Put to Death, Raised to Live

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Scripture • World English Bible

Galatians 2:15–21

WEB

¹⁵“We, being Jews by nature and not Gentile sinners,

¹⁶yet knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because no flesh will be justified by the works of the law.

¹⁷But if while we sought to be justified in Christ, we ourselves also were found sinners, is Christ a servant of sin? Certainly not!

¹⁸For if I build up again those things which I destroyed, I prove myself a law-breaker.

¹⁹For I through the law died to the law, that I might live to God.

²⁰I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. That 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.

²¹I don’t reject the grace of God. For if righteousness is through the law, then Christ died for nothing!”

World English Bible (WEB) • Public Domain

Reflection

Paul faces the temptation to measure standing before God by performance. He begins by reminding his readers that even those who knew the law understood a basic problem: the law doesn’t make us right with God. Relying on rules as the basis of acceptance leaves us trying to rebuild what the cross already tore down—and that effort only proves we’re still trying to live by the wrong standard.

Paul’s response is bold: the old way of proving yourself has been broken by union with Christ. He frames his life as one that has died to the law’s claim and been given a new life in Jesus. That new life is not a ghostly erasure of personality but Christ living through a real, fallible man. The point isn’t to escape responsibility; it’s to change the source of obedience. When Christ is the center, obedience flows from trust and gratitude, not from fear of failure or the need to prove worth.

That also answers the charge that grace gives license to sin. Paul rejects that idea sharply. If Christ’s death simply permitted continuing in sin, then his death would be pointless. Instead, the gospel breaks the power that enslaved us to self-justifying behavior. It frees us to face our failures honestly, to stop pretending, and to live dependently—walking by faith in the Son who loved and gave himself for us.

For men who want a durable faith, this passage pulls us from two traps: performance-driven identity and permissive license. The remedy is daily: remember who you are in Christ, confess where you still try to earn your worth, and let gratitude—rather than guilt or pride—shape how you live. That means practicing accountability, receiving grace from brothers, and letting freedom express itself in loving service rather than selfish impulse.

Putting Faith Into Action

Each morning this week, write two sentences that reframe your identity: note that you share Christ’s death and new life, then list one way that truth shapes your choices today.
Identify one recurring area where you try to earn God’s approval. Tell a trusted brother about it, ask for prayer, and agree on one measurable accountability step for the next 30 days.
Choose a concrete act of service this week that costs you time or comfort—visit or call someone alone, volunteer an hour at a shelter, or help a neighbor—doing it as an expression of freedom to love.

Prayer

Lord, thank you for rescuing me from trying to earn your favor. Help me live from the reality of your work in me, not from performance. Give me courage to admit my weaknesses, the humility to receive help, and the strength to love others from freedom. Amen.

Memory Verse

Galatians 2:20 — I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. That 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. (WEB)

“I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. That 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.”

Keep Going Continue to Part 8 Bewitched: Don't Trade the Spirit for Performance Galatians · Galatians 3:1–5 Read the next devotional →

Bible Context

Read all of Galatians 2

Galatians 2

World English Bible • WEB

¹Then after a period of fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus also with me.

²I went up by revelation, and I laid before them the Good News which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately before those who were respected, for fear that I might be running, or had run, in vain.

³But not even Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised.

⁴This was because of the false brothers secretly brought in, who stole in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage,

⁵to whom we gave no place in the way of subjection, not for an hour, that the truth of the Good News might continue with you.

⁶But from those who were reputed to be important—whatever they were, it makes no difference to me; God doesn’t show partiality to man—they, I say, who were respected imparted nothing to me,

⁷but to the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the Good News for the uncircumcised, even as Peter with the Good News for the circumcised—

⁸for he who worked through Peter in the apostleship with the circumcised also worked through me with the Gentiles—

⁹and when they perceived the grace that was given to me, James and Cephas and John, those who were reputed to be pillars, gave to Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcision.

¹⁰They only asked us to remember the poor—which very thing I was also zealous to do.

¹¹But when Peter came to Antioch, I resisted him to his face, because he stood condemned.

¹²For before some people came from James, he ate with the Gentiles. But when they came, he drew back and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision.

¹³And the rest of the Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.

¹⁴But when I saw that they didn’t walk uprightly according to the truth of the Good News, I said to Peter before them all, “If you, being a Jew, live as the Gentiles do, and not as the Jews do, why do you compel the Gentiles to live as the Jews do?