Bible Groups - Digests of Bible Commentaries

Paul's Letter to the Galatians - Justification

Justification by Faith in Christ, not by the Law
The Mosaic Law did not fully reconcile man with God. God had revealed himself only partially to the Jews in the OT - He was seen by them as a majestic. all-powerful, but distant God, who directed their history but spoke only through a few prophets and patriarchs who “walked with God”.
This distant impersonal relationship did not lead individual Jews into a personal relationship with God, in which they were “at one” with Him, ie justified or “in an upright relationship with Him”.
For these reasons man could still not attain that full relationship with God after death, ie heaven. There was still an unbridgeable gulf between man and God - the created could not enter into a complete relationship with his creator. (A dog could not sit comfortably and converse sensibly with a man, on an intellectually almost equal footing).
Jesus becoming man entered into a new relationship with man, revealing God as a personal God who cared about each individual and wanted each person to know Him and to have a personal relationship with Him.
This was new: the Mosaic Law did not lead anyone into a personal relationship with God, so how could such a relationship come into existence after death? Jesus taught us how to relate to Him, and so to God, in a personal way while here on earth, and so prepared us to be able to continue this relationship after death. He made us sons and so heirs of God, so that we could regard God as Abba, Dad.
Christ also by His behaviour on earth showed us what this relationship means in practical terms: it means, yes, obedience to the Will of the Father. But it also means that we know what the Father’s will is, without any rules or having to be told. And Christ’s example also showed us how to behave towards others - not in order to “earn” heaven by our behaviuour, but because our behaviour reflects our understanding of God’s will - or Spirit - within us, just as we behave properly because we know what our earthly father expects of us, even though he is not present with us.
Having been in this sense “Godised” during our earthly life, we are prepared for a real relationship with God after death.
The Law is no longer necessary because God’s will is now written on our hearts. And it never was fully effective, since it never led us as individuals into a right relationship with God.
In addition, Christ’s death on a Cross is sacrificial - it effects a new relationship and creates a bridge for us to cross. By sharing in our humanity Christ enabled us to share in God’s transcendance. God becoming man showed us that Man could share in God’s life, and showed us the way to do so.
Further, the Law can now mislead: it is not adequate to bring us into a right relationship with God. But following it can lead us to believe that it is adequate, and so lead us away from Christ and the example He left us.
As the early Christians quickly found, formal rules are not adequate. They quickly become out of date, and do not help us to decide what is right in new situations. Which Commandment forbids taking drugs?
The Law must be replaced with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, in which we know how to behave: we have Christ’s example, and we have God’s will written on our hearts and His Spirit within us.