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Galatians 2:15-21
The Message
Galatians 2:15-21
The Message
15-16 We Jews know that we have no advantage of birth over “non-Jewish sinners.” We know very well that we are not set right with God by rule-keeping but only through personal faith in Jesus Christ. How do we know? We tried it—and we had the best system of rules the world has ever seen! Convinced that no human being can please God by self-improvement, we believed in Jesus as the Messiah so that we might be set right before God by trusting in the Messiah, not by trying to be good.
17-18 Have some of you noticed that we are not yet perfect? (No great surprise, right?) And are you ready to make the accusation that since people like me, who go through Christ in order to get things right with God, aren’t perfectly virtuous, Christ must therefore be an accessory to sin? The accusation is frivolous. If I was “trying to be good,” I would be rebuilding the same old barn that I tore down. I would be acting as a pretender.
19-21 What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn’t work. So I quit being a “law man” so that I could be God’s man. Christ’s life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not “mine,” but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that.
21 Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God’s grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily.
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Galatians 2:15-21
Amplified Bible
Galatians 2:15-21
Amplified Bible
15 [I went on to say] “We are Jews by birth and not sinners from among the Gentiles; 16 yet we know that a man is not [a]justified [and placed in right standing with God] by works of the Law, but [only] through faith in [God’s beloved Son,] Christ Jesus. And even we [as Jews] have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the Law. By observing the Law no one will ever be justified [declared free of the guilt of sin and its penalty].(A) 17 But if, while we seek to be justified in Christ [by faith], we ourselves are found to be sinners, does that make Christ an advocate or promoter of our sin? Certainly not! 18 For if I [or anyone else should] rebuild [through word or by practice] what I once tore down [the belief that observing the Law is essential for salvation], I prove myself to be a transgressor. 19 For through the Law I died to the Law and its demands on me [because salvation is provided through the death and resurrection of Christ], so that I might [from now on] live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ [that is, in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body I live by faith [by adhering to, relying on, and completely trusting] in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. 21 I do not ignore or nullify the [gracious gift of the] grace of God [His amazing, unmerited favor], for if righteousness comes through [observing] the Law, then Christ died needlessly. [His suffering and death would have had no purpose whatsoever.]”
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- Galatians 2:16 Being justified is a legal or judicial declaration of righteousness. Justification has two parts: (1) Being declared free of blame, acquitted of sin—not guilty. Believers are justified because Jesus Christ personally assumed the guilt for our sin on the cross; (2) God declares the person righteous, that is, placed in a position of right-standing with Him. A person may not be made righteous by his personal behavior, no matter how good, or by the declaration of any other human being.
Galatians 2:15-21
English Standard Version
Galatians 2:15-21
English Standard Version
Justified by Faith
15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not (A)Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that (B)a person is not justified[a] by works of the law (C)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, (D)because by works of the law no one will be justified.
17 But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found (E)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 (F)died to the law, so that I might (G)live to God. 20 I have been (H)crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives (I)in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, (J)who loved me and (K)gave himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for (L)if righteousness[b] were through the law, (M)then Christ died for no purpose.
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- Galatians 2:16 Or counted righteous (three times in verse 16); also verse 17
- Galatians 2:21 Or justification
Galatians 2:15-21
New International Version
Galatians 2:15-21
New International Version
15 “We who are Jews by birth(A) and not sinful Gentiles(B) 16 know that a person is not justified by the works of the law,(C) but by faith in Jesus Christ.(D) So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in[a] Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.(E)
17 “But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners,(F) doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not!(G) 18 If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker.
19 “For through the law I died to the law(H) so that I might live for God.(I) 20 I have been crucified with Christ(J) and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.(K) The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God,(L) who loved me(M) and gave himself for me.(N) 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law,(O) Christ died for nothing!”[b]
Footnotes
- Galatians 2:16 Or but through the faithfulness of … justified on the basis of the faithfulness of
- Galatians 2:21 Some interpreters end the quotation after verse 14.
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
Amplified Bible (AMP) 
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
English Standard Version (ESV) 
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.