Made Righteous

Greetings.

We will continue our discussion of Galatains and Paul's argument for grace.  Here is my translation of Galatains 2:15-16:

15 Those of us who are Jews by birth, and not ‘Gentile sinners’, 16 understand that no one is made righteous through works of the law, but rather faith in Jesus Christ. We have faith in Christ Jesus, so that our righteousness comes from our faith in Him, and not from works of the law.  Nothing we do in our fleshly bodies can be justified through works of the law.

Paul uses an important word from the Greek here. It is δικαιοῦται (dikaioutai). It is a form of the verb δικαιόω (dikaioō).  Verse 16 and 17 contain the word in some form three times.  This word is often translated as "justified."  I translated first as "made righteous" once, and then as justified in the other two.  David deSilva in his Galatians: A Handbook on the Greek Text, defines the word like this: “δικαιόω can carry the sense of ‘acquit’ or ‘declare just’...but is can also mean ‘make righteous’ or ‘bring in line with a standard’...as well as other statement suggestive of ethical transformation as a prerequisite to entering into life beyond death.”  He goes on to suggest that Paul has both meanings in mind as he writes Galatians.  (deSilva, 42.)  

So as we examine this justification we are looking at something that first, acquits our wrongdoing, and then makes us righteous.  Not only is our guilt removed, but we are put in a place where it is as though our transgressions never occurred. It is important, however, that we remember that this δικαιόω is a passive verb.  We do not make ourselves righteous.  There is an outside force at work, making us righteous, and nothing we can do can in any way earn this. 

Those who have come into Galatia and are stirring up trouble, those who would pervert the Gospel, have presented a hybrid Gospel that includes grace and faith, combined with the keeping of the Law.  I can see where this would sound good to those who really want to please God, but Paul insists that it is Christ, and not our works that saves us, making this hybrid gospel invalid. 

In verse 15, Paul makes a distinction between those who are born Jews and those who are not.  He refers to those who are not born as Jews, as ἐθνῶν Ἁμαρτωλοί (ethnōn hamartōloi) or Gentile sinners. I can’t help but think that Paul says this with a note of sarcasm, as it implies that those who were born Jewsih are not ‘sinners.”  

An interesting thought here is that the main tenet of those who had come into Galatia and were perverting the Gospel of grace was that those “Gentile sinners” had to become Jews in order to please Christ.  In a sense they were teaching that they had to be ‘naturalized citizens’ of Judaism in order to please God.  

Certainly this idea of Gentiles as ‘sinners’ is consistent with everything the Jews had been taught to believe.  They were a nation set apart by God and for God.  So Paul uses this term here in the traditional sense only for the purpose of debunking that way of thinking. (Moo, 156.) Certainly, they understood that Jew and Gentiles alike were sinners, as ethnicity does not make one righteous, and we all find ourselves in need of God’s grace. \

Thomas Schreiner states that Peter and Paul were both Jews, but they understood that even though they were a part of God’s covenant people that they were not justified by works of the law, but only through faith in Jesus Christ.  Paul says, “those of us who are Jews,” but his understanding does not reflect the point of view of the typical Jew.  (Shreiner, 154.) Paul is making his case to Jewish Christians, like Peter and himself.  Being a Jew does not save them.  Each person, Jew or Gentile, male or female, slave or free, is just an ordinary human being in need of God’s grace.   

This is the launching pad for Paul to make his case for grace and freedom over strict obedience to the law. According to Schreiner, Paul lays out an argument against the devotion to the Mosaic law that stretches from 2:16 to 5:12.  His argument is “intended to prove that Gentiles do not need to obey in order to be justified.  Paul argues that faith rather than Torah makes one a child of Abraham (3:6-9); that the attempt to be justified by law places one under a curse. (3:10-14)...and that those who desire to be justified by the law cut themselves off from grace and Christ. (5:2-5:12).” (Schreiner, 44.) 

Generally, religion teaches us that if we try harder, work more diligently and do more, we will earn our way.  However,real New Testament Christianity flies in the face of that.  We cannot earn it.  That idea is a lie. 

Paul, in presenting his case, will argue two different means of justification:  1. Justification through obedience to the Law, and 2. Justification through faith in Jesus Christ.  Moving forward, we will see his arguments and determine which is the better way to justification. We will all have the ability to choose.  

        David deSilva, Galatians: A Handbook on the Greek Text, Waco, Texas, Baylor University Press, 2014.

         Douglas Moo, Galatians, Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2013.

         Thomas Schriener, Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Galatians, Zondervan Academic, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2010.