Galatians 2:17-19

TEXT 2:17-19

(17) But if, while we sought to be justified in Christ, we ourselves also were found sinners, is Christ a minister of sin? God forbid. (18) For if I build up again those things which I destroyed, I prove myself a transgressor. (19) For I through the law died unto the law, that I might live unto God.

PARAPHRASE 2:17-19

17 But if, while we apostles seek to be justified by the faith of Christ, even we ourselves are found sinners, by practising the rites of the law of Moses as necessary to salvation, contrary to our conscience, will Christ promote such iniquity, by justifying teachers who delude others in a matter of such importance? By no means.
18 For if we re-establish, by our practice, those rites as necessary to salvation, which, in our preaching, we declared not necessary, we certainly make ourselves transgressors by deceiving others.
19 Besides, to shew the folly of seeking to be justified by law, I told the Judaizers that we all, through breaking law, have died by the curse of law, so that if we live, we must live by the free gift of God, and not by law.

COMMENT 2:17

But, if while we sought to be justified in Christ

1.

We have turned our backs on the law as a means of justification.

a.

Going back, as you have, shows a disappointment or a dissatisfaction in the justification which we have obtained.

b.

We as apostles must not reveal a sinful attitude.

2.

An example, if bad, brings reproach on Christ and man.

a.

We are saved by the works of the law or we aren-'t.

b.

If we return to the lawwhat will be said of Christ?

is Christ a minister of sin

1.

If we are such sinners as to be unfit to be conversed with, or eaten with, then Christ can be accused as a minister of sin.

a.

This is an explanation.

b.

It is an unjust judgment to condemn Christ for man's failures.

2.

Look hereif we the apostles favor this kind of an attitude which is sinful, then, we representing Christ, represent Him as a minister of sin.

WORD STUDY 2:17

God forbid! The older translations paraphrase the Greek me genoito (MAY GEN oi taw) (G as in go) by using this oath form. A better translation would be: Certainly not! By no means! May it never be!

The word for God (theostheh OSS) is never used in this expression in the New Testament.

COMMENT 2:18

If I build up again. I prove myself a transgressor

1.

If you preach salvation through Christ, and then insist on circumcision as a test of fellowship, you are building up what the gospel ended.

2.

If you build up what you destroyedyou are a sinner.

COMMENT 2:19

For I through the law died unto the law

1.

How could he die to it, through it?

For as many of you as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ. Galatians 3:24-27

2.

In the Christ of the lawwhich the law prepared forPaul died to the law. deadthrough the body of Christ. Romans 7:4

a.

The law brought men to Christ. Galatians 3:24

b.

Therefore in accepting the fulfillment of the law, Paul died to the law.

that I might live unto God

1.

It did not loose him from duty but bound to a greater one.

a.

Romans 6:1-5

b.

Wherefore, my brethren, ye also were made dead to the law through the body of Christ; that ye should be joined to another, even to him who was raised from the dead, that we might bring forth fruit unto God. Romans 7:4

2.

This life unto God is unique:

I give Him my burdens,

He gives me His BLESSINGS.
I give Him my trials,
He gives me His PATIENCE.
I give Him my sorrow,
He gives me His STRENGTH.
I give Him my blindness,
He gives me His LIGHT.
I give Him my cold heart,
He gives me His LOVE.
I give Christ my all,
And He gives me HEAVEN.

NO MORE STRANGERS AND FOREIGNERS 2:19

The history of God's people has been one of movement from place to place. Abraham had to seek new homes. The church has been persecuted and its members driven from place to place, because of sin in the world. The Christians find brotherhood and peace.
A person may feel lonely in New York City with millions of people around him. He is very much a stranger and a foreigner, but fellowship in the church does not leave one alone.

Adam and Eve were not created to be strangers in the garden, but they eventually were out of place. God made a home for them that should have been permanent. The word says The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed (Genesis 2:8). Adam and Eve were at home in the world and in harmony with their environmentmorally, physically, and psychologically. Sin changed things.

But when sin entered, man became a wanderer. Our first parents were expelled from the garden. After his act of murder, Cain was condemned to be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth Genesis 4:12. But what happened? Cain went away from the presence of the Lord. and he built a city Genesis 4:16-17.

There is a great tension between the world and the church. It is only in the body of Christ that we are not strangers and foreigners.

STUDY QUESTIONS 2:17-19

218.

If a person follows the law, what is he doing to Christ?

219.

Do a Christian's sins make Christ a minister of sin?

220.

What is the special application of this verse to the Christian?

221.

What is meant by build up again?

222.

What had the gospel ended?

223.

What had Paul destroyed?

224.

Is the Gentile Christian today dead to the law of Moses?

225.

By what process did Paul, a Jew, die to it?

226.

What is the purpose of dying unto the law?

227.

In what relationship are we to live, when we die to sin?