Paul McKenzie

Memory Verse, Wednesday, April 8, Galatians 2:16a

"Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith of Jesus Christ,"(KJV)

Paul was revealing a new covenant. It was a mystery given him by revelation:

"how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel." (Ephesians 3:3-9)

At this time it was just coming into focus. A New Covenant was commencing. Christ had come and fulfilled the Law of Moses. He was the final sacrifice, that once for all gave hope, not only for the world, but fulfilled also the promise given to Abraham, one made centuries before Moses, way back in Genesis 12: "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (1-3).

This was never realized. Paul shows that it is not the deeds of the Mosaic Law, but the righteousness of the faith of Abraham that saved him. The sign of circumcision was "the seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well…" (Romans 4:11b-12)

At the end of Luke's Gospel it is written that Jesus appeared before the disciples in His immortal body (with which, by the way, He was able to have dinner with them, eating a broiled fish, which gives us a little insight about the nature of our own future bodies), and said:

"These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them,

"Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem" (Luke 24:44-47).

The Law of Moses had run its course. It was not meant for the Gentiles, but for the Jews so that they, as God's elected nation, could reveal God's righteousness throughout the world. And the promise given to Abraham was brought through him, first through his son Isaac, then through Jacob, through Judah, through David and culminating in Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.

And according to Paul in this passage we see that he was telling them nothing they really did not know: "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)

What he's saying is that the Jews themselves knew that the Law itself could not save them. And we see for the first time the word "Justified". This means "declared righteous". This is a new thing! All of the bulls and goats sacrificed by the Jews through the Law gave temporary reprieve, but could never bring eternal salvation. Christ crucified on the cross became the ultimate Sacrifice Lamb, and His once-for-all sacrifice reconciled forever all who would believe, both Jew and Gentile.

Now, we'll find many before Christ in the Kingdom of Heaven; not because of the deeds of the Law, but by faith in the promise given to Abraham: the promised Seed, and through Him, not only the Jew, but all who believe will be heirs to the promise as well,

"For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:20) v You can too!

Today if you hear His voice, harden not your heart.

Memory Helps

"Knowing THAT
A MAN is not justified
     BY the works     OF the law,
but BY faith     OF Jesus Christ,"
Word count: (2-5-6-6)

I begin by "Knowing" the three "a" words after "Knowing": "That/A/Man".

Then I structured the other two phrases with the "by's" and the "Of's".

Also, I used physical action, pointing to my head for "knowing",

Pretending to slam down the judge's gavel for "justified",

Pretending to hold the two "commandment stones" for "BY the works OF the Law",

And pretending to hold a cross for "but BY faith OF Jesus Christ."

Linking verse numbers:

And since this is verse 16, my memory character, "DaSH" from "the Incredibles" fame, is my "prop man", rushing at lightning speed while I am reciting (D or T=1, Sh, J, or Ch = 6, vowels fillers for 1-6). First he rushes in, giving me gavel for justified. Then he'll quickly take it and bring in the two commandment stones. Finally, he gives me a cross. Now, all of these are brand new, and each have "Two New" price tags on them to remind me that this is chapter 2. I may pretend that I have my "gal", my pretty wife Julie, next to me to remind me of Gal-atians 2:16.