No Contradiction. Galatians 2:17-19.
Dear Saints,
Paul now shifts gears from the event in which he rebuked Peter to the implications of abandoning the quest for justification through the law.
The Confusing Matter (v. 17). Paul raises the question of those who have sought justification by faith, who are found to be still sinning. Does that mean then, that Christ approves of their sin?
It is easy to see how one can come to this conclusion. A lot of people have problems with the teaching of the Bible that justification is by faith alone and that obeying the law has no merit. It is interpreted by some to mean that one can come to Christ for salvation, then go on to sin like the devil, since salvation cannot be lost. Paul says no and proceeds to explain why.
The Conflicted Mind (vv. 18-19). When a person who has destroyed the things of the world goes back to what he abandoned, he is pronouncing himself a “transgressor.” A transgressor crosses set boundaries and enters a forbidden area. The person who does this ignores the fact that when he came to Christ, he died to the law, not so as to sin at will, but so that he could live for Christ. Dying to the law means living to God, so this cannot mean a lack of restraint.
Paul expounds this more in the next two verses, but for now let it suffice to say that when we die to the law, we also die to sin. Death is the absence of response to a stimulus. If we are dead to sin, how do we then respond actively to it?
Your Loving Pastor Chris.