Day 259

Isaiah 22:1–24:23; Galatians 2:17–3:9; Psalm 60:1-12; Proverbs 23:15-16

TODAY’S READING FROM Galatians brought us back to some of the themes we explored during our journey through Romans. But now that we’re familiar with the struggle in the early church, we can see clearly why Paul was so hated by the religious Jews and why this even spilled over into conflict between Jewish and Gentile believers in Jesus —the reason for this letter.

Paul spoke some oft-quoted words today: “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). This well-known verse declares a reality, and as believers, we want to hold on to that reality. But what was the context for Paul making such an audacious statement? It was Paul’s dismantling of the Mosaic law as a means to be justified before God —the very thing that had inflamed so many against him.

His argument was that the law revealed a person’s failures and thereby condemned them. In other words, if the law details the requirements for being right with God, then no one could ever be right with God, because no one had ever been able to obey it fully —except Jesus.

For Paul, the only response was to die to the law, so that he could actually live for God. This was accomplished by completely releasing who he was without Christ and surrendering to Him by faith (Galatians 2:19-21).

This was an extremely bold and controversial position for a Jewish person who had been trained as a Pharisee in Jerusalem and had zealously defended the Mosaic law. Paul was completely subverting a belief system and suggesting that it had been replaced by a new covenant found only in Jesus —a covenant of grace and faith rather than adherence to a set of rules and regulations.

This utterly unnerved Jewish people. Religious Jews wanted to assassinate Paul as an apostate heretic. Jewish believers in Jesus had a difficult time wrapping their minds around what life might even look like without the law. But Paul believed that Jesus had revealed this truth to him personally, so he wouldn’t relent. God had done too many things to reveal this truth, and too many Gentiles were receiving the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives (with no prior knowledge of the law) for Paul to think the law had anything to do with it.

“Let me ask you this one question,” Paul said to the struggling Galatians. “Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ” (Galatians 3:2).

Paul’s entire argument and theological position hinged on this. It sent him back to the origination of the Jewish people with Abraham —and not Moses. This was a theological dilemma for those arguing against Paul, in favor of the law.

Abraham did not have any law that he was supposed to follow in order to be made right with God. Rather, Abraham’s faith in God —and God’s sovereign grace —made him righteous. Therefore, in Paul’s view, being made righteous through faith preceded the law and was always the point.

For Paul, the religious leaders had transformed the covenantal relationship God offered into a set of rules that governed and controlled the people. Since everything boiled down to obedience to the law, there was no freedom to be in a relationship with God; the law was a constant and condemning reminder that they could never be truly righteous.

We have much ground to cover in Galatians. But since we’ve had the chance to explore Paul’s letter to the Romans, we have a wonderful opportunity to reengage with the fundamental doctrines of our faith, as well as the back story and tensions that existed, as we continue to ponder the implications of Paul’s letter to the Galatians.

MEDITATION:

My child, if your heart is wise, my own heart will rejoice! Everything in me will celebrate when you speak what is right.