Justified through faith in Jesus Christ

Text: Galatians 2:11-21

I. HOW CAN GOD LOVE JUSTICE AND JUSTIFY THE UNJUST? (Psalm 130:3; Romans 3:26)

A. Some people say that God justifies sinners by deemphasizing God’s holiness, justice and law (cf. Q.4 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism).

1. The Judaizers and Pharisees had a low view of God’s holiness and justice and therefore a low view of His law (cf. Romans 2:25; Galatians 6:13).

2. One of the striking things about Jesus was the high standard He placed on the Law of God.

a. “unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:17-20; cf. Luke 16:17).

b. “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!... you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness” (Matthew 23:23).

“The Judaism of the Pauline period does not seem to have been characterized by a profound sense of sin. And the reason is not far to seek. The legalism of the Pharisees, with its regulation of the minute details of life, was not really making the Law too hard to keep; it was really making it too easy. Jesus said to His disciples, “Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven”…. A low view of law leads to legalism in religion; a high view of law makes a man a seeker after grace.” (J. Gresham Machen, The Origin of Paul’s Religion, p. 179).

c. Legalism makes the permissiveness of the law more permissive than it was intended to be (Matthew 5:21-27,31-32; 19:3-9).

B. Some people say that God justifies us by deemphasizing or denying sin (cf. 1 John 1:8; 3:3-6).

1. Sin involves our heart, thoughts, words, feelings and deeds.

2. Sin consists of two things (see Questions 91-154 of the Westminster Larger Catechism):

a. sin of omission – not being or doing what God requires

b. sin of commission – doing what God forbids

C. The only way we can stand before God is through faith in Jesus (Gal.2:16).

“It turns out, then, that Jesus, who like the OT prophets demanded perfection (Mt.5:48), would have been critical of the Pharisees, not because they obeyed the Torah too strictly, but because they interpreted it too loosely. This is clearly and precisely the point of Mark 7:1-13, generally recognized as a key passage for understanding the conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees…Legalism, theologically understood, can manifest itself in a variety of ways. Whether or not the Pharisees explicitly taught a merit system…we must recognize that Jesus is never represented in the Gospels as criticizing them for believing that they could atone for their own sins. He does indeed condemn them for their legalism - but a legalism that finds expression in a somewhat different form, namely, through the relaxation of God’s standards” (Moisevs Silva, “Historical Reconstruction in NT Criticism” in Hermeneutics, Authority and Canon edited by D.A. Carson and John D. Woodbridge p.119).

II. CHRIST’S DEATH ON THE CROSS ESTABLISHED THE BASIS FOR OUR FORGIVENESS. JESUS’ LIFE AND RESURRECTION IS THE BASIS FOR OUR RIGHTOUESNESS. (cf. Isa.45:24; Jer.23:6; 33:16; Daniel 9:24; Romans 3:22; 1 Cor 1:30)

A. Jesus became like us so that:

1. He could die for our sins[1] and

2. He could keep the law and rise again for our righteousness (Galatians 2:16; 2:20; 4:4-5)[2].

B. According to the Law:

1. Jesus died. Not for His sins but for ours (cf. Gal.2:21).

2. Jesus rose again from the dead because God promised life for those who keep the Law. (Leviticus 18:5; Romans 4:25; 5:18-19; 10:5; Gal.3:21)

“As long as he [Jesus] remained in a state of death, the righteous character of his work, the efficacy of his obedience unto death remained in question, in fact, was implicitly denied. Consequently, the eradication of death in his resurrection is nothing less that the removal of the verdict of condemnation and the effective affirmation of his (adamic) righteousness. He resurrected state is the reward and seal which testifies perpetually to his perfect obedience” (Gaffin, Resurrection and Redemption p.122).

C. Justification is not only God’s declaration that we are innocent. Justification is also God’s acceptance of us as if we had kept the Law (Galatians 2:16; Romans 5:17-19).

Q.33 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism

What is justification?

Justification is an act of God’ s free grace, wherein he pardoneth all our sins, (Rom. 3:24–25, Rom. 4:6–8) and accepteth us as righteous in his sight, (2 Cor. 5:19,21) only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, (Rom. 5:17–19) and received by faith alone. (Gal. 2:16, Phil. 3:9)

D. The Scriptures speak of justification by using the metaphor of clothing (Zechariah 3:1-5).

1. God removes our filthy and sin stained rags which represents forgiveness (Genesis 3:7; Isaiah 64:6; Matthew 27:35).

2. God clothes us with salvation which represents the righteousness of Jesus Christ (Gen.3:21; Isaiah 52:1; 61:10; Revelation 1:13).

“I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.” (Isaiah 61:10)

E. When a person is saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone:

1. the law does not change, God’s holiness does not change, God’s justice does not change.

2. our relationship to God changes because

a. God accepts us as righteous in His sight.

b. we are no longer under the law because Jesus was born under the Law (Rom.6:14–15; Gal.4:5; 5:18).

i. We are no longer under the curse of the Law (Gal.3:10)

ii. We are no longer under sin (Gal.3:22)

iii. We are no longer under the law (Gal.3:23)

iv. We are no longer under guardians (Gal.4:2)

v. We are no longer held in bondage under the elemental things of the world (Gal.4:3)

F. The Judaizers did not want to be under the penalty and condemnation of the Law. Rather they wanted to be under the Law with respect to their (outward) obedience.

1. The Judaizers wanted their good works to count for their righteousness (Galatians 2:16; 3:23; 4:21. cf. Romans 3:19; 6:14-15; 1 Cor.9:21; Gal.5:18).

2. To go back to our works as a means of justification is a return to slavery, and to be cut off from Christ (see Galatians 5:1-4).

III. WE KNOW THAT JUSTIFICATION IS BY FAITH ALONE BECAUSE WE HAVE NO REASON TO BOAST IN OURSELVES.

A. The Judaizers were boasting in their circumcised foreskins (Galatians 6:13; cf. Romans 3:27-4:5)!

B. Paul emphatically declares that his only boast is in the cross of Jesus Christ! This is another way of saying that we are justified by faith and not by works.

“The justice or righteousnesse of God was never so fully declared as in Christ.” (Joseph Caryl [1602-1673])