to change.
Paul openly admits that the church included false brothers who had come to spy on them so that they would find a way to condemn him and other believers. Yet Paul continued to witness to Jesus Christ. O the heart of a true apostle! Where does one find a person that, far from seeking to please people, actually through faith confronts them? Paul trusted the Lord, even when persecutors surrounded him.
But we wonder, how do we live our faith and help our neighbor? Paul shows us how to do this. He first established the truth of the Gospel and then he reached out to his neighbor. He lived the Gospel and made that most important. Yet in things unimportant, he cooperated and deferred to others. An example of this is when he writes, “Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall” (1 Cor 8:13). There is a great difference between living for propriety and self-advantage or living for the glory of God and the good of human beings. We see how Paul decided about his life and that helps us decide about ours. When he thought the issue was unimportant, he sacrifices everything for the good of his brothers. Yet Paul springs into action when he thinks the issue harms the glory of God, the foundation of the Gospel, and the community of faithful believers. O God! At that time he will not defer or change for anyone.
But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood self-condemned; 12 for until certain people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But after they came, he drew back and kept himself separate for fear of the circumcision faction. 13 And the other Jews joined him in this hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that they were not acting consistently with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?” (Gal 2:11–14)
In this passage, Paul defends the truth of the Gospel by confronting Peter’s treatment of the Gentiles. Righteousness, which is following the will of God, is absolutely necessary. To have righteousness, we must never hide the truth. Peter, the chief among the apostles, along with the other apostles, believed their actions were charitable, yet were hiding from others that they did not follow the law anymore; their injustice would harm the Gentiles. Paul, however, could not bear that by doing this, they betrayed the truth. Paul believed that truth must go together with charity, like sisters go together. The Gospel teaches us that when we live in truth and charity, we seek justice.
The Gospel lives in our hearts and gives us righteousness. Without the Gospel within, we can never advance. When the Gospel shows us the will of God, we are blessed by faith, hope, and love. We live with the gift of these virtues and find spiritual blessing.
For through the law, I died to the law, that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. (Gal 2:19)
Paul had the revelation that the law will not carry us into faith. Because of this, he writes, “I died to the law.” He writes here with great clarity saying he was dead and became a slave to the law. Because of this, he was subject to the violence of the law.
Paul realized that God wants our freedom. We are to enter into a state of perfect freedom without trouble or pain. Jesus Christ says, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light” (Matt 11:30).
To show the relationship between the law and the Gospel freedom, Paul shows how the relationship between the law and the Gospel can be seen in his life. He says in effect, “I was a Pharisee that followed the law with the most care. I was a Grand Zealot for this law. We tried to find deliverance from sin by following the law exactly and hoped that the law would become natural.”
An example of this is found in a person who studies science a long time, possesses it perfectly, and knows it naturally because of previous long hours of work. They do not study to find condemnation but want the freedom of understanding science. But how did they find this freedom? They studied and because of this, they found freedom to understand science.
Another example comes from the study of grammar. The study of grammar is useless if we cannot speak and write well. Grammar helps end ignorance and becomes a state that instructs the others. This becomes then a natural state that is acquired first by long hours of work.
But even after long hours of work and study, the law does not deliver from sins and does not give freedom. Instead, the person finds condemnation.
Jesus Christ fulfilled the law by living it perfectly. He alone lived the law naturally. When we look at him, we see the perfection of the law in a life. He did this so we may receive the promised Spirit and become his adopted children.
Paul says that he rests on this belief, “I died to the law,” not violently by the law, though at times the law allowed killing. Instead, Paul died because of his sin and separation from God. I am dead constrained by the law, though I expected deliverance by following this. Paul writes, “If anyone has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law blameless” (Phil 3:5).
Paul’s revelation showed him all life comes from God. I live with God only that I may live by the Spirit. Through the freedom of Jesus Christ, I do not arrive at a place of self-indulgence and sensuality. Instead, with pain, suffering and work, “I am crucified with Christ Jesus.”
And it is no longer I who live, but it is 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. (Gal 2:20)
What joy we have in this Word! Jesus Christ frees me from the law that made me dead. I live no longer by myself in the law in sensuality, corruption, and propriety. I am dead to the law. I am also dead to the law that defends me following my own inclinations. I do not live the life of propriety that was esteemed by Adam.
Now I live by faith in the Son of God. Jesus Christ lives and works in me. Jesus Christ leads and governs me. His life is my life. His Spirit communicates with me. He fills my soul with His Spirit and life. Therefore I see nothing within or without except Jesus Christ who lives within me.
This makes me dead to the law because inside I have freedom in the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Thus, I am annihilated to all things criminal and proprietary, so that I may find Jesus Christ within me. He takes away my proud exterior of conformity so it is not anymore me that lives, but Jesus Christ living within me. However if I live in the flesh, if I live again in this world with a worldly spirit that separates me from goodness, then I will live in subjection again.
Now I want to live in faith, surrender, and obedience to the Son of God. I love Him so much. I want to yield to His good will in all things to sanctify me and help me grow.
I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing. (Gal 2:21)
If all our growth and sanctification depended on the law, then why do we have a Savior? Paul understands that we need a Savior and tells us of the grace merited by Jesus Christ; also, Paul says, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us” (Ephesians 1:7–8). This abundant redemption is made through Jesus Christ’s death. This rigorous death was essential for the salvation of human beings. The actions of Jesus were sufficient for the redemption of a million worlds, as he willed salvation for our abundant redemption. By his death he destroyed in all of us the life of Adam. Following the law brings us death. If we hope to acquire this perfection through the law, we make the death of Jesus Christ in vain, since he died so that we may die to this law. If we give and attribute all to the law, we receive nothing from
