Galatians 2:18

So if I should again believe that God would erase the record of my sins because of my obeying the laws that he gave to Moses [MET], I would be like a man who rebuilds an old building that he tore down. It would soon be clear that I am one who disobeys those same laws that God gave to Moses.

Translation for Translators

In The King James Version

For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.

In Context

17Furthermore, because we (exc) Jews desired that God would erase the record of our sins because of our relationship with Christ, it means that we realized that we ourselves were sinners like non-Jews, whom we called sinners, because we(exc) also were not obeying the Jewish rituals and laws. But ◄ we(inc) certainly cannot conclude that it is Christ who causes us to sin./ should we conclude that it is Christ who causes us to sin?► [RHQ] No, Christ certainly does not cause anyone to sin.

19When I realized that I could not earn God’s favor by obeying the laws that he gave to Moses, I decided not to respond to what those laws demanded [MET], just like a dead person does not respond to anything. Now I live to honor/serve God.

Read all of Galatians 2

Cross References

Romans 14:15If you eat food [MET] that anyone for whom Christ died thinks that it is wrong to eat, that person might be encouraged { you might be encouraging that person} to do something that he believes is wrong. As a result, you might cause that fellow believer to stop trusting in God. In that way he would be ruined spiritually just because you have stopped behaving as one who loves others should behave!

Galatians 2:4I talked to them privately because some people successfully pretended that they were fellow believers and associated with the true believers. They did that in order that they might observe closely what we do because we are free from having to obey all the Jewish laws and rituals because of our close relationship with Christ Jesus [MET]. Those people wanted to make us like slaves [MET] of those rituals by convincing us that we cannot trust Christ solely but that we must also obey all the Jewish rituals.

Galatians 2:21I am not rejecting as useless what God did for me ◄ kindly/that I did not deserve►, as my opponents are doing. I fully accept that God saved me by acting kindly towards me. If it is because people obey the laws that God gave to Moses that God erases the record of their sins, then Christ died ◄for nothing/needlessly►.

Galatians 5:11But, my fellow believers, although someone claims that I am proclaiming that men must be circumcised, I certainly am not still proclaiming that. Remember that the Jews are still ◄ persecuting me/causing me to suffer►. If I were still proclaiming that men must be circumcised in order for God to accept them, ◄the Jews would not be persecuting me./why would the Jews be persecuting me?► [RHQ] They would [RHQ] not be persecuting me/causing me to suffer because then the Jews would no longer be offended. They ◄ are offended/do not want to accept what I teach► because I proclaim that Christ, the Messiah, died on the cross [MTY].

Matthew Henry on Galatians 2:12-21

Peter Reproved by Paul. ( a. d. 56.) 11 But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. 12 For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. 13 And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation. 14 But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the… Read the whole commentary →

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