galatians two (part one)

Picking up where we left off last week...Paul is livid because the Galatians have abandoned what they first learn and embraced a new and different gospel ("which is really no gospel at all"). This new gospel puts it's faith, trust, hope, and worship in the Law of Moses. In Galatians 2:15-21, Paul will defend the gospel of Jesus.

We Jews know that we have no advantage of birth over "non-Jewish sinners." We know very well that we are not set right with God by rule-keeping but only through personal faith in Jesus Christ. How do we know? We tried it—and we had the best system of rules the world has ever seen! Convinced that no human being can please God by self-improvement, we believed in Jesus as the Messiah so that we might be set right before God by trusting in the Messiah, not by trying to be good.

Have some of you noticed that we are not yet perfect? (No great surprise, right?) And are you ready to make the accusation that since people like me, who go through Christ in order to get things right with God, aren't perfectly virtuous, Christ must therefore be an accessory to sin? The accusation is frivolous. If I was "trying to be good," I would be rebuilding the same old barn that I tore down. I would be acting as a charlatan.

What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn't work. So I quit being a "law man" so that I could be God's man. Christ's life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not "mine," but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that.

Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God's grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily.

The word "gospel" really means "good news." So, I've got to ask you, "Is it really good news that keeping a set of 613 rules is going to 'set you free' and create hope and joy and purpose for life? Will this really free you from shame and the eternal consequences of sin?" 

There IS NO WAY! The purpose of the Law was never to bring salvation or freedom from guilt/shame. The value of having a Law is so that you know when you've sinned...the law's intent is to bring a healthy sense of guilt once in a while to keep us in line. Paul says in Romans 7, "I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law...the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good...in order that sin might be recognized as sin..." (vs. 7, 12,13). The whole value of having rules/laws is so that we know when we have broken them (sinned). 

The opposite is a complete and utter lack of awareness: ignorance. We've all had the experience of being insulted and offended by someone who seems completely unaware of the hurt they are causing. They go through their day, trying to be funny, leaving a wake of anger, insecurities, and damaged relationships. But they are unaware and free from guilt. Taking this to the extreme...when someone in our society commits a violent crime, like rape or murder, without remorse, we label them a psychopath because our society believes that all people should be aware of a law and feel remorse and regret when they break it. Paul says the law is "good" because it protects us from thoughtlessly and ignorantly going throughout life creating destruction and heartache for ourselves and everyone around us.

The Law is good, but it only brings us half way...to the point of guilt and remorse. That may be good, in a way, but it's certainly not "GOOD NEWS" (Gospel). So, what is?

Paul suggests that what makes the GOSPEL such good news is that Jesus can bring us the rest of the way, past the guilt and shame into something much more redemptive: salvation and the approval of God. 

So, how do we access the approval of God, you ask? Keep reading...