Thoughts on Galatians 2:15-16

For Bible study, I’m studying the book of Galatians. I’m using two books to help me with this. The first one is a NavPress Lifechange Series study guide and the second is a book that contains the sermons a Messianic Pastor, D. Thomas Lancaster, gave to his congregation. The second book, simply called Galatians, has given me some unexpected insights based on the history and beliefs of the Jewish people Paul was writing to.

One such passage that needed clarification was Galatians 2:15 – 16 which says,

We who are Jews by birth and not ‘Gentile sinners’ know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified. [NIV]

Lancaster says that we need to understand the definitions of three of the terms used in this passage if we truly want to understand what Paul was saying. Paul was not condemning Jews or “Gentile sinners.” He was trying to make a point and in order to understand the point Paul was trying to make we need to understand the definitions of Justification, Works of the Law, and Faith in Jesus Christ. Lancaster says that the following definitions should be used when reading this passage:

·      Justification: A legal verdict of exoneration (the opposite of condemnation) issued by a court of law or by God’s court of law.

·      Works of the law: The commandments of the Torah that identify a person as Jewish.

·      Faith in Jesus Christ: The faithfulness of Jesus Christ.

So we can reread Galatians 2:15 – 16 inserting these new definitions in (indicated by brackets) in the following way:

We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that [whether Jewish or Gentile] a person is not [legally exonerated] by [the commandments of Torah that identify a person as Jewish] but through [the faithfulness of] Jesus Christ, so we [Jewish believers] also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be [legally exonerated] by the [faithfulness of Jesus Christ] and not by [the commandments of the Torah that identify a person as Jewish], because by [the commandments of Torah that identify a person as Jewish] no one will be [legally exonerated].

            To me this says that the Jewish believers (don’t forget that the first believers were all Jewish and many of them followed the commandments of the Torah that identified them as Jewish – including Paul) were trying to force the Gentile believers to follow those same commands even though they were not Jewish. Paul said that was wrong because no one had ever (or would ever) be legally exonerated by the commandments of the Torah that identified a person as Jewish. Notice: Paul does not say people (whether Jewish or Gentile) should NOT follow any of the Torah, but that the Gentile believers should not be forced into following the things in the Torah that were meant to signify and identify the Jewish people as God’s chosen people.

Notice also how Lancaster changes “faith in Christ” to the “faithfulness of Christ.” That’s important in this conversation about how one is legally exonerated in God’s eyes. It has nothing to do with our faith in Christ (which would be some kind of “work”). It is all because of the faithfulness of Jesus Christ apart from anything we do or don’t do, that we are saved.

Lancaster summarizes his view of this passage (where Paul is rebuking Peter) in the following way:

. . . Paul merely asked Peter, “Why would you require the Gentiles to take on the commandments of Torah that define a person as Jewish when even we Jews who keep those commandments know full well that those commandments do not exonerate us.”

This simply means for me as a Gentile that I do not have to follow the part of the law that was meant to identify the Jews (circumcision, dietary laws, etc.) It does not prohibit me from doing so (or for those of Jewish ancestry from doing so). It just means that following those guidelines will not exonerate/justify me or anyone else. It’s all by the faithfulness of Christ. That is a relief to me. I do not, as a Gentile, have to follow the guidelines. It can also be a challenge for those believers of Jewish ancestry to follow those laws that show they are Jewish (as Paul and Peter and many of the Jewish believers did throughout their lives).