Galatians 2:17-3:5
Galatians 2:17 But if while seeking to be justified in Christ we ourselves have also been found to be sinners, is Christ then one who encourages sin? Absolutely not! NET
Paul is anticipating an objection to be raised by the false teachers stating that our behavior no longer matters now that we are under grace. In some respects, this is understandable . Prior to meeting the group, our favorite rabbi thought that Christians didn’t care about the law and in fact, have repudiated the law because we have substituted grace for law. The truth is that morality is the same for Christians and Jews.
1John 1:8 If we should say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we should confess our sins, He is faithful and just, that He may forgive us our sins and might cleanse us from all unrighteousness…2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you might not sin. And if anyone should sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous One. 2 And He is the propitiation for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world. BLB
There are some commentators that think John was trying to correct an error arising in the church that believed that now that we are saved, we can do anything we want. This may or may not be the case but John is making sure that we understand that we are all still sinners.
Galatians 2:18 But if I build up again those things I once destroyed, I demonstrate that I am one who breaks God’s law. 19For through the law I died to the law so that I may live to God. NET
Paul is trying to destroy righteousness by works so if he were to go back to the law, he will be turning away from grace.
Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside God’s grace, because if righteousness could come through the law, then Christ died for nothing! NET
Paul is describing our lives after justification as it isn’t just Christ who has died but us as well. The regeneration we experience from this death causes a change in the way we live. Not that we are able to follow all the rules now that we have been saved but rather it is a matter of process. In many respects it is like tending a garden as no matter how well you clean out the weeds or water the plants, a few days later the garden will require more water and additional weed removal. One way Paul describes this (see Colossians 3:5 and Romans 8:13) is mortification whereby we are putting to death the deeds of the body. Again, this doesn’t happen immediately or even overnight but takes time. Protestants are reluctant to talk about mortification as if you aren’t careful, it begins to sound like works based righteousness.
Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so also death was passed on to all men, because all sinned. …15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many!…20 The law came in so that the trespass would increase; but where sin increased, grace increased all the more, BSB
There are two humanities within us and here Paul contrasts who we are in Adam and who were are in Christ. The nature of Christian life is that the old man (Adam) must die in order that Christ may live in us. The problem, as Karl Barth quips is that although Adam has been drowned in the waters of baptism, it turns out he is a pretty good swimmer.
Romans 6:1 What then shall we say? Shall we continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 Certainly not! How can we who died to sin live in it any longer? 3 Or aren’t you aware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 We therefore were buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may walk in newness of life……15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law, but under grace? Certainly not! 16 Do you not know that when you offer yourselves as obedient slaves, you are slaves to the one you obey, whether you are slaves to sin leading to death, or to obedience leading to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you once were slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were committed. 18You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to escalating wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. 20 For when you were slaves to sin, you were free of obligation to righteousness. 21 What fruit did you reap at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? The outcome of those things is death. 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the fruit you reap leads to holiness, and the outcome is eternal life. BSB
This is the argument posed in Galatians that has now grown up and become more fully developed in Paul’s later writings. Christian life is a process of rooting out things that are inconsistent with our new life. The content (or letter) of the Law hasn’t changed but rather the motivation on our part.
Luther didn’t worry as much about what came after justification. Calvin went further describing the Three Fold Function of the Law. First, it is a reflection of who God is. This expression of God then shows us to be sinners that come up short. Second, we hold up the moral content of the law to the world and see that it too comes up short. Here the law becomes a restraint on evil, typically through government rule-making and enforcement. Finally, after we become Christians, the law will guide us in our new life and our sanctification in that new life. Think of this third function as supporting us in the same way the support provided by a garden trestle helps plants grow.
Galatians 3:1You foolish Galatians! Who has cast a spell on you? Before your eyes Jesus Christ was vividly portrayed as crucified! 2 The only thing I want to learn from you is this: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law or by believing what you heard? 3 Are you so foolish? Although you began with the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by human effort? 4 Have you suffered so many things for nothing? – if indeed it was for nothing. 5 Does God then give you the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law or by your believing what you heard? NET
This is a continuation of the argument from chapter two although Paul switches from Christ to the Spirit. (We received the Spirit as a conversion event – see Acts 2:38 and John 14-15). When Paul was with them, he preached Christ crucified (see 1Corinthians 1-4) and told them what it means. Then along comes someone else and now the people have taken their eyes off Christ.
Paul has told them about his experience so now he turns the tables and is asking the Galatians about their experience. In verse two, for example, how did justification occur? In verse three, how does sanctification occur? It is incomprehensible to Paul as to why you would be subjecting yourself to something that isn’t true.