Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.
Summary: Trying to keep up with Paul’s logic can be challenging. Today’s passage challenges us to consider the importance of Christ’s crucifixion to Paul’s argument against circumcision.
When you think of the word “gospel,” what comes to mind?
For some people, it is a theological construct built on important principles distilled from the New Testament. For others, it is as simple as Romans 10:13; “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” For me, it is summed up in the name “Jesus.” Paul’s answer is that Jesus is “clearly portrayed as crucified.”
Isn’t that interesting?
So far, Paul’s entire letter has made the case that he is uniquely qualified to present the gospel of Jesus Christ. Why? Because he was called by Jesus personally (Gal 1: 15-16). Three years later, he met with Peter and James to confirm what he had learned from Jesus (Gal 1: 18-19). Fourteen years after that, he again met with the leaders in Jerusalem, where James, Peter, and John reaffirmed his gospel message (Gal 2:9).
As if all this were not enough, Paul recounts how Peter came to Antioch, where Paul was living and preaching. During this visit Paul had to correct Peter on the issue of circumcision. Paul argued that “if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing” (Gal 2:21).
Now, at the height of his argument, Paul acts as if the main question was whether or not Jesus was crucified.
Why?
The issue at hand is an argument between so-called Christians and real Christians. The “so-called Christians” have accepted a “different gospel” (Gal 1:6) than the one Paul preaches. This “different gospel” contains a requirement that Gentile men be circumcised (Gal 6:12).
As Paul explains in his letter, before meeting Jesus, he had been immersed in the law (Gal 1:14). Now, he argues against the law! (Gal 2: 15-21)
This is where things get even more interesting!
Paul’s argument against the law is an argument that the law has been fulfilled. It is like someone bringing a bill into court marked “Paid in Full” and claiming that money is still owed. Money was owed before the bill was paid, but Jesus paid the bill in full when he was crucified on the cross.
The word “gospel” means “good news.” Knowing that Jesus has paid my debt to God certainly qualifies as the best kind of news.
Application: Thank God for Jesus!
Food for Thought: If you are sharing the gospel with your neighbor, how do you explain Christ’s crucifixion?
Quite a question this morning; it took me to many places.
If I were sharing the gospel with my neighbor, I would need to explain sin. To explain sin, I would need to share what the Holy, righteous, perfect will of God is, and how anything outside of His will, is not His will, and is sin. Once sin is introduced, it separates us from Him. Sin grows in our hearts. It deceives us into thinking that we are equal, or even greater, than God. The separation is more than just being in a different room, it is eternally being separated from His presence, His Spirit. In grace, God first provisioned for mankind to offer a blood sacrifice for sin. That sacrifice was the slaughtering of an innocent to atone for the sins of the guilty. It was so mankind could maintain a small portion of communion with God, that mankind was not cast out and completely lost. That in the process of the sacrifice, a person could see their sin for what it is, and ask forgiveness. Recognize the cost of sin, and repent.
Leviticus 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.
The crucifixion of Christ is the final blood sacrifice that God requires for our atonement of sin. Like the lamb of the blood sacrifice in the Old Testament, Christ was willingly led to be slaughtered for our sin. Innocent of sin, He gave His life for atonement of ours.
Isaiah 53:7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.
Hebrews 9:14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
Matthew 26:28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Something about the crucifixion I had not internalized until today is that when Christ died on the cross, He did not die of “a wound.” No “final blow.” He bled. His lifeblood poured out of His body, covered the cross, the ground, and our sin.
Chris,
Thank you! I deeply appreciate how you wrestled with the question today and dug deep for your answer. Well done!
I usually find that people who don’t understand their state of sin will admit it with other words if you get them in an honest conversation. It comes out in other ways. I am reminded of Romans 1. There’s the Law that the Jews had which God gave, that was very perspicuous for them, but even in absence of the letters of the Law, Paul brings to our attention that all humans will inevitably incriminate themselves by their own natural standards, e.g. pronouncing their own judgments and standards but not perfectly abiding by them. Growing up in the church reading the law and the gospel together, I can see how Jesus came and fulfilled the law and that we have access to His righteousness by grace through faith in his atoning sacrifice which he proved by rising from the dead. Baptism corresponds to this, as we are buried with Him in His death, to rise with Him in newness of life. You’re almost there, so I don’t want to steal your thunder, but as Paul continues in Galatians 3:24, the Law is a tutor for us to lead us to faith in Jesus. There is certainly fruit from righteous living, and Acts 15 teaches us what laws us gentiles should continue to abide with, those of us who did not have the blessing to have grown up in a traditional Jewish community. In loving God and loving others in response to God’s love for us, we are to forgo adultery and idolatry. I mean, that is very obvious in my opinion even without a Jewish background. Giving oneself to those activities are very clearly destructive and damaging for us humans who were made in God’s image. But to go back to the Law for justification, after receiving it through Jesus, is what Paul is speaking against. It makes no sense if Jesus really has given us access to God by grace through faith to then try to earn it in a way that never fully did it, that is, who has never violated any aspect of their conscience? I know no earnest man who could make such a claim. To the disingenuous I would barely have common ground to hold a conversation, but often, I notice people will say they are fine when their lives and even their physical reality would indicate that they are breaking their own rules. May God have mercy on us all.
Adam,
Great to hear from you!! Thanks for chiming in!
I like that you point out that we pronounce our own judgments and standards but cannot keep even our own rules. That certainly points to our need for a savior!
Then you point us to the hypocrisy of going back to the Law after receiving justification through Jesus. Well said!
Thank you! 🙂
03-05-2024, If you are sharing the gospel with your neighbor, how do you explain Christ’s crucifixion?
John 16:8, When He comes, He will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment.
Over the years our Lord has brought many people into my life, homeless, confused, ex-convicts and drug addicts. In every case He has been the source of power leading them to Jesus Christ through me.
I recall a young man claiming he was a woman, stomping out of our Sunday school class when an associate pastor pointed out our church had only two bathrooms, male and female. I pursued him, stopped him in the hallway and commented on his abrupt exit from our Sunday school. ( I remember being inwardly repulsed regarding the position this man was taking ) He stated his position, and my reply was, “ That’s all in your head.”
At that point I felt our Lord speaking to me, “ I got this one.” as He placed me in an observer position while He ministered to this man. I watched this young man break down and cry as God continued His conviction and in the end I sat with him during our main service and walked up front with him at our alter call where He accepted Jesus.
I have been called to focus on my walk with our Lord becoming my number one priority, and allow Christ in me to respond to the many times I have been asked, “why are you different”? God is convicting this world, John 16:8.
My assignment is to be light, Matthew 5:14-16, “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Prepared to follow God’s lead as He speaks to those He brings to me.
Ron,
For some reason your comment got caught in the spam filter today. My apologies!!
I love how your story illustrates God’s active role in our ministry to others. Sometimes the answer to a question does not speak to the head but to the heart.
Great thoughts CH. I agree that sin would have to be explained and we need to understand our need for a Savior. Otherwise, why did Christ need to be crucified? If someone does not understand that they need a Savior, if they don’t understand that their sin needs to be paid for, there will be no reason to be saved and no reason for a Savior.
Colossians 2: 11 – 14:: In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh b was put off when you were circumcised by c Christ, 12having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
13When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you d alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.
Romans 5: 6 – 8: You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Thank you, Rich!
It is hard to feel guilty if you don’t know there is a bill to be paid.