Galatians 2:15-3:5
In the text before us, the Apostle Paul addresses an issue which had surfaced between Jewish and Gentile believers within the churches of Galatia. At issue was the doctrinal role of the law of Moses. Many Jewish believers felt that the restrictions of the law should be imposed upon all. They feared that without the constraints of the law that Gentile believers would become embroiled in sin.
Paul answers this objection by declaring the purity of the gospel of grace and applying it to Jewish believers. In verses 15, Paul employs the pronoun “we”. Who is we? In this instance, “we” are individuals who have attempted to live lives which met the standard of the law. Paul is part of “we” because he, as a Pharisee before his conversion on the Damascus road, sought righteousness through works of the law. “We” consists of Jewish believers who had determined that no one can be justified by works of the law. We is composed of Jewish believers who seek justification through Jesus Christ. Opposed to “we” are the Gentiles who lived lives unconstrained by the law (and in most instances, more sinful lives than Jews).
Paul asks fellow Jewish believers to consider their logic. When one seeks justification through Christ (who is apart from the law), one has the same standing as a Gentile — one is not under the law. If not being constrained by the law is cause to become embroiled in sin, then Christ (the reason one has the same standing as a Gentile) becomes a promoter of sin (v. 17).
In verse 18, Paul continues to expound upon the logical consequences of being placed under the constraints of the law. When one places himself under the law, one (in effect) rebuilds that which one has destroyed. Justification through Christ overcomes (destroys) the condemnation of the law. If one could reestablish the condemnation of the law, one would undo that which Christ has done. Imposing the law upon one’s self makes one a transgressor of the law.
By the gospel of faith in Christ we are made dead to the law so that we might live unto God. To be dead to the law is to be free from the obligation to obey it. Paul states that this freedom came through the law. How so? Through the law, our sins were made known to us. Through the law, we became aware that the law justified no man. The law caused us to turn to Christ for justification. Christ has not made us dead to the law so that we could arise and sin again. We are made dead to the law so that we could live a new life unto God. Under the law, one’s sin separated him from God. Christ has dealt with the sin issue. His righteousness has justified us and made us free to live unto God.
In verse 20, Paul states that he is crucified with Christ. To state that one is crucified with Christ is to declare that one is justified by Christ and made free from the obligations of the law. The life which Paul now lives is not the same as the life he lived before. Life in the flesh is different after one is crucified with Christ. Before one is crucified with Christ, one’s life is dominated by one’s own works. After one is crucified with Christ, one’s life is dominated by the work of Christ Jesus. When one is crucified with Christ, one lives by faith, believing that the Son of God gave Himself such that we may live life anew bathed in the warmth of His love.
The Apostle then declares that he does not frustrate the grace of God. Paul preached the pure gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul preached that one is justified purely by the grace of God. Jewish believers who sought to impose the law on both Gentile believers and themselves frustrated the grace of God because they declared justification by grace plus works.
By faith, we believe that Christ satisfied the works of the law for us. If one believes that justification is by grace plus works, then one denies the sufficiency of the cross of Christ frustrates the grace of God.
In the first verse of chapter 3, the Apostle Paul directs some very cutting words at the church in Galatia. He calls them foolish and asks who bewitched them and caused them to depart from the truth. The truth which the Galatians had abandoned is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Jewish believers, by imposing the law upon themselves and upon Gentile believers, had departed from the truth. In John 8:32, Jesus declares that all who believe in Him shall know the truth and be made free by it. Jewish believers in the church knew the truth: Christ had died upon the cross in their place. His death atoned for their sin. Christ’s sacrificial death sets believers free from the constraints of the law. The Galatians, by imposing the law upon themselves, were rejecting their freedom from the consequences of the law — the very purpose of Christ’s sacrifice.
The Galatians had erred; their imposition of the law was doctrinally wrong. Wrong doctrinal practice does not undo that which Christ has done. Paul makes it very clear that the Galatians have received the Holy Spirit of God. In verse 2, he asks the source of that Spirit. Is it by works of the law or by the hearing of faith? Does one receive the Holy Spirit by works (one’s own efforts) or by the hearing of faith (believing in what Christ has done)? All believers know the answer. One receives the Spirit by faith.
In verse 3, Paul asks how that which is of faith (the Spirit) can be perfected by one’s own effort (the flesh). The Apostle follows with another question: how can the Galatians ignore what they have experienced? They had understood the gospel, they had received the Spirit, and they had witnessed miracles (v. 5). Their works had no place in these things.
In verse 5, Paul rephrases his earlier question. Is it works or faith which is the source of the Spirit and the source of the miracles? In answering, Paul examines God’s relationship with Abraham. Abraham could not claim righteousness under the law because he was before the law. Abraham believed God and God counted his belief as righteousness. All who believe God in the manner in which Abraham believed God are the spiritual children of Abraham. The spiritual seed of Abraham are all who hold fast to the gospel of Christ.
