Galatians 2:19. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God.
In verse 18, Paul says that he won’t use the law to rebuild the walls of separation between the Jews and Gentiles, for that would make him a lawbreaker (a transgressor) violating the law of Christ. Here, in verse 19, Paul doubles down: “I died to the law.” Paul doesn’t soften his stance in any way. The law cannot bring life; it can only produce death—“through the law, I DIED to the law.”
Sure, the law can change behavior, but it cannot change the heart. Furthermore, regarding behavior change, because the law is perfect, it can never be satisfied by our good deeds. Rather than producing control and freedom, it offers only bondage to our pride. Paul is showing us the proper use of the law and God’s intended purpose for the Mosaic Covenant: the law was meant to reveal our utter sinfulness and inability before God. The law was meant to cause us to die to the law.
If it sounds strange that God would give Israel a law code just so they would have to “die to it,” that is because it stands in stark contrast to every other religion. Why did He do it? Because Israel—and all mankind—needed a mirror to look into. They needed a diagnosis of the heart. We all need a standard to live up to so that we can see that we cannot and will not live up to it. Is this because the law is flawed? No! It is because the law is perfect and we are not.
The second half of the verse is probably even more radical: “so that I might live to God.” Wait, isn’t keeping the law a way to “live to God”? Actually, no. Living unto God has nothing to do with the law. Can Gentiles, who never had the law, live unto God? Or do they need to add the law to their lives in order to be holy and sanctified? This is the fundamental question of Galatians. And the final answer is, “No, we don’t need the law; in fact, we are dead to the law. All we need is faith in Christ and His life in us in order to live unto God” (Galatians 2:20).
Consider Christ. While on Earth, did Jesus keep the law? Yes, of course. But was that how He “lived to God”? No. Jesus didn’t need the law to keep His heart and behavior in check. He lived from the freedom of His pure heart and THEN kept the law, submitting to its demands from a place of freedom—a submission that took Him all the way to the law’s ultimate endgame: death. Through the law, Christ died. And through the law, Christ died TO the law. Jesus now has no relationship to the law in terms of His righteousness or how He lives unto God, and neither do we who are in Him.
You: Where are you still using the “law” to live unto God, rather than the freedom of faith and love?
You in Christ: How does our union with Christ cause us to die to the law?
Christ in you: What is the difference between living to the law and living to God?
Pray: Father, Your law is not the problem; I am. Help me to simply live by faith in Christ today and every day. Amen.
