Today’s message is from Galatians 2:11-21. This is a continuation from last week. Last week I talked about the first four verses of this passage. This week I’m going to talk about the rest of the passage (after a brief review of what I said last week). The HCSB translators gave this passage the title Freedom from the Law. This is about salvation by grace through faith (which is the main theme of Galatians) and not through the keeping of the law.

As we read the passage, remember as always that we are reading the word of God. Jesus told his disciples that the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father would send in his name would teach them all things and would remind them of everything he had told them. (John 14:26) In order to be reminded of everything Jesus told his disciples you have to read the word of God. Today we will be reading what the apostle Paul has to say. Remember that Jesus also taught the apostle Paul and that the Holy Spirit was also guiding the apostle Paul as he wrote. So we will be reading what Jesus taught.

So, also, as always, I encourage you to read your Bibles every day. To be reminded of what Jesus taught (and what God has said throughout the Scriptures), you have to first have read it! Read the whole Bible and refresh what the Lord has to say to you day by day.

¹¹But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned. ¹²For he used to eat with the Gentiles before certain men came from James. However, when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, because he feared those from the circumcision party. ¹³Then the rest of the Jews joined his hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. ¹⁴But when I saw that they were deviating from the truth of the gospel, I told Cephas in front of everyone, “If you, who are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel Gentiles to live like Jews?”

¹⁵We are Jews by birth and not “Gentile sinners”; ¹⁶yet we know that no one is justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no human being will be justified. ¹⁷But if, while seeking to be justified by Christ, we ourselves are also found to be sinners, is Christ then a promoter of sin? Absolutely not! ¹⁸If I rebuild those things that I tore down, I show myself to be a lawbreaker. ¹⁹For through the law I have died to the law, that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; ²⁰and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. 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. ²¹I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing. (Galatians~2:11-21)

The apostle Paul had been warning the Galatian churches because they had been turning to a “different gospel”, a gospel that was “bad news” not “good news”. (What does the word “gospel” mean—“good News”!) The “bad news gospel is that you must keep the Law of Moses in order to be saved. (And, by the way, when you are saved, what are you saved from? It’s not from trouble in this life. We have plenty of that. It’s from God’s eternal judgment—from eternal shame and contempt (Dan. 12:2)—from the lake of fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Rev. 21:8).

But there’s more than just being saved from a fate that’s worse than anything we can even imagine in this life. There’s the promise that there will be blessings—that we will be with God and that there will be no more tears, no more pain, no more grief, that everything will be made new, that there will be no more death (Rev. 21:3-5). We need to have our eyes and hearts focused on God promises. Jesus sent out 70 disciples to every town where he was planning to go. He told them to heal the sick and to tell them that the kingdom of God was near. When they returned, the disciples were rejoicing. They told Jesus that even demons submitted to them in his name. Jesus told them that he had given them authority over all the power of the enemy. But then he said, “However, don’t rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:17-20) We need to have our eyes and hearts focused on God promises. We need to have our mind and hearts focused on heaven.

The apostle Paul was warning the Galatian churches that they were turning to a “different gospel”. The “different gospel” that Paul was warning them about is the idea that we are saved by what we do, by keeping the Law of Moses, by observing certain rituals—even by “being good”. What it amounts to is trying to save yourself. It comes from pride, which is the sin of the devil. (And if I keep repeating these things, it because the apostle Paul, writing by the Holy Spirit, is repeating them in various ways throughout the book of Galatians—and that they are repeated in various ways throughout the Bible, too.)

Before I go on, I’m going to review what I said last week about the first four verses of today’s passage (and maybe add something). In the first four verses, the apostle Paul is telling the Galatian churches about the time when he rebuked the apostle Peter when he had begun to eat with the Jewish believers. He had been eating with the Gentiles. But he began to eat with the Jewish believers because he was afraid to be seen eating with the Gentiles after certain Jews from the circumcision party had arrived. Paul rebuked him and told him that he was, in effect, teaching the Gentiles that you had to observe the Law of Moses. He was setting a bad example. He was teaching things that lead to death.

One of the points that I tried to make last week is that it is easy for people to be led astray—to be led from the path of truth onto a path that leads to destruction. Paul called what Peter was doing hypocrisy. Paul says that all the Jews and even Barnabas were carried away by his hypocrisy. (Peter certainly didn’t believe that you needed to keep the Law of Moses in order to be saved. But he was afraid of the men from the circumcision party. We are all susceptible to this kind of thing. We need to be alert. Don’t act out of fear, but out of faith.

Now let’s go on to today’s part of the passage. Paul says in verse 15, “We are Jews by birth and not ‘Gentile sinners’.” The Jews, who were God’s chosen people (and still are, I believe), considered themselves to be more righteous than the Gentiles. In fact they didn’t believe that there was anything righteous about the Gentiles at all. They were “Gentile sinners”. But Paul knew, and all the believing Jews knew that there is no difference. Jews have no more righteousness than Gentiles—which is, in fact, none at all. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Rom 3:23) Paul says (in verse 16), “...yet we know that no one is justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no human being will be justified.”

If the Jews who were brought up under the Law of Moses couldn’t be saved by keeping the law... If the apostle Paul who had had so much pride in his Jewish heritage and his diligence in trying to keep the law couldn’t keep the law, how foolish and destructive it would be to teach the Gentile believers that they had to keep the law. Jesus said concerning the Pharisees, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to make one proselyte, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as fit for hell as you are!” (Matt.~23:15) That’s what happens when you teach people they are justified through keeping the law.

J. Vernon McGee from Thru the Bible Radio has pointed out that where the translators say “the works of the law” it actually says “works of law”. He says that “works of law” means any law not just the Law of Moses. You can’t be justified by keeping the Law of Moses because no one has kept it (except for Jesus, of course, and that is why he was the perfect lamb of God who was able to take away the sins of the world). But, at least it’s theoretically possible to be justified by keeping the Law of Moses. It’s the law God gave and he says it is. But J. Vernon McGee says that verse 16 applies to any law—any set of rules that people think they can be saved by keeping. And he has also pointed out the uniqueness of our religion and the uniqueness our salvation.

Every pseudo-Christian cult and every major world religion, whether it’s Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism or any other religion, teaches salvation by human effort, by obeying the rules. And the rules vary from one religion to another. And even what they consider “salvation” to be varies. When Laurie was here from Tibet, she said the goal of the Buddhists was to go out of existence. What kind of a goal is that?! (And I can point out that, of course, suicide doesn’t do it. You just get reincarnated—and maybe to some situation that’s worse than the one you are in in this life!) All religions of works are religions of pride. Some even teach that you have to humble yourself. But to humble yourself is something you have to do by your own effort. It’s a “work”. (I’ve heard some young Christians say that they have to be careful not to boast about their humility. Older, more mature Christians know better than to admit that they have to be careful about that!) Anyway, if the Law of Moses—the law given by God—can’t save you, how can a set of rules or laws made up by men (or worse, by the devil) save you? They can’t!

Now, here’s the other thing I noticed about verse 16. (You know, Bible translators do the best they can—and I believe that God guides them. But what we have is really not the original inspired word of God. Even the texts in the original languages are not identical to each other and probably none of them agree exactly with what the original inspired writers (like the apostle Paul) wrote. Some translations are better than others. I think it’s good to read several translations. Nevertheless, I am convinced that God has seen to it that they contain all the information we need to be saved.)

Anyway, here’s the other thing I noticed. Verse 16 says that no one is justified by the works of the law (or by works of law), but by faith in Jesus Christ. But, literally, it doesn’t say, “faith in Jesus Christ,” it says “faith of Jesus Christ.” The King James version says, “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ...”

Now, the Greek word that’s translated “faith” can also be translated by another word. What’s the other way it can be translated? ... It’s faithfulness (as in the fruit of the Spirit). It can be translated “faithfulness”. So the first part of verse 16 could be translated, “...yet we know that no one is justified by the works of the law but by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ.”

And the same with the rest of verse 16: “And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law...,” could be translated, “And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by the faithfulness of Christ and not by the works of the law...” We believe in Jesus so that we can be justified by the faithfulness of Jesus!

Now, I looked at the translations I usually look at and found that most of them translated it the way the HCSB (the translation we are using) translates it, “faith in Jesus Christ”. In fact just one translation, the New English Translation, didn’t translate it that way, but translated it the way I thought it should be translated. (And you know what the rule about these things is: If 99 people say you are wrong and then you find one person who says you are right, you are permitted to say, “See, I knew I was right all the time.)

Anyway, here is the New English Translation version: “...yet we know that no one is justified by the works of the law but by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by the faithfulness of Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.” We have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by the faithfulness of Christ and not by the works of the law...” (16b –NET)

1 John 1:7-10: But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say, “We have no sin,” we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say, “We have not sinned,” we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”

Jesus is absolutely faithful to forgive our sins. But, we have to admit we have sinned. That means you don’t make excuses. Yes, we are certainly tempted. Yes, there are extenuating circumstances. But that’s no excuse for sinning. Just confess your sin.

1 Thess. 5:23-24: Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely. And may your spirit, soul, and body be kept sound and blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.

Heb. 2:17-18: Therefore He (Jesus) had to be like His brothers in every way, so that He could become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tested and has suffered, He is able to help those who are tested.

The function of the high priest was to make sacrifices before God on behalf of the people of Israel. Jesus, though he was God, became a man. He became like his brothers. (We who trust him are his brothers.) He suffered and was tested in every way just as we are, and yet was without sin. He sacrificed himself for our sin. He knows what we are going through. He went through it, too, and certainly much worse than most of us. He understands us. He is able to help us.

Heb. 10:23-25: Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works, not staying away from our meetings, as some habitually do, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

The second part of verse 16 in today’s passage says—and this is from the New English Translation, “And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by the faithfulness of Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.” (Verse 16b –~NET)” The only way we can be saved is by believing in the faithfulness of Jesus Christ—by having faith in the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. There is no other way. And it isn’t faith in the faithfulness of Jesus plus some rituals or good works. It’s 100 percent through faith.

¹⁷But if, while seeking to be justified by Christ, we ourselves are also found to be sinners, is Christ then a promoter of sin? Absolutely not! ¹⁸If I rebuild those things that I tore down, I show myself to be a lawbreaker. ¹⁹For through the law I have died to the law, that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; ²⁰and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. 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. (Galatians~2:17-20)

“For through the law I have died to the law, that I might live to God?” Or “But if, while seeking to be justified by Christ, we ourselves are also found to be sinners, is Christ then a promoter of sin? Absolutely not!?” The apostle Peter says in 2 Peter 3:16 that “our dear brother Paul” speaks about some things that are hard to understand and the “untaught and unstable twist them to their own destruction, as they also do with the rest of the Scriptures”. I wonder if this part of today’s passage is any part of what Peter had in mind.

Anyway, I can certainly say from my own experience that we still sin while we are seeking to be justified by Christ, but I’m not sure why that would make Christ a promoter of sin. I agree with Paul. Absolutely not! Maybe some of the enemies of the cross were claiming that Christ was promoting sin because Paul was teaching that we are not saved through the keeping of the law, but by God’s grace through faith—if you don’t teach people that they must keep the law, then they will sin freely and it will be Paul’s teaching of Christ that promotes sin. Absolutely not!

But I believe verse 20 is perfectly clear. “...and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. 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.” Paul no longer lives for himself. He gave that up years earlier. Jesus Christ lives through Paul. That’s what “in” means in this context. In fact, Jesus lives through the church. That’s us. We are the body of Christ. The work he does on the earth he does through the church. Can we say that Christ lives through us? Can we say, “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?”

When Paul says that he has died to the law, I believe that he is saying that that the law no longer controls him, but that it is Christ living in him that guides him to love the ones that Christ loves. That’s what maturity in Christ is. We are mature to the extent that we are guided by Christ, guided by his Holy Spirit, to do the things that Christ has for us to do. Are you guided by the Holy Spirit. Paul’s going to talk about it in chapter 5.

Let’s look at the last verse in today’s passage. In the last verse in today’s passage, verse 21, the apostle Paul says, “I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.” If you think you can be saved by keeping the law... If you want to be saved by keeping the law...well, it’s blasphemy. You are calling Jesus Christ a fool for loving you and going to the cross and dying for you. So live your life by faith in the Son of God who gave himself for you.

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely. And may your spirit, soul, and body be kept sound and blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it. Grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.