We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles,
The verse draws the line Jews drew by birth, as those born inside the covenant people, from Gentiles, whom they called sinners. It does not make Jews sinless, for Jews by birth were sinners too and stand as guilty before God as Gentiles. Jew and Gentile alike are justified through faith in Jesus Christ and not by works of law, so Jewish birth and its forms and ceremonies justify no one and Gentile sinners need not become Jews by circumcision to be saved. The law that cannot justify is the ceremonial law of Moses abolished in Christ, not the Ten Commandments, which remain holy and just and good. Paul spoke these words in rebuking Peter for not walking uprightly over table fellowship and compelling Gentiles to live as Jews, in the wider dispute whether Gentile converts must be circumcised and keep the law of Moses to be saved.
Words and Historical Setting
The verse sets those who are Jews by birth, born inside the covenant people, over against the Gentiles, whom the Jews called sinners. The distinction is one of birth and standing among the covenant people, not a claim that Jews are sinless. Paul and Peter themselves were Jews by birth yet were sinners among the Jews, and Jewish birth did not make Jews free from sin or better than Gentile sinners. Jews and Gentiles are alike guilty before God, and Jewish birth with its privileges gives nothing to boast of before Him.
The verse stands in Paul's reproof of Peter for dissembling and for not walking uprightly according to the truth of the gospel. The fault arose in the dispute over table fellowship, where Peter by his withdrawal was compelling Gentiles to live as Jews. His conduct was driven by pride and fear of people, holding one standard of principle among friends and a different standard among strangers. Such inconsistency in living principle was wrong and needed direct reproof and correction.
The wider controversy behind the reproof was whether Gentile converts had to receive circumcision and observe the ceremonial ordinances and the law of Moses in order to be saved. The question had been taken to the Jerusalem council recorded in Acts 15, and it concerned the ceremonial law, not the abolition of the Ten Commandments. At Antioch some taught that something besides faith in Christ was necessary, so the issue was whether salvation comes through Christ alone or through an added requirement. To add another requirement denied Christ and made the message a false gospel, in conflict with justification through Christ. The Galatians themselves regarded circumcision as important even if they had not undergone the rite.
The chapter belongs to Paul's account of his dealings with the apostles and men of repute at Jerusalem and of his reproof of Peter. It describes the Jerusalem conference recorded in Acts 15, held about 51 A.D., seventeen years after Paul's conversion and fourteen years after his visit to Jerusalem recorded in Galatians 1:18. The letter was written in A.D. 58 to Christians in Galatia in Asia Minor, whose churches held both Jews by birth and Gentiles turned from heathen idolatry.
Faith Justifies Jew and Gentile
Even those who are Jews by birth and not sinners of the Gentiles know that a person is not justified by works of law but by faith in Jesus Christ, and therefore have believed in order to be justified by faith and not by works, for by works of law no flesh shall be justified. Jewish birth within the covenant people, with all its privileges, does not make Jews free from sin or able to be justified by works, for Paul and Peter themselves were sinners among the Jews. That status gives nothing to boast of before God, and Jewish forms and ceremonies are no basis for acceptance, because faith in Christ is what matters. Since Jewish believers themselves could be saved only through faith in Christ, Gentile sinners can also be saved directly by faith without adopting Jewish forms such as circumcision. This justification by faith is the basis of salvation for the whole world, for Jew as well as Gentile, and belongs with the need of the Jews to believe in Christ for righteousness.
The law by which Jews had sought forgiveness is the ceremonial law of Moses, the Levitical law abolished by Christ. It is not the Ten Commandments or law of God, which remains holy and just and good. Christ came not to abolish the law of God but to abolish what is enmity against it and not subject to it, namely the carnal mind with its commandments and ordinances.
Jewish birth gives no special or continuing claim to God's promises under the new covenant. Promises once made specially to Israel's natural descendants are now through Christ, and Gentiles share them as fellow heirs, with the division between Jews and Gentiles broken down. A restoration cannot be claimed on the basis of a persistent Jewish faith that rejects Christ. To rebuild that distinction again makes those who do so transgressors.
To seek justification by any other means repudiates Christ and turns Gentile believers back to the idolatry they left. That freedom in Christ is illustrated by Abraham's two wives. The only life acceptable to God is Christ living in a person. To experience this justification is to experience the real presence of Christ in the service of the living temple, the mystery of godliness.
No one can be justified by deeds of the law, so all trying to be justified by the law are under the curse and must escape from under it as soon as possible. Sinners are equally guilty before God regardless of race, church membership, or religious profession, and Christ offers hope to all. The mercy shown to a Gentile woman who trusted Jesus encourages sinners of the Gentiles to hope in his mercy. Gentile hearers who attentively listen to Bible evidence about Christ's near coming and are ready to acknowledge the truth they have learned still need to obey it and have their hearts converted.
The verse draws the line Jews drew by birth, as those born inside the covenant people, from Gentiles, whom they called sinners.
It does not make Jews sinless, for Jews by birth were sinners too and stand as guilty before God as Gentiles.
Jew and Gentile alike are justified through faith in Jesus Christ and not by works of law, so Jewish birth and its forms and ceremonies justify no one and Gentile sinners need not become Jews by circumcision to be saved.
The law that cannot justify is the ceremonial law of Moses abolished in Christ, not the Ten Commandments, which remain holy and just and good.
Paul spoke these words in rebuking Peter for not walking uprightly over table fellowship and compelling Gentiles to live as Jews, in the wider dispute whether Gentile converts must be circumcised and keep the law of Moses to be saved.
Words and Historical Setting
The verse sets those who are Jews by birth, born inside the covenant people, over against the Gentiles, whom the Jews called sinners. The distinction is one of birth and standing among the covenant people, not a claim that Jews are sinless. Paul and Peter themselves were Jews by birth yet were sinners among the Jews, and Jewish birth did not make Jews free from sin or better than Gentile sinners. Jews and Gentiles are alike guilty before God, and Jewish birth with its privileges gives nothing to boast of before Him.
The verse stands in Paul's reproof of Peter for dissembling and for not walking uprightly according to the truth of the gospel. The fault arose in the dispute over table fellowship, where Peter by his withdrawal was compelling Gentiles to live as Jews. His conduct was driven by pride and fear of people, holding one standard of principle among friends and a different standard among strangers. Such inconsistency in living principle was wrong and needed direct reproof and correction.
The wider controversy behind the reproof was whether Gentile converts had to receive circumcision and observe the ceremonial ordinances and the law of Moses in order to be saved. The question had been taken to the Jerusalem council recorded in Acts 15, and it concerned the ceremonial law, not the abolition of the Ten Commandments. At Antioch some taught that something besides faith in Christ was necessary, so the issue was whether salvation comes through Christ alone or through an added requirement. To add another requirement denied Christ and made the message a false gospel, in conflict with justification through Christ. The Galatians themselves regarded circumcision as important even if they had not undergone the rite.
The chapter belongs to Paul's account of his dealings with the apostles and men of repute at Jerusalem and of his reproof of Peter. It describes the Jerusalem conference recorded in Acts 15, held about 51 A.D., seventeen years after Paul's conversion and fourteen years after his visit to Jerusalem recorded in Galatians 1:18. The letter was written in A.D. 58 to Christians in Galatia in Asia Minor, whose churches held both Jews by birth and Gentiles turned from heathen idolatry.
Faith Justifies Jew and Gentile
Even those who are Jews by birth and not sinners of the Gentiles know that a person is not justified by works of law but by faith in Jesus Christ, and therefore have believed in order to be justified by faith and not by works, for by works of law no flesh shall be justified. Jewish birth within the covenant people, with all its privileges, does not make Jews free from sin or able to be justified by works, for Paul and Peter themselves were sinners among the Jews. That status gives nothing to boast of before God, and Jewish forms and ceremonies are no basis for acceptance, because faith in Christ is what matters. Since Jewish believers themselves could be saved only through faith in Christ, Gentile sinners can also be saved directly by faith without adopting Jewish forms such as circumcision. This justification by faith is the basis of salvation for the whole world, for Jew as well as Gentile, and belongs with the need of the Jews to believe in Christ for righteousness.
The law by which Jews had sought forgiveness is the ceremonial law of Moses, the Levitical law abolished by Christ. It is not the Ten Commandments or law of God, which remains holy and just and good. Christ came not to abolish the law of God but to abolish what is enmity against it and not subject to it, namely the carnal mind with its commandments and ordinances.
Jewish birth gives no special or continuing claim to God's promises under the new covenant. Promises once made specially to Israel's natural descendants are now through Christ, and Gentiles share them as fellow heirs, with the division between Jews and Gentiles broken down. A restoration cannot be claimed on the basis of a persistent Jewish faith that rejects Christ. To rebuild that distinction again makes those who do so transgressors.
To seek justification by any other means repudiates Christ and turns Gentile believers back to the idolatry they left. That freedom in Christ is illustrated by Abraham's two wives. The only life acceptable to God is Christ living in a person. To experience this justification is to experience the real presence of Christ in the service of the living temple, the mystery of godliness.
No one can be justified by deeds of the law, so all trying to be justified by the law are under the curse and must escape from under it as soon as possible. Sinners are equally guilty before God regardless of race, church membership, or religious profession, and Christ offers hope to all. The mercy shown to a Gentile woman who trusted Jesus encourages sinners of the Gentiles to hope in his mercy. Gentile hearers who attentively listen to Bible evidence about Christ's near coming and are ready to acknowledge the truth they have learned still need to obey it and have their hearts converted.