Chapter 9
PAUL'S BASIC TEACHING
(Galatians 2:15-21)
Before we begin our study of Paul's basic teaching let us pray,
Dear Heavenly Father,
Holy Father we come before You in the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Please Father, grant us the spiritual wisdom to better understand and comprehend what You are saying to us through Your servant Paul. Please help us to not only hear and listen to Your teaching but also help us to faithfully follow it.
Amen
In the previous three chapters we saw how the Holy Spirit defended or confirmed Paul's position and authority as an Apostle of Jesus Christ. In addition, we reviewed how Paul was faithful to carry out his calling or commission. With his position, authority and faithfulness established, we will now explore a summary of what Paul preached and taught. This summary is recorded for us in,
Galatians 2:15-21
""[15] We who are Jews by birth and not 'Gentile sinners' [16] know that a man is not justified by observing 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 observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified. [17] "If, while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! [18] If I rebuild what I destroyed, I prove that I am a lawbreaker. [19] For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. [20] I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. [21] I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!""
To expand upon what the Holy Spirit is teaching us in this portion of Paul’s letter to the churches in Galatia we will,
1. Explore, one at a time, each verse from verses 15 through 18.
2. Review the message to us.
3. Close this study by prayerfully reading Psalm 145: 1-21.
Given the above outline we begin with,
AN IN DEPTH REVIEW OF VERSES 15-18
We begin by exploring,
GALATIANS 2:15
""[15] We who are Jews by birth and not 'Gentile sinners'"
As one considers the above verse one might ask: “What does the phrase mean; "Gentile sinners”?" Perhaps the best way to answer this question is by reading from,
Ephesians 2:11-12
"[11] Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called "uncircumcised" by those who call themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men)-- [12] remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world."
In considering both the Old and New Testaments we come to realize that the above passage does not mean God did not love or care about the Gentiles. To see this, let us read what God said to Jonah after the Gentiles who were living in Nineveh repented from their evil ways.
Before we read the conversation God had with Jonah let us first recall the situation. God told Jonah to go to Nineveh, which was the capital city of Assyria. God told Jonah that while he was there he was to warn them to repent from their sins or else they would be destroyed or overthrown. Since Assyria was an enemy of the Jewish people Jonah did not want to follow God’s command. Instead Jonah went on a boat to sail away from the presence of God. During his journey God sent a mighty wind storm that put all on board in great jeopardy. Jonah recognized the hand of God and to save the lives of the people on board the ship Jonah told them to throw him overboard. Once in the raging sea God sent a large fish to swallow Jonah and bring him to beach near Nineveh. While inside the fish Jonah had a change of heart and was now willing obey God’s command. As Jonah walked throughout Nineveh the people believed God’s Word that was spoken through Jonah and a great repentance ensued. Given this background let us now read from,
Jonah 4:1-11
[1] But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry. [2] So he prayed to the Lord, and said, “Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm. [3] Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!” [4] Then the Lord said, “Is it right for you to be angry?” [5] So Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city. There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city. [6] And the Lord God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah was very grateful for the plant. [7] But as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered. [8] And it happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself, and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” [9] Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “It is right for me to be angry, even to death!” [10] But the Lord said, “You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. [11] And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?”
Let us now notice the following verses,
1-3 … Watching the great awaking in Nineveh Jonah became very angry. Jonah knew God was merciful, slow to anger and full of loving kindness. Thus, he knew that Israel’s enemies would repent and God would spare them. This was why Jonah did not want to go to Tarshish and was angry.
6-8 … To give Jonah and us an object lesson for His concern for all peoples, God prepared a plant to shelter Jonah from the intense heat. However, using a worm, God then damaged the plant and the heat returned upon Jonah.
9-11 … In these verses was the object lesson for Jonah and now for us. Given its significance let us read it one more time.
[9] Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “It is right for me to be angry, even to death!” [10] But the Lord said, “You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. [11] And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?”
With the example of Jonah and Nineveh in mind we can see that what we read in Ephesians was teaching us that before the arrival of Jesus Christ, the Jews, who are the circumcision, were God's chosen people. During that time the Gentile (a person who is not Jewish) was considered to be a sinner or stranger to God's promise. Thus, for the Gentile, to enter into God's covenant they had to become a Jew. If the person was a man, that meant he had to become circumcised. This was the tension between Paul and the Jews.
One might ask; “Why the tension?” The answer to this question begins by remembering that Jesus told Nicodemus that unless you are born again, which means become a new creation, you cannot enter into the Kingdom of God (see John 3:1-5). Therefore Paul preached and taught the truth that is recorded in,
Galatians 6:15
[15] For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation.
With this in mind let us return to Galatians and read from,
GALATIANS 2:15-16
""[15] We who are Jews by birth and not 'Gentile sinners' [16] know that a man is not justified by observing 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 observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified."
To expand upon verse 16 a bit more let us begin by reading the first portion of it, which is,
Galatians 2:16(a)
"… a man is not justified by observing the law…"
According to W. E. Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words the phrase "to be justified" means that in the sight of God, a person is declared to be righteous or free from guilt. Thus, this portion of verse 16 is teaching us that no person is free from guilt by trying to observe the Law. The question arises as to why? The answer is clearly provided to us in,
Romans 3:23
"[23] for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,"
If this is the case then the question arises as to; “What was and is the purpose of the Law?” The answer to this question is stated in,
Galatians 3:24
[24] … the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
Given this insight, let us now read a little bit more of verse 16,
Galatians 2:16(a & b)
"… a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ..."
In other words the Holy Spirit, through the Apostle Paul, is teaching us that the only way we can be justified or declared righteous before God is through faith in Jesus Christ and the atonement He made for us for the forgiveness of our sins.
With this in mind let us now read verse 16 in its entirety,
Galatians 2:16
"… a man is not justified by observing 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 observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified."
Since no one can be justified in front of God Almighty by trying to observe the Law, even some of Jews or Israelites placed their faith in Jesus Christ and became a new creation. This included such notable people such as Peter, James, John and Paul. They did this so they could be declared righteous, that is free from the guilt of their sin, through the saving work of Jesus Christ.
Let us now move on to,
GALATIANS 2:17
""[17] If, while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not!"
Now one may ask; "Why would someone ask if Jesus was promoting sin?” The answer is that as we come closer to Jesus we become more and more aware of our sin and sinful ways.
To see this let us look to the example of Peter when Jesus called Peter to be a disciple. The incident of interest is recorded for us in,
Luke 5:1-9
"[1] One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, [2] he saw at the water's edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. [3] He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. [4] When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch." [5] Simon answered, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets." [6] When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. [7] So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. [8] When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" [9] For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken."
As one reflects upon this incident one may wonder as to what had happened? And why did Peter react the way he did? Wasn't it because he just realized who Jesus was? Didn't the light of Jesus just shine on him? Wasn't it because Peter just came to the terrifying reality that in front of God he was a sinful man?
With these thoughts in mind let’s read how Jesus responded to Peter as recorded in,
Luke 5:10
"[10] ... Then Jesus said to Simon, "Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men.""
As a result of this incident Peter along with James and John tied their boats up on the shore and followed Jesus. This is recorded in.
Luke 5:11
"[11] So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him."
The question now becomes: “What about you and me?” As we come closer and closer to Jesus and our sins become more exposed; “What do we do?” “Do we, as Peter confess our sin and follow our Lord?” Or “Do we, as the rich man, when Jesus showed him that his money was an idol to him, walk away (see Matthew 19:16-22)?”
Let us also not forget what Jesus once said to the Pharisees who were questioning the fact that He was spending time with the "sinners." To refresh our memories let us read about that conversation in,
Matthew 9:9-13
"[9] As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. [10] While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. [11] When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" [12] On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. [13] But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.""
In other words, Jesus is of no value to those who believe they are righteous and not stricken with the disease of sin. With the above foundation we return to Galatians and read from,
GALATIANS 2:17-18
""[17] If, while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! [18] If I rebuild what I destroyed, I prove that I am a lawbreaker."
Another way to read verse 18 would be in the form of the following question: "When He, the Holy Spirit, begins to expose sin in our life do we try to clean it up by going back to the Law, that is try to stop sinning in our own will power and strength?" If we do this, we would then be rebuilding what was destroyed. Namely, we would be reactivating or energizing sin, which is our sinful nature. We must remember that just as love is, sin is a power. And that the power of sin is the Law or activated by Law. This truth is recorded in,
1 Corinthians 15:56
"[56] The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law."
To expand and clarify the above, let us read what the Holy Spirit wrote through the Apostle Paul concerning the relationship of sin and the Law in,
Romans 7:7-8
"[7] What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "Do not covet." [8] But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead."
Let us notice the following verses,
7 … In other words, the law reveals to us what sin is. It is through the precepts and commands of the Law that the Holy Spirit reveals to us when we are sinning.
8 … Unfortunately, once we know what sin is, it produces within us the desire to do it. Hence, our sinful nature is energized. In other words, when we are told not to do something the desire to disobey and to do it is activated. To see this let continue our reading from,
Romans 7:9-11
"[9] Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. [10] I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. [11] For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death."
Let us notice the following verses,
9-10 … In these verses we find a paradox. Because of Israel's disobedience and sin during their exodus from Egypt, God, through Moses, gave them and us His Law. He said that if we would follow the Law we would be declared righteous and therefore justified in His eyes, that is receive eternal life with Him. Unfortunately, instead of life, the Law actually brought death. Why? The answer is in verse 11.
11 … Sin deceived us in at least the following two ways:
First, we become deceived into thinking that God no longer loves us or cares for us. Therefore we are hesitant to come to Him for help. Then,
Secondly we become deceived into thinking that, instead of going to God and trusting Him to deliver us from sin and its resultant penalty, we could do it by our own strength and will power. Unfortunately, the demands of the Law dictate that if you sin you must die (Romans 6:23). Thus, the moment we failed to keep any portion of the Law we were sentenced to death.
This does leave us with two questions. First of all; “Why can we not keep the Law?” The answer to this question is because the Law is spiritual and we are by Adam's nature carnal that is unspiritual. This is revealed to us in,
Romans 7:14
"[14] We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin."
Consequently, when we try to follow the Law in our own will power we are trying to comply with spiritual principles and laws with carnal or unspiritual power. Hence, we are destined to fail.
This now brings us to the second question of; “Why did God institute the Law knowing that we could not obey all of its demands? The key to the answer of this question lies in the response Paul gave when he also asked a similar question. The response is recorded for us in,
Romans 7:24-25
"[24] What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? [25] Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! ..."
Thus, as we read earlier, in God's Wisdom He gave the Law to lead us to Jesus Christ. It is through faith in Jesus Christ and what He did we are saved from our own sinful nature, have been justified and received eternal life. To see this consider,
Galatians 3:24
"[24] So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith."
Consequently, we find that once we become born again believers and try to justify ourselves by works of the Law, we start up the whole process over again and prove once more that we are sinners. This is exactly what the Holy Spirit told us in,
Galatians 2:18
"[18] If I rebuild what I destroyed, I prove that I am a lawbreaker."
What now? Is it all over for us? NO! We must not forget we are still human beings living in our flesh. Thus, we still have not yet been totally perfected. To see this let us read what Paul wrote to the church in Philippi in,
Philippians 3:8-14
[8] Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ [9] and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; [10] that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, [11] if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. [12] Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. [13] Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, [14] I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
For this study let us notice the following verses,
11-12a … Paul tells us that he has not yet attained the resurrection from the dead. In other words, he was not yet totally perfected.
12b … However, Paul pressed on to that goal.
13a … Again Paul wrote that he had not yet apprehended it. In other words, Paul did not consider himself as having yet been perfected.
13b-14 … However, Paul did not live in his past failures but continued looking forward to the goal. In other words, Paul pressed on to the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
This brings us to,
THE MESSAGE FOR US
We begin this portion of our study with the following questions; “Where do I go from here?” Or more specifically; “How do we press on?” The answer to these questions is twofold.
First, we must remember that our Lord has provided a path for us to be reconciled and have our relationship restored. This provision is recorded in,
1 John 1:8-2:2
[8] If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. [9] If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. [10] If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
[2:1] My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. [2] And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
Secondly, we are to remember and diligently follow Paul’s example of how we are to conduct our Christian lives. This example also summarizes Paul’s basic teaching. It is recorded in,
Galatians 2:19-21
"[19] For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. [20] I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. [21] I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!""
CLOSING
As we reflect upon all that we have learned how we can not stop thanking Jesus Christ for all He has done for us. By offering His body and blood on our behalf we are now justified in God's eye, which means we have been forgiven for our sins and declared righteous. In other words, He purchased the gift of life for us. In addition, through faith in Jesus Christ He now lives within in the born again believer to bring forth from within them the fruits of righteousness and love.
Let us close this study by offering Him the following psalm of praise.
Psalm 145:1-21
"[1] I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. [2] Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever. [3] Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. [4] One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts. [5] They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works. [6] They will tell of the power of your awesome works, and I will proclaim your great deeds. [7] They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness. [8] The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. [9] The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made. [10] All you have made will praise you, O LORD; your saints will extol you. [11] They will tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might, [12] so that all men may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. [13] Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made. [14] The LORD upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. [15] The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. [16] You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. [17] The LORD is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made. [18] The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. [19] He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them. [20] The LORD watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. [21] My mouth will speak in praise of the LORD. Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever."
Amen and Amen