Galatians 2:15-16: Justified through Faith Alone

Galatians 2:15-16: Justified through Faith Alone

We’ve been working our way passage by passage through Paul’s letter to the Galatians, and today the next passage we come to is Galatians 2:15-16. It says,

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. 

May God bless the reading of his Word.

Let’s pray: Father, we pray according to Isaiah 55 that as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so would your word be this morning—that it would not return to you empty but would accomplish that which you purpose and succeed in the thing for which you send it. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.There are times when certain problems that we’re having end up being mere symptoms of a much deeper problem. For example, let’s say someone starts experiencing a variety of physical symptoms that are rather mysterious. And since they’re in quite a bit of discomfort, the person makes an appointment to see their doctor, hoping to receive advice or even a prescription that will relieve their discomfort. Yet, after running all of the necessary tests, their doctor sits the person down and informs them that they have cancer—and that the cancer is unfortunately at a very advanced stage. In that moment, that person’s world is suddenly turned upside down. They originally went to see their doctor thinking they had one set of problems, only to discover that they actually had a much deeper and more serious problem.  

Similarly, I’d imagine the average person today is very conscious of certain problems that they’re facing. For example, if I surveyed a group of people at random and asked them to identify the top 3 problems in their lives, I’m pretty sure they’d be able to list off at least 3 things without much difficulty. They’d probably mention things like financial challenges, marital struggles, health issues, dissatisfaction with their job, stress, anxiety, loneliness, relational conflict, difficulties with their kids, or maybe burnout. These are the kinds of problems that people are often very conscious of—and for good reason, because all of these things are very genuine and legitimate difficulties. 

Yet, as challenging as many of these things can be, the Bible tells us that we actually have a problem that’s much deeper and more serious than any of the things I’ve listed. Even though most people think their biggest problems are the kinds of things I’ve just mentioned, those problems actually pale in comparison to another problem that’s of an infinitely greater magnitude. That problem, according to the Bible, is that we’re in a state of sinful rebellion against a holy God and are therefore alienated from God and under his judgment. That’s the greatest and most perplexing and most consequential problem we face. And we all face it. 

So, the central question of the Bible is, “How can we as sinful people be made right with a holy God?” That’s the question the entire Bible was written to answer. “How can we as sinful people be made right with a holy God?” And even though our main passage this morning of Galatians 2:15-16 only consists of two verses, it has a lot to say to us about this question. 

Now, we saw last week in the previous passage that the Apostle Paul actually had to publicly rebuke and correct the Apostle Peter because Peter had been acting in a hypocritical manner. Basically, in order to appease a group of false teachers known as “Judaizers” who came to the church of Antioch, Peter stopped eating with the Gentile—or non-Jewish—Christians of the church and instead only ate with Jewish Christians. This is because the Gentile Christians weren’t observing the Old Testament food laws that the Judaizers believed were essential to observe in order to be saved. So, Paul calls Peter out on it and lets him know that his conduct is—in the words of verse 14—“not in step with the truth of the gospel.” 

Paul then explains why that’s the case in today’s main passage of verses 15-16. Some interpreters consider these verses to be a continuation of what Paul said to Peter, while others believe these verses are simply Paul’s explanation to his readers about the situation. But either way, these verses explain why Peter’s behavior in that particular situation was so problematic. 

So, Paul begins in verse 15 by stating that, “We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners;”. In other words, speaking on behalf of all of the ethnically Jewish Christians, Paul affirms the value of the Old Testament law in steering someone away from a life of sin—the kind of life that pagan Gentiles, who don’t have the law and aren’t following God, inevitably engage. That’s what Paul means by the phrase “Gentile sinners.”

Paul then continues in verse 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.” So, to state it concisely, the main idea of these verses is that people are justified not by works of the law but through faith alone. Again, people are justified not by works of the law but through faith alone.

That word “justified” is, of course, the word Paul himself uses three times in verse 16. And it refers to a person being declared righteous in the eyes of God. It was originally a courtroom term that was used for a judge declaring an accused person to be “not guilty” and therefore to have a right legal standing and not liable to suffer any legal penalties. Similarly, justification is God’s act of declaring us to be right with him. 

Yet, we might wonder, how is it that God can make this declaration? If we’re in a state of sinful rebellion, how can a truly righteous God act as if that rebellion doesn’t exist? Wouldn’t that be like a judge failing to uphold justice? And that brings us right back to the main question of the Bible, doesn’t it? “How can we as sinful people be made right with a holy God?”

And looking at verse 16, the answer’s pretty clear. First of all, Paul identifies what the answer’s not.  He says we’re not justified by “works of the law.” Paul uses that phrase three times just in this one verse and is emphatic that justification doesn’t come and can’t ever come “by works of the law.” The reason Paul’s so emphatic about this is that the Judaizers were claiming the exact opposite. They were saying that, in order to be made right with God, people had to observe the Old Testament law—including the various food laws of the Old Testament as well as the religious ritual commanded in the law of circumcision. 

And as we think about how this connects to us today, I obviously don’t think many people today would say those particular things are necessary in order to be justified or made right with God. However, being justified by “works of the law” in a more general sense is actually the mentality that seems to guide pretty much everyone in this world—whether consciously or unconsciously. 

For example, think about the various non-Christian religions of the world. Even though there are obviously a lot of differences between them, all of them essentially rest on human accomplishments or achievements. They’re all based on some form of human merit—what we can do to get right with God or what we can do to get to a higher caste or what we can do to become better people. 

You can also see this same basic mentality among those in our society who are more secularly minded. Even though they may not view themselves as religious, they’re still pursuing a form of justification by “works of the law.” They’re trying to achieve a form of righteousness through their own—what they believe to be—moral accomplishments. One of the most common ways they often try to do this is through some form of political activism. Those, for example, who glue themselves to roadways and block traffic in order to protest behavior that they believe causes climate change are doing that in order to achieve a form of righteousness—in their own eyes. The same goes for a lot of the other things people often stage protests about—whether it’s the Palestinian cause or the LGBT agenda or whatever it is. Even though the moral compass of people in these movements might be pointed in the wrong direction, a lot of them are still seeking a form of righteousness by devotion themselves to the causes they believe in. That’s why, I believe, they’re so passionate about those causes. So, if you dig beneath the layers, these are actually religious people seeking to be justified by “works of the law.” It might not be manifested in exactly the same way as the Judaizers of Paul’s day, but it’s still the same basic mentality. 

And of course, let’s not forget those who believe themselves to be Christians and yet are operating in a mentality of going to heaven through the good things they do. They’re convinced that, if they just try to be a good person, God will see that they’re a good person—and that their good deeds outweigh their bad deeds—and he’ll let them into heaven. That mentality is the exact opposite of the gospel and of what Paul writes here in verse 16. 

So, seeking to be justified by “works of the law” is a mentality that’s absolutely pervasive just about everywhere you look. I’d even call it our “default mentality.” Kind of like when you purchase a new phone, that phone will come preset to certain default settings—which may or may not fit your personal preferences. Similarly, everybody in this world has a default setting of seeking to justified by “works of the law,” and they have to essentially be reprogrammed by the Bible. Because, as Paul says here in verse 16, “a person is not justified by works of the law” and, later in the verse, “by works of the law no one will be justified.” 

And there are two reasons why that’s the case. First of all, the standards of righteousness required by the law are far beyond anything we’re capable of achieving. The law actually requires moral perfection, and let’s just say…we’re far from perfect. Not only that, everything we do on the outside is tainted by who we are on the inside. We have sinful hearts that result in everything we do being tainted by sin and therefore absolutely unacceptable in the eyes of a perfectly holy God. So, even if our external behavior was somehow perfect all the time, we’d still have sinful hearts and motives and attitudes tainting and polluting all of our external actions. 

Now, just to be clear, the law itself isn’t bad. The moral standards and moral principles found in the law are actually a gift God’s given us that show us how we can flourish in our lives to the maximum extent possible. Yet, even though the law in itself isn’t bad, it becomes fatal what it’s used in the wrong way—namely, as a means of making ourselves right with God through our own moral accomplishments. You might compare it to electricity. Electricity can be extremely useful when it’s used and handled correctly. However, it can be fatal if it’s handled incorrectly—such as if we were to touch a power line or something like that. Similarly, the law becomes fatal if we approach it as means to being made right with God. 

So, it’s critical that we recognize that there’s no way we can ever obtain righteousness through the law. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. The law actually has the effect of exposing our sin. Paul teaches this quite clearly in Romans 3:20. He writes, “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” Take careful note of that last part—“through the law comes knowledge of sin.” It’s through the impossibly high moral standards of the law that we come to see just how sinful we are. 

Essentially, the law functions as a mirror that shows us our true nature and condition. Apart from the law, we’re often able to fool ourselves into thinking that we’re pretty decent people. But when we see how high God’s standards for moral perfection actually are, we become aware of just how short we fall of those standards. So, in reality, the law is an instrument that reveals our sin rather than one that removes our sin. We might say that the law provides us with a diagnosis of our sinful condition but not a cure for that condition. It’s kind of like a thermometer. A thermometer can tell you that something’s wrong with you, but it can’t do anything help you get back to good health. 

So, if we’re not justified—or made right with God—by keeping the law, then how are we justified? Well, Paul tells us quite clearly in verse 16 of our main passage, doesn’t he? He says that we’re justified not “by works of the law” but rather “through faith in Jesus Christ.” 

You see, Jesus was fully God yet came to this earth as one of us—a real flesh-and-blood human being—and proceeded to live a perfectly sinless life. Jesus was actually the only person who has ever kept God’s law perfectly. He then voluntarily died on the cross in order to suffer the penalty for our sins. Our sins were placed on his shoulders, so that he suffered God’s wrath on the cross instead of us having to suffer God’s wrath in hell. 

So, going back to the question I asked earlier of how God can justify sinners without becoming an unjust judge who fails to uphold justice, the answer is through Jesus. It was at the cross that justice was upheld. Our sins did indeed require punishment, but Jesus bore that punishment so we wouldn’t have to. He was then raised from the dead and now stands ready to save everyone who puts their faith in him. That’s what Paul’s teaching in this verse when he says that we’re justified “through faith in Jesus Christ.” 

Putting our faith in Jesus means actively trusting in him as our Savior. It involves a lot more than mere intellectual assent and is instead an act of our will whereby we place our full confidence in Jesus to save us. You might compare it to the difference between believing theoretically that someone could safely drive you somewhere in their car and actually getting into that car with them. I’m guessing you probably know some people whom you might think twice about entrusting your life to in that way. Even if you’re pretty sure they could probably get you to your destination in one piece, you might still be a bit hesitant to get into the car when they’re the one driving. Similarly, trusting Jesus doesn’t just mean believing intellectually or theoretically that he could get you to heaven. It involves actually getting into the car with him and putting your full trust and confidence in him as your only hope of being saved from your sins. 

In addition, it’s also important to note that the Bible’s clear not just about us being justified through faith but, more specifically, about us being justified through faith alone. And that word “alone” ends up being absolutely critical to an accurate understanding of justification. 

Unfortunately, a lot of people think that God does his part while we do ours. They essentially believe—just like the Judaizers of Paul’s day—that, even though Jesus dying on the cross was necessary for us to be saved, we still have to supplement what Jesus has done with things that we do such as being baptized or observing some other religious ritual or simply being a good person. Yet this is just another way of saying that we’re justified by “works of the law.” Whenever you add anything to faith as a requirement for being made right with God, you’ve just departed from a biblical understanding of justification. As the esteemed theologian Jonathan Edwards once said, the only thing we can contribute to our salvation is the sin that made it necessary. 

We find this confirmed in Ephesians 2:8-9, which states, 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. So, it doesn’t matter if you just add one tiny thing to faith as a requirement for justification. The moment you add anything to faith and say that you have to do that thing in order to be made right with God, you’ve just lost the gospel. 

As I said a few weeks ago, it's a lot like a mathematical formula. If there’s a certain mathematical formula that tells you how to calculate something and you insert something extra into that formula, what happens? It ruins everything, right? The entire formula becomes inaccurate and therefore totally worthless. Likewise, the moment you add anything to faith as a requirement for justification, you’ve just crossed the line from believing in justification through “faith” to believing in justification by “works of the law.” 

This is why the well-known Reformed theologian Martin Luther said that the biblical teaching of justification through faith alone is the doctrine by which the church stands or falls. Let me be perhaps even more clear: our eternal salvation depends on us embracing not just justification by faith but justification by faith alone. 

And it’s at this point that I believe it’s my duty to point out that, in this particular area, official Roman Catholic teaching is contrary to the Bible. Even though I certainly don’t desire to bash other denominations or communicate any lack of respect for those in other denominations, official Roman Catholic theology denies the doctrine of justification through faith alone and instead teaches that we’re justified before God by not only faith but also receiving the sacraments, such as baptism. 

According to the official Catechism of the Catholic church, published in 1992, “Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God….[I]t signifies and actually brings about the birth of water and the Spirit without which no one ‘can enter the kingdom of God.’…Baptism is necessary for salvation.” Again, all of that is an exact word-for-word quote from the official Catholic Catechism. I’m not sure it could be communicated any more clearly than that. 

Unfortunately, however, even though it’s clear, it’s also wrong. And not just wrong but so wrong on such a critical topic that I believe we have to conclude it’s—as Paul says in Galatians—“a different gospel.” That’s the phrase Paul uses in Galatians 1:6 to refer to the teaching of the Judaizers. He says not that their teaching is simply a diminished gospel or a weakened gospel but rather that it’s an entirely “different gospel.” So, the Catholic teaching that baptism is necessary for salvation is basically the Galatian Heresy 2.0—the same basic heresy that the Judaizers were teaching 2,000 years ago. Catholic theologians just replaced circumcision with baptism. 

And, to be clear, I’m aware that Catholic theologians claim to still believe in salvation by God’s grace. They’re adamant that they believe in salvation by grace. They simply believe that saving grace is received through baptism. So, they claim, baptism isn’t a meritorious work but is simply a channel by which saving grace is received. And that might sound pretty good at first. 

However, the problems become clear when you examine the claims of the Judaizers and the response of Paul in Galatians 1. I’m sure the Judaizers were saying the same thing. “Oh, we’re not teaching that you can earn salvation. We believe in salvation by grace—it’s just that circumcision’s this ritual you have you to do in order to receive saving grace.” Yet Paul’s like, “Sorry, what you’re teaching is a different gospel.” Listen: any time you require any act or ritual of any kind as a requirement for salvation, you’ve departed from the true gospel. It doesn’t matter if you say it’s not a “work” or if you claim to still believe in grace or in justification through faith. What you’re teaching is still a departure from the gospel. 

Now, let me be clear that I do believe there are many genuine Christians who are going to heaven who identify themselves as Catholics. So please understand that I’m not saying that all Catholics are going to hell. I’m fearful that many of them may go to hell but also hopeful that many of them won’t. Just like Baptists or Methodists or Presbyterians—it’s a mixed bag. 

However, here’s the difference: someone who identifies as a Catholic will only go to heaven in spite of official Catholic theology, not because of it. Again, someone who identifies as a Catholic will only go to heaven in spite of official Catholic theology, not because of it. I do believe it’s possible for someone who’s genuinely saved to identify as Catholic and affirm various Catholic doctrinal statements without really understanding the full implications of those official teachings they claim to embrace. And if that’s the case for someone, then, yes, I absolutely believe they’re a genuine Christian and will go to heaven. 

However, as we talk about all of this, let’s not get so carried away with evaluating other groups that we fail to evaluate ourselves. Because the fact is that this mentality that relies on human works and human performance isn’t limited to other denominational groups. As I’ve already alluded to earlier in the message, it’s present in various forms within every denomination. 

And the form this mentality most often takes is what I’ll call “moralism”—the idea that we can earn God’s favor and earn salvation through good moral behavior. Now, of course, embracing the gospel involves renouncing that mentality. However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t still some moralistic tendences in our hearts. In the language of our main passage, there are still subtle ways in which we can revert back to a mentality of justification by “works of the law” rather than justification through faith. 

 So, with the time we have left, let’s look a little closer at ourselves. Those of us who are Christians might not be embracing the idea of justification by “works of the law”—or what I’m calling “moralism”—in an overt way but may still have subtle tendencies toward moralism within our hearts. 

For example, have you ever been tempted to think that God loves you more on days when you’re a “good” Christian than he does on days when you struggle as a Christian? Let’s say, theoretically, that, one day, you do all of these really good things. You read the Bible, tell someone about Jesus, help out at a soup kitchen, cook dinner for your spouse, and do some other really amazing things. But then, perhaps you have another day when things go a lot differently. Let’s say you skip your Bible reading time, miss an easy opportunity to share the gospel, avoid making eye contact with the homeless person on the street corner, and yell at your spouse. 

Perhaps, after those two days, you’d be tempted to think that God loved you a little more on the first day than he did on the second. But that’s moralism. In reality, God’s love and acceptance aren’t conditioned on our performance. The wonderful and revolutionary truth of the gospel is that you don’t have to be good enough or perform well enough for God to love and accept you. He loves and accepts you not because of you but on the basis of what Jesus has done for you.

Or, consider this example. When you’ve sinned—as, lamentably, we all do on a regular basis—have you ever been tempted to think a certain amount of time has to elapse before you can ask for God’s forgiveness and be restored to close fellowship with him? Have you ever thought that God might be keeping you at arms’ length and that you have to spend a certain amount of time in the doghouse, so to speak, before God will really accept you again? 

Or maybe you’re even tempted to think that you have to somehow make up for your sin through what are sometimes called acts of penance before returning to God. That also is a form of moralism. In reality, Jesus has already paid the price for every sin you’ll ever commit and clothed you with his own righteousness. As a result, when God the Father looks at you, he sees nothing but the perfect righteousness of his Son. Of course, it’s necessary for us to repent of our sin as soon as the Holy Spirit brings it to our attention, but we do so simply to restore our fellowship with God and not in any way to fix our standing with God. Our standing with him never fluctuates because it’s based on God’s grace and not on our performance. 

And finally, as we’re examining our hearts for tendencies toward moralism, let me ask you this: are you ever tempted to feel superior to others? Maybe you see someone living in sin in a very obvious way, and you feel superior to them. Or maybe you see someone experiencing the consequences for poor choices they’ve made, and you feel superior. Or maybe, even within this church, you see a Christian brother or sister who’s struggling in a certain area, or maybe they’re not as far along as you are in a certain area, and you feel superior. 

All of that is moralism—plain and simple. It’s a sign that you haven’t fully understood all of the implications of the biblical teaching of justification through faith alone. As is often said, the ground is level at the foot of the cross. The strongest Christian dare not boast and the weakest Christian need not despair—because we’re all perfectly loved and accepted in Christ. 

Now, just to be clear, none of this means that it’s not important for us to pursue godly character and seek to obey God and do good things. James chapter 2 is very clear that faith without works isn’t true faith. If your faith is genuine, it’s going to show up in your life. It’s going to change you and shape you into a different person—someone who desires to honor God in the way you live. And if that transformation doesn’t happen, you don’t have saving faith. So, a life of godliness isn’t the way we obtain justification, but it is the necessary evidence of saving faith within our hearts. We might say that, even though good works aren’t the root of justification, they are the fruit of justification.