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“Guilty, Innocent or Both?”
Galatians 2:15-21
IPC, March 8, 2009

¹⁵ We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; ¹⁶ yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. ¹⁷ But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! ¹⁸ For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. ¹⁹ For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. ²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And 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. ²¹ I do not nullify the grace of God, for if justification were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

Introduction:

      Have you ever begun a discussion or had a disagreement with your spouse or kids on a subject?  And, as you’re arguing or debating you find out that while on the same subject, each side had a different definition of that subject?

      In Galatians, Paul talks a lot about the Law, in particular the Law of Moses, which the enemies of the true gospel, the Judaizers, former Pharisees, were trying to add to saving faith in Jesus Christ in order to get to heaven.  The Law of Moses served its purpose in exposing the righteous character of God and the sinful nature of mankind.  It is divided into three sections.  The first is the ceremonial law which dealt with all the sacrifices, offerings, and the like which is abrogated by the work of Jesus Christ on the cross.  The second is the civil law which governed the theocratic nation of Israel.  Its influence ended at Israel’s defeat by foreign entities.  The third is the moral law which instructs believers how to conduct ourselves in the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.  It is summarized in the Ten Commandments and is still in effect today.

      The Law as a whole cannot save.  You cannot keep the Law perfect enough.  Every one of you has already violated the Law and that’s all it takes to be found guilty by the Law.  The Law does well to tell you that you are all sinners.

      Are we obligated to keep any parts of the Law?  Yes, the Ten Commandments and all their derivatives which is the moral law.  Why?  Because these instruct us how God expects us to live after we have become believers in His Kingdom.  They are our measure of behavior for one who is a believer after they have received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, not as a means of salvation.

      Paul, in no way, advocates the disuse of the Law (moral) as a guide to Christian conduct.  He is saying that the Law or any human merit of our own cannot be added to the grace of Jesus Christ as a means of becoming a Christian.  He argues this in Galatians 2:15-21 by showing us three positions we’re in because of Christ.

I.  The first position we’re in because of Christ is "declared innocent from our crimes!" (vv. 15-16)

      After telling the Galatians that both he and Peter were born Jews and they born Gentiles, Paul puts them on common ground in verse 16.  Generally speaking, neither Jews nor Gentiles can be justified by works of the law.  He uses the term justified.  This is a legal term used in a court of law meaning to be proclaimed innocent, to be acquitted, and to be cleared of all charges.  Biblically, it means being declared righteous before the bar of God’s justice.

      Once you have been proven guilty of violating an aspect of the law, who doesn’t want to be proclaimed innocent?!  But, verse 16 tells us that all human effort leads to is guilt.

      Though we cannot perform, merit, or effort our way to heaven there is another way which is by faith.  And, even that faith is given to us by the Lord to place in our Redeemer.

      It is important not just that you have faith but in whom you place your faith.  President Eisenhower once said that America "is founded in a deeply felt religious faith – and I don’t care what it is."  However, Paul did and expressed that the only way for one to be personally justified is through faith in Jesus Christ alone.  This places Paul and the Galatians, Jews and Gentiles on common and equal ground. 

      Justification is a personal faith.  Have you renounced all of your own efforts to save yourself, asking instead for God to save you through Jesus Christ?  Too many people are trying to obtain paradise by climbing the throne of God through their own efforts instead of placing faith in the One who accomplished all that God requires for eternal life.  No other religion makes such an offer.

      Becoming a Christian means admitting that you cannot be saved by the good things you do.  The Galatians were trying to gain favor from God by getting by their human effort through circumcision.  What is it that you’re trying to do to gain favor from God?

      When James IV of Scotland was a boy, he stood in arms against his father.  All his life was one long, bitter penance for that sin.  In memory of it, he wore under his robes an iron belt.  To that belt, he added every year a new link, that his repentance might be heavier every year of his life.

      But listen to this…

      The great bell of St. Paul's, which tells Londoners the hour, is a huge bell, nearly seven feet in diameter and unusually musical.  A hammer connected with clock work strikes the hours and tolls the bell on funeral occasions.  There is an interesting story of how this bell saved a man's life.

      The story goes that a sentinel on duty at Windsor Castle was accused by the guard who came to relieve him of sleeping at his post.  This sentinel was a soldier in the reign of William and Mary.  He was tried by court martial and condemned for sleeping at his post upon the terrace of Windsor.  The soldier denied the charge and insisted that be had not slept at his post.  As a proof that he had been awake while on duty, he declared that on midnight on that particular night he heard the great bell of St. Paul's strike 13 times instead of 12.

      The Court did not believe that it was possible for the soldier to have heard the bell of St. Paul's so far away.  However, while the poor fellow was under sentence of death, it was proved by many who heard it that at midnight on the night referred to the clock actually did strike 13 times instead of 12.  The mechanism was out of order.  The king pardoned the soldier, who lived to be 100 years old.

      What music St. Paul's bell must have always been in that man's ears, for by it he was justified after being condemned!  Yet, how much sweeter is the sound that flows from him who has been guilty, but still has become justified freely by the redemption that is in Christ Jesus!

      What are some things we try to do to gain favor with God?  Go to Church, read the Bible, take communion, and even giving to charities will not gain favor from God.  You are justified/saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

II.  The second position we’re in because of Christ is "mortally dead to human merit!" (vv. 17-19)

            Let me read to you again v. 17. 

But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 

      In the mind of the Judaizers, Paul and Peter have stepped outside the boundaries of the Law by not requiring circumcision of the Galatians.  The reason Paul and Peter are doing this is because of their faith in Jesus Christ.  So, in their mind, Jesus has caused Paul and Peter to sin thinking that justification in Jesus leads to more sinning.  Of course this can’t be further from the truth.  God’s grace cannot be blamed for our guilt.

      When one is justified by Christ, Christ does not allow for more sin.  God cannot sin nor is He to blame for my sin.

James 1:13  Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 

      Paul turns the argument around.  The Judaizers are saying that to place faith in Jesus Christ alone is sinful making Christ a servant of sin.  Paul, in turn, says that rebuilding what was torn down by Christ is sinful.  Let me read to you again vv. 18-19.

¹⁸ For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. ¹⁹ For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. 

(Illustrate with boxes the building up of the law/human effort, that justification in Jesus Christ tears it down, and that it’s sinful to try to rebuild it in any way as an addition to justification in Jesus Christ.)

      Paul says he died to the law in v. 19, a remarkable thing for a former Pharisee to say.  When you die to all your human effort you are no longer trying to rebuild what Christ has torn down.  Many of you have written your obituary in this area.  Human effort and merit has been renounced and you have been freed from it’s control.  You hold no confidence in it, and it no longer holds you under the bondage of slavery.

      Some of you need to write your obituary, you are still trying to hold on, trying to build or rebuild your way to God through your own efforts.  Only through Jesus Christ can you have a relationship with the Lord.  He is the way, the truth, and the life; no one can reach God except through Him as taught in John 14:6.  In Christ, you are mortally dead to human merit!

III.  The third position we’re in because of Christ is "eternally unified to Him!" (vv. 20-21)

      Verses 20-21 plainly teaches how we live.  We are alive in Christ.  The words and grammar used in verse 20 express that we are as crucified with Christ as if we were nailed to the cross ourselves.  This does not take anything away from the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ.  The Bible teaches that we are so unified with Jesus that it’s as if we lived and died in Him.  And this is not some emotional, subjective experience of the believer, but an objective reality that substantiates our relationship with the Lord.  If you are trusting in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life, then everything He has ever done becomes something we have done.  Philip Graham Ryken said in his commentary on Galatians, It is as if we lived his perfect life and died his painful death.  It is as if we were buried in his tomb and then raised up to his glorious heaven…the story of the cross and empty tomb – becomes our story. 

      If you attempt any effort to gain spiritual favor with God, you are saying that Jesus Christ was a false Messiah who died a worthless death on a meaningless cross. 

      The only way to get what Christ has to offer is to be united to Him by faith.  Christians are dead to the Law because we have been crucified with Christ; and made alive in Him!  There is nothing the Law can do to improve our standing with God.

      The best way to live a rich, fulfilling life is through Jesus Christ.  The best way to achieve a healthy self-image is through Jesus Christ.  The best way to know and live what you were created for is through Jesus Christ.

      What does it mean to live in Christ?  It means that the world no longer revolves around you.  You are no longer consumed by who you are, what you achieve, or what the world thinks of you.  It means that you don’t live for your pleasures and passions.  You don’t take pride in your accomplishments.  If you have any life at all it is the life you live in Jesus Christ who lives in you.  All this because He loved you and gave Himself for you (v. 20).

      Do not be swayed by the religions and philosophies of the world to think that by some effort of your own you can gain favor from God.  Realize that because of Christ we have been declared innocent from our crimes, we are mortally dead to human merit, and we are eternally unified to Him.

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In Christ,
Kevin Eutsey - Associate Pastor