Galatians 3:6Even so Abraham BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.
The confusion with justification arises because of another related term, righteousness, which translators fail when trying to convey what it meant in the honor shame societies of the ANE, in the context of the client patron relationship.
Righteousness had the connotation of, not being found moral, but of being found loyal.
Justification in the Old and the New Covenants
Old Covenant
Luke 18: 10“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11“The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ 13“But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ 14“I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
What exactly did the Pharisee do wrong?
The Pharisees did NOT obey the law. They rationalized that since the promise to Abraham was unconditional, all a person had to do to receive the promise was to be born a Jew. To distinguish themselves as Jews they followed the part of the law that identified them as Jews. They observed the rituals, read out loud from the law. They left out justice, mercy and faithfulness to be the image of God.
Luke 11:42"Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.
Romans 2:13For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God,
but the doers of the law who will be justified.
What did the publican do right? He confessed he was a sinner. Obviously you can't confess your inadequacy unless you try to do good things, and fail. And then you find out that you need God to forgive you, overlook your inadequacy. Jesus knew that the rich young ruler was not following ALL the law, because no one could follow all the law. Different people have different thresholds. Some reach their limit of ability with the ten commandments, some with the 613 precepts. Instead of going through all the requirements, Jesus went to the extreme requirement, to make the young man realise his need for God.
Justification in the old covenant was exaltation, but there is no indication that the publican in the Temple knew he was exalted. Indicating an exaltation in Abraham's bosom, in the afterlife. The temporal life of the publican never changed, he would keep coming back to the Temple and keep asking for forgiveness, chained as he was to a body of death. This is the curse of the law.
However, even though the law killed the ability of the believer to be blessings to the world, because they believed God and attempted to observe all the law, they were exalted in Abraham's bosom, like Lazarus, unlike the rich man who never attempted to follow all the law. When Christ descended to the grave, He released these believers. They were judged, and since they believed God's word, their spirits sit with Him in high places. Since their bodies could not be subdued, these were not resurrected to a resurrection of life, but were discarded. This is why the least in the kingdom of God is greater than the greatest in the old covenant.
New Covenant
Galatians 3:2This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?
In the New Covenant, the law has been abolished, since it was a part of the old covenant. Adam and His descendants lived in a situation where they knew good and evil, but could not obey God's Law because of the body of death. What was required to complete the old covenant?
The old covenant was a covenant of requirements and benefits. Like all contracts, it required one party to pay and the other party to provide goods or services. Humanity had lost the benefit of being in God's presence because of culpability, knowing good and evil and doing evil. In God's presence, Adam could, by the Holy Spirit subdue creation, subdue his body. This body had sinful thoughts, could think about disobeying God, could disbelieve God's warning, could attribute bad intentions of God's warning to a deprivation of good things by Him, things like withholding the power of being like God. The only reason Adam could be in God's presence was because these sinful thoughts and disbelief were not sin, because Adam did not have critical facilities, the ability to judge, the ability to know good from evil. This is called juvenility, the absence of complete critical ability, the reason minors are not prosecutable under criminal law. In God's presence, Adam could learn obedience, subdue his body, and then God would have allowed him to acquire the ability to know good from evil. Away from God's presence because of loss of juvenility and subsequent culpability, humanity was stuck. Thankfully, God sent Christ.
The work for Christ was to get humanity back into God's presence without dying, because they were sinful: Adam's original situation. Christ had to get humanity out of the jurisdiction of the law or protect them from the ill effects of being in God's presence whilst still sinful. He couldn't reverse loss of juvenility. However He could suspend law. Humanity was tied to law. The only way humanity could be untied was by death. Christ's death was the death of the old humanity, just as Adam's creation was the beginning of the first humanity's existence.
Christ's obedience led to redemption of humanity in the form of payment of restitution leading to lifting of a sentence, just as Adam's disobedience was the condemnation of humanity, in the form of the removal of juvenility and the pronouncement and execution of a sentence. One led to the end of the power of the law over humanity, the other had led to the operationalization of the jurisdiction of the law on humanity.
The first fruit of this act of obedience was Christ. His death was nullified and he was raised. Into an existence free of Law.
Those who are baptised into Christ are baptised into His death, losing their membership in the old humanity and share in His resurrection into a new life, the life of living an existence free of Law.
Justification in the new covenant is God recognizing our act of loyalty, obedience to the new command to confess our sin of serving Egypt, in order to love, to serve our fellow men, by becoming a child of Abraham, by believing Jesus is our Deliverer, sent to bring us out of Egypt, salvation being through following Him out of Egypt. In hearing with faith, confessing Christ was Lord, not Caesar, not Egypt, we are recognised as loyal members of God's People, and receive the Holy Spirit, moving from death to eternal living. As opposed to the old covenant of justification of doing the works of the law, confessing our failure, being recognized as loyal member of God's People, and being protected by the guardianship of the law. The curse of the law was to be in the old humanity, with no giving of the Holy Spirit, therefore no moving from death to eternal living, no option to being blessings to the world, able to bring demons to submission, heal blindness, lift the veil from eyes, in order to convince people to follow Christ out of Egypt.
In short, old covenant justification had the benefit of the guardianship of the law, protection and preservation from wrath, but no empowerment to eternal living. New Covenant justification had the empowerment to eternal living.
Point to take away
The old covenant requirements, works of the law, were necessary, to bring believer to the realisation of inadequacy, in order to receive forgiveness, and acceptance as a member of God's family, because they believed God's word, that the requirements were important and necessary, not second guess God, by asking as satan did, "Did God really say...?"
Works of the law could lead to justification, but the justification was the guardianship, protection of the law, not going to hell, like the rich man, but resting in Abraham's bosom, like Lazarus, until Christ released him.
Works of the law could not lead to receiving the Spirit, and justification, protection against the efforts of the world to take you back to Egypt. Works of the law could not seat you in high places, with Christ. Believers have the mind of Christ. Out of their inner beings flow streams of living water, words of eternal life. They have the ministry of Moses, of leading God's lost sheep out of Egypt, even the demons submit to them. They should however be happy not because of the latter, but because, like Moses, their names are written in the Book of Life Givers.
Works of Law cannot lead to sanctification, becoming unblemished sacrifices, having the qualification to share in the ministry of Christ, becoming the righteousness of God, becoming sin bearers, sharing in His affliction and making up what remains of His work, toward a better resurrection.
Those who turn back to the works of the law are turning back to a defunct covenant. They are trampling on the new covenant, saying the kingdom is not amongst us, but is yet to come. By observing Sabbath, continuing in works of the law, they are saying the rest has not been given, the rest from our own works.
Hebrews 4:10For the one who enters God's rest has also rested from his works, just as God did from his works.
The point is that the new man died to the Law just as the wife broke away from the marriage when the old humanity died, in Christ. He was qualified to represent all humanity, just as Adam was qualified to represent all humanity. Christ is our kinsman redeemer, qualified to redeem.
