Footsteps #40

Read Gal.2:15–3:29.

We are about to reflect on one of the most sublime and succinct presentations of the gospel to be found anywhere in the NT. The doctrine of justification by faith in Christ alone is the hub of NT Christianity!  

What Paul said in his confrontation with Peter is probably indicated by the proximity of the two passages in Chapter 2. The second half of chapter 2 contains some of the most compressed wording in the NT, it is extremely significant, because it introduces us for the first time to several words and phrases that are foundational both to understanding the gospel and to the rest of Paul’s letter to the Galatians. These keywords include justification, righteousness, works of law, belief, and not only faith but the faith of Jesus. 

These words need to be understood in their context. The Jews enjoyed the covenant relationship with God and, as the elect, had been entrusted with His law. While Paul states that Gentiles were obviously sinners and outside the covenant relationship with God, in v16 he warns the Jewish Christians that their spiritual privileges do not make them any more acceptable to God, because no one is justified by “works of the law.” 

The verb to justify is a key term for Paul. Of the thirty-nine times it occurs in the NT, twenty-seven are in Paul’s letters. He uses it eight times in Galatians, including four references in vs16&17. Justification is a legal term, used in courts of law. It deals with the verdict a judge pronounces when a person is declared innocent of the charges brought against him or her. It is the opposite of condemnation. Additionally, because the words just and righteous come from the same Greek word, for a person “to be justified” means that the person also is counted as “righteous.” Thus, justification involves more than simply pardon or forgiveness; it is the positive declaration that a person IS righteous.  

Justification was also relational, it revolved around their relationship with God and His covenant. To be “justified” also meant that a person was counted as a faithful member of God’s covenantal community, the family of Abraham.