Lesson for September 29, 2021
The Book of Galatians
Lesson 5 – Paul Defends Justification by Faith
Galatians 2:15-21
“We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So, we too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified. But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker. For through the law, I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!
Paul continues to speak concerning his confrontation with Peter saying that just because they were Jewish by birth and not Gentiles, both groups needed to believe in Jesus Christ as Savior, putting them on equal ground spiritually. Paul said no one has ever been justified by the works of the Law of Moses, whether Jew or Gentile. By withdrawing from the Gentiles, Peter inferred that keeping the Law of Moses, and not faith alone in Christ, was the means of salvation and the Christian life.
But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Those who opposed Paul were apparently saying that justification by faith in Christ eliminates any moral law found in the Mosaic Law. If this was true (and it wasn’t), then people could live as they please without regard to moral law (found sinners). So, the legalistic Jewish believers wanted to compel the Gentile believers (and the Jewish believers) to keep the Law. We hear the same message today from ministers everywhere. What you’ll hear is “You must make Christ the Lord of your life” if you want to be saved or “You must live a moral life, or you were never saved in the first place.” Both these statements are false doctrine and produce only guilt and fear, which is their objective – trying to enforce righteousness. Positional righteousness at salvation is a gift to everyone who believes in Christ and has nothing whatsoever to do with making Christ the Lord (Master) of your life. And morality or immorality after salvation is no proof of a person’s faith in Christ or lack of faith in Christ.
Far from it! The thought that Christ is somehow the “servant of sin” is a blasphemous thought and accusation. But this was the implication by these legalists. Christ paid the penalty for sin on the Cross and it should have been clear to these legalistic Jews that keeping the Law, or any other form of works had nothing to do with salvation. Being justified by faith for salvation and the Christian life does not imply that Christ endorses sin. Our liberty in Christ does not give us a “license to sin,” and fellowshipping with Gentile believers was not sinful!
Peter was in the wrong and setting a poor example for the Gentile believers and the legalistic Jewish believers. Peter couldn’t have it both ways. It was either right when he ate with the Gentile believers or right to go back under the Law of Moses. God had already shown him that the Gentiles were no different than the Jews regarding salvation. By going back under the Law, Peter was by default denying the saving work that Christ did on the Cross and validating the false message that believers had to keep the Law of Moses for salvation and the Christian life.
For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, I prove myself to be a wrongdoer. Paul was saying that when he “destroyed” the Law as a means of salvation, by believing in Christ alone, if he then “rebuilt” the Law (by having to keep it as a Christian) that would be inconsistent with grace. If Paul did what Peter had done, he would have been saying that he was a lawbreaker, because salvation had always been by grace through faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law.
For through the Law, I died to the Law, so that I might live for God. Paul had realized that the purpose of the Law (by finally understanding what the Law taught) was to show him that he was a sinner in need of a Savior. Therefore, Paul died to the Law (in the sense of abandoning the Law) when he finally understood its purpose, which was to point him to Christ. He had obviously missed this as a Hebrew scholar because he was blinded by arrogance. Paul had supposed that keeping the Law was what God required for salvation. And Paul sincerely believed that he was doing God’s work by persecuting and condoning the killing of Christians prior to his believing in Christ as Savior. The Law of Moses demonstrated that the human race was condemned through spiritual death. Faith in Christ removes that condemnation by making a person spiritually alive. (Romans 6:11)
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. The Christian Way of Life is lived in the “flesh” as Paul stated. It is made up of our relationship with God as believer-priests and our relationship with others as ambassadors for Christ. Though these are difficult to separate, and they really work in tandem, the Word of God does separate the two. The spiritual life of the believer functions under our Royal Priesthood and the Christian life functions under our Royal Ambassadorship. Our spiritual life is our inward life, and our Christian life is our outward life.
The spiritual life and the Christian life come together as the Christian Way of Life under the filling of the Holy Spirit, which is an absolute. At any given time, we are either 100% spiritual (filled with the Holy Spirit) or 100% carnal (not filled with the Holy Spirit). When we are not filled with the Holy Spirit, we grieve and quench His work of producing the character of Jesus Christ in our lives. This feeds the sin nature, making it stronger. This is like being in darkness, according to the Word of God. Only confessing your sin to God can turn the light back on.
(I John 1:5-10)
As believer-priests, we represent ourselves before God. No other person can represent us or live our spiritual life for us. We must make the decision that knowing God is the most important thing that we can do. And knowing God is the only way that we will ever learn to love God. As we study the Word of God, it becomes a mirror into our soul. This is strictly a matter between the individual and God. As we examine ourselves in the light of God’s Word, if we see things that need to be changed, we have the two power options necessary to make those changes. These power options are the filling of the Holy Spirit and accurate Bible doctrine. As we grow towards spiritual maturity, we find our norms and standards lining up with God’s. As we grow, the new nature we received at salvation is being fed and is becoming much stronger that our sin nature. As we make good decisions from a position of strength from doctrine in our souls, we find things beginning to fall into place in every area of our lives.
As believer-priests, we begin to have things in common with God. Our prayer life becomes more effective, and we find ourselves thinking Bible doctrine in every situation. We begin claiming the promises of God by mixing them with our faith. We have developed a personal sense of destiny and we are beginning to share the happiness of God. We also realize that God’s grace is sufficient for all our needs, and we don’t need to look elsewhere. This causes us to be truly grateful for what we have right now. We have begun to become occupied with the Person of Christ consistently. We have become proficient in using the Rebound Technique to keep “short accounts” with God. The character of Christ is now becoming apparent to us and to those around us. We are changing into the person God wants us to be!
As ambassadors for Christ, we represent Him to others. Every Christian is an ambassador for Jesus Christ. The Greek word for ambassador is “presbeuo” and means “eldership, aged or rank.” This makes perfect sense for Christians, since we cannot properly represent Jesus Christ on earth if we are not advancing in the Christian Way of Life. (II Corinthians 5:20; Ephesians 6:20)
Our Royal Ambassadorship is our visible relationship with others and is the result of (not the means of) our invisible relationship with God as believer-priests. Just like secular ambassadors, there are effective ambassadors and non-effective ambassadors. We take our precedence from Jesus Christ. Christ was God’s ambassador on earth. Since Christ has ascended to Heaven, believers are now God’s representatives on earth. With Christ as our standard, we are to become effective ambassadors for God. (Hebrews 1:1-9)
An effective ambassador is a blessing to others. God blesses us when we develop the capacity to receive blessing. Capacity is developed by believer-priests as they build their relationship with God. God never blesses us because of our production as ambassadors. Before we can be effective ambassadors for Christ, we must be in the process of building our spiritual lives. Developing our relationship with God as believer-priests and our relationship with others as ambassadors for Christ is what it means to live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. (Matthew 6:33)