Galatians Lesson 4

Galatians Lesson 4
Lesson Passage: Galatians 2:11-21

This lesson is a continued defense of the Apostleship of Paul and his history and then flows into a defense of the Gospel of Grace.

Read 2:11-14 ===========

NIV

When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.

When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?

ESV

But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

2:11
Antioch was a Roman capital city for Syria and a large city. They had a large Jewish church and it was the first place recorded that Jewish Christians preached to Gentiles (Acts 11:19, 20). This local church was pivotal since it brought Jewish and Gentile Christians together for worship and fellowship and, as far as we know, it was the first church to send missionaries to preach the gospel specifically to Gentiles (Acts 13:1-3).

2:12-14
As we discussed previously, Jewish Christians had difficulty accepting God's commandment that Gentile believers should be received without having to follow the ceremonial law (Acts 10:28; 11:2, 3, 19; 15:1). Even Peter and Barnabas (v. 13) folded up a bit under the pressure from a group that believed circumcision (full Jewish proselyte process) was necessary for becoming a Christian. Peter waffled depending on who he was with.

Given all that God had done in the nation of Israel (special Grace) you could argue that you must introduce a new believer to all of that including at least part of the ritual law.

Read 2:15-21 ===========

NIV

“We who are Jews by birth and not ‘Gentile sinners’ know that a man is not justified by observing 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 observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.

“If, while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! If I rebuild what I destroyed, I prove that I am 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 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!”

ESV

We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. 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. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if justification were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

Justification is that once for all monergistic work of God that brings you from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. This is how your second birth. You were born again by the Grace of God. Sanctification is the work of God that is progressive (by the Grace of God) as He sets your life apart for His purposes and for a fuller fellowship with Him. Sanctification brings us inline with the moral law as our minds are conformed to His mind.

2:15, 16
These verses are the central message of Galatians.
The point is that everyone (Jew or Gentile) is placed in a right relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ alone. The Greek words for "righteousness," "righteous," "justify," and "justification" all have the same root.

2:16
God could have continued to rule and judge with perfect justice (1 Sam. 26:23). To "justify" is to declare to be right (Deut. 25:1) but it must be “just”. No one (except Jesus) is righteous before God (Ps. 143:2) so how can there be any hope (Job 9:2)? God is the Judge and He is the Savior who can provide deliverance from His own judgment (Jon. 2:9). God's righteousness is revealed, not only as His requirement, but as His gift (Is. 45:24, 25; 54:14-17). That gift comes at last through the Messiah (Is. 53:8; Jer. 23:5, 6; 33:14-16). Paul proclaims the fulfillment of the Old Testament promise (Rom. 3:21-26). Faith receives the gift of Christ's righteousness as well as forgiveness through His atonement.

works of the law.
Paul has been referring to the "works" that distinguish Jews from Gentiles (v. 15), such as circumcision, dietary restrictions, and Sabbath-keeping. His phrase, however, includes all the efforts of fallen humanity to keep God's law so as to merit His justifying verdict.

no flesh shall be justified.
A near quotation of Ps. 143:2. No one can keep the law fully, so legal observances such as circumcision cannot establish a right relationship with God. Something other than the law is needed for that, and God has provided it in the gift of Christ's righteousness and the blood of His atonement. Faith does not merit God's acceptance; it accepts Christ's merit before God (Phil. 3:9).

Historic Roman Catholic theology includes sanctification in the definition of justification, considered as a process rather than a single decisive event, and affirms that while faith contributes to our acceptance with God, our works of satisfaction and merit must contribute too. Catholics see baptism as conveying the sanctifying grace that first justifies us. Afterward the sacrament of penance allows supplementary merit to be achieved through works, securing justification if the grace of God’s initial acceptance is lost through mortal sin. This supplementary merit does not oblige God to be gracious although it is the normal context for receiving it. On the Roman Catholic view, believers effect their own salvation with the help of the grace that flows from Christ through the church’s sacramental system. The Reformers pointed out that this view of salvation undercuts the sense of confidence that only free grace can provide to those who have no merits. Paul had already showed that all people, of whatever piety, are without merit, and need a free justification if they are to be saved. A justification that needs to be completed by the recipient is no resting place.

2:17
Paul was considered a sinner and promoter of sin because he rejected Jewish dietary laws. If Christ inspired Paul and Peter to abandon the ritual law in error then Christ has become a promoter of sin. That is argument reductio ad absurdum.

2:18
destroyed.
The Greek word translated "destroyed" is used in the New Testament to mean the tearing down of an edifice (Matt. 24:2; Mark 13:2; Luke 21:6; Rom. 14:20). To rebuild the wall of the law is to bring in again the condemnation of the law. The lawbreaker is not the one who turns from the law to Christ for justification; it is the one who turns back again from Christ to the law.

2:19
Paul died to the law in the death of Christ; he was crucified with Christ (v. 20) and so did you (if you are a believer) because you are united to Christ who died in his place (3:13; Rom. 4:25; 5:6). So too, he was raised with Christ and lived in relation to God (Col. 2:12; 3:1). Death to the law does not violate the law, for Christ met the law's demands. It is therefore "through the law" that believers are released from the bondage and condemnation of the law.

2:20
Union with Christ means that He represented us in His death and resurrection but it is a living union. Jesus is present with the believer; by the Spirit the Lord lives in inward fellowship with His own. Paul does not mean that the individuality of a person is suppressed or absorbed; he lives "in the flesh" by "faith." The union is a spiritual relationship of the utmost intimacy.

Coram Deo

1) Moral law as opposed to the ceremonial law. We as obedient children of God will obey the moral law but not to become justified before God.

2) Our walk is between antinomianism and legalism with a correct view of the moral law in our lives.

3) Don't forget the principal of plucking out your eye if it causes you to sin but remember that doesn't mean that you go around pulling out everybody's eyes.