Galatians 2:18 - Printer Friendly

ESV: For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor.

NIV: If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker.

NASB: For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, I prove myself to be a wrongdoer.

CSB: If I rebuild those things that I tore down, I show myself to be a lawbreaker.

NLT: Rather, I am a sinner if I rebuild the old system of law I already tore down.

KJV: For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.

NKJV: For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.

Paul has proclaimed that nobody can be justified before God by the works of the Law. Everybody must be justified by faith in Christ or they will not be justified—"made righteous and acceptable" in the eyes of God—at all. Adding any component of works, or some requirement of rituals or deeds, destroys the truth of that good news (Galatians 1:8–9; 2:16). Paul then followed that statement with an objection raised by the critics of this gospel of God's grace. If those who claim to be justified before God through faith in Christ continue to sin, doesn't that make Christ a servant of sin? Paul's response was "Certainly not!"

Christ does not promote sin, and God's forgiveness does not condone sin. To suggest otherwise is a colossal mistake (Romans 6:1; 6:15; Galatians 3:21). Now Paul shows there is much greater danger of increased sinfulness by building a new law than by living freely in God's grace. He says that if he rebuilds (the law) after tearing down (the law), he makes himself to be an even greater sinner. It's law that reveals and promotes our sinfulness, Paul will say, not the free grace of God through faith in Christ.

Galatians 2:15–21 contains Paul's grand statements about the difference between faith in Christ and following the law. Nobody can be justified in God's eyes by the works of the law, but only by faith in Christ. To believe in Christ is to be crucified with Him and to have Him replace your sinful self in you. Paul now lives by faith in the Son of God. More, Jesus gave himself for Paul's sin because He loved him. To say that a person can be made righteous by the law is to say that Jesus died for nothing.

Paul holds a crucial meeting with the other apostles. Do they preach, as he does, that salvation can only be found through faith in Christ and not by following the law? He learns that they do, though ''false brothers'' in their midst are opposed to this gospel of God's grace. After receiving official approval from Peter and the others, Paul later opposes Peter for publicly trying to distance himself from Gentile Christians out of fear of how others might respond. Paul declares that justification comes only through faith in Christ and not by the works of the law.

In Galatians 1, Paul defended himself in order to defend the trustworthiness of his message. He made the case that he was a legitimate apostle. He shows in Galatians 2 that the other apostles stand with him in teaching the gospel of salvation through faith in Christ. He describes a moment in which he rebuked Peter for hypocrisy and then makes the case that only faith in Christ can bring justification for any person in the eyes of God. The works of the law can never make anyone righteous, or Christ would not have had to die.

Galatians is sometimes called “a short Romans” for its similar themes of justification and sanctification through faith. A group of Christians known as “Judaizers” were preaching a gospel of legalism, rather than grace. Paul’s main purpose in writing the letter to the Galatians was to reiterate the true nature of the gospel: we are justified (made righteous) and sanctified (made more Christlike) through our faith in Jesus Christ alone. This letter was probably written shortly before the church elders in Jerusalem issued their official refutation of the Judaizers, commonly called the Jerusalem Council.