Summary
A previous article dealt with the apparent contradiction:
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- Nobody is “justified by the works of the Law” (Gal 2:16)
but that - “The doers of the Law will be justified” (Rom 2:13).
- Nobody is “justified by the works of the Law” (Gal 2:16)
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That article also shows that all people will be judged by their deeds and then asks how that may be reconciled to the fact that people are justified through faith.
Another article concludes that justification is not a legal process through which the sinner is merely forgiven but a process through which the sinner is changed.
The current article shows that sinners are justified through both Christ’s death and God’s grace and then asks how God’s grace is related to Christ’s death. Is the one the consequence of the other or are these two ways of saying the same thing?
This article argues that people can only be saved because of Christ’s death. If He did not “overcome” (Rev 3:21), we would all have been eternally lost.
However, Christ’s death alone is insufficient: Faith and grace are also required for salvation.
But our question remains, how is Christ’s death related to God’s grace and our faith? Romans 3:25-26 explains that Christ’s death demonstrated that it is just of God to justify sinners by faith alone, which is judgment by grace.
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How does God’s grace relate to Christ’s death?
The word “grace,” when used in the context of how people are redeemed, appears only twice in Galatians. Both verses warn against seeking justification (also called righteousness) through the Law of Moses:
“if righteousness comes through the Law … ” (Gal 2:21).
“If you receive circumcision …
you who are seeking to be justified by law” (Gal 5:2-4).
Both verses also describe a two-fold consequence of seeking justification through the Law, namely that such people will (1) no longer receive grace and (2) the death of Christ will no longer be of any benefit to them:
“Nullify the grace of God …
Christ died needlessly” (Gal 2:21).
“Christ will be of no benefit to you …
you have fallen from grace” (Gal 5:2-4).
The two passages, therefore contrast how people are justified according to the Jews and according to Paul:
In Jewish thinking, people are justified “through the Law” (Gal 2:21; 5:4).
Paul responded that people are justified through Christ’s death and God’s grace.
Both God’s grace and Christ’s death, therefore, are required for justification. But how are these factors related? Is the one the consequence of the other or are these two ways of saying the same thing?
Why Jesus had to die
The Curse of the Law
According to Galatians, Jesus died to redeem “us from the curse of the Law” (Gal 3:13-14; cf. 4:5). The “curse of the Law” refers to the consequences of our sins (Gal 3:10). We all are sinners and we all deserve to die:
“The Scripture has shut up everyone under sin” (Gal 3:22), and the wages of sin is death (Rom 7:23).
But, through His death, Christ somehow dealt with “the curse of the Law.”
Christ’s death
In this article, I often refer to Christ’s death, but if He sinned in any way during His life, His death would have been of no value. His entire life was a test, but His death was His highest test as well as the end of His test. His death, therefore, represents His entire life. See – In the book of Revelation, why did Jesus have to die?
Abraham’s Blessing
Galatians also states that Jesus died so that “in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles” (Gal 3:13-14) and so “that we might receive the adoption as sons“ (Gal 4:4-5).
Paul argued that Abraham was “reckoned … as righteousness” through faith (Gal 3:6) and that believers receive the blessings which God promised to Abraham also “through faith” (Gal 3:14; cf. 3:8, 9, 11, 29). For that reason, Paul argued that his claim, that people are justified by their faith, rather than by the legal requirements of the Law, is a continuation of the gospel from the Old Testament; not a new invention.
Since they received Abraham’s blessings, Paul referred to Gentile believers as:
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- “Sons of Abraham” (Gal 3:7),
- “Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise” (Gal 3:29), and as
- Heirs (of Abraham) (Gal 4:7).
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The necessity of Christ’s death
The above has shown that people can only be saved because of Christ’s death. If He did not “overcome” (Rev 3:21), we would all have been eternally lost.
But faith is also required.
Furthermore, the Gentiles receive “the blessing of Abraham … through faith” (Gal 3:13-14) and they are adopted as sons “through faith” (Gal 3:26). Christ’s death alone, it seems, is insufficient for salvation: Faith is also required.
Grace is also required.
Another article argued that faith and grace cannot be separated. Faith is simply our reaction to our knowledge that God is kind and forgiving. For example:
“It is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace.” (Rom 4:16)
So, if we say that “faith” is also required for salvation, then we say that grace is also required.
How does God’s grace relate to Christ’s death?
But our question remains, how is Christ’s death related to God’s grace and our faith? Romans 3:24 seems to say that Christ’s death enabled God’s grace.
“Justified as a gift by His grace
through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.”
The next two verses (Rom 3:25-26) explain that principle in more detail. These verses say that God “passed over the sins previously committed” and that He displayed Christ Jesus publicly “to demonstrate His righteousness” “so that He would be JUST AND THE JUSTIFIER of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
Firstly, this means that Christ’s death was a demonstration. In other words, heavenly beings were watching and from His death, they understood things they did not understand before.
Secondly, it means that His death was a demonstration of an existing trust.
Thirdly, if Christ’s death did not demonstrate that truth, the heavenly beings would have regarded God as unjust if He would justify “the one who has faith in Jesus.” (Note the words, “just and the justified.”)
In other words, the heavenly beings did not understand before how God could be just if He forgives sinners their sins but Christ’s death demonstrated that it is “just” for God to justify people simply based on faith. the various Atonement Theories are attempts of explaining why that is so. We will not discuss those theories here.
The important point for our discussion is that Christ died to demonstrate that it is just of God to justify sinners by faith alone, which is judgment by grace. In this way, Christ’s death enabled God’s grace. Because of Christ’s death, God is able to judge our inner man, rather than our literal, horrible, and sinful deeds.
Other Articles
Listen to Graham Maxwell, a well-known preacher, as he explains, from the letter to the Galatians, his view of the Atonement and of Justification.
Abstract: To understand the meaning of Christ’s death, we have to consider the bigger picture. Evil began in heaven and was transplanted to the earth. God did not reject mankind and sent prophets to earth to turn people to Him. But God did reject Satan. Satan responded by accusing God of unfair judgment, pointing to the sins of God’s people. Satan is extremely talented, and the angels were unable to determine whether Satan is telling the truth. The Theory of the Atonement proposed by this website is that Christ’s sacrifice cleared up the confusion in heaven and showed the rightness of God’s judgments.
For creatures to live eternally, they must remain sinless, because sin, by definition, is something that destroys. To remain sinless, intelligent creatures must live in His presence, and the natural response to being in the presence of the infinite One is to love and worship Him. Worship is the blood vessel that conveys life from the Source of life to His creatures. If we break that link, we will become corrupted and will eventually die.