Justified by Faith

Galatians 5:13

"For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another."


Some years ago, my husband and I participated in a couples Bible study on the book of Galatians. I believe it was a series based on the work of Tim Keller. Anyway, I have this verse (the one above) underlined in my Bible, and in the margin, I wrote the words, "we are free to not be centered on ourselves."

As I looked at my note in the margin last night, I thought, "Huh? What does that mean?" I bet you have done the same thing, wondering what thought process caused you to write a word or a phrase in your Bible. Or maybe it's just me?

Anyway, it got me thinking. What does it actually mean to be "free to not be centered on ourselves" and what does that have to do with "through love serve one another." I think I've reconnected the dots, so to speak, and you might enjoy following along the mental journey I engaged in to complete the picture.

It all has to do with the concept of faith as it relates to our justification. Now, justification is just a fancy word that means being declared righteous before God. We are all born as sinners before God. (Psalm 51:5) And in order to receive salvation, we must be declared righteous before God, or in other words, we must be justified. According to Galatians 2:16, "a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ...that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified."

This is a huge concept. What Paul is saying is that there are no rules or laws which we can keep in order for God to see us as righteous. The only way that we will ever be declared righteous before God is through faith in Jesus Christ. I could spend my entire life doing wonderful, charitable deeds; and come Judgment Day, God would still spit me out of His mouth if I did not have the one thing required to be justified: faith in Christ Jesus.

This is such a freeing truth that its importance can not be minimized. So many people, Christians included, have this notion that we are pleasing to God, and receive our salvation (or keep it) based on the things that we do or don't do. Paul is adamantly denying any such thing.

Now, you will never hear me say that keeping God's law doesn't matter. It matters a great deal. But it doesn't have anything to do with earning salvation. The importance of keeping God's law is a topic for another day. Suffice it to say that the law is still vital.

So, keeping that in mind, how should one react to this amazing concept of justification through faith? If we don't bear the burden of earning our salvation, than what are we to do?

Well, according to Galatians 5:13, we should, "through love serve one another." Allow me to illustrate what I mean by describing two different understandings of justification.

First, imagine that you believe it is up to you to make yourself righteous before God. You have a sense that if you are just "good" enough, then in the end you will make it to Heaven. Or perhaps you think that you have salvation, but it is up to you to keep it by obeying certain laws and rules. First of all, where is humility in either of those scenarios? But, more importantly, if you believe that you are earning or working towards something, than what do you suppose would motivate you to serve others? Would you be serving out of love? Probably not. When you get to the heart of the matter, you would probably be serving others, or doing "good" things, out of your own self-interest. (If I do xyz, then God will find me righteous.)


Contrast that with a person who knows that she is already declared righteous before God. This person knows that nothing can ever separate her from the love of Christ. She is therefore, free from the burden of working out her own salvation, and liberated to serve others out of genuine love, rather than self-interest.

In others words, as my Bible note declares, she would be, "free to not be centered on (herself)."

And the key to all of this working the way it should, is understanding that we are justified, or declared righteous, before God by our faith. Nothing else. Period. End of story.

Galatians 5:1

"Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage."