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Galatians 2:15-21 (JDV)
Galatians 2:15 We are Jews by nature and not “Gentile sinners,”
Galatians 2:16 and yet because we know that a human is not justified by the achievements1 of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we ourselves have believed in Christ Jesus. This was so that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by achievements of a law, because all flesh will not be justified by achievements of a law.
Galatians 2:17 But if we ourselves are also found to be “sinners” while seeking to be justified by Christ, is Christ then a promoter of sin? Not going to happen!
Galatians 2:18 If I rebuild those things that I tore down, I show myself to be a lawbreaker.
Galatians 2:19 You see, because of a law I died to a law, so that I might live to God.
Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life that I currently live in the flesh, I live by the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself in behalf of me.
Galatians 2:21 I do not set aside the favor of God, because if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.
his faithfulness is enough
Not everybody gets the message of Galatians today because – frankly, there are not too many of us who are tempted to get circumcised and obey the Jewish Law as a means of salvation. Properly applying this text in our context means looking for any act of the flesh that a person might do in order to get on God’s good side. Any of those apparent good things could become a new law for us if we are not careful. Any new law would oppose the gospel of deliverance by the favor of God.
To prevent that from happening to him, Paul considered his flesh dead on a cross and resurrected. Every aspect of his life was now being lived out by Christ himself. Any act of faithfulness Paul performed was just part of Christ’s faithfulness. Christ’s faithfulness is enough.
Lord, we surrender our lives to you, because you are the source of our potential permanent lives. Thank you for being enough.
1ἔργον
