Shocking Truths from Galatians 2

Warning:  Reading this material may lead to a change in your thinking and your behavior!

Galatians 2 includes the main proposition of Paul which he unfolds in the ret of the book.  The key passage is Galatians 2:15-21.  It may not mean what you thought it did.

The problem in Galatia is that the insistence by some that Gentiles live like Jews is destroying the gospel Paul is preaching.

Gal 2:1-10:  Paul, Peter, James, John, and Barnabas are united in their understanding of the gospel; however, they agree to different fields of work for Peter (Jewish) and Paul (Gentiles).  False brothers have sneaked in the door and are imposing a Jewish flavor of Christianity on Gentiles.  Paul refuses this due to the revelation of the mystery of the gospel which he has been given direct by Christ--that Jews and Gentiles are now one united family with all on equal footing.  He unpacks this mystery in Ephesians.

Galatians 2:11-14:  Paul rebukes Peter because he has walked against His theology for reasons of convenience and expediency.  Peter has come to believe as Paul does due to his vision of the sheets coming down in Acts and his experience with the Gentile Cornelius.  But now Peter is influencing others to separate the family of God into two-- his actions are encouarging the idea that one must follow Jewish ways to be fully Christian.

Galatians 2:15-21:  Paul's main point.

* The failure of many to understand proper biblical teaching on freedom, law, the OT, etc. comes from a misunderstanding of the ways in which Paul uses the term "Law."  In the context of Galatians he is defining law as a Jewish system of living based on the Torah, following the Jewish calendar, adopting even other laws that have been added to God's revelation (i.e. man-made Jewish rules and traditions).

1.  All Christians at that time (whether Jew or Gentile) realized that being declared not guilty before God (Justified) was never based on the works of the law.  In other words, neither the Old Testament nor Jewish life at that time believed in a salvation by works.  The law was given to a people already redeemed, not as a means by which people could be "saved."  This was generally understood then and is generally misunderstood by Christians today.


2.  The idea of doing the law (or good works) in order to be saved is not a Jewish or biblical idea.  It arose as a problem because Jewish Christians were imposing the law and Jewish lifestyle on Gentile Christians.  The Gentile Christians, being confused, then began to dip into the bag of Judaism to try and please God--rather than live according to the freedom they really had which did not require them to be Jewish--adopt all the laws of the Torah, the Jewish calendar, etc.

3.  They and we are declared not guilty through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ.  This is a different reading of Gal 2:16 than in most of our translations which emphasize our exercise of faith.  This translation here regarding the faithfulness of Jesus shifts the focus onto Him and all that He did.  Do I have to follow Jewish law?  No,  Jesus faithfully kept the law--Jesus fulfilled the law.  He did it!  He kept it!  He did what Israel failed to do.  And He has forgiven us (and all OT saints prior to Jesus)  for our failure to keep the law.  Jesus is the Servant of the Lord.  He is Israel.  And so are all His people (those "in Christ.". . . Jew and Gentile.)  This is the blockbuster truth, the mystery, that Paul unfolds in his writings--a teaching  which was opposed both then and now.  Simply put, family membership with God means we are all part of ONE family.  The dividing wall of the Jewish law (requiring Gentiles to adopt a Jewish flavor) has been broken down.  There is great freedom in the family--defined as Israel or the Church.  Call the family what what you will.  Israel and the Church are both clearly the same thing according to Paul.

4.  What about the Jewish law or OT law then?

a.  Jesus fulfilled it by perfectly doing it.
b.  Law led us and leads others to Christ.  The attempt to do "law" on our own leads to bondage, to woe is me, and eventually to repentance and a crying out to God for rescue.
c.  The law of God is now internally in our hearts (Hebrews 10:16) because of the Holy Spirit and is now called the perfect law of liberty (James 1:25).  Christians want to please God and we can do so by the power of the Holy Spirit.  We now "do the law" by the power of the Holy Spirit.
d.  The law as a religious system that is required for salvation has been abolished.  The law as that which is holy, righteous and good is now something we want to do and can do because of the Holy Spirit.
e.  Doing good (or doing law) still applies.  It always has.  If we call Him Lord and do not do what He says we are not part of the Kingdom.  James says we are declared not guilty by works and not by faith alone.  HUHHH?  What?!!!! 
f.  God's law is His will.  Doing it is evidence that we are truly God's people.  We love Him and love people.  Failure to do so means we are not legitimate children-- but fakes.  This holy will of God is not a Jewish set of rules or codes or laws on paper that we impose on others. Rather, the law is holy living rooted in love.  The fruit of the Spirit in Gal 5 is nothing less than Spirit-filled law keeping.
g.  If law does not apply, let's trash the ten commandments and the Sermon on the Mount.  One key to understanding these things is the Holy Spirit and what He does with the law--things not understood or taught in the church very well perhaps. Another key is that we are declared not guilty due to the faithfulness of Jesus who kept the law (often totally missed in Galatians 2:16 and elsewhere)

Practical Ramifications and summary:

1.  We do not impose on other members of God's family a set of external rules by which they prove to us that they belong in the family:  don't do this, can't do that, do this, gotta do that.

2.  In our mission work and evangelism we don't require others to adopt our practices in order to be fully Christian.  For instance, overseas we see lots of legalistic practices (no drinking, no pants for women, etc.) imported from Western legalistic Christianity.  Or we want their churches to practice Christianity according to the models we have adopted.

3.  It is simply not true that the law is bad or that the OT taught a salvation by works.  Nor did Jews ever teach an idea of being rescued by doing good works.  Legalism is a human invention that results when we impose on others an external way of displaying Christianity that God doesn't require.

4.  Keeping the law still applies--not the system of law-keeping and regs as found among first century Jews nor a fast set of rules on paper.  No, the perfect law of freedom as that Holy will of God, rooted in love, framed in the Ten Commandments, summed up as loving God and loving our neighbor.  We want to keep it because the Holy Spirit has put in in our hearts now and given us the power to please God by doing good works (which we were rescued to do).

5.  Galatians does not teach that freedom comes from abolishing the law.  It teaches that an external system of law-keeping is not required to prove legitimate family membership.  Law (doing good) still applies--people freed through Jesus and filled with the Holy Spirit live a life of faith working through love (Gal 5:6)

* The failure of many to understand proper biblical teaching on freedom, law, the OT, etc. comes from a misunderstanding of the ways in which Paul uses the term "Law."  In the context of Galatians he is defining law as a Jewish system of living based on the Torah, following the Jewish calendar, adopting even other laws that have been added to God's revelation (i.e. man-made Jewish rules and traditions).