Galatians 2:17-19 17 But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, while we ourselves were also found to be sinners, then is Christ a minister of sin? Certainly not! 18 For if I build again 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.
In v. 17, Paul asks a rhetorical question expressed as a condition and provides a very strong answer to it. The meaning of this verse is difficult to determine. The question focuses upon the possible contradiction between being justified in Christ and being a sinner. Sin is not compatible with being justified in Christ. When God justifies us through Christ, we are indeed righteous. There is no place for sin. In the seeking to be justified in our new faith in Jesus Christ, we come to realize that we are sinners. Those Jews who seek to be justified by their own efforts may think that they are not sinners and that they are righteous before God because of their piety.
The apodosis of this conditional sentence could be a logical conclusion to the protasis. This is a false conclusion, but a person might think that if we realize we are sinners, then how do we come to be sinful? It is through the revelation of the truth through Jesus. However, Jesus is not the problem; our sinful hearts are the problem. The law aggravates the problem by showing sin to be what it is. We are revealed as sinful. Our efforts to be righteous only show this self-centered, misguided effort to obey the law. This is a powerful logical and theological case against legalism.
The building illustration in v. 18 helps prove Paul’s negative response to the false logical of the first part of v. 17. This verse is also a conditional sentence. Paul is little by little dismantling the position of legalistic Jewish Christians. This verse applies to the hypocritical Christians in Antioch, such as Peter. By returning to the Jewish way of life, these people prove that they did not really accept the freedom that is found in Jesus Christ. If they did believe this, they were certainly not living it out. They cannot say one thing and turn around and do the other.
The law is the means of recognizing that we are sinners in need of forgiveness. It is through the law that we are called to account and recognize our utter dependence upon God. Dying to the law requires setting aside our own efforts to be righteous by “works of the law” or human effort. It is releasing the tight grip we have on our salvation and righteous efforts and finding our spiritual peace and freedom in Jesus Christ. The only way to find life and to live to God and for God’s purposes and will is to put the old self on the cross.
For Jews, this would require realizing that righteous works and seeking to be good enough before God by obedience to the law, regulations, and traditions will not be sufficient and only ends in more bondage and struggle. For Gentiles, this would require realizing that they can never be good enough to heaven; eternal life is not a matter of weighing good deeds and bad deeds and hoping the scale tips towards the good. Both approaches are based on human effort, and both are bound to fail. There is only one way to freedom and eternal life: through the grace offered in Jesus Christ.
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