suggesting that His sacrifice was not good enough to pay the price of our sins. That's why Paul was so adamant that they shouldn't try to rebuild what had been torn down. (vs 18) Having had their sins forgiven through faith in Christ, he didn't want them to now try and build their life on a set of rules and rituals.

That's still an important truth for today. We may look for peace with God more on our efforts at being 'a good Christian', than on the finished perfect work that Christ accomplished at Calvary. We can become legalistic and base our peace on whether we've prayed long enough, fasted often enough, given enough to the poor, and many other such things. It's not that any of those are wrong, but they are not the things that make us holy in God's sight. Only the blood of Christ can do that.

One last thought. Paul's warning to not rebuild what was torn down can also be true of sins we may have loved in the past. As we grow in the faith there may be times when we are lured again by things which had tempted and tripped us up before we were saved. The fact that we are no longer 'under the law' doesn't mean we can live in a lawless way. Our freedom is not so we can now indulge the flesh! We must keep Christ and what He has done for us always in view.