Faith Brings Righteousness

Galatians 2:17-3:9 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin? May it never be! ¹⁸ For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, 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; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. ²¹ I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”

Faith Brings Righteousness

3 You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? ² This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? ³ Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? ⁴ Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? ⁵ So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?

⁶ Even so Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. ⁷ Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. ⁸ The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the nations will be blessed in you.” ⁹ So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.

Today’s text begins:  But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin? May it never be! For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”    Paul says: If righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.  The Old Testament provides the evidence that righteousness could not come from the Law. Over and over, for thousands of years the nation of Israel repeated the same pattern, seeking and following the Lord for a time, then falling away. The Law made them aware of sin, but it could not change their hearts. Romans 5:8 says:  God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  There are many who believe or at least act as though they believe that because of the cross; because Jesus died for sin, once for all, sin no longer matters. They believe that because of grace, even the sin they choose is forgiven, or they believe that because of the cross sin actually is no longer sinful.  Paul also says:   If, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin? May it never be! For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, I prove myself to be a transgressor.    If we continue in sin, then for us, Jesus also died needlessly. Jesus did not suffer the violence and agony of the cross to justify sin, but rather to redeem and restore sinners. He does not make sin righteousness, but rather gives us the righteousness of Christ; that we might live free from sin. In John 8:11, to the woman caught in adultery Jesus said:  "I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more."  In John 5:14, to the lame man He healed at the pool of Bethesda, Jesus said:  “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”  From the very beginning of His minstry, Jesus said: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matthew 4:17)  In Luke 5:32 Jesus says:  "I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance."   To repent is more than to be aware of sin. It is more even than to confess that we have sinned. Repentance goes beyond even sorrow for sin. It is a turning from sin. It is changing the way we think and act.  2 Corinthians 5:17 says:  If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.   We cannot claim to be in Christ and choose to continue in the very things He suffered and died to redeem us from. If we choose sin, we make Christ’s death meaningless for us. In Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus says:  “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’  And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’”  In Matthew 5:17-20 Jesus says:   “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”   Our righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees because theirs was through the Law and ours, if we repent of our sins, is in Christ.

Today’s text says:  Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.  Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham.  The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the nations will be blessed in you.”  So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.  In John 3:16 Jesus says:  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”  It is through faith, believing in Jesus, that we are saved. Ephesians 2:8-9 says:  By grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;  not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.  Verse 10 continues saying:  We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.  The good works are not only the works of service to others, but they are the works of righteousness in Christ. That’s what God intended for us from the beginning, when in the garden, in Genesis 1:26 He said: “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”  1 John 1:5 says:  God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.  We too then, in Christ are called to be His light and His righteousness. In Matthew 5:14-16 Jesus says:   “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit for the redeeming and restoring, recreative power of the cross. May I walk in Your righteousness and light. Amen.