Galatians Reading (#5)

Take a few minutes to catch up and pray that God would bless you through the reading of His word.

Read Galatians 2:15-21

[2:15] 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.

Observation:

• How does Paul describe himself in verse 15? What is he by birth? What is he not?
• How is a person justified (v 16)? How are they not justified?
• In what endeavor might someone find Paul and his friends to be sinners (v 17)? Would that make Christ a servant of sin?
• What would it prove if Paul rebuilt what he tore down (v 18)?
• Through what did Paul die to the law (v 19)? What was the result?
• What has happened to Paul (v 20)? 
  • What is the result?
  • How does Paul live now?
  • How does he describe the Son of God in v 20?
• If righteousness came through the law, what would be the result (v 21)?

Interpretation:

• What does Paul mean by “Gentile sinners” in v 15 and “sinners” in v 17? Do you think he is talking about a wicked person, or someone who doesn’t keep the Law and thus seems like a sinner to an observant Jew?
• What does it mean to be “justified”?
• What has Paul torn down (v 18)? What do his critics want him to do with it? How would rebuilding it show Paul to be a transgressor?
• What does it mean to “die to the law”? 
• What does it mean that Paul has been crucified with Christ? 
• How would attaining righteousness through the law make Jesus’ death pointless? 

Application:

• Why do you think people acts like they can earn their right standing with God by keeping his law or doing good works?
  • How are you tempted to live that way?
  • What difference does it make in your daily life that you are 100% accepted and righteous in God’s sight… not by anything you have done, but because you are united to Christ by faith?
• How does/should your life reflect that Christ lives in you? 
• How does reflecting on the fact that Jesus loved you and gave himself for you help you to live by faith in him?

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