Nature, Justification, Law

What is the logic of Paul’s argument in Galatians 2:15-16? This breaks down into several questions: Where does “justification” come from? How does Paul move from Jews-by-nature as opposed to Gentile-sinners to justification by the faith of Christ rather than the works of the law? And, of course, verse 16 has two of the most controverted phrases in recent Pauline studies: What does Paul mean by “faith of Christ”? And what are the “works of the law”?

Let’s take the first questions first.

I suggest that Paul’s logic goes like this: We are Jews by nature, not sinners, yet even we who are Jews by nature know from Scripture that no flesh is justified by the works of the law; since we know this, we seek justification in Christ’s faith/faith in Christ and not in the work of the law. The justification language arises from the contrast of “Jews” and “Gentile sinners” in verse 15: Even Jews cannot be justified by the works of the law, how much more Gentiles.

But there also seems to be some connection between “nature” and “justification” here. Nature doesn’t justify, we can say that at least. Being a Jew by nature, by circumcision and Jewish living, doesn’t put us in the right. And that is the same as to say that we are not justified by the works of the law, suggesting that doing “works of the law” means (at least) living Jewishly. Is there also a more positive connection between “nature” and justification? It’s hard to see one, but the sequence of thought is tantalizing.

More fully, I think “works of the law” also means “what the law does” or “the operation of the law” (followinga suggestion from James Jordan here). Paul makes it clear elsewhere that the Law is operative in working wrath, curse, condemnation, etc. That fits nicely in Galatians 2: Being Jewish by nature means living under the law, but the operation of the law doesn’t put Jews in the right; it instead brings a curse.

And the operation of the law is contrasted with the “faith of Christ.” That makes most sense if we take the faith of Christ subjectively, the faith or faithfulness that Jesus Himself exercised. Contrasting the operation of law with our belief is asymmetrical; contrasting the operation of Torah with the working of the Living Word is a neater contrast. That’s the contrast at the beginning of chapter 3, where Paul rebukes the Galatians for beginning by relying on the operation of the Spirit and then sliding back into reliance on the operation of Torah.