Toss Out The Manual

Sept. 16

Read: Galatians 2:11-21

Toss Out The Manual

“…because by works of the law no one will be justified.” (v.16)

Righteousness is not something we DO, but rather it is something we ARE. I was reading a book by Pastor Andrew Farley (“Naked Gospel”) that my friend Pete Hammond gave to me and he made this very truth stand out so clearly. Farley’s comment was that our identity is something that we are “born into” not “acted into” (paraphrase). Instantly I was reminded of the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus:

“Jesus answered (Nicodemus), “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God… (and again Jesus said) Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3,5)

St. Paul is another pastor who said the same thing. LOL. The word “justified” here ins Gal. 2 literally means:

“to render righteous or such he ought to be; to show, exhibit, evince, one to be righteous, such as he is and wishes himself to be considered; or to declare, pronounce, one to be just, righteous, or such as he ought to be”. (cf. Strongs)

So when we are reading through Galatians every time we see this term “justified” we can think of the concept of “righteousness”. What we find out to be biblically true then is that righteousness is not something we “do” or “act into” but rather is it something we “are” and something that shapes our actions. Righteousness is a state we are “born” into the same way that, before Christ, we were born into sin in Adam. (cf. “original sin”, Romans 5, 1 Cor. 15:45-49) Now lets read Galatians again.

“…yet we know that a person is not justified (made righteous ) by works of the law but through FAITH in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified (declared righteous) by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.” (v.16)

No one is ever made righteous or declared righteous by God because of works of the law. It is right there in 2:16! Righteousness comes through FAITH IN CHRIST. Faith is the “assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things unseen” (Heb.11) ; therefore we are made righteous… “born into righteousness”… when our HOPE is firmly and only in CHRIST (he is the assurance of things hoped for) and we are convicted of the truths that Christ holds out for us an the spiritual realm that God outlines for us even when we cannot see it (conviction of things yet unseen). In Christ, the “law” has nothing for us. We will never “act” or “do” our way into righteousness, rather it is a truth we are “born into” … a reality that comes through hope and trust and conviction in Jesus Christ. It is our faith, hope, trust, and conviction in Christ that should guide us in this life… not a “law” or set of rules that was laid out for those who are apart from Christ.

The Christian has “died to the law” and exchanged life under the law for life in Christ. When you are asking the law what to do then you are not asking Christ what to do. Imagine that you love cars and purchased the book written by the best mechanic in the world to teach you the principles of car repair. Now imagine that through some crazy turn of events, that author moved in next door you you and became your best friend in the whole world. This is the guy who wrote the book on the principles of car repair. Now picture your best friend next to you in the garage while you are working on your car. Think of how silly it would be to have your friend- the author - standing directly next to you while you ignored them and paged through a manual while trying to figure out what as wrong with your car. Imagine with every question that you came upon you decided to consult the book and ignore the author… your friend. If I were that friend… the author of the book and worlds best mechanic friend … I would probably grab the book out of your hand and toss it across the room! I would grab your cheeks and turn your face to me and then ask you why you didn’t just talk to me!?! I would look at you and say, “you don’t need that book anymore… you have something BETTER THAN the book… SUPERIOR TO the book… you have a RELATIONSHIP WITH ME. “

This is similar to the way that we have the law of the Lord which points us towards our need for Christ. The crazy thing is that in Christ, we no longer look to the law to guide us in our life… we look to Christ. We don’t work on our lives with Jesus standing right next to us but feverishly staring a the law hoping it will tell us what to do! The law - the proverbial book - is a poor stand in for relationship with Christ… relationship with the “mechanic” so to speak.

The final crazy part is this… “we have been crucified with Christ and now Christ lives in US”. (cf. 2:20) It is weird to use the same analogy, but if we did it would mean that our “world’s best mechanic friend” now LIVES WITHIN US. It makes it all the crazier to think of deferring to a book / set of rules when we have been mystically joined together with the very author and finisher of the work. (cf. Heb. 12:1,2) This is Paul’s precise comment here: “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.” (2:20)

Acting out the law will never make you righteous. Righteous acts don’t make you righteous, but people who have been made righteous in Christ do indeed carry out righteous acts. The do so because , “the life (they) now live in the flesh (they) live by faith in the Son of God, who loved (them) and gave himself for them.” You have been set free from the law. We would rather try to follow a set of rules (the law) than embark upon a relationship with Christ. We doubt so much Christ’s presence within us that we continually look to “a manual” in an effort to know how to live. (When I say “manual” here I am referring to the law, not the entire bible… I love the bible. The law is an actor within the larger story of the bible and I want it to play its part for sure!)

Your faith in Christ has made you righteous. You have been born again into a new identity. You are now “in Christ”. Your old self was crucified with him… consider it to be “dead”. How are we to live out the remainder of our life here “in the flesh”? We live it by hoping in and trusting the unseen work of Christ for us… this is “justified by faith in Christ”. Stop looking to the law to do for you what only Christ can and should ! Find joy and freedom in that you are “born into” your identity … not “performed” into it. YOUR ARE RIGHTEOUS IN CHRIST. Love you guys! - JDP