Galatians 2:11-21--Justified by Faith

Paul Opposes Peter​
11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. 13 And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

Justified by Faith

15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

17 But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18 For if I rebuild what I tore down, 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. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

I'm going to do my best to talk about these two passages together and make the connection for you, though verses 11-14 really serve as a "bridge" from Galatians 1:1-2:10 to Galatians 2:15-5:25 (maybe even to the end of the book which is Galatians 6:18).  Remember to this point that Paul has argued that he too is an apostle, that he has been preaching the correct gospel that He received from God, that there is no other gospel, that he's not out for the approval of men, and more specifically the Judaisers, the church in Jerusalem that has been influenced by the Judaisers, or the apostles themselves.  We do see that after quite a while Paul did go to Jerusalem to help straighten some things out, but not with the intent learning something new that God hadn't taught him or adding anything to his faith, rather he wanted to show and tell what the apostles should have already known--that the Gentiles who did not convert to Judaism first, had never been circumcised and didn't keep the traditions of the Mosaic Law had also been saved and received the Holy Spirit (remember that Titus was with him, probably for this very reason).

All of this seems to have led up to this point where Paul now exercises his apostolic authority to rebuke and correct Peter (called Cephas here).  Peter was being hypocritical and acting like he welcomed the Gentile believers while none of of the Judaisers were around, but as soon as some of them from that "political party" (who seem to be associated with James, the brother of Jesus by what Paul said here) showed up in Antioch, Peter started to act like a different person that would only hang out with the Jews and broke fellowship with the Gentile believers out of fears of the political repercussions and led others that worked closely with Paul, like Barnabas, astray in doing so..

Paul quickly evaluated the situation and saw that their actions were not in line with the true gospel and rebuked these leaders of the Church openly (he didn't make an anonymous complaint) and publicly (he did it in view of everyone else).  He said to Peter, "If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”  We're going to have to read the rest of the book to understand what Paul means by "live like a Gentile" and "live like a Jew"--that's why this passage is kind of a hinge-point for the rest of the book.  But, we can gather that Peter seemed to take liberties and freedoms for himself that he was unwilling to say that others should also have and he was making the Gentiles feel constrained by the Law, even though Peter didn't live under those constraints.

So, that leads us into our first topic of what the "real gospel" is and how telling people they have to "live like a Jew" to be saved is a "false gospel."  Namely, the idea that any of us as Christians are justified (made righteous) by our own works (either in part or in whole).  The question might be this, "Is the righteousness of Christ something that can be added to or does it stand alone as the thing that makes us acceptable in the sight of God?"  Paul is going to ague that our "good works" have never been "good enough" and all of us in all places at all times (even the Old Testament saints) have always been saved by faith alone, through grace alone, in Christ alone (though they may not have known the name of Christ in the Old Testament we see that they believed that He had to come and the work that He had to do and believed that He was coming to do that work for them and all of God's people).

So, Paul says that he too is Jewish by birth and not a Gentile "sinner" (even though he is also a Roman citizen as we'll see in Acts).  Yet, even the Jews should understand that a person is not declared righteous before God by their adherence to the Law, but through the work of Jesus Christ--for if the Law had been sufficient to make a man righteous then Christ died in vain.  It was exactly for this reason that Christ needed to come and die, for a better covenant was needed, one that was not a covenant of works, but a covenant of grace in which justification was given to those who didn't deserve it and never earned it--both Jew and Gentile alike.  We see this exact argument laid out in much greater detail in the first half of the book of Romans that being Jewish by birth gives no advantage in terms of how a person must be saved--rather the Law just showed the Jews their need for salvation because the more they knew of God and His commandments, the more they realized they fell short of His nature and were rebellious against His commandments.  The more Law we know, the guiltier we are when we stand before God, but all men, both Jew and Gentile, stand condemned for the Law that they do know and that they break regularly not just on an accidental basis, but on a willful basis when we exercise the desires of our flesh which are in opposition to the desires of the Spirit of God.

If we were stuck with trying to be justified by the Law, we would all still be dead in our trespasses and sins and no one--no, not even one (with the exception of Jesus)--would be found righteous.  So what then if we say that we have been saved by Christ, but our identity does not change and we still remain "carnal" and controlled by the flesh?  While it may not be abundantly clear that is the next argument that Paul makes, it definitely jumps off the page at you when you read this along with the rest of the book of Galatians, namely that a faith that doesn't change you is not a saving faith (we'll see this mostly in Galatians 5 as one of the last things that Paul wants to say to these churches before closing the letter).  But, I thought Paul just said we weren't justified by our works, yet he just then said that if our works don't change we aren't justified?  Which is it?

Paul is not arguing the self-righteousness of the Pharisees and the "Jews" of cleaning yourself up on the outside only to leave the inside full of dirt, death, and decay.  Jesus addressed this in Matthew 23 in the Seven Woes, specifically verses 25-28:

 25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.  (Mathew 23:25-28, ESV)

James 2:14-26
English Standard Version
Faith Without Works Is Dead
14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

​18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! 20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

So, are Paul, James, and Jesus in disagreement or agreement?  Here's what they are all saying--the Spirit of God must change a man from the inside-out.  When that happens, the "old man" is crucified with Christ and the "new creation" that God makes you lives in and through the power of the Holy Spirit.  As such, you will take on the nature and character of God as He lives in you, will learn to love His law (though it will have a different kind of place in your life and you will not be a slave to it), and you will be obedient to the commands of God.  You have a change in behavior because you have a change in identity and nature.  If you try to force that change from the outside-in by acting in a way that is not consistent with what's in your heart, that's a silly as expecting to go to thorn bush and expecting to pick figs from it (see Matthew 7).  A "tree" will always bear "fruit" that is consistent it's "root."  If you want to change the fruit, you need to change the root.​

Matthew 7:15-20
English Standard Version
A Tree and Its Fruit
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

Galatians 5:16-24
​English Standard Version
Keep in Step with the Spirit
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Paul argues that if I claim to be in Christ and continue to live in sin, I prove to everyone that I had no change in nature and am not really saved.  That's exactly what Jesus was saying in Matthew 7, it's what James was saying in James 2, it's what Paul is saying here in Galatians 2, and it's also what Paul argued all throughout the book of Romans and what all the other authors of both the Old Testament and New Testament authored by the work of the Holy Spirit--just many people missed it.

God must do His work to make all things new.  The "old man" trying to do the "new works" to be pleasing to God is fruitless.  God will not be impressed by that because "Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart (I Samuel 16:7).

Also David cried out in Psalm 51, "Create in me a clean heart, O, God."  The gospel from the very beginning has been a message of putting our old nature to death and giving us a new heart.  Nowhere else in the Old Testament is this probably more clear than in Ezekiel 36 (staring in verse 22) and Jeremiah 31 (starting in verse 31).  God brings about the change in heart and puts His Spirit within us and in that day He changes are nature and desires which changes our actions and He will at the same time pour out His blessings upon us (His grace and mercy) so that His name will be both vindicated and exalted among the nations.  It is not (and never has been) a covenant of works.  The commandments of the Law were to to teach us more about the nature of God that we could never measure up to and were to be about making us a people that were separate from the other nations that served other false gods and in so doing worshiped their carnal nature--they made gods that permitted them to act as god as was the first temptation in the Garden of Eden when the tempter said, "You shall be like god, knowing good and evil."

We can only have one of two natures, and it will be obvious which nature we have by what is reigning and in control of our life--though sometimes that's not always apparent from the outside if we try the "fake it 'til you make it" mentality.  Everyone here agrees that won't work--you will never "make it" on your own without God changing you through the power of the gospel.

Again, Paul hits a home run with the final point.  If good works could in any way justify you, then there is no reason for the cross because we would have been able to have been saved by the Law, but because Jesus needed to come and die on the cross for the salvation of the whole world (both Jew and Gentile), we know that adherence to the Law is not enough to save anyone and it should not be tacked onto or added onto the gospel as something that helps put us in right standing with God in any way.  If we can earn our righteousness in any way, then we can also lose it, but that's not the gospel that Jesus spoke of when He said that He would keep all those who belonged to Him eternally secure and that He would lose none of them.