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15 “You and I are Jews by birth, not ‘sinners’ like the Gentiles. 16 Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.”[a]

17 But suppose we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ and then we are found guilty because we have abandoned the law. Would that mean Christ has led us into sin? Absolutely not! 18 Rather, I am a sinner if I rebuild the old system of law I already tore down. 19 For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God. 20 My old self has been crucified with Christ.[b] It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.

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Footnotes

  1. 2:16 Some translators hold that the quotation extends through verse 14; others through verse 16; and still others through verse 21.
  2. 2:20 Some English translations put this sentence in verse 19.

Jews, Like Gentiles, are Saved by Faith

15 We ourselves are Jews by birth, and not gentile sinners, 16 yet we know that a person is not justified by doing what the Law requires,[a] but rather by the faithfulness of Jesus[b] the Messiah.[c] We, too, have believed in the Messiah[d] Jesus so that we might be justified by the faithfulness of[e] the Messiah[f] and not by doing what the Law requires, for no human being[g] will be justified by doing what the Law requires. 17 Now if we, while trying to be justified by the Messiah,[h] have been found to be sinners, does that mean that the Messiah[i] is serving the interests of sin? Of course not! 18 For if I rebuild something that I tore down, I demonstrate that I am a wrongdoer. 19 For through the Law I died to the Law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with the Messiah.[j] 20 I no longer live, but the Messiah[k] lives in me, and the life that I am now living in this body I live by the faithfulness of the Son of God,[l] who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not misapply God’s grace, for if righteousness comes about by doing what the Law requires, then the Messiah[m] died for nothing.

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Footnotes

  1. Galatians 2:16 Lit. by works of the law; and so throughout this verse
  2. Galatians 2:16 Or by faith in Jesus
  3. Galatians 2:16 Or Christ
  4. Galatians 2:16 Or Christ
  5. Galatians 2:16 Or by faith in
  6. Galatians 2:16 Or Christ
  7. Galatians 2:16 Lit. no flesh
  8. Galatians 2:17 Or Christ
  9. Galatians 2:17 Or Christ
  10. Galatians 2:19 Or Christ
  11. Galatians 2:20 Or Christ
  12. Galatians 2:20 Or by faith in the Son of God
  13. Galatians 2:21 Or Christ