Bracketing—Assignment 10
Galatians 2:15-21
What makes Christ's death meaningless?
#Justification
Published December 10th, 2018
Main point summary
Discourse**
Notes**
notes
Main point summary
Justification is by faith in Christ alone, anything else makes Christ death meaningless!
Discourse**
editing
NT
Galatians 2:15-21
esv
mine
We ourselves are Jews by birth
Though we are descended from Abraham, and are those people to whom God gave the law and covenents,
and not m Gentile sinners;
rather than being of the various pagan nations in the world who are without the law and covenants of God;
negativepositive
yet we know that n a person is not justified 1 by works of the law
yet we know that mere obedience or seeming obedience to the external form of the law could not make us righteous before God,
o but through faith in Jesus Christ,
but only through trusting in Jesus Christ.
concessive
so we also have believed in Christ Jesus,
Therefore, we who are Jews by birth ( and not part of the "circumcison party") have also put our trust in Christ Jesus
in order to be justified by faith in Christ
with the purpose of being counted righteous through faith
and not by works of the law,
and NOT by works done according to the law,
actionpurpose
p because by works of the law no one will be justified.
because works of the law cannot commend anyone to God as righteous!
ground
inference
But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ,
Now, if by seeking to be found righteous in Christ,
we too were found q to be sinners,
I'm considered a sinner for letting go of the dietary restrictions and other external restrictions or rituals
actionmanner
is Christ then a servant of sin?
then Christ also must be a promoter of sin, yes?
conditional
Certainly not!
ABSOLUTLEY NOT!
questionanswer
progression
For if I rebuild what I tore down,
If I re-establish the law as a means of righteousness,
I prove myself to be a transgressor.
then I only prove myself to be a transgressor not Christ.
For through the law
The demands of the law required my death as a violator,
I r died to the law,
so I was put to death
so that I might s live to God.
so that I might live to God in a new way.
I have been t crucified with Christ.
What I mean is that I was united with Jesus Christ in his death in which He bore my sin and the just demands of the law.
It is no longer I who live,
as a result it is not I who live
but Christ who lives u in me.
but rather Christ that lives in me.
actionresult
And the life I now live in the flesh
This life I continue to live in my body,
I live by faith in the Son of God,
I live by trusting in the provision of Jesus Christ
v who loved me
who loved me
and w gave himself for me.
and died on my behalf.
series
ideaexplanation
I do not nullify the grace of God,
Therefore I will not make God's grace of no effect
for x if righteousness 1 were through the law,
because if I could be found righteous by keeping the law,
y then Christ died for no purpose.
Christ would not have needed to die!
discourse
Notes**
I thank God for leading me to Biblearc.com. It has been a tremendous blessing to have taken this course. One of the greatest benefits that I've received is gaining an ability to humbly ask questions of the text in search of the gold that's found in understanding the logical relationships of the proportions. So, it's very fitting that this last assignment has provided many questions. The most difficult part of this passage for me to understand was vs. 17. I considered a couple things: What were the assumptions of those who viewed the Law as a system which provided a sufficient righteousness to be saved? How did there understanding of sin color their understanding of the law? I think Paul's thinking was something like this: If you say "By seeking to be found righteous simply on the basis of faith, and therefore letting go of the external form of the law, you are a sinner!" Then I ask you this: Is Christ then, who taught that all food is indeed clean, and also that what defiles a person is his heart, is he then promoting sin? Of course not. Paul's point is that simply put, To add works of the law to Christ's death as a means of being found righteous before God is to make Christ's death worthless. Therefore to receive justification on the basis of faith in Christ magnifies God's provision and exalts Christ!
Comments
Disclaimer: The opinions and conclusions expressed on this page are those of the author and may or may not accord with the positions of Biblearc or Bethlehem College & Seminary.