Only Jesus

"We are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners, yet we know that no one is justified by the works of the law but by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by the faithfulness of Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.” Galatians 2:15-16 NET

The sons of Jacob (or Abraham) was God’s portion when all other men and women were disinherited at the tower of Babel. So, by birth the Jews were considered a people of the covenant (or promise) because of God’s covenant with Abraham. God’s purpose for choosing Abraham and the sons of Israel was so they could spread the knowledge of God and His dwelling place (Eden) over the entire earth. God’s dwelling place was considered holy ground, or better said ‘sacred space.’

Paul, in his reference to the state of Jews in the plural sense, includes himself in their struggle. The Jews, a people given the law of God, are tasked with living in a sacred space with God, a space of holiness that is distinct and separate from the defiled or unclean world. Anything beyond the borders of the camp of Israel was considered profane. Paul does not claim that he and other Jews, by virtue of their cultural birth into Judaism, are without sin. They are under a covenant of rules, laws, and ordinances that demand obedience to maintain their sacred space with God. To fail in one aspect of the law is to fail in all aspects; the law, in its relentless pursuit of perfection, justifies no one.

Paul makes it very clear that there are none that are justified by the law, because sin disqualifies us from ever becoming holy. The law served a unique purpose which was to demonstrate that there was no physical way to keep it, for it was literally not meant to be observed by humankind, it was meant to be observed by a divine being like God Himself, and reveal the function and attributes that were required to maintain a space where God could reside.

As we know, Paul’s message was not for the Jews; it was for the non-Jews, all of the disenfranchised nations whom God disinherited at Babel. There were seventy nations in total that God wanted to bring back into the fold, and Paul was willing to reach out to these people. The first clue that this is what God was doing was what happened in the 2nd chapter of Acts when the people in the upper room spoke in other languages they did not know. This was a moment of profound significance, a turning point in God's plan. At Babel, God confused their languages and dispersed the people; in the Acts account, God was allowing people to speak in foreign languages, speaking of the wonders of God and gathering people into Himself. “Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven residing in Jerusalem. When this sound occurred, a crowd gathered and was in confusion, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Completely baffled, they said, “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that each one of us hears them in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and the province of Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own languages about the great deeds God has done!” All were astounded and greatly confused, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”” Acts 2:5-12 NET

When Jesus, a divine being, came to this world, He was able to fulfill the law and all its requirements because He was God in the flesh. It's crucial to understand that it wasn’t the Jews’ faithfulness to the law that brought them salvation; Paul emphasizes that it is Jesus Christ’s faithfulness that saves us. We stand in His righteousness, not ours. This truth applies universally, to both Jews and non-Jews, making us all part of His divine plan.

What is the divine plan? It's simpler than you might think. God's ultimate desire is for a family. He longs for all His creation to embrace believing loyalty in Jesus Christ, allowing them to enter His presence cleansed of sin and justified by Jesus's blood sacrifice. God's vision is for all His children to step into their roles as sons and daughters of the living God, with Jesus as their older brother who has paved the way for them to inherit a royal position as children of God; a position we too have inherited as co-heirs with Jesus, a testament to our value and significance in His divine plan.

Paul's dedication to the message of God, seeing the larger picture of the role of the people of God, is truly inspiring. He realized that if Jesus had to die to secure salvation over sin and death, he too was willing to die for the truth of the Gospel. He considered it a privilege to suffer and die for Jesus, a sentiment that many early Christians also embraced. They saw their deaths not as an end, but as a crowning victory, only equaled by being in the presence of their Lord Jesus.

Stephen Barnett