Justified by faith not by laws, parts 1 and 2

Lynne Baab • Tuesday April 7 2026

Overall theme for the next few months: God’s law is love

Lesson 7: Justified by faith not by laws, parts 1 and 2 (Galatians 2:1-21)

Key verse: “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.” Galatians 2:20b.

Stepping into the Word

Jason experienced a turning point moment when he was 29. His wedding day was approaching, but Jason had doubts about his compatibility with his fiancée. The invitations had been mailed, the presents were arriving by mail, and Jason kept hearing words of congratulation from enthusiastic friends. As the wedding day drew nearer, Jason became more convinced the marriage would be a bad decision. One week before the wedding, Jason called it off.

Jason describes himself as a people-pleaser, someone who is always aware of what others around him are feeling. “What will the neighbors say?” was his mother’s mantra in Jason’s childhood. Several decades have passed since that turning point moment, and Jason continues to be amazed at his courage to do the right thing, despite being tempted to take the path of least resistance and fulfill the expectations of his friends and family members, as well as the hopes of his fiancée. That moment of integrity and courage shaped the rest of Jason’s life because it gave him the confidence he could act with strength and purpose.

Many of us have turning point moments related to personal integrity, when we realize that we can act on what we know to be true and when we discover that we have more courage than we ever imagined. Teenagers experience extreme peer pressure, and sadly that pressure doesn’t magically end at the beginning of adult life. Figuring out what integrity looks like in practice is an ongoing challenge.

Galatians 2 recounts a story of personal conflict related to peer pressure and integrity. The integrity at stake here is not simply a personal sense of right and wrong. The very heart of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is at risk. The apostles Peter and Paul engage in a drama that creates a turning point moment for the church and shapes the mission of the church to the Gentiles.

God of generous grace, help us to see and embrace the gift you want to give us in Jesus. By the power of your Holy Spirit, help us live with integrity and courage.

Righteousness through faith

In the first chapter of Galatians, Paul greets the Galatians, states his purpose in writing the letter, and gives some biographical information about his conversion and initial commissioning by God to be an apostle. In chapter two, Paul continues his personal story, describing what happened 14 years after his conversion, when the leaders of the church in Jerusalem recognized Paul’s call to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles. Then the chapter becomes more dramatic, as Paul describes his conflict with Peter when both apostles visit Antioch. Peter happily eats with the Gentile Christians in Antioch until a group of strict Jewish Christians arrives from Jerusalem. At that moment, Peter ceases his table fellowship with the Gentile brothers and sisters in Christ, and he eats only with other Jews.

Paul confronts Peter: “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?” (v. 14). The uncompromising Jewish Christians from Jerusalem, the “circumcision faction” (v. 12), are also referred to as “Judaizers.” They preached a form of Christianity that required Gentile converts to adopt Jewish practices, including circumcision and dietary regulations. On the one hand, these practices functioned as ethnic boundary markers that excluded Gentiles, but these Jewish practices were also essential for Jews who believed that faithfulness to God’s law resulted in justification. The word justified comes from the context of a law court and it means “to be deemed righteous.” Paul, in contrast to the Judaizers, proclaims that we are justified through faith in Jesus. Paul believed that Gentiles could join the church without first having to adopt any of these traditional Jewish practices.

As in Romans 7 (see my most recent two blog posts, here and here), Paul here appeals to the analogy of death. Paul says he — and by implication all Christians — has died to the law by being crucified with Christ, and Christ now lives in him — and us. This righteousness that comes through Christ is much more than a legal transaction. Paul lives his life “by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). Because of this relationship that involves faith, trust, and love, Paul and all Christians are not bound by the law. Paul continues his critique of the notion of justification by means of the law in verse 21: “If justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.” Christ died because he loves us, and we are invited into relationship with the God of sacrificial love.

In what settings are you tempted to fall into the belief that something you do will make you righteous before God? What helps you return to the truth of the Gospel?

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Next week: Justified by faith, not by laws, parts 3 and 4. Illustration by Dave Baab: yellow roses to celebrate Easter season.

The most recent magazine articles and talks I’ve posted in this website:

Meeting God in grief and gratitude
Nurturing a contemplative stance for navigating challenging times
The power of accurate teaching (how I came to believe women could be ordained as ministers)

This lesson appeared in the Fall 2023 edition of The Present Word adult Bible study curriculum published by the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Used with permission.

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