When Christians do Good Works in the Spirit, they are practicing the Law of God: "Love thy Neighbor". ~~ And this is what Paul is referring to in Gal 2:16? This is "the works of the law" that never justify us? How do we make sense of the rest of the chapter, then, and the following chapter? What is happening in chapter 2? Paul is relating how he reprimanded Pope Peter for being a hypocrite and not eating with the Gentiles. There were those teaching the Gentiles that they had to follow the Law of Sinai in order to be Christians. So much so that Jewish Christians would not eat with Gentile ones because they did not follow the dietary laws.... Paul says he is dead to the law. And yet you would have us believe that Christians even today follow "the law of God" in doing good works. He clearly contrasts trying to follow "the law" with being able to "live unto God."... What is Paul talking about? some vague notion of a "law of God" that even now we try to follow in order to know good works? Or is he clearly talking about the Law, capital L, given to the Isaelites at Sinai? And if that is what he means by "law" here, why should 2:16 be talking about somethign different? And if Paul's gripe is that people were wanting to circumcise and make Gentiles follow the Jewish Law, why does that word mean somethign different in 2:16? SDHere's the problem, SoothingDave.
You're basically attempting to maintain that Paul is teaching that the Old Testament Jews were not Justified before God by the performance of "Jewish Good Works", but that the Council of Trent is correct when it claims that Christians are (at least in part) Justified before God by the performance of "Christian Good Works".
But there's a problem with the false division of "Jewish Good Works" and "Christian Good Works" which you are attempting to create: Jesus don't play that.
Our Lord Jesus Christ specifically taught us that to Love thy Neighbor, is to Practice the Law:Matthew 22:37-40 -- Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
To Love thy Neighbor, is to Practice the Law.
And it is, and has always been both Old Testament and New, a Good Work for a Believer to practice the Law of God.
The Error into which Bishop Peter fell, and for which Paul rebuked him, is that by his actions toward the Gentiles the good Bishop Peter was endorsing the false and judaizing error of the messianic Pharisees -- that a Man is Justified before God by the performance of Good Works. And for this cardinal Error, Paul rebuked him.
And Paul did NOT rebuke Peter's Error by saying, "Man is not Justified by the specific ceremonial regulations uniquely particular in former times to the Levitical Priesthood alone". This is what Rome would have us believe; but this is not what Paul said. Paul's rebuke of Bishop Peter's fundamental theological Error is far more sweeping -- and far more Damning to Rome, the Council of Trent, and the entire Roman theory of Salvation. What Paul said was, "by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified."
This is a universal and all-encompassing condemnation of the false Romanist notion that the performance of ANY of the Good Works commanded in the Old Testament Law contribute WHATSOEVER to a man's Justification before God.
Do "Christian Good Works" contibute to a man's Justification before God, as the Council of Trent has claimed? Paul says that NONE of the Good Works commanded in the Old Testament Law contribute ANYTHING to a man's Justification before God. So let's examine some of the Good Works which were commanded in the Old Testament Law:
- OLD TESTAMENT LAW 195: Give charity to the poor (Lev. 25:35, 36; Deut. 15:8).
COUNCIL OF TRENT: "Good Works contribute to Justification".
APOSTLE PAUL: "NOT by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified."
- OLD TESTAMENT LAW 200: Pay the worker his wages on time (Deut. 24:15).
COUNCIL OF TRENT: "Good Works contribute to Justification".
APOSTLE PAUL: "NOT by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified."
- OLD TESTAMENT LAW 203: Help must be given to load man or beast when necessary (Deut. 22:4).
COUNCIL OF TRENT: "Good Works contribute to Justification".
APOSTLE PAUL: "NOT by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified."
- OLD TESTAMENT LAW 206: It is required to love one’s neighbor as oneself (Lev. 19:18).
COUNCIL OF TRENT: "Good Works contribute to Justification".
APOSTLE PAUL: "NOT by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified."
- OLD TESTAMENT LAW 248: The persecuted are to be rescued even if it means killing the oppressor (Num. 27:8).
COUNCIL OF TRENT: "Good Works contribute to Justification".
APOSTLE PAUL: "NOT by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified."
Any way you wanna slice it, It is a Good Work for a Believer to practice the Law of God; and the practice of the Law of God by a Believer is a Good Work. And Paul declares that by Justification is by Faith, and NOT by the practice of Good Works (Galatians 2:16). James also declares that True Faith is shown by its production of Good Works (James 2:18).
- Rome has dogmatically decreed that Good Works are required for Justification (Council of Trent ch. 8 & 10). The Apostle Paul has dogmatically decreed that Justification is NOT by Good Works (Galatians 2:16). It is thus absolutely certain that Rome has formally decreed the Teaching of Falsehood.
- The Apostle James has formally decreed that Good Works are the Demonstration of True Faith (James 2:18). Rome has dogmatically decreed that the teaching that Good Works are the Demonstration of True Faith is an Anathema (Canons of Trent 24 and 32). It is thus absolutely certain that Rome has formally decreed the Teaching of Falsehood.
Rome has formally defined
the Teaching of ERROR, by dogmatic decree. She has done so for well over 400 years. She has murdered hundreds of thousands in defense of her Error. And she has led astray hundreds of millions in promulgation of her Error.
This must not stand.
Rome must Recant her Error. She must Condemn her Error. And she must proclaim her Repentance of this Error to all whom she holds in her sway; that they might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
Best, OP
And Paul did NOT rebuke Peter's Error by saying, "Man is not Justified by the specific ceremonial regulations uniquely particular in former times to the Levitical Priesthood alone". This is what Rome would have us believe; but this is not what Paul said. Paul's rebuke of Bishop Peter's fundamental theological Error is far more sweeping -- and far more Damning to Rome, the Council of Trent, and the entire Roman theory of Salvation. What Paul said was, "by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified." It's exactly what Paul said.
Words mean things. "The works of the law" is a very simple thing to understand, and the context makes it even clearer.
If you wish to impart other meaning onto the text, then we simply will never agree. All of the rest of your sermonizing and html skills notwithstanding. If you can't read a verse and agree on what the words mean, there is no hope for you to understand.
SD