Galatians 2:11-21

11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. 13 And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

17 But if, in ourendeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18 For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. 19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And 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. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

Introduction

As Paul and his missionary team traveled throughout the first century world planting churches, raising up disciples, and sending people out to do the same, they were accused of “turning the world upside down (Acts 17:6).” So what was it about his message that brought about such a radical transformation?

He tells you in the passage you just read when he uses the word justified. This is a legal term referring to a verdict passed down by a judge. It means to be “declared righteous.” Righteousness refers to right relationship with God and others, rooted in love. It carries the idea of a record of performance.

Much like a transcript or a rèsumè is a record of performance that you hope you can present to someone and hear a verdict of “accepted” or “hired,” the Bible says we are all spending our lives working to put together a record of performance that we can present to someone (whether it’s God, a group of friends, a significant other, a school, a job, etc.) and get a verdict of acceptance.

But Paul tells you in this passage the revolutionary truth that turned the world upside down: that verdict of acceptance is not something you achieve by performance, but it’s something you receive by faith.

Here’s what that means: you don’t have to live in the courtroom anymore. Your life does not have to be a constant cycle of putting together a better and better record of performance. Jesus’ record of performance, his perfect righteousness, gets credited to your account when you transfer your trust from your record to his.

Question 1

What people or places do you most often look to for your verdict? How does that lead you to fear and hypocrisy like it did for Peter in this story?

Question 2

How does it transform your identity to realize that this verdict is received by faith rather than achieved by performance?

Question 3

If this story teaches us anything, it’s that it’s very easy to forget the verdict God has declared. How can you remind each other of the verdict as a community and preach this to yourself on a daily basis?