Righteousness and Freedom

The other morning I was reflecting on Paul's letter to the church in Galatia. This is such an interesting letter for in it, Paul discusses a disagreement that he had with Peter (Cephas) and essentially many of the Jewish believers concerning the requirements of the Gospel, and specifically circumcision.  The church in Galatia was mostly comprised of gentile believers, and as such they did not follow Jewish traditions. Paul brings up the time he confronted Peter in Antioch, as an example to the Galatians, as follows:

Galatians 2:11-16 NIV:

[11] "When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. [12] For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. [13] The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.

[14] When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?

[15] “We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles [16] 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."

Paul's point here is very clear, the Jewish customs, which were based on the Law were not requirements for Gentiles in the Gospel.  Evidentially the "circumcision group" was pushing for all gentiles to adopt their customs, and were likely pushing it as steps in righteousness, if not as a requirement for righteousness. The idea that any of the requirements of the law are required for righteousness through Christ Jesus flies in the face of the Gospel of salvation through faith. Paul was quick to quash this thinking in Antioch, but continued to battle this thinking in Galatia.

In reading the rest of his letter, I don't think that Paul was opposed to people pursuing personal examples of affection for God, in whatever form they embraced, but he was opposed to adding these to the Gospel.  It is so important to differentiate between requirements of the Gospel and our own personal walk and convictions.  Ascribing increasing righteousness, in God's eyes, through acts of obedience is incorrect in any and every instance.  If we have received justification through Christ's sacrifice and now live in His righteousness, through no act of our own, how is it possible to add anything to His righteousness? This is not the same thing as being zealous for God, and embracing a changed lifestyle out of affection for God.

I believe that this is one of the common areas of misunderstanding and even wrong teaching in the church.  It is so easy to make personal conviction a requirement for others, especially when the individual who has the personal conviction is charismatic and people are following their life as an example.  There is certainly wisdom in certain lifestyle changes, but none of them are required for salvation, justification or righteousness!

Paul continued on in his letter - Galatians 5:1-4,13-14,18 NIV:

[1] "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. [2] Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. [3] Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. [4] You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace."

[13] "You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh ; rather, serve one another humbly in love. [14] For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

[18] "But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law."

In summary, Paul is encouraging the Galatians to embrace the Gospel and to reject anything that adds to the Gospel in the form of requirements.  As gentile believers they were not under the law, and accepting any requirement from the Law for justification essentially alienates one from the Lord and the Gospel of grace. It is important for us to understand that none of the rules for church membership, rules for living righteously, or rules for behavior have any bearing on our salvation and any other understanding, in this regard, is opposed to the Gospel.

Finally, let us embrace our one new command from Jesus, that we would love one another as He loved us.  Let us lead with love, and not pass judgment on another''s acts of affection and pursuit of the Lord, nor add any requirements for righteousness to another! Let us encourage one another to love the Lord, and love each other.

Amen!