17 But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18 For if I rebuild 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. 20 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. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. (Galatians 2:17–21)

Introduction

Remember the context of these words. Peter had come to Antioch and visited the church there, eating meals with its mostly non-Jewish congregation. But at some point, because of his fear of the legalists, Peter withdrew from his Gentile church family during meal times. And Paul rebuked Peter because for Peter to withdraw in this way meant he was not living in line with the gospel (2:14). He was not living out his gospel life.

So Paul confronted Peter, and out of Paul's heart poured beautiful teaching about the life the gospel is meant to produce. Once you are justified by faith in Christ, what should life look like? This passage tells us.

What this passage describes the beauty of a life in line with the gospel—gospel life. It is a life that is free and for God, enjoying and walking with him every day. It is a life that is totally identified with Christ, connected to him in his death and burial, but also his resurrection. And it is a life of daily faith, a dependence upon Jesus. Let's consider all three.

1. Free And For God (17-19)

The first element of gospel life—life in line with the gospel—is that it is free and for God. It has been released from relating to God through a legal code, but that freedom is used to now live compleltely for God. In short, the person enjoying gospel life is a person who is enjoying God. Paul said:

17 But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18 For if I rebuild 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. (Galatians 2:17-19)

I Died To The Law

Paul has just told us we are justified in Christ through simple faith in Jesus, and not by our works in any way (17, Gal. 2:15-16). And some said this freely given justification would lead people to sin all the more. After all, if we are completely forgiven due to the work of Christ alone and not our response or obedience, why would we obey in the future?

In other words, if someone who has been justified by Christ sins, is it because justification by faith in Christ promotes sin? Paul's answer is clear: certainly not! (17). Jesus is not a promoter or servant of sin in any way—he was slaughtered in order to rescue us from sin, not as a way to recommend a life of more sin! And Paul knew that if he rebuilt the old life of sin, he was only proving himself to be a transgressor (18). He would be the one with the problem, not Jesus (or Jesus' gospel).

To Paul, the accusation that justification by faith alone creates a permissive attitude is a fundamental misunderstanding of what happens when someone trusts in Christ. People who make this claim think of justification in technical terms, as if nothing actually occurred. But Paul wants us to know that justification produces a real, tangible, and actual death to the law so that we can live to God (19). In other words, the justified person has been fundamentally changed, so to "return to the old way of life after such a change is inconceivable."[^1]

My Life Is To God

If you believe in Jesus, you have died to the law, Paul says, so that you might live to God (19). Notice: death is what set you free, and resurrection is what gave you new life. Imagine you robbed a bank and were caught. During the trial, as the case is mounting against you, imagine you suddenly died. The trial would end. The demands of the law would have no power over you. That is what happens to your relationship with the legal-code way of relating to God when you believe in Jesus—you die to it. It's over because you died.

The analogy Paul used to describe this new life comes from marriage. In Romans 7, he said our connection to the law is like a woman married to a man. As long as her husband lives, she is bound in marriage. But if the husband dies, Paul said, she is free to remarry. Then Paul said that we died with Jesus, so we are free. We can belong to another, namely Jesus. Now we can live "live by the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code" (Romans 7:1-6).

This new way of the Spirit is what Paul is getting at when he says we have died to the law so that we might live for God. Before Christ, Paul was living for Paul, trying to get a reward from God. Now he was dead to that life. His position before God was unalterable and could not improve in any way, no matter what he did. He had been set free to obey God out of love, to live for the one who died for him and loved him.

And, if we've believed in Jesus, we are also now alive to God, free to live in response to God and for God (Rom. 6:11). We are now free to simply enjoy God. Legalists abound who will try to drag us back into a law-code contract with God, but the gospel has set us free to live in love response to him.

2. Totally Identified With Christ (20a)

The second aspect of gospel living Paul draws out here is that it is a life that is totally identified with Christ. The person who believes the gospel—who trusts in Christ's work to justify and save them before God—is a person who who God has connected to Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. Paul wrote:

20a I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. (Galatians 2:20a)

I'm Identified With Christ

Paul's announcement is astounding: when you trust in Christ, you are crucified with Christ (20). Paul expands on this in Romans 6, where he says:

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:4)

Imagine it! When you believe in Jesus, you die to the law, and the way this happens is that God considers you to have died and been buried with Jesus so that you can have new, resurrection life with Jesus. As a Christian, your old life is gone, and your new life is found in Christ. You are totally identified with and in him.

As Paul said to the Corinthians:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Paul knew, and we should know, that the old self—the self-righteous, self-centered, weak, needy, dead in trespasses and sins, righteousness-as-filthy-rags person is gone. Once we trust in Christ, we are made new and placed into Christ as a new creation.

If a dove is being hunted by a hawk, it will find a hiding place, perhaps in the cleft of a mountain face. In the cleft, the dove is safe. It is in the rock. This is the case for us as Christians. We are safe because we are in Christ. We are in the rock! We are absorbed into him and protected by him, alive with him.

And Paul felt this was what had happened to him. He died with Christ—he no longer lived. It was Christ living in him (20). This doesn't mean that Paul's personality or personhood was suppressed. It does mean that even his love response to God was enabled, not by his own energy, but by the energy of Christ living within him. Jesus had made himself at home in Paul, and Paul drew upon the resources of Christ to obey God.

Jesus had promised to make his home in and with us. He promised to be one with his people. He said things like:

"Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you." (John 14:19–20)

And these statements were commentary on something he'd said earlier:

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you." (John 14:15–17)

I consider myself fortunate because, as a young Christian, one of the first lessons my mentors taught me was about the indwelling and enabling presence of the Holy Spirit. I learned how the Spirit empowered the early church and could empower me. With open hands and an open heart, I asked God to strengthen me for a life dedicated to him. I've repeated that dependence daily, and he has proved himself time and time again. It is not I who live, but Christ who lives in me.

This beautiful truth was foreshadowed in the pages of the Old Testament. The Spirit would come upon the great heroes of the Bible, but seemingly only in spurts. Abraham would trust God for descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky but then try to produce offspring by sinful means. Moses would boldly lead the people out of captivity in Egypt, only to fall into a fit of rage and misrepresent God at the rock of Meribah. David would slay Goliath but also sin against Bathsheba.

It wasn't until Jesus stood in the waters of the Jordan, freshly baptized by his cousin John, that the Spirit descended and remained upon a man. Jesus did everything by the power of the Spirit. And his death, burial, and resurrection made it possible for us to depend daily on the Spirit's strength for life. We can say with Paul, "it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me" (20).

The church in Laodicea was filled with Christians who felt they had no needs. They were smugly self-sufficient before God. But Jesus saw their spiritual poverty and wanted them to become desperate for his help. Jesus said, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me" (Rev. 3:20). If they turned to him, he was at the door, waiting to come in and strengthen them.

Brothers and sisters, gospel living is found completely in Christ. Find your life in him and, daily, cling to him. Open the door!

3. By Daily Faith (20b-21)

So gospel living is for God and in Christ, but Paul also tells us it is by daily faith. It is a life of continual, ongoing, morning-by-morning, moment-by-moment dependence upon Christ. Christian living is meant to continue by the way it began—faith. You receive justification by simple faith, and you are to receive sanctification, to walk every day, also by simple faith. Paul wrote:

20b 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. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. (Galatians 2:20b–21)

This statement shows us that Paul still felt responsible for himself. Even though he had died with Jesus and no longer lived because Christ was living in him, Paul knew he still had a life to live in the flesh (20). In other words, Paul knew he still had a body to inhabit.

This is the challenge every Christian faces. I am justified. I died with Jesus. I am a new creature. But I have this old body. It has appetites and desires contrary to God's wise commands. And many of us grow weary because of the desires and tendencies of our bodies. It feels like a war that will never end. But be encouraged. The presence of the war can serve as a reminder that it will one day end. In the age to come, the battle will conclude, and Christ will reign. He will give us new bodies that are unstained and unaffected by sin. Even temptation will be vanquished.

But, even if we have this hope, what do we do right now? Paul said we must live this life in the flesh by faith in the Son of God, who loved us and gave himself for us (20). What does this faith look like? What did Paul mean?

First, there is faith in what Christ has done for us. Even on your worst days and in your worst moments, you must consider yourself to have died with Christ and been made new with him. As Paul said to the Romans, you must believe you are just as alive to God as Jesus is—and just as dead to sin as Jesus is (Rom. 6:11).

Second, there is faith in what Christ can do for you. As I mentioned earlier, there is a daily dependence aspect to Paul's words. As God said to Habakkuk, "the just shall live by their faith" (Hab. 2:4). Every day of our lives is a faith journey, trusting God for his power and resources.

Sometimes we overcomplicate life by forgetting this simple and daily need to trust in Christ. In my house, when someone tells me their laptop or phone isn't charging or a device isn't working, the first thing I do is check to see if it is really plugged in. Sometimes it's the simplest things that need to be fixed. And sometimes, our issues stem from a lack of simply plugging into the power and resources of Christ by expressing daily trust in him.

Jesus Loves Me

Paul was motivated to trust Jesus every day because he knew that Jesus loved him and gave himself for him (20). Jesus has done the same for you and me.

But why is Paul saying this here? By recalling Jesus' love here, Paul was highlighting the trustworthiness of Jesus, but also the desire of Jesus. Legalists love to highlight the earnestness of your works, even the earnestness of your trust—you better really believe and have strong faith! You better be serious! You better show God how earnest you are! But Paul wanted to highlight the earnestness of Jesus.

Each year, my family watches It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. In it, little Linus believes a figure called The Great Pumpkin will visit the pumpkin patch he thinks is the most sincere. It's a parody of Santa Claus—and the idea that you must believe if he is going to appear. And once Linus finds his pumpkin patch of choice, he says, "He's gotta pick this one. He's got to. I don't see how a pumpkin patch can be more sincere than this one. You can look around and there's not a sign of hypocrisy. Nothing but sincerity as far as the eye can see."[^2]

This same sentiment is often how our legalism-prone hearts feel about our walk with God. If we are sincere enough, if we are earnest enough, if our faith is strong enough, then Christ will work in and for us. But Paul's understanding of Jesus' love and grace should help us shed that skin (20). Paul refused to nullify the grace of God by thinking that way (21). Instead of his trust in Christ becoming a work or performance, it was merely a reaction to the overwhelming love and grace of Jesus—of course, I will trust him! Think of who he is!

As Charles Spurgeon once said:

"It is not what you feel that will save you, but what Jesus felt."[^3]

It was this love from Christ that drove Paul to trust Jesus every day.

Conclusion

Gospel living is before us in the passage today.

• It tells us that through the law we died to any possibility of standing approved before God on the basis of our own personal goodness. We died to that legal way of relating to God, and in being set free from it, we are now free to live for God.
• It also tells us that we are so inextricably identified with Christ that it's as if we no longer live, but Christ lives in us. We died on the cross with Jesus, and now his resurrection life can be our daily experience.
• And it tells us that this brand of life is gained by ongoing and persistent faith in Jesus, the one who loved us so much he gave his life for us. We are to live in continual dependence upon him because he has proved himself dependable to us.

In the Old Testament era, worshippers came from afar to offer animal sacrifices to God. It was God's way of helping them understand the problem of sin—their unholiness kept them from his presence. The sacrifices were meant as a covering for their sin, allowing them to engage in fellowship with God. Every sacrifice pointed forward to the ultimate and only satisfactory sacrifice of God's only begotten Son. But when those worshippers approached the altar, when the animal was slain, they would place their hands on the head of the animal. And, for many sacrifices, after the animal was offered, the worshipper would eat the meat in a holy meal. So they had to touch and consume the sacrifices that were offered. It was not enough to watch from afar; the worshipper had to connect with that which was offered on the altar.

In a similar way, modern worshippers must place their hands on and consume the sacrifice. The gospel life made possible by Christ's sacrifice must be energetically entered into. We cannot be passive. If we are, we will rebuild laws and codes that Christ destroyed, seeking to approach God through our works. If we are, we won't see ourselves as completely identified with Christ in his death and resurrection. If we are, we won't enjoy the simple devotion of faith and trust in Jesus every day of our lives. But we must not nullify the grace of God. Instead, we must put our hands on Jesus and take hold of him for life today and every day, believing that the power of his cross means life today is for God, in Christ, and by faith.

[^1]:Barker, Kenneth L., and John R. Kohlenberger III. 2019. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary the Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Old & New Testaments. USA: Zondervan Academic. [^2]: Melendez, Bill. 1966. It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. USA: CBS. [^3]: Spurgeon, C. H. 1972. Around the Wicket Gate. Welwyn Garden City, England: Evangelical Press.