Now Paul dealt with an objection that the certain men from James would raise. It’s important to remember that Paul made this statement publicly, with the concerned parties right in front of him. On one side of the room were the certain men from James, who believed that God would not accept the Gentiles unless they put themselves under the Law of Moses. Peter sat with these men and so did Barnabas, who was Paul’s best friend. In fact, all the Christians of Jewish background sat with these Christians from Jerusalem who didn’t believe that the Gentiles in the church at Antioch were really saved at all. In a real-life setting like this, Paul couldn’t just speak his mind without answering the objections – spoken or unspoken – of those who disagreed with him.
As the men from Jerusalem saw it, the idea that we are made right before God by faith in Jesus alone wasn’t “real” enough. After all, Christians still struggled with sin. How could they have the “accepted by God” issue settled if they still battled sin? In their thinking, this made Christ… a minister of sin, because Jesus’ work of making them right with God apparently didn’t make them right enough.
Paul’s answer was brilliant. First, yes, we seek to be justified by Christ and not by Jesus plus our own works. Second, yes, we ourselves also are found sinners, that is, we acknowledge that we still sin even though we stand justified by Christ. But no, this certainly does not make Jesus the author or approver of sin in our life. He is not a minister of sin.
The analogy found in verse 18 is brilliant as well! Paul is referring to the Law. Humans derived their value from following God’s law, but Jesus fulfilled this law. In other words, the law was “destroyed.” If Paul was to make rules that resembled the old law, that would make him a lawbreaker of Christ’s work. This would devalue the work on the cross. Christians should never devalue the work of Jesus on the cross.
Modern Christians do a good job of not devaluing the cross, but this job is made more difficult the more incomprehensible the crime is. For example, while in Houston, I worked with registered sex offenders. As the counsellor for these men and women, I was exposed to crimes that I could not understand under any circumstance. These individuals were repentant Christians in almost every case. I felt the temptation to not forgive them. To hang there “sin” over their head, but Jesus’ work on the cross was both for the common sin and the incomprehensible sin. All that is required is faith AND repentance.
What kinds of actions do you find difficult to believe God forgives? Assuming true repentance is in the equation, do you find it difficult to accept certain people in your community? If your answer is “yes,” then quit devaluing the Gospel. If your answer is “no,” then I challenge you to look further. Think about how you feel when you drive by a beggar. Do you assume immediately they have put themselves in that position? Or, is your assumption that Jesus Christ is also big enough for them? There are many people groups that we kind of right off, but Jesus reminds us in God’s kingdom (through the work of Jesus) no ones past is too dark for the light to overcome.
I hope this gives you hope on a Friday. All the mistakes you made this week and will make this weekend were included in Christ’ life, death, and resurrection. So join Christians around the world as we celebrate all repentant people in Jesus’ name.