By
Randall L. Broad
Read: Isaiah 22:1-24:23; Galatians 2:17-3:9; Psalm 60:1-12; Proverbs 23:15-16
Today in our reading we confront one of the more difficult paraenesis to
write about for several reasons. First the format of the One Year Bible breaks
the passage at a point where it becomes impossible to understand one day without
understanding the day before and the days that follow. Just as the people who
inserted the verse numbers into the Bible often broke the narrative in odd
places such as in the middle of ideas, sentences, and passages–so did the
developer of the One Year Bible Reading plan. This division is unavoidable in
the longer passages such as this found in biblical narratives and important theological
arguments like the one Paul is making in Galatians. The doctrine of
justification is considered to be one of the most important contributions found
in the Pauline Corpus and nowhere is more fully expounded on then in this
epistle (vv. 3:2-6:10). The beginning of that passage is found in today’s
reading, but first …
Yesterday we
read:
11When Cephas came to
Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12For
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. 13The
other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even
Barnabas was led astray.
14When I saw that they were
not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas 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?
15“We who are Jews by birth
and not sinful Gentiles 16know 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.
Galatians 2:11-16
The understanding of today’s reading begins with the
foundations Paul has already established in the beginning of the letter: the
authority of his apostleship; the independence of his gospel; and the inclusion
of the Gentiles in the church. Paul received his mission to the Gentiles and
his apostolic authority not from men but from Jesus Christ on the road to
Damascus and his gospel message from the Holy Spirit; and it was by the power
of the same Holy Spirit he established the churches in Galatia. He ministered
in the Spirit and they believed through the Spirit, but now Jewish Christians have
come to impose their customs and traditions on the churches believing the
worship of Christ required adherence to the Torah and that the Gentiles be
converted into “Christian Jews”. These men see Christianity as a new ‘religion’
that worships Christ but does it through Jewish practices.
Paul will have none of that … so to prove his point he
addresses the hypocrisy of Cephas (vv. 11-12) and even his friend and brother
Barnabas (v. 13). Paul saw in their actions the danger of dividing Christianity
into two groups: the Jewish Christians and the Gentile Christians. Through the
Spirit, Paul understood there could never be unity within a church if the members were divided–a church ceases to be Christian if it contains different
classes of people. Thus Paul refuses to compromise even when it requires taking
on the powerful (Cephas aka Peter) or his friend and brother (Barnabas) when
they were in the wrong.
So today we
read …
17“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! 18If I rebuild
what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker.
19“For through the law I died
to the law so that I might live for God. 20I 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. 21I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness
could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”
Galatians 2:17-21
This is a rich passage. Every sentence contains deep insight
into the thoughts of Paul. Beginning in verse sixteen he strikes at the heart
of the matter … a person is not justified
by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. What is interesting
to note is his use of the term “sinful”
(v. 15) and “sinners” (v. 17) in his
argument. Paul is not using the term as we understand it today as a moral
deficiency or a human propensity to perform evil deeds, rather to the Jews of
the time those terms simply referred to anyone who was not under Jewish Law–thus
even the most righteous Gentiles were sinners, sinful, and everything they did inside
or outside of the Law was a sin. Saul had lived under this Law as a Jew and a
Pharisee. He had been one of its most devoted adherents and staunch defenders.
It drove him to do everything he could to get right with God and then it led
him to despair when he discovered it would never be enough. Yet in the moment
Saul died on the Road to Damascus; Paul was given the breath of life by the
grace of Jesus and the Spirit that taught him “the just live by faith”.
From this experience Paul had come to understand Christ
brought those under the law (the righteous) and those outside the law (the
sinners) together into a New Covenant of Grace under which all were sinners and
all were made “justified by their faith.”
1You foolish Galatians! Who
has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as
crucified. 2I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you
receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? 3Are
you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to
finish by means of the flesh? 4Have
you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? 5So again
I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of
the law, or by your believing what you heard? 6So also Abraham
“believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
7Understand, then, that
those who have faith are children of Abraham. 8Scripture foresaw
that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in
advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” 9So
those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
Galatians 3:1-9
The early church fathers wrote more commentaries on
Galatians than any other NT book; and it was also a favorite of Martin Luther
the Protestant reformer. For Luther his ‘protests’ against the established
order consisted of three key theological issues arising from the power of the
church and the rise of scholasticism. The first issue was the scholastic idea
of knowing God through general revelation and human reason; secondly, how
salvation is received; and lastly Luther rejected the scholastic idea humanity
helped God dispense salvation. These three main themes require more discussion
than space here would allow, but notice how the means in which salvation is
achieved is the central issue dependent upon how we know God and how we receive
his salvation. Thus for Luther, like Paul, salvation was not about obedience to
religious authority but rather a spiritual justification received by faith (vv.
3:2-6:10).
… And tomorrow
we read.
10For all who rely on the
works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who
does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” 11Clearly no one who relies on the
law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.” 12The law is not based on faith;
on the contrary, it says, “The person who does these things will live by them.”
13Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse
for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.” 14He
redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the
Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of
the Spirit.
Galatians 3:10-14
The mainstream view is that Galatians most important
contribution is the central doctrine of justification by faith but two other
important consideration are also at work in this book: the inclusion of the
Gentiles in the promises to Abraham (Genesis 12:3; 18:18) and the equally
important matter of ‘life in the spirit’ reflected often in the Pauline epistles.
Paul reminds the Galatians they began their walk with Christ in the Spirit and God
works his miracles among them by that same Spirit … they know Jesus by the
Spirit. And here in the part we will read tomorrow, Paul carries his argument
even farther focusing more heavily than usual on the experience of the individual
where by faith one receives the Spirit and that Spirit (freedom) and Torah
(slavery) are incompatible with each other. In particular he rejects any
religion–ancient or modern–that establishes an eternal destiny rooted in
personal action, ritual, or established rules. Embracing an eternal destiny
rooted in righteousness prompted and empowered by the indwelling presence and
transforming work of the Holy Spirit, the power of the cross, and a
Christ-centered life.
Walk
with the Lord …
Ephesians
1:17
(RLB230916)
©
Copyright 2019: Randall L. Broad
Disclaimer: This commentary is written by Randall L. Broad. It is in no way affiliated with or represents any denomination, university, church, or pastor. Any errors or omissions are purely my responsibility.
