Greetings & Introduction
Good Morning My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, may you have peace, joy and grace in the holy name of our Lord and Savior Jesus. Greetings to you among those who have been sanctified and justified by faith in Messiah the holy one, the chosen vessel of God's one true righteousness and the only way of salvation for the whole world. And want to remind you to keep running the race and our Lord will help you in it. Blessed be his name forever and ever. Amen.
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Chosen by our Father and His beloved Son, Have you ever wondered or considered what it means to please God according to our Holy Bible or what the Bible calls the righteousness of God means. Can we please Him or meet His righteousness by our own efforts or by our good works, as the Old Testament taught certain aspects of law keeping or as other religions teach. This is what we are going to Explain in our VERSE OF THE DAY. Which the Apostle Paul explained very well and in an easy way in Galatians. So let us all understand this powerful truth together and see what it means for us in the present.
Title: Justified By Faith, Not By Works Of The Law
Book: Galatians
Author: Apostle Paul
Chapter: 2
Verse: 16
Knowing That A Man Is Not Justified by the Works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be Justified. Galatians 2:16 (NKJV)
Galatians 2:16 - Commentary
Knowing that - Paul is specifically saying this to Peter and the other Jews with him who were eating with the Gentiles. Because they were born Jews and later became Christians, they had the opportunity to learn and understand things that the Gentiles did not. So their wrong behavior was even worse because they were leading the Gentile Christians astray.
A man is not justified by the works of the law - Justification means being right and acceptable before God. Paul says that it is an obvious truth that no one can ever be justified before their Creator by their own religious efforts or by keeping the rules of the law. This is as important for Gentiles as it is for Jews, because circumcision, sacrifices, and outward religious works are only meant to show you your sin, not to give you freedom from sin.
But by faith in Jesus Christ - Paul now starts to explain how a person can be truly justified before God. For that he tells every person to look to Christ. believing in Him is the only way a person can be justified. But this faith should not be just your intellectual acceptance but it is to believe with your whole heart, mind and soul that what my Lord Jesus did for me is enough for my justification and salvation.
Even we have believed in Christ Jesus - Paul says this for himself and for other Jews with him who were given the law by Moses and now became Christians that now we do not need to follow the old Jewish laws to be righteous.
That we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law - Here Paul is telling us that we who are Jews by birth, we also believed in the Lord Jesus Christ "that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law, so that they can receive this blessing of the Lord in their hearts by faith and enjoy it, and have all the spiritual peace that comes with it, which they could not have by the works of the Law. Because there was always the fear of condemnation, but now there is forgiveness and the knowledge that we are at peace with God and that He has forgiven us.
For by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified - This seems to be a reference to Psalm 143:2 which says "Do not enter into judgment with Your servant, For in Your sight no one living is righteous." The Jews who started believing in the Lord Jesus stopped believing in the Law of Moses. They did this because they understood that no one could be completely right or righteous in God’s eyes just by following the Law. So they relied on the Lord Jesus for their own righteousness instead of the Law. The Law said that if someone obeyed all of its laws perfectly, he could be called righteous. But that was simply not possible for anyone to do. If someone broke even one law, he was considered to have broken all the laws. So, no one could actually become righteous by obeying the Law. See what Romans 3:20 says "Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.'' And the last verse, “No one will be justified,” shows that man’s inner nature is so corrupt that he can never be completely good or righteous on his own. We all have weaknesses or sinful tendencies somewhere, which shows how corrupt we are.
Galatians 2:16 - Application to Life
As a Christian, my dear ones, never boast of any of your deeds or even try to think that I am much better than others because when we think like this, knowingly or unknowingly we start trying to make the cross of Christ meaningless which is actually our own downfall. Whether we are drunkards, drug addicts, gamblers or anyone who is wrong, we would never want our son to do the same as we do, right?
So when God who is our creator and the only good in heaven and earth, as he himself says that taste and see how good the Lord is. And who is pleased only with goodness, then we who are created in his likeness, then does it not become our first responsibility to do only good and stay away from evil and in this way spread his goodness in the world and show the world that yes, there is a good creator who created and runs this world and I am his creation and he is the reason for this little goodness of mine.
We Christians should not boast of our good works as other religions teach us to do. Because if your Maker is good, He will never want us to do bad, this becomes our first and basic foundation or in other words we are bound to it but not by compulsion but voluntarily. But if we do good works, we should pray to the Lord and thank God for the work done that I have succeeded to some extent in making the goodness of which is You manifest in the world. Do not judge others but treat others with kindness, goodness and love just as we have been forgiven. Do not try to prove your righteousness or justify yourself all the time, God loves you just the way you are, so do not worry about proving yourself.
Keep growing in your faith, keep praying and doing good even when it is the enemy, pay special attention to the poor and try to meet their needs if possible, keep reading your Bible and deepen your relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ through service. And if you ever make a mistake or feel helpless, remember that your identity is in Christ, so don't think of yourself as too good when good happens or too bad when bad happens. Because our righteousness comes from that sinless Lamb. Treat others with love, patience and kindness so that they too can know the truth of Christ. Decide today that you will fully accept your identity in Christ and live in Him. Open your heart to God every day, talk to Him and thank Him in everything and continue your journey of faith until our friend returns as the King of kings. Amen.
Galatians 2:16 - Prayer
O my Father in heaven, You are blessed and will be blessed forever. Thank You for this Word today. Father, today I have come to know the truth and depth of Your Word which is logical, poignant and real and which is acceptable in every way. Through this Word I have been taught that I am justified not by my own good works or by obeying the law but by faith in Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, who is my confidence, my hope and my salvation.
When I was ignorant, I used to try to please You with my efforts and strength like the people of the world, but I forgot that Your grace cannot be earned. Father, forgive me when I trust in myself and do not or cannot fully trust in Jesus. Keep reminding me every day that my salvation is through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, which is Your precious gift to me. Teach me to walk in faith like Abraham walked and humble my heart and mind like Jekkai. On this journey of life when I fall or feel weak or fall into sin, remind me that I am righteous not by my works but by faith in your beloved Son. I pray in the holy name of the Lord Jesus Christ who is the Lord of lords and King of kings. Amen.
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