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"But if we ourselves are also found to be "sinners" while seeking to be justified by Christ, is Christ then a promoter of sin? Absolutely not! If I rebuild those things that I tore down, I show myself to be a lawbreaker. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live for God." Galatians 2:17-19
(I know we are hopping around the book of Galatians, but this order is what made the most sense to me as we follow the path of Paul's questions to the Galatian church.)
My hardest subject in school was Math. I could often get the right answers, but the wrong way. I would take extensive notes and practice by doing the even number problems, whose answers were in the back of the textbook. (Or was it odd? It was 39 years ago....) I would do ok on my own, but when it came time to take the test, I hadn't mastered it. When it came time to help my own kids, I was back on the struggle bus. I still have notebooks full of math equations that I did to check MY work before I helped them with theirs!! I even bought the answer key book when Landon was in 6th grade, probably because I was of "advanced maternal age". 👵👵👵 I admit, there were times that they would ask "Why is that the answer?" and my response might be "....Because ".
A teacher asks questions. An effective teacher explains why the answer is the answer. This is what Paul is doing. Over the course of this letter, he will have asked them multiple questions. When he, as a loving teacher, examines the answers their life choices are depicting, Paul explains the correct answer and why. The law was intended to be a check-engine light on their human, natural tendencies. It was not meant to light a fire under their nature, ie "The law says not to do this, I never thought about doing this, now I want to!!!" (Paul wrote this to the Roman church in Romans 7:7-13)
Jesus is not setting them up to fail. He has not lead them into sin, just so He can swoop in and be the Hero. He came to set them free!! They have been saved by Him. He has come in and completely changed their lives, as He does. 💓 (Justification=salvation.) He has cleaned up the mess left behind by humans, list-makers but list-unable-to-keepers. Now that they are walking the Jesus Way, with a clean, freshly swept heart, longing to be conformed to His image (sanctification), their minds start casting about for something familiar.
Jesus HIMSELF taught this in Matthew 12:43-45 There is an unclean spirit that's been cast out, but it's constantly looking for a host, just like the parasite it is. It will go back to what is familiar, the original host where it's been welcome before. It finds an empty, swept , clean spot to live and invites seven other demons to join. Where do the Galatians go wrong? They were swept clean, they were washed clean. They haven't lost their salvation. But they were choosing to live empty lives. More concerned with rebuilding what they'd torn down. They keep choosing their human nature, instead of walking by the Spirit's guidance.
Paul asked the hard questions. He gave difficult answers. It would be easier to say don't do this because I said. But Paul was taught to be an effective teacher, not by men or by man, but by Jesus Christ. An effective teacher gives the answers, and gives the answers, and then gives the answers again. To train and retrain our thoughts, our emotions, what we say, what we do. Because Jesus said.
"For freedom, Christ set us free. Stand firm, then, and don't submit again to a yoke of slavery." Galatians 5:1
The answer is never found in our human nature. It's just a form of slavery. The answer isn't found in the law, it was only meant to point out our lack, never to save. The answer is always Jesus. He is the One who cleans us up, sweeping out the effects of sin that so easily trip us up. And He is also the One who fills the empty space with Himself, with His Spirit. He has rescued us from this present evil age, and brought us into wide open freedom. It's your inheritance in Christ. Stand firm.
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