But thanks be to God that, though you
used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance.
18 You have been set free from sin and have become
slaves to righteousness.
19 I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness
leading to holiness Rom6:17-19
Immediatley upon accepting Christ as your saviour you are justified/righteous in God’s sight, so what justification is Paul speaking of in Gal2:16&17? In the above, Paul states the romans used to be slaves to sin, but by following the teaching given they have now become set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness, so they have crossed over from one state to another, but this crossing over takes time, it is not instantaneous. Paul adds they have become slaves to righteousness
leading to holiness. If they were already sinless they would not be slaves of righteousness
leading to holiness, they would already be perfectly holy. Must read the bible as one cohesive whole, and verse 18 is a good example of not committing error in this regard.
We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles
16 know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus
that we may be justified by faith in[d] Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.
‘But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not!
18 If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a law-breaker.
A new believer may have lived a life riddled with sin. They may have been an alcoholic for thirty years, a constant blasphemer, a habitual thief been in prison and had multiple affairs. All of these things do not simply vanish overnight, but change must come, they must cross over from being a slave to sin to a slave of righteousness leading to holiness. They seek justification of their faith in this regard by faith in Christ, not obeying the law/works of the law. They trust in Christ to get them to where they need to be.
The new believer might immediately stop using foul language for example, they may stop stealing, evidence of being born again is already being shown. But alcohol is not so easy, they have been its slave for so long. One night, the new convert goes to church, they heartily join in the service, praising God for what he has done for them through Christ. Someone who does not understand the Gospel message regarding new believers may smell alcohol on the mans breath as he is there worshipping and heartily praising God. What may they think? ‘
’If this man is a Christian Christ must promote sin, for here he is praising and worshipping God whilst being an evident sinner’’. However, though the man is heartily praising God he still hates the sin that he is not yet free of for he has been born again, he does not want it. But he is still entitled to praise God for what he has done for him in Christ, for he is standing in his one and only righteous/justification before God, faith in His Son, and he seeks justification of his new found faith by faith in him. If the man cannot praise God in this regard he may as well go round in sackcloth and ashes until he is as pure as the driven snow
Immediatley after Paul asks the question he answers it:
Absolutely not, if I rebuild what I destroyed I really would be a lawbreaker. What has Paul sought so hard to destroy? Righteousnes of obeying the law. Therefore, if he strove to defeat the sin in order to justify his Christianity, he would fail, and simply prove he was a lawbreaker