HOW DO WE NAVIGATE THE CHRISTIAN LIFE?

 

Three times in Galatians 2:20, Paul uses the pronoun "in" (ἐν). Christ lives "in me" (ἐν ἐμοὶ). I live "in flesh" (ἐν σαρκί), and I live "in faith" (ἐν πίστει). The triple use of the pronoun "in" (ἐν) explains how we navigate the Christian life. There are three points on our navigation chart: Christ, flesh, and faith. The intersection of those three points determines how we live the Christian life.

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. 

My life on earth is life in tension. 

Christ lives in me, but I live in the flesh. Christ "in me" (ἐν ἐμοὶ) is a figurative expression for "the state of being filled with or gripped by something" or someone (BAGD, 259). Paul writes, "For in Him (ἐν αὐτῷ) all the fullness of deity lives in bodily form" (Col. 2:9). The fullness of all that God is fills, grips, and controls Christ. Christ lives in me in the sense that He fills, grips, and controls me. It is not His fullness that lives in me for I am not Christ (or God), but His person fills and grips my life for His purpose.

Yet I live in flesh (ἐν σαρκί). The word flesh here is not used in its ethical/theological sense, as in Romans 8:7-8. Here the word is physiological, referring to the mortal bodies our souls inhabit in our lives on earth. Flesh lacks the article indicating that we should understand it in qualitative terms. The pronoun "in" (ἐν) is locative, indicating the place in which we live, the sphere of physical life on earth. (BAGD, 258; Burton, Galatians, 138). 

The tension is intentional and obvious. Paul rejects any notion that the divine life and our physical lives are "mutually exclusive," as some were teaching (Longenecker, Galatians, 93). Christ lives in me as I eat, drink, work, and play. He transforms our lives in the most elemental ways. Because Christ grips and controls me, He is there when I watch sports or movies. He enters the home with me. He interacts with co-workers through me. Christ is involved as I debate politics or argue about theology. Because Christ lives in me, even the most basic facets of life are filled with His transforming presence.

My life on earth is life in faith.

The expression "I live by faith (ἐν πίστει) in the Son of God" is placed in the clause so that the two prepositional phrases starting with "in" are next to each other for emphasis. Literally, it reads, "the life I now live in flesh, in faith, I live in the Son of God." The prepositional phrase can be either instrumental or locative, and there is a subtle but significant difference between the two. The New American Standard Bible translates it as instrumental "by faith." Faith is the means or instrument by which we live the Christian life (BAGD, 260). By faith becomes somewhat mechanistic. We are trusting Christ for the results in our lives. We achieve what we achieve by faith in the Son of God.

However, the two phrases "in flesh" and "in faith" are best taken as parallel constructions. Both "flesh" and "faith" are anarthrous, stressing the qualitative aspects of each. Both prepositions are best taken as locative, indicating the sphere in which we live. Just as it is not "by flesh" (the means), but "in flesh" (the sphere), so it is not "by faith" (the means), but "in faith" (the sphere) that we must live the Christian life (Meyer, Galatians, 93). Faith is the "atmosphere" in which we live and breathe (Lightfoot, Galatians, 119). The Son of God is the object of our faith. We think and act in the atmosphere of faith in the Son of God, who dominates our lives. We are not just trusting Christ for results. We are trusting Christ for life.

The Christian life involves total immersion in Christ, like a fish in the water. Our lives become autonomic, like breathing air as we live in an atmosphere of faith. In Physics, we achieve equilibrium when the elements exist in perfect balance. So too, in the Christian life, there is equilibrium in Christ. Like a marble at the bottom of a bowl, no matter how the bowl of life is turned, we are stable in the atmosphere of faith. In biology, there is homeostasis, the organism maintains a stable inner state despite outside changes. Like our bodily temperature regulates to remain stable, so faith in the Son of God regulates all of life so that we remain stable. Our awareness of Christ becomes so enveloping that we sense His presence in all we do and say.

Living in the atmosphere of faith in Christ is how we navigate our Christian lives.

DETHRONED EGO

 

Painted on the rocks high above the main street in Skagway, Alaska, are some often photographed images. Legend has it that the clock, set to 7:20, memorialized the time of Abraham Lincoln's death. However, 7:20 is the normal clockmaker setting used to display the symmetry of a clock and likely advertised a local store. The other two engravings - Kirmse's Curios and Moe's Frontier Bar - were historic businesses in Skagway dating back to the gold rush days. People flocked to these streets from all over the country drawn by advertisers who promised they would get rich quick with all the gold in the mountains. In reality, the merchants in the tiny boomtown were the ones who made the most money. Ego drove gold fever. Self-promotion is inherent to human nature.

To know God, self must be dethroned and Christ enthroned in our lives. Paul wrote, "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" (Gal. 2:20).

The KJV translates it "nevertheless I live" but the first δὲ is continuative not adversative so should be translated "and." The second δὲ should be understood as adversative and translated "but." "I no longer live" continues the thought of being crucified with Christ followed by the contrast - "Christ lives in me." The literal word order in the Greek text is dramatic - "live no longer I, but lives in me Christ" (Burton, Galatians, 137). The "I" (ἐγώ) is emphatic and directly contrasts with the emphatic "Christ." Ego and Christ cannot coexist in the Christian life!

LIFE B.C.

The "I" (ἐγώ) summarizes life before Christ. Paul says in verse 19 that "I died ... that I might live." The I who died (v.19) is the I who no longer lives (v.20). The I who lives has been merged into Christ. The natural man died. The person who was driven by the human ego no longer lives. Living for self is the person I was before Christ. Self-identity and self-promotion focus on the almighty I. Ego drives life apart from Christ. Once I become a Christian I no longer have a separate identity from Christ. My life is merged into His life (Lightfoot, Galatians, 119).

LIFE A.C.

We expect Paul to write, "I no longer live but I live in Christ." However, he is so caught up in the transformation of what it means to be a Christian that he writes, "Christ lives in me." The old me died. The new me is Christ. It is not that I now live in Christ but that Christ lives in me (Bruce, Galatians, 144). The present tense of the verb (ζῇ) indicates that Christ lives in me in an ongoing, continuous way. He is always in me. Paul is talking about our present life on earth not our future life in heaven. Our merger with Christ is now not later. There is no place that I can go and no activity that I can do that Christ is not in me as I do it. The Christian life is nothing less than the life of Christ operating in the Christian. Christ is resident within us. He is the controlling, operating power in our lives today.

We don't wait for this transformation to happen in heaven. Paul makes this clear when he writes, "and the life which I now live in the flesh." The life is "now" (νῦν) not later. It is in the flesh (σαρκί) not in the spirit. Flesh (σαρκί), in this context, refers to the physical, mortal body not the ethical, immoral nature of the human heart. The pronoun "in" (ἐν) expresses the sphere in which life operates. Paul is talking about living in the sphere of the physical body (Burton, Galatians, 138). 

The relative pronoun (ὃ) can be understood as a cognate accusative or an adverbial relative pronoun. The NASB translates it as a cognate accusative sometimes called a content accusative meaning that the content of the relative pronoun must be brought out by the translator. So the NASB supplies "and the life which I now live" (Turner, Grammar, 3:245-246). It could also be an adverbial relative and translated "whereas I now live" (Moule, Idiom Book, 131). The adverbial relative explains how Christ lives in me. I think it probably best to understand it as a cognate accusative stating that the life I am now living in my physical body must be lived dependently not independently, on Christ not for self. 

EGO OR CHRIST?

God dethrones ego to enthrone Christ. This is the central transformation of the Christian life. All immorality is narcissistic. Ego drives every sin we commit. Moral behavior can be altruistic but, sadly, narcissism taints even our finest altruism. God dethrones our egos to transform our lives. Every moral failure - racism, abortion, sex outside of marriage - is self-centered at its core. We will never change the social order by law. Christ must dethrone self one "self" at a time to change society. 

Following Christ means allowing Christ to dethrone my ego. The Christian life is not about me. It is all about Him. My self-identity is wrapped up in Him. My self-interest is merged into His will. I no longer live because Christ lives in me.

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.

THE PARADOX OF MORALISM

"O Lord Jesus, I come unto Thee, and I pray Thee that these burdens and this straitness of my rule and religion may be a full recompense for all my sins."

Here is the prayer of the moralist. Martin Luther prayed these words regularly when he was a non-Christian (Luther, Galatians, 82). He was obsessed with being good before he understood the good news about his badness. Once he grasped the gospel, he renounced his goodness to rejoice in Christ's goodness. The gospel transformed his life and rescued him from moralism.

WHAT IS MORALISM?

Moralism teaches that our good works earn God's favor. What we do that is good pays for what we have done that is bad. Moralism expresses religion's path to God. Good people will one day stand before God, and the good they do will outweigh the bad they have done, claims the moralist.

Sadly, many preach moralism after starting well with grace. The more we push morality, the less we preach grace because moralism nullifies grace. Paul dealt with moralism as he witnessed Peter turn back to follow Jewish religious rules about eating and drinking. Paul writes, "For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, I prove myself to be a transgressor" (Gal. 2:18).

The clause "what I once destroyed" (ἃ κατέλυσα) comes first in the sentence for emphasis. The verb means to dismantle a building or repeal a law (BAGD, 414). The condition (εἰ) is a simple condition, not a contrary to fact condition, so Paul is referring to what actually happened, which he explained in verse 16. Paul had trusted in the law to make himself good enough for God. When Paul turned to Christ, he repealed the law as a way to be right with God. He dismantled law righteousness to accept Christ's righteousness.

By insisting that Christians obey the law, Paul would now be rebuilding (οἰκοδομῶ) the law that he once dismantled. If that is the case, then he proves himself to be a transgressor of the law. The present tense verb (συνιστάνω) used with the reflexive pronoun "myself" (ἐμαυτὸν) means to show or represent one's self as a transgressor (R&R, Linguistic Key, 506). Paul uses the word "transgressor" (παραβάτην) because the term connotes a violator of the true intent of the whole law more than any single statute in the law (Burton, Galatians, 131). If he builds up what he once dismantled, then, either way, he is a transgressor. He either transgressed the law by dismantling it, or he transgresses God's salvific solution by rebuilding it. The one activity negates the other activity (Bruce, Galatians, 142). Law and grace cannot both be right.

PARADOXICAL MORALITY

The paradox of moralism is the better we try to be, the worse we prove to be. The gospel of grace tells me that I become a Christian by renouncing my faith in my goodness to place my faith in Christ's goodness alone. I must accept that I am a sinner to believe in Christ as my Savior. If I return to stressing my moral goodness, I nullify Christ's grace and prove to be a worse sinner than before. There must be no mixing of my goodness with Christ's goodness to earn God's approval. To follow Christ, we must renounce moralism.

The paradox of moralism is the more we preach morality, the less we preach Christ, leading to greater immorality. Moralism creeps into our "culture wars" preaching. In our striving to see righteousness permeate our society, we slide into moralistic preaching implicitly communicating that we can create a moral world without Christ. Slipping into moralism minimizes Christ. The solution to the world's immorality is the goodness of Christ, not the morality of humanity. Unless people give up on their goodness to accept Christ's goodness, there will never be social goodness.

Our culture will never be transformed by preaching moralism. Good works flow from changed hearts. Society is changed by regeneration, not legislation. The gospel is the most transformative power the world has ever seen. Let's preach the gospel, not moralism!

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How can we preach persuasively without huckstering, manipulating, or coercing people? Sadly, we are seeing the fall of many pastors not for reasons of sexual immorality, but the pursuit of pride and power. The skillful use of marketing methods creates celebrity pastors who become significant influencers in the evangelical church. The lure of success is seductive, turning pastors into hucksters and Christians into consumers. We need to heed the warnings of the New Testament about the pride of rhetoric and the pursuit of power. David Christensen carefully analyzes the biblical warnings of Paul about the temptations of rhetorical sophistry in the first-century church and applies them to pastoral ministry today. God calls preachers to be ethical and effective persuaders. David develops an ethical grid for pastoral persuasion using principles drawn from the Bible and social science along with practical illustrations from his years of ministry. He calls preachers to be ethical and effective persuaders by emphasizing the centrality of the word of God while depending on the power of the Spirit of God.

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FREEDOM FROM PERFORMANCE RIGHTEOUSNESS

Legalism advocates performance righteousness. We are righteous because we do the right things. Paul is dealing with the Christian legalism that Peter displayed by withdrawing from Gentile Christians to follow the dietary restrictions of the Jewish Christians. Nobody can be justified by observing the law, Paul argues. We are justified by faith in Christ alone. Living right cannot save us. But the legalist objects, and Paul raises their objection. Whether the words reflect the views of Peter or the other Jewish Christians, Paul emphatically responds to the argument of the legalist.

"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!" (Gal. 2:17)

Here we find the legalist's argument. Disobedience of the law is sin. If we abandon the law to be justified by Christ, then we become sinners. The result is that Christ becomes a servant of sin by creating more sinners through justification. The legalist argues this is absurd, thus discrediting Paul's argument for justification by faith alone (See Burton, Galatians, 124-130).

Let's dissect the legalist's argument in this verse. Paul establishes two premises to their argument, followed by a question. Then he emphatically answers their questionable conclusion.

FIRST PREMISE: Justification by faith nullifies justification by law.

The legalist's first premise is correct. The condition (if - εἰ) is a simple condition, which means that Paul assumed the truth of the condition (Dana & Mantey, Grammar, 289). The participle "while seeking" (ζητοῦντες) is best understood as temporal. While depending on justification "in Christ" (ἐν Χριστῷ - v.17), we must deny any justification "by works of law" (ἐξ ἔργων νόμου - v.16). Paul will make this truth explicit when he writes, "I died to law (νόμῳ ἀπέθανον - v.19). Righteousness in Christ nullifies righteousness by works. The two are mutually exclusive. On this point, the legalist is right.

SECOND PREMISE: Christians are found to be violators of God's law.

To abandon the law is to become a sinner, the legalist argues. We "have been found" (εὐρέθημεν) usually introduces an element of surprise. It is a surprising twist to realize that trusting in Christ's righteousness means accepting that we are sinners. Abandoning the law makes the Jews sinners (ἁμαρτωλοί) just like the Gentiles are sinners (ἁμαρτωλοί). Paul returns to his statement in verse 15. The Jews trusted in their righteousness earned by observing the law and considered the Gentiles to be sinners because they did not follow the law. Justification by faith in Christ forces us to abandon our faith in the law. To abandon the law makes us violators of the law (Lightfoot, Galatians, 116-117). Correct again! We are all sinners.

LOGICAL QUESTION: Does this make Christ a servant of sin?

Paul accepts both premises as correct, which leads the legalist to argue that Christ, then, is a servant of sin (ἁμαρτίας διάκανος). He makes people become sinners to be justified by Him, which, the legalist argues, is absurd. Legalism argues that we must trust Christ and keep the law. It is justification by faith plus performing religious requirements that save us. The legalist does not deny justification by faith but adds justification by works. Paul points out that the addition is subtraction. Once you add faith in performance righteousness, you deny faith in Christ's righteousness.

Is the clause a declarative statement or a question? The introductory particle can be accented in two ways (ἆρα or ἄρα). The former is an interrogative, and the latter is an inferential particle translated, "so then." The verse reads either "is Christ a servant of sin" or "so then Christ is a servant of sin." In this verse, we have an interrogative particle because of what follows in the text.  Whenever Paul uses the expression "may it never be" (μὴ γένοιτο), he uses it to answer a question (Blass & Debrunner, Grammar, 220, 194; Burton, Galatians, 126)). We should understand the text as a question that Paul emphatically answers in the negative.

CONCLUSION: No! Absolutely not!

If morally righteous people must become sinners to be saved, then does this not make Christ an agent of sin? No! Absolutely not! Paul rejects this conclusion as abhorrent. Justification by faith in Christ's righteousness does not make anyone a sinner. Everyone is already a sinner. Morally righteous people, including law-abiding Jews, are sinners already. The law, moral code, merely reveals the sin (Bruce, Galatians, 141). Accepting Christ's righteousness by faith means rejecting our righteousness for salvation. The gospel does not increase the number of sinners in the world, making Christ an agent of sin. The gospel provides a solution for all the sinners in the world to be saved by Christ's righteousness.

• Thank you, Jesus, that I am a sinner, and you are a Savior.
• Thank you, Jesus, that I cannot justify myself by my performance of any code of conduct.
• Thank you, Jesus, that I died with you to my self-righteousness so that I can live with you by your true righteousness.
• Thank you, Jesus, that I cannot add one smidgeon of my righteousness to your righteousness.

SOLA FIDE

The church, in Martin Luther's day, taught that works of faith were a means of grace. If a person performed a good work by his own inclination - giving alms, for example - this person earned the  "grace of congruence." He was acting in congruence with God's grace, and so was worthy to receive God's grace even though a sinner. Once he received God's grace, he could do works by faith in God's grace and so be worthy of eternal life.

Luther wrote: "Wherefore, with Paul, we utterly deny the merit of congruence and worthiness, and affirm that these speculations are nothing else but mere deceits of Satan. For God never gave to any man grace and everlasting life for the merit of congruence or worthiness" (Luther, Galatians, 67).

Paul wrote: "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of law but only through faith in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 2:16).

Sola Fide!

The little connective translated, "but only" (ἐὰν μὴ) is critical to the argument of Paul. It can be interpreted in two ways, as an exception or an adversative (Burton, Galatians, 121). If it is understood as an exceptive, then the work of faith is an exception to the works of law. Man cannot be justified by the works of law except through the "work of" faith in Christ Jesus. Human faith is an exception to other human works by which humans earn the "grace of congruence" from God.

May it never be! The connective is an adversative, introducing something that is the opposite of work. We should translate it, "but only" not "except by" (Moulton, Grammar, 1:241). Faith is not a different kind of work. We are not justified by the works of faith. Faith is not a work at all, and no work done by faith can earn God's grace. Otherwise, we turn God into a debtor who owes us eternal life (Luther, Galatians, 66).

"But only" means sola fide!

"Through faith in Jesus Christ," we are justified, Paul continues. "Jesus Christ" is in the genitive case modifying "faith." Some have interpreted "Jesus Christ" as a subjective genitive meaning that we are justified by Christ's faithfulness. However, it is best to understand "Jesus Christ" as an objective genitive meaning that Christ is the object of our faith. Our faith is placed in Christ (Bruce, Galatians, 138-139; Murray, Romans, 363-374). Paul bolsters this interpretation by adding, "we, ourselves, have believed in Christ Jesus" (εἰς Χριστὸν ᾿Ιησοῦν), making Christ clearly the object of our faith.

John Calvin defined faith as "a knowledge of the divine benevolence (grace) toward us and a sure persuasion of its truth" (Calvin, Institutes, 3.2.12). Being persuaded by God's grace, we rest on Christ for salvation, knowing that we do not deserve nor can we earn any favor from God by any merit of our own.