Peter’s Tune Up (Part II)
Galatians 2:15-21

Occasionally we all need to be brought back to the fundamentals. Before the apostle Paul addresses the problems of the Galatians, he uses Peter as an example and reminds him of the following:

      1. Where we stand (2:15-16)
      2. Who’s at fault (2:17-18)
      3. Why the rules (2:19)
      4. How this works (2:20)
      5. What can’t change (2:21) 

Galatians 2 (Paul to Peter):
¹⁵ "We are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles;
¹⁶ nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.
¹⁷ "But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin? May it never be!
¹⁸ "For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, I prove myself to be a transgressor.
¹⁹ "For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God.
²⁰ "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
²¹ "I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly."

DOC means Department of Corrections. Many times when you see DOC, it’s on the back of orange coveralls. I find myself wondering -- are we really being corrected, or are we just serving time?

No one likes to be corrected because when correction comes it means we’re wrong. For us to admit we’re wrong is a real hit to our pride and to ourselves. We resist correction naturally. Isn’t it interesting, though, that the Bible talks about God’s Word being that very instrument of correction.

Why would God’s Word even need to be an instrument of correction among God’s people? What is self-evident about that? God’s people will be wrong from time to time.

These verses in Galatians serve as a bridge between what’s happened in the apostle Paul’s life historically and where he’s going theologically. The apostle Peter, who figures so prominently in the earthly ministry of Jesus, had committed a serious error. He had confused grace. He had identified completely with the Gentiles saying, “Yes, once you’re a Christian you don’t need to follow rules to be right with God.” Then when some Jewish people showed up, he stepped across the line saying, “Maybe there are a few rules.”

What a confusing statement to make when you are the first among equals in the band of apostles. That’s huge. Paul corrected him. The same mistake that Peter was making was exactly what the churches in Galatia were doing. So Paul is dealing with Peter first, as an individual, and preparing to deal in the same principles with the group as a whole.

We started last week with the first point. We’ll go further this week discussing correction. Christians, sometimes more often than not, need to be corrected. The apostle Paul picks up his instruction in five different areas discussing five different issues for which Peter needed to be addressed. The first one we discussed a week ago: Where do you stand?

As a Christian, if someone comes and addresses you or me on spiritual issues, are we where we ought to be where God is concerned? The very first question that needs to be asked and answered is, “Am I a Christian?” Have I put all my trust in Jesus only or is there some other thing that I’ve added in, to either contribute to or enhance my Christian life?  All my trust in Jesus only or not, and we go from there. That’s the easy one.

Who’s at fault (2:17-18)

Who is really at fault? On the highways of our land, if you follow another vehicle too closely and that vehicle stops suddenly, regardless of circumstances, regardless of your destination, regardless of anything at all, if you rear-end somebody, you are at fault.

Montana is an open-range state. That means cows rule. That means if you don’t want the rancher’s cattle on your place, you don’t ask him to fence them in; you must fence them out.

It also means, if you’re driving down the highway at 1 in the morning and you don’t see that Black Angus in the road in front of you and you plow into that bovine and turn him into burger on the road, two things have happened. Number one -- you’re at fault, and number two, that just became the rancher’s favorite animal.

Who is at fault? In the next two verses -- 17 and 18 – Paul is taking on Peter’s position. He is meeting him head-on. He is going to go into detail with him. He’s going to take him to where Peter has begun because the question is: “Who is at fault? Is it me or somehow is it Jesus?

We may say obviously it’s not Jesus; it must be my fault. Watch how Paul takes us there. The Jewish Christians don’t really care for grace plus faith plus nothing. They would prefer to add circumcision to the mix. They would prefer to add some dietary food eating regulation to the mix. Some among them would have felt that if all it is, is faith, if all I have to do is put my trust in Jesus, and He’ll forgive me for my sins, what’s to stop me from sinning?

Paul deals with this extensively in Romans 6. Why shouldn’t I sin if we’re just going to be forgiven, if it isn’t any big deal? I’ll just go ahead and put my trust in Jesus only and live any way I want to-- that’s going to mean sin. Doesn’t that put Jesus in cahoots with sin? That’s the question Paul is answering. Who is the real friend of sin,? Paul is going to say. Is it Jesus or is it me?

Verse 17 basically represents Paul’s position. The word “justification” simply means to be right with God. Justification is a state of being right with God. Paul says, “If seeking to be made right with God in Christ, I am found to be a sinner, then is Christ the minister or servant of sin?” Paul answers his own question, “Not in a million, zillion, eternity years -- ever! No way is Jesus ever, under any circumstances, to be considered a minister of sin.” He can’t say it any more strongly.

Paul would say, “If I am seeking to be right with God in Christ, you know what that means?” That means I have come to Him and I have declared spiritual bankruptcy. I have come to Jesus and said, “I have tried and I can’t do it. Spiritually speaking, I can’t get the job done, and so Lord, I’m just going to surrender to You and let You do it.”

Blessed are the spiritually bankrupt, Jesus said, the poor in spirit. That’s what Paul was talking about here.   If I come and I’m found to be a sinner -- I am a sinner! I’ve declared myself to be a sinner. I’ve admitted it. I’ve come clean with it. I’ve laid it down.” Does that make Jesus a minister of sin? Paul says, “Never.”

“I’m not seeking by my own efforts any more to overcome sin by keeping a list of rules and laws. No more. I’ve found I can’t do it. I’m spiritually bankrupt. Christ a minister of sin?” Paul says, “Come on! Jesus came to defeat sin. Jesus came to remove from me the penalty of sin. He came by His spirit to give me victory over the presence of sin and one day He’s going to come and literally get me away from the very presence of sin.”

The power, presence, and penalty of sin, Jesus came to do away with it. How could Jesus serve it when He came to abolish it? No, he says if I’m seeking to be right with God in Christ there is absolutely no way in which Jesus is a minister of sin. How about you, Peter? How about if you are trusting in yourself. That’s what verse 18 says. The way it reads is, For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, I prove myself to be a transgressor.

Peter, that’s what you have done. At one point, Peter, you came and said, “I can’t keep the law either. I’m done with it. I’m finished. It’s no longer part of my life.”

“You turned back to that now, Peter. What have you done? You have basically said, ‘I think I’m going to take another shot at it. I think I can do this thing. I think that in my own strength I can get this done.’ If I’m trusting in myself, if I’m trusting in my good behavior, what will be the ultimate result of that? More sin. Peter, you’re the friend of sin, you’re the minister of sin if you think you can do this in your own strength. If you think you can work out your own righteousness you are the culprit. Why? Because you will fail and you’ll try again and again and you’ll sin again and again. You’ll come up empty every time. You will make a display of a sinful life.”

“Not only so, Peter, but in any measure you think you’re succeeding, then you are close to falling into pride and pride is sin and you’ve done it again. Declare spiritual bankruptcy, Peter, and let it rest. You don’t have it and you never, ever will.”

Who is at fault? Who is the culprit? Who is the real friend of sin? I am. I will either  enjoy a moment of success and be proud of it -- spiritual pride can be a real issue among us, as well as in Paul’s day -- or my zeal against sin will lead me to defeat. I sure hope it will, the sooner the better, because once I’m defeated I declare my bankruptcy and then I get new life (Romans 7). That’s how it works.Who is at fault? I am.

Why the rules (2:19)

Why the rules? Look at verse 19, and by the way, a great deal of the book of Galatians will take off from verse 19: "For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God.  The point here is: how does the Law help me; how does keeping these different rules help me live a life devoted to God, or pleasing to God? These are his words, “that I might live to God.” That’s where he’s going; that’s what he wants to have happen.

How does keeping the rules make that go? Why the rules? In short, we have to start with the first two points about where we stand and who is at fault. If we’re going to understand why God gave us all these rules and how they’re supposed to work, we have to understand who we are before Him. I am the sinner. That means my natural inclination is not in harmony with the character of God. As a matter of fact, the Bible says I am naturally at enmity with Him.

When we have an enemy and the enemy gives us a rule, our natural inclination is either to disobey it or to disregard it or somehow to modify it or be done with it or get around it or something. We do not get complicit with the enemy naturally.

Romans 5
⁶ For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

Two non-flattering adjectives -- helpless and ungodly.

⁸ But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

¹⁰ For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

That’s where the Bible places an individual prior to Jesus coming in and changing his life. Why the rules? I am the sinner. I am naturally opposed to what is holy. We have to understand that before we understand anything else in this verse. That is my natural bent. That will change when the Holy Spirit gives me new life. It will change, but naturally that’s where I am. 

My favorite illustration of the Law of God is provided by James, the half brother and former roommate of the Lord Jesus Christ. In James chapter 1, he compares the rules to a mirror. I just love that. He says in James chapter 1:

²³ For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror;
²⁴ for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.
²⁵ But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.

This man looks in the mirror, sees what he sees, and does something about it. The rules, or the Law, is like a mirror. A mirror shows us what’s wrong. In Snow White there was a lady who liked to look in a mirror because she appreciated what she saw. In Greek mythology there was Narcissus who liked to look at her own reflection, but for the vast majority of humankind, the mirror reflects accurately who we are.

We’ll take a look and say, “We’ll fix this”.” Maybe we should get our hair cut.” “My mascara is running.” “I have corn in my teeth.” All kinds of things. According to James’ analogy, if we’re looking at it and taking it seriously, we’re going to fix it. But the point of the mirror is not to show what’s right, it’s to show what’s wrong. We look in there and see what we see. We see the Law of God and we are inclined, naturally, not to do it.

What is the point of the Law? It’s to show us what’s wrong so that we will turn to the only One who can set it right. There’s some irony to the Law of God. The Law of God, let’s just say the Ten Commandments, are marvelously good because they reflect the character of a marvelously good God. So why is it when we look at them, we stare at them, we don’t do them? Because we’re opposed to them naturally. Once we see that and see that we can’t be righteous because we’re not inclined to do things God’s way what’s left? We can keep slugging it out, we can keep trying, we can keep plugging away, we can hope and hope and hope and try to get better or we can just quit and give up. Or we can say, “You know what, Lord? I really need, not fairness, I really need mercy. It’s at that point he begins the changing work in us.

Here’s the irony of the Law. It’s inherently good but for you and me, it condemns us because we can’t measure up. We will never measure up. Here’s a quote:

“All the Law can do where you or I are concerned is to demand, to forbid, to judge, and to condemn. The Law is in no position to give man what it demands of him. All it can do is show us what is wrong.”

What God wants of us when we see what’s wrong is simply to surrender. That’s it. Paul will later say in the book of Galatians, “The Law is our schoolmaster to lead us to Christ.” That’s what it’s for and that’s still the case.  If you or I are struggling with a point of the Law, any form of murder, any form of adultery, any form of covetous, any form of theft, any form of idolatry, anything like that -- if we are struggling, that’s a good thing. It’s an indication that the Spirit of God is working on our hearts and showing us what’s wrong.

Please understand, you will never in your own strength or your own flesh or in your natural state ever, ever overcome it. Only by surrender is there victory. That’s why we say salvation by grace through faith plus nothing. All my trust in Jesus only, plus nothing. And then He does a supernatural, spiritual work that we are not capable of doing.

One final verse before we move on. In II Corinthians 3:6, Paul is talking about our adequacy is from God:

2 Corinthians 3
⁶ who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Oh, that the letter would kill us, in a sense. Take us to the ground and show us we will never be good enough to be righteous before God. All we can do is while we’re down there, beg for mercy. It’s there God will never turn us down when we turn to Him and ask for mercy.

How this works (2:20)

If the Christian life is not me keeping a bunch of rules to get God to like me better, then what is it? How does this work? This takes me back many years ago to when I was a low, low, hired hand at a ski resort. I did the garbage collection, everything nobody else wanted to do. I had a supervisor named Gerald.

It was a very, very cold winter and somehow the engineers had put the waterline someplace below a road, not very deep. There were frozen lines, it was miserable. Gerald was told to find a water main that was underneath the road someplace. He took two wires and he walked along. I had never seen this before. It has to do with magnetic fields and body chemistry and water and attraction to metal. I’m watching Gerald with these two pieces of wire that are bent like the letter “L.” Suddenly those wires went boing and he said, “Dig right there.”

I was the flunky. I had a Pulaski or something, and started chipping away at this frozen, hard-packed ground and there it was! There was the intersection and everything, right there exactly. I said. “Gerald, how does that work?” He said, “Worked good.”

In a sense, that’s how I feel about this. How does the Christian life work? I don’t know but it works good! We’ve got to admit some limitations when we come here. When we study theology, it’s not like studying geology. With geology you can put a rock under a microscope, with theology we’re under the microscope. Big, big difference. So we have limitations and it’s healthy for us at times like this to admit what they are.

This verse, chapter 2, verse 20, tells us more in a nutshell about the Christian life than perhaps anywhere else in Scripture. We’ll move through it apace. The first word that catches our eye is “I have been crucified together with Christ.” We stop right there. What does that mean? It’s a special verb. It means in effect that there was a point in time I was crucified together with Christ and the effects of that continue to impact me to this day -- all in one verb. It happened, I’m still impacted by it, permanent, based on an event in time.

The Christian life is a life, not an event. It’s a result of something that happened in the past, call it conversion, call it what you will. Paul says it’s called “being crucified together with Christ” and now you’re different. You stay different. It’s a permanent issue. Here’s my problem: The Bible says I’ve been crucified together with Christ and I don’t remember being there.

History tells me that on a cross outside Jerusalem, in about A.D.33, Jesus the Messiah, sent from God, met His death on a cross. The Bible tells me that in His dying on the cross, he died to sin and at the same time paid for my sin debt there. I understand that. But when I’m told that I was there, suddenly I stop and say, “How can that be?”

There’s no one among us who is that old who can remember this. What does the Bible mean, “I have been crucified together with Christ”? There is a sense in which, and the Bible is clear, and it’s not only here we see it but in Romans 6 and elsewhere, the apostle Paul identifies the Christian in our experience in this life with the Messiah who in space, time, history, was penetrated by nails and hung on a cross and died in a foreign land long ago. Where was I? Where were you? The Bible says we were there. Are we to just chalk this up to, “Well, OK”? I wasn’t even born. I was hundreds of generations from being born. I can’t remember much before 1959, let alone something this far back.

I have a clue and it’s only a clue. “I have been crucified with Christ.” There are two points beyond that; one is the mystery of the union and the other is the mechanics of the union. Let me share -- and I am in over my head -- the mystery of the union, two passages, the first in the book of Revelation. My subtitle says “The beast from the sea.” That sounds like future stuff.

Revelation 13
⁷ It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him.
⁸ All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.

What this tells me is that God does not need time; He is outside of it. In the mind and the economy of God, history is a done deal. He doesn’t need a watch; He has never used a calendar. He is not locked into time like you or me. That is a concept that is beyond us.

In another passage of Scripture, remember the Book of Life of the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. That was so long ago,  I don’t remember that either.

Romans 8
²⁸ And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
²⁹ For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;

Here again, we are in water over our head. We don’t understand this. All we can get are the concepts. That word “foreknow” does not mean knew about. Sometimes people want to explain the activities of God in history, sovereignty, and predestination, all these things, by saying, “He knew what would happen so He made it happen.” Oh, no. That’s prescience. That’s knowing about things. Certainly He does because He does it all.

What this is saying isn’t, ”He knew about me.” He knew me. Did I explain that satisfactorily? No. But there is good news connected with it. It says those He foreknew he predestined.

³⁰ and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.

In God’s mind, in God’s economy, we are in sin to try to second-guess Him and that is wrong. In His mind, in His economy He knew me before the foundation of the world. He saw me in His Son and that makes me secure in Him.

So when Paul says, “I have been crucified together with Christ,” he doesn’t give us details. Perhaps we couldn’t grasp them if he did. What he is alluding to is the fact that we have had a connection -- a spiritual yet a real connection-- with Jesus long before we even existed. That’s the best I can do. I exist physically now and I am right with God now on the basis of the blood of Jesus. That means I’m justified; If I’m justified I’m glorified and that’s good news.

I’m not even going to try to figure out what God did in eternity past, I’m too excited about what He’s doing now and in eternity future.

That’s the mystery, and it is a mystery. Anyone who thinks he or she can get a handle on it and explain it -- that’s a mystery.

Secondly, the mechanics of the union. He says, “I am crucified together.” I stand crucified. I’m in a perpetual state of having been crucified together with Christ and I -- that’s the word for ego -- no longer live. In other words, it’s not about me any more. Christ lives in me. Now it’s all about Him.

This life, which I’m now living in the flesh, I live by faith in Him. That means I put all my trust in Him only. That means when it’s time for me to make a decision I do what He wants me to do. He’s now first. He’s driving. I’m not even co-pilot. I’m in the truck with the lid slammed shut. That’s where it is now.

I live by faith in the Son of God who -- and this is so beautiful -- loved me. It’s great to talk about how God so loved the world that He gave His Son, but there’s something pretty special about “He loved me.” How could that be? Well, He foreknew me -- that’s personal -- and gave Himself for me. That’s huge.

What can’t change (2:21)

Paul in a sense is saying, “You know what, Peter. You can do what you want. You can do it that way if you want to. You’re wrong, go ahead, but I will not nullify the grace of God.” He’s emphatic about that. He’s saying, “I am so glad God’s grace -- that means God stepped in, God took the initiative, God intervened, God paid the price, God gets the credit. I’m so glad for God’s grace, I will not nullify it.

If being right with God comes through the Law the way you are suggesting, Peter, by your life, then Christ died emptily, in vain, meaninglessly. Paul says I’ll have none of that and Peter, I know you won’t either.