What is the meaning of Galatians 2:15? We who are Jews by birth • Paul is reminding Peter—and everyone listening—that they share a common heritage: born into God’s covenant people (Genesis 17:7; Romans 3:1-2, “First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God,”). • This heritage carried distinct privileges: – Receiving the Law (Romans 9:4-5) – Worship at the temple (Psalm 122:1) – Promises of the Messiah (Isaiah 9:6-7) • Yet Paul’s wording hints that natural birth, though a blessing, never saved anyone (Romans 2:28-29). The stage is set for his central point: justification is by faith in Christ, not by ethnicity or Law-keeping (Galatians 2:16). • Cross-reference the earlier conversation in Galatians 2:14, where Paul challenged Peter: “If you, who are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?”. The issue is gospel consistency, not heritage pride. and not Gentile “sinners” • “Sinners” was common Jewish shorthand for those outside the covenant (Luke 7:37-39). Paul uses the term ironically, knowing every person—Jew or Gentile—has sinned (Romans 3:23). • Contrast: – Jews trusted in circumcision and Law observance (Acts 15:5). – Gentiles were viewed as morally lax idolaters (Ephesians 2:11-12). • Paul’s point is not superiority but equality under sin and the need for grace (Romans 3:9, “We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin,”). • By saying “we… and not Gentile ‘sinners,’” Paul speaks into Peter’s lingering prejudice exposed in Antioch (Galatians 2:12). He reminds him: – They, the so-called privileged Jews, required the same mercy as Gentiles (Titus 3:5). – In Christ, division is erased: “There is neither Jew nor Greek… for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). • The phrase prepares for verse 16, where Paul declares twice that “a man is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ”. The gospel levels every perceived hierarchy. summary Born-into privilege cannot save, and being labeled a “sinner” cannot bar salvation. Paul uses shared Jewish heritage to pull down the very walls it once erected, proving that justification comes only through faith in Christ for Jew and Gentile alike. |
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