Living in Freedom: Justification by Faith in Christ

For through the law I died to the law that I might live to God I think that is the foundational thing to get clear what does it mean that through the law I died to the law you might say well I know what it means to die to the law it it means that the law no longer functions in your life as a way to get right with God right you are dead to the law in that you no longer treat the law as the means by which you will perform the law and thus get your way into a right standing with God that must die in order to be justified by faith. [00:02:12]

This means doesn't it that it was the law itself that taught us to die to the law it was the Law's job through the law comes the knowledge of sin Paul says in Romans 3 the law doesn't make you right with God the law exposes your own impossibility of getting right with God and thus the law by Design through the good right god-given intention of the law we died to the law it was the intention of the law to make me alive to God and dead to law as lawke keeping unto justification. [00:03:28]

It was the very design of the law itself that I would die to the law and be alive to God and we'll see next time that this living by faith here and this live to God are related but not now let's go backwards let's go backwards to the next argument so with that in mind the law itself by Design By God's intention by Moses intention in the pentiuk the first five books of the Bible called the law that book intended for us to die to law as a way of getting right with God. [00:04:36]

If I rebuild what I tore down I prove myself to be a transgressor and I argued last time that rebuilding what I tore down is what Peter did when he withdrew table Fellowship from Gentiles so Peter was acting in gospel freedom and eating with with Gentiles and thus he had torn down the dividing wall of circumcision and dietary laws and certain kinds of Festival keeping these things that had put Gentiles outside and separated them off from God and from the people of Israel he tore it down and he was now rebuilding it by pulling away and giving the impression oh actually you do need to be circumcised. [00:05:30]

If you do that Peter or if any of us do that if we put back lawke keeping in the place of faith in Jesus we prove our elves to be a transgressor and my question now is on the basis of verse 19 a transgressor of what and the answer is the law because the law told us not to depend upon lawkeepers the law you got that that is so important oh my goodness through the law I died to the law now I'm trying to rebuild lawke keeping by implication when I pull away from table fellowship with the Gentiles and I give the impression that you got to keep circumcision as a way of getting Justified. [00:06:51]

By telling the Gentiles through my behavior you got to keep the law in order to be justified I break the law I break the law now one more argument that is given as a ground and explanation of verse 17 so let's read verse 17 but if seeking to be justified in Christ we ourselves were found to be Sinners is Christ's servant of sin certainly not so what does found to be Sinners mean and I argued that it means not that they were actually sinning in seeking to be justified in Christ but they were putting themselves in the category of those who are typically regarded as Sinners because they don't depend on circumcision. [00:07:52]

When we seek to be justified by faith alone apart from works of the law and thus find ourselves tearing down lawke keeping as a way of getting right with God and thus find ourselves in the category of Sinner now this is I'm arguing this is not real sinfulness this is being in the category with Gentiles who ignore the dietary laws and ignore circumcision and so I'm arguing Sinners here has the same meaning that it did more or less back here in verse 15 we ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile Sinners those people outside who pay no attention to the law. [00:09:10]

If seeking to be justified in Christ through faith alone we are ourselves too were found to be in the category of the Gentiles who are typically regarded as Sinners because they are not submitting to circumcision Etc is Christ the servant of sin answer no why not because when I start to rebuild rebuild circumcision which I had torn down as a means of justification ation I proved myself to be a transgressor of the law itself why because through that very law I had died to the law as a way of getting right with God in order that I might live to God. [00:10:19]

That's a coherent argument and it is very powerful it puts the law in its totality the whole first five books of the Bible in a position of teaching justification by faith which Paul of course says it does Genesis 156 Abraham is justified by faith and it teaches that if you rebuild lawke keeping as a way of justification you transgress the law and it teaches then that if you put yourself in the category of gentiles Sinners by being justified by faith and not submitting yourself to circumcision anymore you are not a sinner. [00:11:21]

The law's primary role is to reveal our sinfulness and our inability to achieve righteousness on our own. It is through the law that we understand our need to die to it as a means of justification, leading us to rely on faith in Christ. Dying to the law means no longer treating it as a means to earn God's favor. This death is essential for living a life of faith, where our justification comes from Christ alone, not our adherence to the law. [00:03:28]

Attempting to rebuild the law as a means of justification, as Peter did, is a transgression against the law itself. The law was designed to point us to faith, not to be a tool for earning righteousness. Living by faith places us in the category of those who are free from the law's demands. This freedom is not sinful but a reflection of our trust in Christ's work, not our own efforts. [00:05:30]

The entire argument underscores that justification by faith is a consistent theme throughout the Bible, even within the law itself. It is a call to live for God, liberated from the constraints of legalism. The law was never intended to be a tool for earning righteousness but a guide to lead us to Christ. [00:11:21]