Made Right - October 23

Read Galatians 2:15-16 

We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. 

Reflect 

What does it mean to be “justified”? What is the only way we can be justified to God? 

Have you ever gotten a blob of ketchup on a crisp white shirt? Or spilled grape soda on a light-colored couch? Or tried to erase a mistake you made drawing on a fresh sheet of paper? It’s frustrating, isn’t it? Because no matter how hard you try, you can never fully remove the stain or erase the smudge. Sure, you can work really hard and get it to fade. You might even succeed at making it unnoticeable. But upon closer inspection, the flaw is still there. Under the surface. Deep in the fibers. It’ll never be perfect again.  

Our sin is like that. We can try to make it right. We can apologize. We can work hard to make up for it. We can try to make amends. But no matter what we do or how hard we try, the flaw from our sin is still there. We’ve been marred. Sin has ruined us. Even worse, our sin has separated us from a holy God. We are sinners, He is sinless. We are unclean and unworthy. 

Isaiah 64:6 says “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment….” The NIV translates that as “filthy rags.” Even the good things we try to do are tainted by our sin. One of Job’s friends asked the question for us in Job 25:4: “How then can a man be just with God?” 

Well, in today’s verses, Paul provides the answer and confirms what Isaiah had said. We aren’t made right before God by our righteous works. We can’t undo our sin by trying to follow the law from this point on. The only way that we can be made right with God is by faith in Jesus Christ and what He has done for us. This is called the doctrine of justification. 

Paul clearly spelled out the doctrine of justification in several of his epistles. In this instance, he was reprimanding Peter and the rest of the Jews who had followed him back into legalism after they caved under the pressure of the Judaizers in Antioch. Paul’s point was that they should have known better! They were born and raised Jewish. They knew God’s law inside and out. But even they had to believe in Jesus in order to be justified before God. Their rules, rituals, and sacrifices were never going to be enough to save them.  

Paul didn’t call the Gentiles sinners because he believed the Jews were sinless. He knew better than that! Rather, many Jews considered Gentiles to sinners because they didn’t have the law to teach them what is right and what is wrong in God’s eyes. The Jews, however, had the law. But even in knowing the law, they still sinned against God. Both Jew and Gentile have sinned and fallen short of God’s perfect standard (Romans 3:23). The only way anyone can be made right is by faith in Jesus Christ.  

What about you? Are you still trying to clean yourself up before you come to God? Are you trying to “get right” with God by your own effort and good works? Or are you resting in the fact that you have been justified by faith in Christ? It is my hope and prayer that everyone reading this knows, understands, and believes that they are made right with God only because of what Christ did on the cross on their behalf. Because, “by works of the law no one will be justified.” 

Respond  

Jesus, thank You for making me right with God. I know that all of my good deeds and efforts to cleanse my own sin are futile. They are like filthy rags. So instead of striving in legalistic religion, I rest assured that I am justified through my faith in You and Your saving work on the cross. Amen. 

Reveal  

We often try to “fix” ourselves or prove our worth by working harder, apologizing more, or pretending we’ve got it together—but God’s grace invites us to drop that exhausting act. This week, share a moment of real honesty with someone close to you. Maybe it’s admitting that you don’t have everything figured out, or opening up about a time you fell short and needed forgiveness. Then listen if they decide to share something, too. When we let people see that we’re still in process—not perfect but forgiven—we remind them that being made right isn’t about having spotless lives, but about receiving grace that meets us in the mess. Sometimes that kind of authenticity can be the most powerful way to point someone toward hope.