Did Christ die in vain?

 

Galatians 2:21 『I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. 』

There is a view in which the Jews look at the Gentiles and there is a view in which the Gentiles look at the Jews. First, if we look at the Jewish perspective, it appears well in Deuteronomy 7:1-4.『When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;  And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them: Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.  For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly. 』

The Jews had the idea of God's chosen people, and they thought they were not sinners because they kept the law well. So, when they look at the Gentiles, they think they are sinners. It was considered against the law for the Jews to associate with the Gentiles. Likewise, the Gentiles knew largely about the Law, so they deliberately avoided the Jews. However, the Jews preached the gospel of God to the Gentiles.

In a vision, Peter saw an unclean animal wrapped in a cloth from heaven, and God told him to eat them. Unclean animals symbolize strangers. And, God told Cornelius to appear in a vision to meet Peter. So, Peter and Cornelius meet, and Peter preaches the Gospel to Cornelius. And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him, Saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them. But Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning, and expounded it by order unto them, saying』.

In Acts 15:1, 『And certain men which came down from Judæa taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved. Thus, it was concluded at the General Assembly in Jerusalem that "Christians no longer need circumcision." Peter explains in Acts 15:7-11. 『And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe. And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the LORD Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they. 』

In this way, there were times when Peter thought that he had deviated from the law and spoke, but without his knowledge, he acted legally. Peter visited the church in Antioch and was having a meal with Paul, Barnabas, and the Gentile Saints, and a Jew sent by James from Jerusalem entered the table. Inadvertently, Peter was having a meal with the Gentiles and then moved to the Jews who entered the restaurant, so Barnabas did the same, and all the Jews sitting there moved. So, Paul was compelled to rebuke Peter for this situation.

In 1 Corinthians 5:6, Paul said, "Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? It is to say that just as leaven spreads by leaving those who commit fornication at once, so the church can be. Likewise, misconceptions about the law can become like leaven if miscommunicated among people.

In Galatians 2:15-16, We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed. in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. 』Jews and Gentiles, both are sinners, but it is said that in order to be justified, it is not the law, but only through faith in Jesus Christ.

In Romans 3:9-10, “What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 』It is said that salvation can only be achieved by being righteous in Christ. In Romans 3:20, ``Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. 』

"There is no body to be justified" means that all people on this earth cannot achieve righteousness in the body because there is a desire to be like God in the body. The law makes it aware. So, take off your body and go into Christ. Entering into Christ only enters those who die with Jesus. Those who obey the Word of God are those who deny themselves. Thus, obedience to God means that those who do not die with Jesus Christ cannot obey God's Word because of their flesh.

You cannot be righteous by the law, but only through the faith of Jesus Christ can you be righteous. In most churches today, believers will not be unaware of this. But, why do you keep telling this story? The reason for this is that while the mouth speaks of being saved by faith, it is not done by actions. The act refers to the death of our old man on the cross with Jesus.

In Romans 8:3-4, ``For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 』Those who make the demands of the law fulfilled are those who walk according to the Spirit (the Holy Spirit). The reason is that the Holy Spirit does not come in the flesh. So, in order for the Holy Spirit to come, we must be born again with water and the Holy Spirit.

In Galatians 2:17, ``But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. 』In Christ, you do not have to keep the law, but you say that you have sinned. So, there may be some who say that if they had tried to see if they sin through the law and try to hold it, they would not have sinned, but it would be wrong to say that there is no need to keep the law in Christ. . It says it makes no sense.

In Chapter 2:18-19, 『For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. 』If people say that they are in Christ, but live as sinners, He and Jesus tells us that the old man did not die.