For If I Build Again (Galatians 2:18)

2022-07-24

For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. (Galatians 2:18)

Build what things again? The chapter concerns having experienced the grace found in Jesus Christ, but then reestablishing the principle of law in our lives. Peter and Barnabas would separate themselves from the Gentile believers when James showed up. The Galatians were seeking circumcision and ritual to find their own righteousness. We do it when we seek our own tradition and religious legal framework. We are saved by grace, but then we have a secret law in our minds by which we seek to establish our own righteousness.

When we build or rebuild such standards, we transgress. It is sin. The fake piety is anathema to Christ. Righteousness is found only in Christ. Put the law away, burn the bridge, don’t look back.