Galatians 2:17-21

Last week we talked to the nurse down the hall and learned who are we? We are Jesus’ People and not Brownie Point People. We heard Paul tell us last week that we are justified, not by the stuff we do, but by the stuff Jesus did.  It is not about us. It is about what Jesus did for us on the cross.  It is the faithfulness of Jesus which puts us in him.  Listen to verse 16 again; this time from the King James Version.  It is one of the only translations which, I believe, gets this verse right. 

KJV Galatians 2:16 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.

In contrast to our Brownie point efforts to earn God’s acceptance, we have the faith of Jesus who died on the cross to provide our justification.  When we come to grips with this amazing concept, it changes everything.  It is not what we do, it is what he did. My life suddenly becomes different.  I don’t live right in order to be right, with God.  I allow the faith of Christ on the cross to make me right.  Realizing this amazing concept not only changes everything, it immediately raises a question from every, thinking person.  

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If you are a thinking person the question you might ask goes something like, “Wait a second Tim.  If it is not about what I do and it is all about what Jesus did and I am right with God because of the faith of Jesus, then why shouldn’t I just go do whatever it is I want to do? If there are no laws which keep me from sinning than what does? What keeps me from simply doing whatever I feel like doing?  If what you are saying is true, then I can go have sex with anyone I want, because it is all what Jesus did.  Is that what you are saying?”  I’m glad you, as a thinking person asked, because Paul raised that very question, immediately, in the next verse!  “You’re kidding?”  No, it is the logical question. 

NIV Galatians 2:17 If, while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin?

Once again listen to King James it comes out bolder:

KJV Galatians 2:17 But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin?

That is a more accurate translation.  Is Jesus the minister of sin?  Is Jesus the servant of sin?  Is Jesus the one who helps sin along?  He is ministering to sin.  Is Jesus the deacon - the Greek word is dia,konoj – of sin?  If Jesus did away with any law stopping me from sinning, then Jesus is the deacon of sin; the one who lets me sin, the one who leads me into sin; the one who promotes sin.  If my actions are not what justifies me… then lets party, because Jesus is a party guy!  I use the word “party” in the worst sense. 

Paul has two words for this line of reasoning; “not be.” If he were a teen he might just use one word, “Not!” Paul vehemently rejects this line of reasoning.  “This cannot be right!”  But why?  It does make some sense.  If what I do is not what gets me in with God, then I can have my cake and eat it to.  I like cake metaphors, almost as much as I like car metaphors.  Have you ever thought about this one?  If I have a cupcake, I can have it.  I can hold it and look at it and smell it and show it off. But if I eat it… then I don’t have it any more.  You can’t have your cake and eat it too!

And that is pretty much the argument Paul makes in the next four verses.  Paul shows us why we can’t eat the cake and still have the cake. The next four verses are some of the tightest and most complex verses you are ever going to attempt to get your head around.   I wore out the old brain a couple of times this week working on these four verses.  Let me encourage you to engage the old brain cells and work with me on the reason why we can’t have our cake and eat it to. 

Galatians 2:18-21  If I rebuild what I destroyed, I prove that I am a lawbreaker.  For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!

Wow.  There is an amazing amount of thought in those 4 verses.  In fact you could argue the entire rest of the letter to the Galatians is unpacking these verses.  So, the good news is we don’t have to have it all figured out this morning we have the next couple of months to really explore these concepts.  So, our goal this morning is to simply understand why we can’t eat and have our cake.  

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NIV Galatians 2:18 If I rebuild what I destroyed, I prove that I am a lawbreaker.

Those who came to Antioch and caused Peter to crawdad would have believed Jesus was the Messiah and that they were justified by his faith.  But, but, they would also have added, in order to keep you living right, you need the Law.  Those who came to Antioch wanted both.  They wanted the justification of Jesus and the power of their laws to keep everyone in line.  They wanted Jesus and the wanted their laws. 

But Paul is saying in this verse, you cannot have both; the cake and eat it.  It is an either-or proposition.  The death of Jesus and the Law are designed to do the same thing, make us right with God.  They don’t work, well or at all, together.  Either a person will rely upon the death of Jesus or they will rely upon themselves.  In your heart you cannot be committed to both.  Either you surrender to the faith of Jesus or you attempt to do it on your own.  Cake or eat it, not both.

Paul says, “If after tearing down the walls of legalism, by announcing Jesus, I then go back and rebuild them again to live my life, I am wrong.”   You can’t mix the two.  Either you live by Christ or you live by law.  You have to make a choice you can’t have your cake (law) and eat it to (grace).  You can’t rely on Jesus and then not rely on Jesus.  Jesus is a total package deal. That is verse 18.  But, what about the party thing?  We’re getting there. 

Galatians 2:19   For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 

What was the purpose of the Law of Moses?  The Law was supposed to bring humans to God.  The law was a vehicle with the purpose of transporting us to a relationship with God.  And it did its job and died.  It brought us to an understanding of who God is and then it went away.

The Law of Moses brought us to the cross and died there with Jesus.  The law served its purpose and then ended.  Its purpose was not, then, to regulate our behavior in Christ.  It was to bring us to Christ.  In bringing us to God it taught us how to live for God.  The principles of right and wrong we learn from the Law.  We can go back and see what it is that pleases God.  We can learn from the Ten Commandments that adultery is wrong, and lying is wrong and worshipping God is good and honoring our parents is right.  The law taught and then died.  But the law did that so that we could be alive in God.

Back to the Cake analog.   What is the purpose of a cake?  To eat.  The cake dies to make your mouth happy.  The cake wasn’t intended to last forever it was intended to die so that the one who ate it could live.  The law is the cake. It was intended to teach us how to live in God and then get ate. 

We are getting closer to the party thing.  Law isn’t intended to keep us from partying, but to make us alive in God.  Living in God is how we are to live. “Ah ha!”  Now we are getting somewhere. Keep going. 

Now let’s listen to verse 20 from King James.

KJV Galatians 2:20 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.

Once again we see it is the faithfulness of Jesus in loving me and giving himself for me, that changes everything.  I die. With Christ.  My desires.  My selfishness.  My partying.  My life.  Everything is dead.  All I am is there on the cross with Jesus and dies.  Then Jesus resurrects me.  He fills me with himself.  I still have a flesh life.  Pinch yourself.  You are still flesh.  But that body is alive by the faithfulness of Jesus, who is alive in you.  It is his life in you that controls how you live. 

It is not the external law that is a monitor for your behavior.  It is the internal Jesus which controls our behavior.  It is not you picking it up and being tough and not sinning by your own shear willpower that keeps you from partying.  It is the surrender of your own will to the internal regulation of the faithfulness of Jesus which then keeps you pleasing God. 

It is not the cake being dangled in front of you, saying, “If you don’t behave yourself you can’t have me.”  It is the internal taste of the sweet cake of Jesus on your tongue which dominates your desires.  This is where the cake metaphor really works.  It is the taste of the cake that makes you alive.  It is the taste of Jesus which becomes who we are and fills us with longing to be Jesus.  It is Jesus on the inside, not having the cake on the outside, that becomes our life!

Verse 21, and then I will attempt to put these verses back together. 

Galatians 2:21  I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing! 

It is an either-or proposition.  You cannot have your cake and eat it too.  If the Law worked, if the law could make you righteous, if the law could even keep you from partying, then Jesus did not need to die.  But the Law approach does not work.  It does not make you better. It does not make you whole. It does not make you alive for God. It does not keep you away from sin. The law approach fails. No one was ever able to keep the law, anyway, but Jesus.  So, Jesus did have to die!

And that death is what works for righteousness. It is only through the faithfulness of Jesus that you can be right with God.  Any other approach makes the death of Jesus nothing. There would be no cake at all, if Christ had not died.  There is no righteousness without Jesus and you cannot keep the law to go along with Jesus.  You cannot have your cake (any law system) and eat it to (righteousness through his death)

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Is your brain full?  This is real deep stuff.  Don’t worry.  As I said, the rest of the letter of Galatians expands on last part of chapter two.  We will be coming back again and again as we work on really getting our head around this concept.  For now let’s answer our question.  Why don’t we party?  What keeps us from doing whatever we want?  If Christ’s faithfulness is what makes us right with God and not what we do, then why shouldn’t we party?  Here is the simple answer.  Ready?  Christ lives in you.  Christ lives in you.  Christ lives in you…

 

Los Alamos Church of Christ
February 22, 2009