March 8 - Galatians 2:15-21

March 8 - Galatians 2:15-21

“We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.

“But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker.

“For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

I just finished reading a little treatise, “On the Incarnation of the Word,” by Athanasius, a 4th century Church father.  He was writing against some heresies that denied the divinity and/or humanity of Jesus Christ. 

But, as he introduced the subject, he began by teaching about the loss of the relationship between man and God, which led to the need for Jesus to come to earth in human form.  God had provided creation to teach humanity about Himself, and when they ignored that and continued to corrupt themselves, He gave them the Law and when that wasn’t enough, He sent prophets.  But, no amount of repentance under the Law or in any other form was complete enough because humanity always returned to corruption. 

Only when God came to earth Himself in the form of Jesus Christ was He able to offer re-creation, re-birth … a new life.  He lived on earth, then died to conquer the hold that death has on us.  By abolishing the power of death, He allowed humanity to find its way back to God permanently.  His sacrifice, His power over death, stopped the all-encompassing flood of corruption that had begun when Adam and Eve broke God’s very first commandment and introduced sin and separation into the world.

The Law was not enough to restore the relationship, it took the sacrifice of the Word of God … Jesus Christ to bring us back into a right relationship with God so that we can now live for Him.

That’s grace.