JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH & ITS
HISTORICAL CHALLENGES #2 (cont.)
by
Ron Merryman
Thus far in Galatians 2, Paul has
highlighted two historical defenses against error that would pervert the truth
of the Gospel as it relates to justification by faith.
The first occurred in Jerusalem where
pseudo-brethren wanted to force circumcision on Titus, a Greek believer, as a
requirement to be saved or to keep saved. Paul vehemently withstood them
"that the truth of the Gospel might continue with them" (Gal. 2:5).
The second occurred in Antioch when Peter
withdrew from Gentile believers because he feared the Jewish legalizers who had
come from Jerusalem. Peter went along with the legalizers’ practices and
hypocritical lifestyle. This made Gentile believers appear less righteous than
they, and indeed to be lacking a right standing before God. Here the truth of
the Gospel was threatened by legalistic practices (Gal. 2:14).
The real issue is: are we justified
(declared righteous in God’s eyes) by faith in Christ’s vicarious,
substitutionary death plus some rite or ritual; or by simple faith alone
in His death for our sins? Moreover, as in Peter’s case, is this justification,
this righteousness, which God imputes to the believer only partial? Can it be
improved upon by following a legalistic lifestyle or special cultural norms and
standards thus creating a spiritual caste system, a spiritual
aristocracy?
Gal.
2:15-21 Paul’s Doctrinal Answer to Peter, Barnabas, & All Legalizers
We who are
Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not
justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we
have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of
Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no
flesh be justified. (Gal.
2:15,16)
WE who are Jews by nature (that is naturally born Jews)…Note
that Paul speaks directly here of Peter, Barnabas, and any believing Jews with
them. The WE is emphatic: Paul even includes himself.
Knowing that a man is not justified (Present Passive Indicative)1 by
works of the law…Knowing is a perfect active participle
modifying we: they had all learned how not to be justified and the
results of that knowledge were abiding. Law works are simply not a basis of
God’s justification, no matter how good nor how many! Moreover, no man, (anthropos,
generic, no man or woman) can be justified by law works! Paul had no doubt that
Peter, Barnabas and the other saved Jews clearly knew this.
Even WE have believed (Aorist Active Indicative) in Jesus Christ
that we might be justified (Aorist Passive Indicative)1
by faith of (that has as its object) Jesus Christ …The WE
again is emphatic. We naturally born Jews believed in Jesus Christ in order to
be justified out from (preposition, ek) the faith-system that has Christ
as its object. Paul’s point to Peter and any other believing Jew is that this
is the way that they were declared right before God. It is the way designed by
God, since they could not possibly be justified by law works. They believed,
aorist tense meaning a point-time-fact trust, in God’s provision of Messiah,
the Christ. That point-time-fact of trust in Him is the basis of absolute
righteousness before God. This faith-way excludes any works-way.
For by the works of the Law shall no
flesh be justified (Future
Passive Indicative)1. No man, no flesh, no member of the human race
has ever been nor ever will be justified by God on the basis of good works.
Paul
Corrects A False Conclusion About Justification By Faith
But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we
ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God
forbid. (Gal. 2:17)
In all of Paul’s fourteen uses of the
construction translated "God forbid" (KJV) he first presents a
correct premise followed by a false conclusion which in turn is followed by the
brief negation "God forbid."2 The correct premise in this
case: if we who are Jews by nature discover that we are sinners just like the
rest of mankind (and we will) when we seek to be justified in or by Messiah
(Christ): the false conclusion; does that make Messiah a minister of sin? God
forbid, or better, It could never be.2 Phrased another
way: did Christ make us sinners when through His gospel He revealed to us our
sinful condition? The answer is: of course not! To conclude that He is a
minister of sin based upon such illogical reasoning is like killing the
messenger because you do not like the message. It could never be.
For if I build
again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I through
the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. (Gal. 2:19-20)
Paul now courteously transfers the figure
to himself by using the first person singular (I instead of we),
but he still has Peter’s inconsistency and subterfuge in mind. Peter was a
transgressor in the course he pursued, and Paul would have been had he resorted
to law works either to be justified or to "improve" upon God’s
imputed righteousness in Christ. One who resorts to law-works says in effect
that the work of Christ is not sufficient. I in v.20 is very emphatic.
The law slew me, says Paul, by showing me how inadequate were my efforts to
fulfill its demands and how powerful was my sin nature, the lesson of Romans 7.
But the gospel of God’s grace in Christ has set me free that I might live unto
God. God’s grace in Christ is greater than His law as the next two verses
reveal.
Paul’s
Theology In A Nutshell: Justification By Faith Alone In Christ Alone
I am crucified
with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the
life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who
loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians
2:20)
Please note four key principles in this
marvelous statement.
1. THE
DEATH-UNION PRINCIPLE: "I
am crucified with Christ…"
The verb is perfect tense emphasizing the
enduring quality of the action. The voice is passive meaning he did not crucify
himself, rather, he was acted upon by an outward source, in this case, God.
Thus a better translation would be, "I stand co-crucified with
Christ," or "I have been co-crucified with Christ and the results
abide into the present." Paul is actually explaining how he died to the
law! And so with every believer the pronoun I is not emphatic
because Paul is not stating something that is true only of himself due to the
fact that he was an Apostle or because of some personal spiritual attainment.
It is true simply because he was a believer… and it is true of every believer.
The wages of sin demand death: for the believer, Christ’s death becomes their
death. Every believer stands co-crucified with Him (cf. Col.
2:11-14).
2. THE
LIFE-UNION PRINCIPLE: "nevertheless
I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me…"
Paul not only died with Christ; he now
lives unto God through the Spirit of Christ that dwells within him. Romans 8:9
reaffirms this: "If any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is
none of His." Colossians 1:27 speaks of "Christ in you
, the hope of glory." The life-union principle applies to every believer!
3. THE FAITH
PRINCIPLE: "and the life
that I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God…"
This is true also of every
believer, or at least it should be true. Faith here is on-going trust in
Christ, the Son of God, as we live in this flesh-body. We look to Him to
fulfill His promises to us; we look to Him for spiritual enablement; we look to
Him for His coming. We live daily by faith that has as its object the Son of
God.
4. THE
SUBSTITUTIONARY-REDEMPTIVE PRINCIPLE:
"who loved me and gave Himself for me."
Note how very personal this entire issue
is to Paul. What he says here is true also of every believer. He
loved you and gave Himself at Calvary for (huper), on your behalf, in your
interest, for your salvation. But keep this in context: Paul is straightening
out the fuzzy thinking of Peter, Barnabas, and other people at Galatia. In so
doing, he forever strikes the death knell to legalistic additions to
justification by faith.
Paul’s
Conclusion
I do not
frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ
is dead in vain. (Galatians
2:21)
Works and grace are totally incompatible.
If salvation is by works it is no more of grace, and conversely, if it is of
grace it is no more of works. The terms are mutually exclusive: to mix them is
to frustrate the grace of God! Moreover, if one could be saved or declared just
by good works, then Christ died without cause, vainly, without meaning or
purpose. Unthinkable from Divine viewpoint!
This conclusion and its contextual
paragraph is the coup-de-grace, the death blow, to legalism and
legalistic additions to justification by faith alone in Christ alone. PAUL WON
THE DAY: PETER AND BARNABAS RETURN TO THE GRACE POSITION!
Thus by clarifying the dynamics and
finality of the doctrine of justification by faith in Galatians 2, the Apostle
successfully defends it against an assault that came in his day. The Holy
Spirit had him pen the details of that assault and of his defense of the
doctrine that we, yea, that the Church, might defend it against others that
were sure to follow.
Brethren, justification by faith alone in
Christ alone by grace alone is critical to the essence of the Gospel. Sink your
roots deep into its truths; discover from the Scriptures, particularly Romans
and Galatians, the nuances and implications that surround it that you might be
able to defend it against historical attacks and others that are certain to
come. ¢
The next article in this series is:
"JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH AND ITS HISTORICAL CHALLENGES, Part 3. The
Apostolic Fathers' Problem with Justification by Faith: Mystical Sacraments
that Save, and 2nd-4th Century Perversions." Look for it!
Footnotes:
Ron Merryman served the Lord in Bible colleges for 11 years, 3 of those as Acting President of Western Bible College. He also pastored Holly Hills Bible Church in Denver, Colorado, for 14 years. Ron currently teaches in the G.I.B.S., a ministry of Duluth Bible Church.