It’s his work, not ours

1. It’s His work… not ours - 25th
January 2016
“He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy… “
(Titus 3:5),
Apostle Paul’s letter to the Galatians is relentless in its insistence that there is only one, true
gospel. Any subtraction or addition to the saving message of God’s work in Jesus Christ will
make us miss out on One’s true understanding of God. That is why Paul so passionately pleads
with the Galatians to hold unswerving to the truth that he taught them, that salvation comes by
grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. Deviate from this, he warns, and you will
miss out on One’s true understanding of God. To illustrate the seriousness of what is at stake
Paul writes about a very public confrontation that he had with Peter that God had made clear
that the saving work of Jesus was not to be limited to the Jews. (Acts 10–11).
Paul was convinced It was not necessary to become a Jew in order to be a full and faithful
recipient of the new covenant blessings that Jesus secured by His sinless life, substitutionary
death, and victorious resurrection. It is for all mankind. Therefore it was not incumbent on any
new believer to observe Jewish ceremonial laws as an expression of loyalty to Christ. When we
read Paul’s letters he repeatedly says that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone. It is
made clear that a Jewish believer has no greater standing before the Lord than a Gentile (non
Jewish) believer. Such distinctions are made meaningless because of the unity that all followers
need to have “in Christ Jesus” We can learn from Galatians 3:28,”There is neither Jew nor
Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus”.
As Jews, both Peter and Paul understood this even though some of the fellow Jews did not
accept this. The gospel does not teach us ethnic and racial barriers. Loving relationships display
the glory of God in His method of saving sinners — not on the basis of who they are or what
they have done, but on the basis of sheer grace. Initially Peter thought that salvation was for
the Jews because they believed that Gentiles had to be circumcised in addition to trusting
Christ for salvation. But Paul “opposed him to his face”. He charged Peter and others who
followed his poor example.
At the very initial dispute, Paul rebuked Peter in the presence of Jewish and Gentile believers
alike, because he was concerned that Peter’s actions misrepresented the gospel of God’s grace.
The Jewish believers were trying to persuade the Galatians that not only must they trust Jesus
Christ for salvation; they must also keep Jewish customs and laws in order to be right with God.
Paul could not accept that, which we can learn from Galatians 2:14, “When I saw that they were
not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “You are a
Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to
follow Jewish customs?”Too much was at stake. Paul considered it better to risk offending a
prominent apostle than to allow God’s salvation to be undermined.

2. After describing this confrontation, Paul, for the first time in this letter, articulates the heart of
the gospel message to the Galatians: “We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners;
yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ,
so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by
works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified”(Galatians 2:15-16).We
can read where three times he affirms that justification before God comes through faith. A
person is justified “through faith in Jesus Christ,” and because of that, both Jews and gentiles
who believe in Christ Jesus will be “justified by faith in Christ.”
To underscore his point, Paul also states that justification could ever be attained by keeping any
laws. “We know that a person is not justified by works of the law.” He was convinced that One
was justified “not by works of the law” because it is a truth that “by works of the law no one
will be justified.” He is clearly states that the gospel of salvation is by grace alone through faith
alone in Jesus Christ alone…and there adherence to Jewish customs was not required. But he
also states that we must repent of our violations of God’s law, and that we must not depend
only on our efforts in keeping the Law. Our good works while being good for adhering to Gods
teachings, but by these actions alone it will not be sufficient for salvation from God…because it
is possible only through Jesus Christ our Lord and saviour. “…and be found in him, not having a
righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—
the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith” (Philippians 3: 9).
As Christians we know that God forgives and accepts sinners not because of what we have
done, but because of what Christ has done. Our good works and living a life in keeping to His
law is good by itself, but we can only receive our salvation through Jesus Christ our lord and
saviour who sacrificed Himself for our sake. It is His work, not ours, that justifies us. His
righteousness granted by grace and received through faith is what avails salvation for us as
sinners.

3. “…and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that
which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith”
(Philippians 3: 9).