Repeating himself, because of the supreme importance of this principle, and because this examination of works and justification and faith is made possible by a recounting of Peter’s retreat into the old covenant markers in Antioch, Paul goes on to write, “because by the works of the law no one will be justified” (2:16c). Again, the old basis for covenant blessings has been replaced. Now, belief in Jesus is what matters. Holding to the works of the law, and the exclusivity and isolation associated with it, now stands contrary to what it was that God had done and was doing through Jesus. Unfortunately, the works of the law would now serve as a reminder of Israel’s failure and cursing.
The faithfulness of God in Christ would stand as a witness to the victory over death, through the Resurrection, that God had wrought for His people. Just as Abraham had been justified by believing in the power and promise of God, prior to anything that could be pointed to or understood as a work of the law, so now would those that would come to be identified as Abraham’s descendants also be justified by believing in the power and promise of God. The setting aside of the Jewish covenant markers signaled the extension of His blessings of justification, as we can see that God had always intended as evidenced by the covenant with Abraham, to all peoples.
Later and finally, in summing up his message, Paul would write, “I do not set aside God’s grace, because if righteousness could come through the law, then Christ died for nothing!” (2:21) God’s grace was paramount. From first to last, when it came to covenant, to blessing and cursing, and to resurrection and newness of life, all was rooted in God’s grace, which He extended because of His faithfulness to His plans for this world and His creation. The works of the law, as Paul would come to realize, were far too man-centered. When considered against the backdrop of the all-powerful God, they were terribly insufficient to carry the weight of His glory. Beyond that, Paul concludes, if righteousness (justification and the completion of God’s covenant faithfulness) could come through human effort to hold to a few meager works of the law, then truly, Christ did not need to die.
Paul would brook no agreement with this position. He would encourage people, when it came to these issues, to hold to that to wish they wished to hold, but that it was presumptuous, and a denial of the grace of God, to impose these standards on others. In the face of the overwhelming power of God that was put on display through the Resurrection, as it showed forth Jesus as the Messiah, and therefore demonstrated that God had poured out His blessings on all those that wished to enter in to those blessings through a belief in Jesus as Messiah that would bring glory to God, works of the law (covenant markers) were no longer needed or useful in indentifying the people of God. Belief in Jesus was now the order of the day, just as belief in God had always been necessary, with that faith-based belief always demonstrated by a covenant marker. The covenant marker, since the time of Moses, had been works of the law, but now, the covenant marker, as has been said, was belief in Jesus. This belief, we should never forget, is a gift of faith---a faith that comes from a faithful God.
A faithful believing in Jesus, and in the God that was at work in Jesus, is now all that mattered. This was the basis for all service. This was the basis for worship. This was the basis for giving. Yes, Paul would say, that belief in God is what would and did deliver from cursing. That is what would bring exile to an end. That is what brought blessing. In Christ, God had entered into history and produced its climactic event. He had been faithful. Because of the faithful service of a faithful Man, justification for all was now available. This justification was not to be found in a man’s faithfulness to his works and that which divided man from man, but it was to be found in God’s faithfulness to His work, and that which united a people to Him.
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