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BIBLE DISCUSSION: Galatians Chap. 2 - Oct 21-28

This thread is for all study, thoughts and reflections on the second chapter of Galatians.

Legalism vs. Faith

Quote:

As for those who seemd to be important - whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not judge by external appearances. v.6

A person is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. v.16

Right now I am reading Bruce Bawer's book Stealing Jesus: How Fundamentalism Betrays Christianity. Though I disagree with him on his undertanding of scripture, he makes a distinction between the two sides of Christianity as "The church of law" and "The church of love".

The "church of the law" are legalists who want to impose man-made rules on others. They want to judge people by outward apperance. They have made "Christianity" a list of rules. People are good "Christians" when they follow the letter of the law. Hellfire awaits those who disagree. I think most people see Christianity as adhereance to the rules. Paul combts this very problem in his day.

The "church of love" are those who believe that we are a people of faith and are motivated by that faith to live out lives of love. The message of Christ is one of love. All the customs, regulations and practices are useful only if they come from faith and are motivated by love.

I see among the LGBT community in general a skepticism (if not downright hostility many times) to Christianity because the "church of law" seems to be the side of Christianity that dominates in American culture. We need Saint Paul to come today and take fundamentalist Christianity to task for making the church a church of rules that ignores the message of faith and refuses to show forth the love of God.

Justification by faith

Justification, God's act of declaring a sinner righteous by faith alone, is the center of the Christian faith. Martin Luther wrote in the Smalcald Articles:

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The first and chief article is this: Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, died for our sins and was raised again for our justification (Romans 3:24-25). He alone is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29), and God has laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6). All have sinned and are justified freely, without their own works and merits, by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, in His blood (Romans 3:23-25). This is necessary to believe. This cannot be otherwise acquired or grasped by any work, law, or merit. Therefore, it is clear and certain that this faith alone justifies us... Nothing of this article can be yielded or surrendered, even though heaven and earth and everything else falls (Mark 13:31).

Calvin, in the Institutes, says that we are justified in our union with Christ:

Quote:

I acknowledge that we are devoid of this incomparable gift until Christ become ours. Therefore, to that union of the head and members, the residence of Christ in our hearts, in fine, the mystical union, we assign the highest rank, Christ when he becomes ours making us partners with him in the gifts with which he was endued. Hence we do not view him as at a distance and without us, but as we have put him on, and been ingrafted into his body, he deigns to make us one with himself, and, therefore, we glory in having a fellowship of righteousness with him. (Book III, Chapter 11).

This is genuinely an astonishing invitation. There is nothing we can do to be in union with God. No work, no law, no merit will get us there...just faith in the work of Christ on our behalf and our mystical union with Christ.

This is so different from other religions. In Buddhism Enlightenment is no free gift but the result of personal discipline and the hard work of meditation and the eight-fold path.

I think the misunderstanding of Justification (and its implications) stands at the heart of the Religious Right's holy war against LGBT people. By protecting "family values" they are uplifting works, law and merit as the standards of their goodness and godliness. They are establishing a culture of law and misunderstanding their own wickedness (eek I sound like Calvin). Justification by faith says that there is absolutely nothing you can lift up to make you righteous before God. NOTHING.

This is so radical when you think about it.

Quote:

19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; 20 and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.

I remain speechless before this passage. It never fails to tie my spiritual tongue. There is so much here. Paul puts us with him on the cross with Jesus, not just taking up our crosses as the Gospel writer exhorts. Contrary to what we have been taught since we were wee ones, the principal work is love, not obedience. The principal identification is spiritual, not tribal. I have hit a rough spot in my counseling, the part where the hard work seems endless and without reward. I cling to this passage: it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by u-dog (Post 44832)

Amen, Brother Ben!

Hey, I used to be Brother Ben! That was a long time ago. Kept it as a nickname.

Quote:

Originally Posted by u-dog (Post 44832)

You are so right. This is the CENTER of Paul's gospel. It is, as Antony points out ... AMAZINGLY RADICAL. It is simply breath-taking. It kicks the legs out from under the Pharisees of every age. I love the phrase "The principal work is love, not obedience!" Did you make that up? If so, can I use it as my signature?

Yeah, I made it up, but I don't suppose I'm the first or will be the last to say it. At least I hope not. Help yourself.

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...it is Christ who lives in me.

Everyone, your comments have been inspiring. If I could only keep this verse in my mind 24 hours a day, I wonder how my actions would be different. Since we have been saved by the radical idea of salvation from God by grace, we are free to really love others. I like how some of the orthodox Jews wear the Bible verses in those little boxes on their forheads. This verse would be one verse in that box if I were wearing one.

Jesus showed love in all its forms to a world that often didn't accept that love. He was forgiving and compassionate to those who failed or didn't understand. He welcomed the outcasts. In fact the ONLY group of people Jesus really attacks are those church people who have enslaved others by a legalism of their own making, the pharisees.

Legalism seeks to enslave. Those who are bound by a religion of rules are not free to love. God's forgiveness and acceptance of everyone allows us to love freely without fear or punishment. Christ's love can flow out through US. How awesome is that!

Pablo

The difficult discussion about sin

I wanted to bring up the difficult subject of sin. I extracted a section from Calvin's Institutes, Book 3, Chapter 12. It is his chapter right after Justification by faith:

Quote:

Let us not decline to descend from this contemplation of the divine perfection, to look into ourselves without flattery or blind self-love. It is not strange that we are so deluded in this matter, seeing none of us can avoid that pestilential self-indulgence, which, as Scripture proclaims, is naturally inherent in all: “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes,” says Solomon (Prov. 21:2). And again, “All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes,” (Prov. 16:2). What then? does this hallucination excuse him? No, indeed, as Solomon immediately adds, “The Lord weigheth the spirits;” that is, while man flatters himself by wearing an external mask of righteousness, the Lord weighs the hidden impurity of the heart in his balance. Seeing, therefore, that nothing is gained by such flattery, let us not voluntarily delude ourselves to our own destruction. To examine ourselves properly, our conscience must be called to the judgment-seat of God. His light is necessary to disclose the secret recesses of wickedness which otherwise lie too deeply hid. Then only shall we clearly perceive what the value of our works is; that man, so far from being just before God, is but rottenness and a worm, abominable and vain, drinking in “iniquity like water.” For “who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one,” (Job 14:5). Then we shall experience the truth of what Job said of himself: “If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I say I am perfect, it shall prove me perverse,” (Job 9:20). Nor does the complaint which the prophet made concerning Israel apply to one age only. It is true of every age, that “all we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way,” (Isaiah 53:6). Indeed, he there comprehends all to whom the gift of redemption was to come. And the strictness of the examination ought to be continued until it have completely alarmed us, and in that way prepared us for receiving the grace of Christ. For he is deceived who thinks himself capable of enjoying it, until he have laid aside all loftiness of mind. There is a well-known declaration, “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble,” (1 Pet. 5:5).
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/institutes.v.xiii.html

The "T" in TULIP for the Presbyterians is Total Depravity. You have to understand your total depravity under the search light of God's judgment before you will fully enjoy the grace of God in Justification.

We have talked on this thread about the beauty of God's unconditional pardon in Justification, but the other side of that is the discussion of sin.

How do you view sin? Can you even begin to be Orthodox without saying you have been delivered by Christ from slavery to sin? What is the core of sinfulness?

Quote:

Originally Posted by antonyh (Post 44897)

We have talked on this thread about the beauty of God's unconditional pardon in Justification, but the other side of that is the discussion of sin.

How do you view sin? Can you even begin to be Orthodox without saying you have been delivered by Christ from slavery to sin? What is the core of sinfulness?

With all due respect to the Calvinists among us, this is heavy stuff that could bear some plain talk in contemporary English.

I have faced my "depravity," and it ain't a pretty sight. After years of trying, I know that I am powerless to atone for my lack of faith -- worse, my lack of love. Even though I have experienced the joy of spirtual healing, I still am aware of sinfulness in my heart of hearts. The hardest thing to do is to own my own s**t and to quit making excuses for it. An equally difficult spiritual task is to celebrate the goodness in myself as a gift from God and not a human accomplishment. I want so much to be the center of my own universe.

Having been brought up Catholic, I have never felt comfortable with the "justification" idiom, although I recognize that this is what I'm talking about. The only way I know how to solve this puzzle is by falling back on this verse in Chapter 2: "It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me." It is the only way I can reconcile the war between sin and salvation that I experience at the core of my personhood.

If I am missing the point that Calvin was making, somebody please enlighten me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BenL (Post 44950)

I am with you. My biggest sin is a hard heart toward God. It has only been exasperated by oppression by the faithful. It is so hard for me to open my heart to God because I've been marginalized by the church. I don't know why I can't separate the two and have not been able to for years. That is of course no excuse for closing my heart to God's work in my life. And this is just the start of the list of my sins.

Calvin often comes over as harsh and has been accused of "worm theology". It can be read that way if you're not reading it carefully. The Westminster Confession says, "The chief end of man is to glorify God and to fully enjoy God forever". Justification in Galatians is the path to this full enjoyment of God.

Calvin is saying that to enjoy this gift of God you have to give up any loftiness, pride, dependence, and worth based in your own righteousness:

Quote:

And the strictness of the examination ought to be continued until it have completely alarmed us, and in that way prepared us for receiving the grace of Christ. For he is deceived who thinks himself capable of enjoying it, until he have laid aside all loftiness of mind.

Heidelberg Catechism Q. 1

What is your only comfort in life and in death?

That I am not my own,^1
but belong—
body and soul,
in life and in death—^2
to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.^3

He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood,^4
and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil.^5
He also watches over me in such a way^6
that not a hair can fall from my head
without the will of my Father in heaven:^7
in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.^8

Because I belong to him,
Christ, by his Holy Spirit,
assures me of eternal life^9
and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready
from now on to live for him.^10

^1 1 Cor. 6:19-20
^2 Rom. 14:7-9
^3 1 Cor. 3:23; Titus 2:14
^4 1 Pet. 1:18-19; 1 John 1:7-9; 2:2
^5 John 8:34-36; Heb. 2:14-15; 1 John 3:1-11
^6 John 6:39-40; 10:27-30; 2 Thess. 3:3; 1 Pet. 1:5
^7 Matt. 10:29-31; Luke 21:16-18
^8 Rom. 8:28
^9 Rom. 8:15-16; 2 Cor. 1:21-22; 5:5; Eph. 1:13-14
^10 Rom. 8:1-17

http://www.crcna.org/pages/heidelberg_intro.cfm

Quote:

Originally Posted by u-dog (Post 45004)

DOncha just LOVE the Heidelburg Confession? if I was going to throw out the whole Presbyterian Book of Confessions and keep JUST ONE of them... it would be the Heidelberg! :)

I have always loved this confession. I find the Westminster Confession a little severe for my taste. I like the warmth of the Heidelburg Confession.

It seems this thread has become infested with Calvinists!

I'm going right now to get the bug spray. :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pablo Rafael (Post 45024)

It seems this thread has become infested with Calvinists!

I'm going right now to get the bug spray. :D

I find Calvinists exasperating as well. Makes me want to raise my wand.

Quote:

Originally Posted by u-dog (Post 45027)

You will find some of the most endearing Calvinists in the world here!

Well of course I am sure you are right about that :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by u-dog (Post 45027)

You will find some of the most endearing Calvinists in the world here!

Well... I guess since our Calvinists ARE quite endearing (downright adorable actually), I will put away the bug spray for now. (And I hate to mention that some of the hottest guys here are Calvinists! ) :D

Pablo

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pablo Rafael (Post 45052)

Oh, now I'm blushing.

[Shut up, u-dog, he was too talking about me.]

Calvin on Justification

I was revisiting a lecture on Justification in Calvin's Institutes from my former institution (prior to moving over to the dark side). The lecture and the handout are available online for free.

The lecture is given by David B. Calhoun, Professor of Church History
BA, Columbia Bible College;
BD and ThM, Covenant Theological Seminary;
ThM and PhD, Princeton Theological Seminary

Audio (scroll down to Lecture 15)
http://www.covenantseminary.edu/worl...H523/CH523.asp

Transcript
http://www.covenantseminary.edu/worl...H523_T_15.html

Handout
http://www.covenantseminary.edu/worl...H523_SG_15.pdf

As our Catholic brothers and sisters have pointed out, this doctrine was a huge bone of contention in the 16th. century. Here is an extract from the lecture:

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The first target of Calvin was Osiander, and the second target, the more significant target, was the whole Roman Catholic sacramental system, which was built up during the Middle Ages. In that system, the Roman Catholic doctrine of justification was one that mixed God's grace with human works. It was another form of justification by sanctification. Even though Osiander and the Roman Catholics were quite different in their approach to this doctrine, Calvin thought they ended up in the same place. Calvin said that the Catholics "interpret the grace of God not as the imputation of free righteousness [which was Calvin's view] but as the Spirit helping in the pursuit of holiness." So the grace of God was there, but justification was not viewed as simply God declaring the sinner justified on the basis of the work of Christ. The Catholic view of justification was rather that God applied the work of Christ to the sinner, enabling the sinner to begin to do his part in the work of salvation.

Throughout these chapters, Calvin was concerned to show that he was following Saint Augustine in most things. When Calvin got to the doctrine of election, he was greatly concerned to show that he was following Augustine on that doctrine as well. In this treatment of the Catholic view of justification, Calvin said, "For when Augustine says anything clearly, Lombard obscures it." Lombard was Peter Lombard, author of The Sentences. He was called the "master of the sentences." He was the premiere Catholic medieval theologian prior to Thomas Aquinas. Lombard's Sentences were the standard Catholic systematic theology of the Middle Ages. What Lombard did was mainly look for sources, quotes from the church fathers and earlier medieval theologians, and create his theology on the basis of what others had said. Augustine was often quoted in Lombard. Calvin said, however, that whenever "Augustine says anything clearly, Lombard obscures it, and if there was anything slightly contaminated in Augustine, Lombard totally corrupts it." Thus Lombard was not Calvin's favorite theologian. Lombard and the others who stand for Roman Catholic theology were then subject to Calvin's attack.

Calvin did have some differences from Augustine. Augustine talked about salvation by grace alone. That was the whole theme of his anti-Pelagian writings -- it is not by works, but rather it is by God's grace. The Reformation formula, however, of justification by grace through faith was not present in Augustine. The aspect of "through faith" is not present in Augustine, as it is in Luther. Luther agreed with Augustine that salvation is by grace alone, but it needs to be said "by faith alone" as well. There is much more emphasis in the Reformation and in Calvin on faith alone than there was in Augustine. There has been ongoing discussion about that point, but I do not see a huge problem there. Augustine said "by grace alone," and the Reformers said "by faith alone," and they both meant that you cannot add anything to God's grace. That emphasis on faith is not found in Augustine, however, as it is in Calvin. The other important point of difference -- although there are some tiny points of difference in matters of interpretation -- is that Calvin clearly held to a double predestination. It is debated whether Augustine did or not. It is suggested that perhaps Augustine was a single predestinarian while Calvin was a double predestinarian. People investigate what Augustine and Calvin each said about reprobation.

Since Calvin was responding to the Roman Catholic view of justification, which was that God infused righteousness into His people, it has been asked how Augustine's view of justification differed from the Catholic view that Calvin was attacking. Augustine's view was grace alone, apart from works. The Catholic view is semi-Augustinian. They say yes to grace, but works have to be added, however those works may come. Works could be the result of the infusion of Christ's righteousness, or it could be the enablement of the Spirit or the obedience of the Christian. For Catholics, justification ultimately depends on some human works. For Augustine, however, justification did not depend on human works, but on God's grace alone. I hope to have time to cover the Catholic system of salvation in comparison to Calvin's system of salvation. In the Catholic system, when a person gets to heaven, he gets there both because of reward and human accomplishment. In Calvin's understanding, however, heaven is just as much a gift as justification. We get to heaven because of God's grace, not because of our efforts. Calvin's view raised the Catholic objection and question of whether it therefore matters what we do. Yet Calvin already spent considerable time emphasizing the necessity of the Christian life as the product of justification before he even treated justification as the basis for the Christian life.

I am curious...do Catholics view Justification as by faith alone or are works still mixed into the picture?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dumbledore (Post 45067)

I am curious...do Catholics view Justification as by faith alone or are works still mixed into the picture?

Ant..., er I mean, DUMBLEDORE,

Being a recent convert to the Catholic church I have found the Catholic teachings to be an interesting and chaotic phenomenon.

There are official teachings that the church is unwilling to discard. (Can't admit to ever making an error can we?) However, what gets preached from the pulpit can be a different thing entirely. The official statements issued at the Council of Trent against the doctrine of justification by grace through faith alone have never officially been refuted, but we Catholics ignore a lot of the official teachings.

I have heard many sermons on justification by grace through faith alone in the Catholic church. This really resonates with my Lutheran upbringing. However where the Lutherans really try to distance justification from good works, the Catholics always tie the two together.

Lutherans: We are justified by grace through faith - works has nothing to do with it.
Catholic: We are justified by grace through faith - therefore works must follow.

That's how I have seen it work itself out in my church.

Tu Amigo, Pablo

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pablo Rafael (Post 45139)

Just call me DUMBIE for short. I'm not sure Lutherans or Presbyterians would say that works don't follow justification. It is just that you can't offer any righteousness of your own in justification. Once you're justified you are in union with God and that relationship transforms you (sanctification). Good works will naturally follow.

Your point is interesting because Calvin anticipated that the Roman Catholic church would say exactly what you said, "We are justified by grace through faith - works has nothing to do with it." That is why in Calvin's Institutes he deals with the topic of sanctification before he tackles justification. He is anticipating this objection to justification. Wasn't the 16th. century grand!

It is all about crumbs

Here is another extract from the lecture on Calvin's view of justification that really gets to the differences in the 16th. century

Quote:

There are two main effects of justification. First, Calvin said, "Justification serves God's honor. This enables us to honor God in the way we think and live so that His glory stands undiminished." Calvin also said in Book III, chapter 13, section 2, "Man cannot, without sacrilege, claim for himself even a crumb of righteousness, for just so much is plucked and taken away from the glory of God's righteousness." In other words, when you talk about salvation, if you take even a little bit away, just a crumb of righteousness that you claim for yourself, then you diminish by that much the glory of God's righteousness. When I think about the Roman Catholic medieval system, I usually call it "percentage theology." Catholic theologians differed on exactly how it worked, but the system meant that God does His part and you do your part. So, for instance, God might do 90% while you do 10%. That is percentage theology. If God does His part and you do not do your part, then you will not be saved. Even if God does 99% and you do 1%, then that is still percentage theology. Calvin said that it does not matter how small of a percentage you believe you do, if there is anything there, even a crumb of righteousness, then by that much it is going to diminish the glory of God's righteousness. So the doctrine of justification by faith alone is the only teaching that can fully honor God and allow His glory to stand undiminished.