THE MORALIST'S DEATH

 

Benjamin Franklin, the classic moralist, set out in life to achieve "moral perfection" through his little book of 13 virtues. For each virtue, he lined out seven columns, one for each day of the week. He would self-evaluate these virtues daily as he sought to be a better man, but at the age of 79, he had to admit that he had failed (Christensen, The Spiritual Life of Normal Christian, 132-133). The moralist thinks that you must live for law to live for God. Paul wrote that we must die to law to live for God (Luther, Galatians, 83). "For through law I died to law so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ." (Gal. 2:19).

The first word of the sentence is an emphatic "I" (ἐγὼ). The "I" of verse 18 is not emphatic because Paul was reflecting an accusation made by others against him, but the "I" in verse 19 is emphatic because Paul is now stressing his personal experience. Paul states, "I died to law" (νόμῳ ἀπέθανον). The Aorist active indicative is a declarative statement of a fact about his past. His death to the law is in contrast with his statement that "I might live for God" (θεῷ ζήσω). The first verb is declarative, stressing what is, and the second is subjunctive, stressing what might be. His death to the law is done, making possible his living for God. 

Death, in Paul's thinking, ends a relationship, but life opens up a new relationship (Longenecker, Galatians, 91). The contrasting datives "law" (νόμῳ) and "God" (θεῷ) are datives of relationship although the second dative (θεῷ) may be understood as a dative of advantage. We ceased our prior relationship to the law, but we now live for the advantage or benefit of God (Burton, Galatians, 134). When Christ justifies by grace through faith, our past is dead. A new life for God opens before us. The possibilities are endless.

The noun "law" (νόμος) lacks the article as it did in verse 16. An anarthrous noun usually carries a qualitative force stressing law in general as opposed to a specific code like the Mosaic Law. Burton argues that law in verse 16 should be taken qualitatively, meaning that Paul is talking about the law principle inherent in all cultures as opposed to the Law of Moses. However, in verse 18, Burton argues that Paul is referring specifically to the Mosaic Law even though the noun lacks the article (Burton, Galatians, cf. 120, 133). I think it best to remain consistent and understand "law" in a qualitative sense (Lightfoot, Galatians, 118). A law principle - moralism - undergirds all cultures, not just Judaism. Moralism is man's attempt to live for God and is always doomed to fail (Gal. 2:16). We must die to moralism to live for God.

There are two elements of our death to moralism. We die to law-keeping as a way to God 1) through the law and 2) through the cross. We die to law "through law" (διὰ νόμου), but our release from law comes only when we can say with Paul, "I have been crucified with Christ" (Χριστῷ συνεσταύρωμαι). Most translations take the second phrase as part of verse 20, but most critical Greek texts place the phrase as part of verse 19. It is probably better to take it with verse 19, explaining how we can be released from law-keeping to live for God (Longenecker, Galatians, 92).

We pass through three stages in the process of conversion to a new life for God (Lightfoot, Galatians, 118).

1) Before the law: I am a sinner but ignorant of my sin. Paul will expand his explanation of these stages in Romans 5-7. Sin entered the world through Adam and spread to all humanity. We are all sinners who are subject to death even though ignorant of the sin without the law (Rom. 5:12-14; 7:7). Sin, in one sense, might be considered dead until the law reveals it so the law could be said to stimulate or even create sin (Rom. 7:8-9).

2) Under the law: I am a sinner who becomes conscious of my sin. The law reveals my sin and condemns me to death, but the law cannot provide any solution for my sin. So the law defines, stimulates, and condemns my sin, making the law an instrument leading to my death. Sin uses the law to kill me (Rom. 7:7-12). However, the law is still holy and good (Rom. 7:12) because the law leads us to Christ (Gal. 3:24-25). Offering no remedy, the law shuts us up until we come to Christ's grace for release. In this way, we die to the law through the law.

3) Freed from the law - I am a sinner who has been justified by grace (Rom. 5:20-21). Paul uses his famous marriage analogy to make his point (Rom. 7:1-6). A wife is bound to her husband by law. Only the death of her husband releases her from her bondage under the law. Therefore, we were made to die to the law (ἐθανατώθητε τῷ νόμῳ) "through the body of Christ" (διὰ τοῦ σώματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ) which is another way to say that we have been crucified with Christ (Rom. 7:4). The death of Christ releases us from the jurisdiction of the law, so don't remarry the dead man by placing yourselves under the law.

My conviction of sin comes through the law. My release from guilt comes by the cross of Christ. Thank you, Jesus, for liberating me from the bondage of moralism.