Proper 6 / Pentecost 4 / Ordinary Time 11
Devotional
Water From the Rock
Lectionary Devotional for Cycle C
Object:
... yet we know that a person is justified [or reckoned as righteous] not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ [or the faith of Jesus Christ].
-- Galatians 2:16a cf
The traditional interpretation of this verse is that we are justified not by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. The difficulty is that while the verse seems to emphasize our being saved by grace and not by works, it leaves open the possible interpretation that our act of claiming faith in Jesus Christ is a work itself. A growing number of scholars are suggesting that a more accurate translation would be to say that we are justified through the faith of Jesus Christ. This would emphasize the total and unmerited grace of our salvation. It is Christ's faith that serves us and nothing that we have done to bring this about. It is almost scary to consider the radical dependence on grace that such an understanding offers.
Paul made this argument as part of his rebuke of Peter at Antioch, who he believed had reverted to accepting that one's standing before God was dependent on the carrying out of the Mosaic law. It is not an idle argument even among contemporary Christians. What are the standards by which one is found acceptable within the Christian community? Paul clearly felt there were standards and was not shy about speaking about them to those he felt violated them in the Corinthian church. Yet are those standards an expression of gratitude for what Christ has done for us or do we subtly suggest that they are the means by which we access the grace of Christ?
There may be a subtle example of how Christ's faith serves us in the story of the healing of the paralytic in Mark 2:1-12. In the story, some friends lowered a paralytic through the roof to Jesus in a room below. Then Mark says, "When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, 'Son, your sins are forgiven.' " Nothing is said about the paralytic's faith. Could it be that the grace by which we are saved is totally free of anything that we have done? If that were so, how then, would you look on your neighbor differently?
-- Galatians 2:16a cf
The traditional interpretation of this verse is that we are justified not by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. The difficulty is that while the verse seems to emphasize our being saved by grace and not by works, it leaves open the possible interpretation that our act of claiming faith in Jesus Christ is a work itself. A growing number of scholars are suggesting that a more accurate translation would be to say that we are justified through the faith of Jesus Christ. This would emphasize the total and unmerited grace of our salvation. It is Christ's faith that serves us and nothing that we have done to bring this about. It is almost scary to consider the radical dependence on grace that such an understanding offers.
Paul made this argument as part of his rebuke of Peter at Antioch, who he believed had reverted to accepting that one's standing before God was dependent on the carrying out of the Mosaic law. It is not an idle argument even among contemporary Christians. What are the standards by which one is found acceptable within the Christian community? Paul clearly felt there were standards and was not shy about speaking about them to those he felt violated them in the Corinthian church. Yet are those standards an expression of gratitude for what Christ has done for us or do we subtly suggest that they are the means by which we access the grace of Christ?
There may be a subtle example of how Christ's faith serves us in the story of the healing of the paralytic in Mark 2:1-12. In the story, some friends lowered a paralytic through the roof to Jesus in a room below. Then Mark says, "When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, 'Son, your sins are forgiven.' " Nothing is said about the paralytic's faith. Could it be that the grace by which we are saved is totally free of anything that we have done? If that were so, how then, would you look on your neighbor differently?
