Living in Line

Think of a time that you found yourself in conflict with somebody and you had to confront or be confronted.  What was the motivation?  What was at stake?  Was it something like integrity, reputation, pride, protection, respect, or jealousy?  Those are some usual motivators for our confrontation.  We read about a confrontation between Paul and Peter in Galatians 2:11-14.  Peter was missional engaging the Gentile Christians until Jewish Christians from Jerusalem came along.  His hypocrisy even effected a rock-solid guy like Barnabas.  Paul sees this and confronts Peter, but not on the basis of any of the reasons we listed above.  According to verse 14, Paul confronted Peter because his "conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel."  The gospel was Paul's motivation.  The phrase "not in step" in Greek is literally "walking in line" (orthopodeo - like how an orthodontist straightens crooked teeth).  What this practically means is that the gospel is simply not just a truth to be believed by the non-Christian, but a truth to be infused into every area of the Christian's life.

Through the rest of chapter 2 (verses 15-21), Paul teaches the theology behind the confrontation.  In it, he communicates the "heart of the Gospel": justification through faith in Jesus.  Justification is a legal term which means "being declared righteous; a person is no longer liable to any penalty, but is entitled to all the privileges due to one who has kept the law."  Biblically, it means that you status before God is one of acceptance.  Justification fixes both problems that sin causes: alienation from God and becoming a subject of God's wrath.  Being justified means that we are brought near to God and his wrath is removed from us.

So how are we justified, that is, how are we accepted?  Is it like college where we fill out forms, send in transcripts, have interviews, and pay money?  Not at all.  Romans 8:33 is clear that it is God who justifies, not us or anything we do. Galatians 2:15-16 are clear that it is specifically faith in Jesus that justifies us.  A few interesting things from these verses: 1) "justified" is in the past tense; meaning that through faith it has already happened, not something we still seek; 2) in the Greek, the article "the" (as in 'the law') doesn't exist; so Paul is saying that it isn't just Jewish ceremonial law that he's addressing, it's any type of moralism/works that we can come up with; and 3) in verse 16, "faith in Jesus" could also be "faithfulness of Jesus", emphasizing the fact that salvation & justification is totally God-centered; where our faith is weak and small, it is Jesus' complete faithfulness that paves the way for our justification.

And by no means does this "passive righteousness" give us any licence to abuse it and sin all the more.  This is the argument that Paul addresses in verses 17-18 of Galatians 2.  Reflecting Romans 6:1-2, Paul is saying that if a person's life is continually marked by sin - selfishness, arrogance, pride, sleeping around, addiction, whatever - with no remorse or transformation, then there's really no true faith in Jesus.  This person has "proved to be a transgressor."

Remember, this is about "living in line" (v. 14) with the gospel.  That our total lives are affected by this justification.  Galatians 2:19 says that we now free from following rules to please God, for our faith in Jesus is what pleases Him; and through that faith we have new hearts that have a desire to please Him.  We now "want to" obey without feeling like we "have to".  Galatians 2:20 communicates this new life that we have.  All of our sin was put to death on the cross with Jesus and doesn't define us because Jesus does.  And even though we "live in the flesh" (with all of the struggles with sin we still face), we live by faith in Jesus which empowers us for living; fueled by Jesus' great love of his sacrifice.  And if we don't live in faith, verse 21 soberly says that what we are practically saying with our lives is that Jesus died for nothing, and we erase his grace out of our lives.

So what are the practical implications of being justified by God through faith in Jesus?  It all has to do with 4 views - 4 frameworks that we function out of:

1. God's view of us is that we are a loved and accepted child - a full member of the family - with ALL of the privileges entitled to it.
2. Our self-view becomes that we are loved and accepted, and we are marked by "humble confidence" - humbled by God's love, and confident of His work in and through us.
3. Our view of others is transformed from what people can do for us to how we can love them because of what God has done for us.
4. Other's view of us simply doesn't matter like it used to! We don't have to live in fear of man or to please man, because the God of the universe is pleased with us already because of Jesus, and we live to please him and to be his servant.

How do you identify the areas of your life that aren't "living in line" with the gospel?  Remember, this whole section of God's Word was drawn out from a conflict (between Paul and Peter).  I would then say that areas of regular conflict in your life expose the areas that aren't in line with the gospel.  And it's not about you just trying to correct your course; you can't...in fact, you've probably been trying and it keeps not working.  It's simply recognizing your inability to do so and believing in Jesus as your only hope. God then justifies you, empowers you with His Spirit, frees you from fear, and you live confident in your acceptance.

May grace be with you.