Musing 81

(Galatians 2:15-21)[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians%202%3A15-21&version=ESV]

This passage ends up being difficult for people for a lot of reasons. One is the pericope breaking up Paul’s testimony from this section (so our memories fade by the time we get back to it).

But a bigger reason is that we in our modern day are often divorced from understanding the Jewish background of Paul and Jesus. Too often, we view Pharisees as a wooden villain only who thinks justification is merely done by following the rules. The reality is that faith was important to the Pharisees, who would have argued that their faith was indeed lived out by their prayers and following the traditions of the fathers.

Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Even to a certain extent, we as Christians would agree with that statement because we recognize that a true faith results in a repudiation of sin, a desire and acting out of repentance, and a growing conformity to the image of Christ.

But where does the break come? It’s in the fact that the keeping of traditions is tied to our justification. When we talk about the Christians now doing what the Law requires by nature, it’s because we recognize that we are a new creation. Whereas in our fallenness, we had no desire for God and for good, we now desire to do what is right because we now have a heart of flesh instead of a heart of stone.

And so, that brings us to the question - if even Paul’s opponents would argue for the necessity of faith, why would Paul characterize their view as a justification by works? Fundamentally it boils down to the sufficiency of faith for justification. A faith that is insufficient for total justification will ultimately fold into a justification by works.

Think about it - if faith alone isn’t sufficient to justify us, what makes the difference? Works. So Paul doesn’t mince words - he calls it a justification by works of the law.

But Paul’s argument leads to the natural question for the Jews in his audience - if faith alone is what justifies us, that means we’re no different from the Gentiles who were by nature sinners, separated from God. So that does that make Christ a justifier of sin? Paul reminds us that this isn’t the case, but instead that if he were to go back to the law, he proves he was a transgressor of the law (since he was looking away from the Law for his justification).

Galatians 2:19 stars what is probably the earliest example in Scripture of Paul making a strong dichotomy between the flesh and faith by honing in on the condemnation that the Law brings. While the Law can be rightly used to bring life, Paul recognizes that the way it is most often used is to make the Law easier to keep by divorcing it from the sufficiency of faith. And so when used like this the Law brings death because no one can perfectly keep the law and so bring upon themselves the wrath of God against sin.

Because the Law brought death to Paul, Paul in turn recognizes that the old man is dead and the true believer now lives through Christ.

And with the final sentence Paul’s argument here should chill us - if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

We would do well to remember this - if there’s another way to God, no matter how “good” it is, then Christ’s death was meaningless.

Christ, because of who He was, is able to bear the load. We are not. When we are tempted to look away at the world (or even to another person), let us remember Christ’s perfection instead.