Galatians 2:15-16 – The Justifying Gospel

© Eric M. Schumacher – Preached November 7, 2010 at Northbrook Baptist Church, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Audio will be available here.

[note to readers: I am grateful for the work of Tom Schreiner in his commentary, Galatians, from which I have gleaned much wisdom for this entire series. I highly recommend it!]

The Most Important Sentence Ever Written

Sentences are powerful things. A sentence can change your life.

• “I do.”
• “I’m pregnant.”
• “You have cancer.”
• “The jury finds the defendant…”

A sentence can change history.

• “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
• "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'"
• “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”

This morning’s sermon text is one sentence. And, I pray, that it will transform you, and transform this church, and transform this city, and transform this world, for the glory of God alone.

This text is one sentence. But, this one sentence is at the center of Paul’s rebuke of Peter. This sentence is the center Paul’s argument in Galatians, it is the text that Paul will expound throughout the rest of the book. This sentence is the center of all of Paul’s writing. More than that, it is the Gospel of Christ, and therefore the New Testament, and thus the center of the Bible – and so, of all of Creation.

Yes, this is the most important sentence ever written.

If you do not understand this one sentence, then you cannot and do not understanding the book of Galatians, the New Testament, or the Bible itself. You do not know God. And, you do not know Jesus Christ. You are lost and dead in your sins.

We Ourselves—Jews and not Gentiles
In verse 15, Paul appeals to the common ground that he and Peter share—“We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners…”

“We” refers to Paul and Peter. But, Paul refers to them as representative Jews, which is how “we” (and “I”) is used throughout verses 15-21.

“Jews by birth” means that they were born as part of Israel. They were born as physical descendants of Abraham, the man with whom the Lord made a covenant to make his offspring great, the descendants of whom became known as the nation of Israel, a nation with which God entered into a covenant, so that they would be his people and he would be there God, a nation to which God gave his Law through Moses.

They were, by virtue of their physical birth, born into a people who were in covenant with the Lord and who possessed the Law delivered to them through Moses. They were a people who were raised to adhere meticulously to that Mosaic Law.

“And not Gentile sinners.” A “Gentile” is any person who is not a part of Israel. It is a generic term used to refer to any and all other nation and ethnicity.

“Gentiles” were, by necessity, “sinners.” That is, they did not even try to keep the Mosaic Law. Indeed, they could not, for they did not possess it. They always, every day, lived outside of it and broke it. And, even without the Mosaic Law, Paul can argue in Romans 1-3 that “the work of the law is written on their hearts,” which they show by their actions and the witness of their conscience.

By “not Gentile sinners,” Paul does not mean that the Jews are not sinful! He is not denying that the Jews are sinful at all—which is clear from what follows. Only, the Jews are sinners in a different way than the Gentiles. The Gentiles were sinners without the Law. But, Jews were sinners with the Law—a law that they did not and could not keep; a law which only served to increase their transgressions and multiply their condemnation.

The effect of this statement is to say—

“Peter, let’s set the Gentiles aside for a second. And let’s consider what we as Jews—as people who were born with the privilege of being in covenant with God and of having received his written Law and trained to keep it—what even we know to be true of us. And, if this is true of us who have this privilege, then how much more must it be true of those who are Gentiles, born without the Law of Moses and outside of covenant with the Lord.”

We Know—Affirmation and Denial 

In verse 16, Paul continues, “yet we know.” The doctrine that Paul is about to lay out is a theology that both he and Peter share and agree on completely. They both know that the Old Covenant is not sufficient ground for a right standing with God. Such only comes through faith in Jesus Christ! Thus, being Jewish has no advantage in the sense of salvation—all men must come to that by the same means.

They agree on this as Jewish Christians. This is not the standard Jewish perspective. (For proof of that, we only need return to Galatians 1:13-16 and think of Paul’s former life in Judaism, in which he violently and zealously opposed the message of the Gospel.)

This is why I argued last week that Peter had not left the faith. Peter was only a hypocrite, not an apostate. Peter did not change his theology, adjust his doctrine or believe a different Gospel than Paul. Instead, he was a hypocrite—he acted in a way that contradicted what he believed, and implied that he believed something different than what he taught. Peter knew—as did every Christian Jew—what is about to be laid out in this sentence.

In this compact sentence, Paul teaches the doctrine of justification by faith alone. He does this by making an affirmation and a denial.

Three times, Paul affirms that justification comes only through faith in Jesus Christ:

• “…we know that a person is justified…through faith in Jesus Christ…”
• “…we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified…”
• “…in order to be justified by faith in Christ…”

And, three times, Paul denies that justification is on the basis of works of the law:

• “…we know that a person is not justified by works of the law…”
• “…in order to be justified…not by works of the law…”
• “…because by works of the law no one will be justified.”

To summarize Paul’s message: The only way that any person is justified is through faith in Jesus Christ and not by works of the law.

Three Questions

To understand that sentence, we must understand three terms used in it, three terms which are fiercely debated by scholars today, and have been throughout the history of the church.

(This should neither surprise us nor cause us to be uncertain in understanding this verse. For, if this verse is the heart of the Gospel and the center of the Bible, then we should expect that proud men will question it, even as the devil will attack it, at every point. Instead, we should pay more careful attention to what it clearly says, and land there with full confidence and faith in Christ.)

The three questions that we must answer are these:

• What does Paul mean by the term “justification”?
• What does Paul mean by the phrase “works of the law”?
• What does Paul mean by the phrase “faith of Jesus Christ”?

If we answer these three questions rightly, we will arrive at the heart and soul of genuine Christianity and have the true Gospel. And, if we believe this Gospel, we will have peace with God and the salvation of our souls.

“Justification” 

Our first question is “What does Paul mean by the term ‘justification’?”

The verbal form of “justification” is used eight times in the book of Galatians, three times in this one verse alone. (This is proof of how central justification is to Paul’s Gospel!) It is used fifteen times in Paul’s letter to the Romans.

“Justification” is a legal and forensic term. It refers to a verdict rendered and declared by a judge in a court of law.

“Justification” does not mean to transform someone or make them actually righteous in their nature. Some have wrongly argued that “justification” refers to the process by which God transforms us or makes us actually righteous in our nature and behavior. But that does not fit the biblical evidence.

In the Old Testament, “justify” was used to refer to the legal verdict declared by a judge or by God (cf 2 Chr 6:23; Isa 5:23).

Deuteronomy 25:1 If there is a dispute between men and they come into court and the judges decide between them, acquitting [justifying] the innocent and condemning the guilty...

“Justifying” (or, acquitting) here did not mean that the judges transformed the person to be righteous, merely that the judge legally declared the person to be righteous or just in the eyes of the court.

1 Kings 8:31-32 If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath and comes and swears his oath before your altar in this house, then hear in heaven and act and judge your servants, condemning the guilty by bringing his conduct on his own head, and vindicating [justifying] the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness.

Again, “justifying” does not mean to transform a person to be “righteous,” but, after examining the facts, to declare that he is “righteous” in the eyes of the court. Of course, for a judge to be righteous, the verdict had to fit the facts:

Proverbs 17:15  He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the LORD.

If “justifies” meant to transform someone to be ethically righteous, they this would not be an abomination to the Lord! Rather, “justifies” means to declare as a legal verdict that someone is righteous, opposite “condemn,” which means to declare someone to be guilty and unrighteous. What is an abomination in this verse is that the judge is making a declaration that is opposite the facts of the case! (And what is extraordinary in the Gospel is that the Lord does declare those who are sinners to be right—and that without violating his own righteousness!)

Paul always uses “justify” to refer to a legal declaration—and not to an ethical transformation (cf Rom 2:13):

1 Corinthians 4:4 For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me.

Romans 8:33-34 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn?

Again, Paul writes with a law-court background in mind. There are “charges” being brought and the judge is rendering a “verdict.”

“Justify” means to “declare someone to be righteous and ‘not guilty.’” On the Day of Judgment, which is coming in the future, God will judge every person and issue a declaration of judgment. Some will be “condemned”—declared to be evil and wicked in their standing before God. Others will be “justified”—declared to be just or righteous in their standing before God.

This relates to salvation. Paul writes in Romans 5:9, “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.” Those who are “justified” will not experience the wrath of God. But, those who are “condemned” will be sentenced to experience God’s just punishment and suffer under his wrath.

So, when Paul speaks of “justification,” he means that the future verdict experienced in the present day. Paul is telling us that God’s future, end-time (eschatological) verdict is being declared in advance, in the present, for those who believe in Jesus Christ, because they are united with Christ. This verdict is invisible to the world, but its promise is received by faith by those who trust in Jesus.

Application 

Before we move on, let’s stop and ask how this question of justification applies to us.

The most important question you can ever ask is this: “What verdict will God declare over me at his judgment seat?” “How can I have a right standing before God?’

If God condemns you, if he declares you to be “unrighteous,” if God finds you to be a sinner, then you will suffer the punishment of his eternal wrath, away from the presence of his glory.

But, if God justifies you, then you will have a righteous standing before God, your sins will all be forgiven by God, you will receive nothing that sin deserves, and you will be given everything that righteousness deserves.

So then, how may a person receive a verdict of “righteous” before God? That is, “by what means” does a person secure a declaration of righteousness in God’s sight.

By What Means?

“By.” After the word “justified,” Paul uses the word “by,” which is a word that means “by means of.” So this is the question that Paul is answering—that of what means God uses to declare a person righteous.

Paul says that it is not by means of “works of the law.” Rather, it is only by or through “faith in Christ.”

“Works of the law” 

So, what does Paul mean then by “works of the law”? We want to know this, so that we are not basing our hopes of justification on this!

“Works of the law” is used eight times in Paul’s letters. Two of those occurrences are in Romans (3:20,28). The other six are in Galatians (3:2,5,10), including three uses in this one sentence! So, it is worth taking time to understand this phrase, lest misunderstanding it, we misunderstand this sentence and misunderstand the entire Gospel!

Three major interpretations of this phrase have been put forward:

1) Legalism. The first view interprets “works of the law” to refer to legalism. Legalism is essentially trying to earn or merit God’s approval on the basis of what one does. It is trying to bribe God with one’s obedience and accomplishments.
 

Legalism certainly did exist Paul’s day (as it does in ours). And Paul was certainly trying to counter legalism, even in this letter. It seems the Judaizers were legalists, who were teaching that one could secure a verdict of righteousness on the basis of doing the law:

Galatians 5:4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.

Or, consider Galatians 3:10: “All who rely on works of the law are under a curse.” But, those verses show that “works of the law” cannot mean legalistic reliance on the law to gain merit before God. For that would require these verses to mean that they were relying on their reliance upon the law.
 

This is important because if we interpret “works of the law” to mean “legalism,” it leaves the door open to believing you can be justified by “works of the law” in some way—just so long as you’re not be legalistic!
 

Paul is countering legalism, but that is not what “works of the law” means.

2) Boundary Markers. The second major view is that “works of the law” refers to the boundary markers of the law, particularly those that separated Jew from Gentile. This view has been very influential in academic circles since 1977, especially in what is called “the New Perspective on Paul.” (Many lay-people in churches are even beginning to talk about this. And, even if you have not heard of it, you should be aware of it in general, since the views of the academy slowly filter into popular books and songs and into the church.)

This view argues that Judaism in Paul’s day was not legalistic, but understood as a covenant of grace. It was held that one entered into the covenant by grace, but that status was maintain by obedience to the law.
 

“Works of the law” then refers to everything in the Law of Moses, but it focuses particularly on the laws that most obviously divided Jews and Gentiles culturally, such as circumcision, food laws and keeping the Sabbath.
 

Paul’s criticism of the Judaizers is not that they were being cultural snobs, exclusivists. Their root problem was ethnocentrism, cultural pride. They had a narrow, sectarian spirit, which required Gentiles to be Jews.
 

There are serious problems with this view. While there certainly was cultural-snobbery going on and Paul is opposing that too, it is not right to say that Judaism in Paul’s day wasn’t legalistic. It was!
 

And, again, this view leaves open the door to say that one can be justified by “works of the law,” so long as one isn’t being a cultural-snob! But that is not right either!

3) The correct understanding is this: “Works of the law” refers to everything that is prescribed by the Law of Moses. Everything the Mosaic Law tells one to be and do is summed up in the phrase “works of the law.” Therefore, Paul is not dividing the Law into civil, ceremonial and moral parts and referring here only to the civil or ceremonial aspect. No, Paul is speaking of the entirety of the law, of everything demanded by the law.

We see this in Galatians 3:10, “Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” Paul is referring to everything written in the Law, and not only portions of it.

And, again, in Galatians 5:3, Paul says, “I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law.” If you require a person to adhere to one portion of the Law of Moses, then that person is obligated to keep all of it. It cannot be divided up piecemeal; it must be kept in its entirety or not at all. Paul is referring to everything the Law demands and asks.
 

And, in Romans 3:20, Paul concludes “by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” This is the conclusion to Paul’s argument in Romans 1:18-3:20, in which he is arguing that all humans have sinned and violated God’s law. Neither legalism nor boundary markers would make sense here. Paul’s great summary conclusion in the first three chapters of Romans is not, “no human being will be justified by being a cultural snob!” Rather—Paul is saying that no one has done what God’s law demands!
  
Application 

Why is this so important for us to understand? How does this apply to us?

First, let us consider why this was important in the days of the Reformation. The Roman Catholic church taught, and still teaches, that men are “justified” (declared righteous by God) through grace. But what they meant was this: God gives us grace as a power to transform us, so that we are ethically transformed into people who are righteous, who actually do what the law demands. When God gives us the righteousness of Christ, they do not mean that Christ’s righteousness is fully and finally considered to be ours. Rather, it means that Christ’s righteousness “primes the pump” of our own. It is a “starter batch” of righteousness. Christ’s righteousness is infused into us.

Then, by the power of God’s grace, we cooperate with and improve that righteousness by adding our own, so that we are transformed into people who are ethically and actually righteous

Then God looks at us as people who have done in the flesh what the Law requires and, on the basis of having done what the law demands, “justifies” us, he declare us to be what we are—righteous.

If we do not view “works of the law” to refer to what the law actually demands, then this view is possible. But, if “works of the law” refers to actually doing what the law actually demands, then this view is false and untrue, and saves no one.

Is this understanding limited to the Roman Catholic church at the time of the Reformation? No! For some of you hold to this view this morning!

If I were to ask you why God will save you and let you into heaven and give you eternal life, your answer would be, “because I am a good person, I have done what God wants.” And if I respond, “So you do not believe that you need faith in Jesus or grace from God,” you will respond, “No! I am only saved by God’s grace. I need God’s grace to live. I trust in Jesus. He is my helper. I trust in him every day to give me grace—help that I do not deserve. And he does give me grace. He empowers me to live in obedience to what he says. And, when I stand before him on the final day, he will look at my life, see how I have been changed, and on the basis of those things that I have done, he will declare me to be righteous.”

Let me give you an illustration from Jesus’ own teaching that this view is false. In Luke 18:9-14, Jesus told this parable:

He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 

“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

The point of this parable is how a man is “justified” by God. One man returns home justified. The other does not.

The first man, a Pharisee, was an example of those “who trusted in themselves that they were righteous.” We see in his prayer why he thinks he was righteous. He sees his righteousness as a gift of God’s grace. He thanks God that is not a sinner, but does the things God’s law demands. This means he does not view his “righteousness,” his law-keeping, as something that came out of his own power alone. He thanks God for it—it is, by his own confession, God’s work. He believes that God has graciously worked in him to cause him to keep the law. And, most importantly, he believes that his own law-keeping is the basis on which God will pronounce him to be righteous.

And, Jesus says of this man, “No!” This man will not be declared righteous because he has exalted his own law-keeping as the basis for his justification—even if he credits it to the empowering grace of God.

It is only the second man who is justified. He looks away from himself, despairs of hoping in anything that he has done and rests his faith and hope in the mercy of God alone. This man, and not the other, is declared to be righteous by God.

There is a fine line between teaching, like the Bible does teach, that works are a necessary evidence of faith (cf James) and that “works of the law” done in the flesh are the basis of justification. God does transform his people (cf Galatians 5-6!). But that transformation is not and never shall be the basis upon which or the means through which God declares his people to be righteous!

God does not declare us righteous because we are or have been made ethically righteous. He declares us to be righteous by means of faith in Jesus Christ—and faith alone.

So, be careful, you who have seen your lives greatly and truly transformed by God. Be careful that you do not begin to see your morality, your obedience, your works as your basis for a right standing with God.

For what you do is not and never shall be the basis of your standing before God. And the moment you trust in that transformation, you have fallen away from grace and are believing another Gospel.

We are only saved by “faith in Jesus Christ.”

“Faith of Jesus Christ” 

So, our thirst question is, what does Paul mean by “faith of Jesus Christ”? This is another phrase that Paul uses frequently, here in Galatians, in Romans and in Philippians. The phrase could be translated in one of two ways.

One option is “the faithfulness of Jesus Christ.” This interpretation is taken to refer to Jesus’ faithfulness to God, his obedience, when he lived on earth. And so, at this point in salvation-history, a man is not justified by being faithful to the law, but because Jesus was faithful for us.

And therefore, since Paul is arguing that salvation is God’s work and not man’s, this interpretation is the more God-centered one, versus man’s response of faith.

But, this view is not likely. Paul never speaks of the “faithfulness” of Jesus Christ. (That does not mean Paul does not believe Jesus was faithful! He just does not use that term.)

The other option is that Jesus is the object of faith—“faith in Jesus Christ.” That is what it means, for this is what Paul is emphasizing—that we must believe in Jesus Christ. At the center of this verse is “believing in Christ Jesus,” which is surrounded on both sides by “faith in Christ.”

This is not man-centered and does not detract from God’s work. For the object and focus of faith, faith which God grants, is entirely the work of God in Christ. Faith is reliance upon Christ’s perfectly obedient life, his death as a substitute for sinners to satisfy the wrath of God, and his resurrection from the dead, in which he was declared to be righteous.

Paul often states that men are righteous by faith, in contrast to righteous by works (e.g., Rom 1:17; 3:22, 26; 4:3, 5, 9, 13; 9:30; 10:4; Gal 2:16; 3:6, 11; 5:5; Phil 3:9).

This means that our righteousness before God is an alien righteousness, because it is not based on anything within us. It is a righteousness that exists entirely outside of them, but is reckoned to them, counted as theirs. This righteousness is a gift, given to men by God, to be received by faith.

Faith unites the believer with Christ in his death and resurrection. Therefore, believers enjoy the same “vindication” that Jesus was given in his resurrection.

The Gospel is the message of God declaring people to be what they are not. Reckoning to them that which belongs to someone else. In the cross, all the sinfulness of God’s people was reckoned to Jesus, even though he did not sin.

2 Corinthians 5:19-21 …in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them… For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

God has not counted our trespasses (our violation of his law) against us. Rather, he “reckoned” Jesus to be sin—even though Jesus did not actually sin. And he reckons us to be “the righteousness of God,” even though we are not righteous but sinners.

And the means through which this proclamation of righteousness comes is “faith.” Not generic faith, but specific faith—faith which rests on the finished work of Jesus alone.

The fruit of this justification is forgiveness of sins. Because their sins are counted against them but have been counted against Jesus, a believer cannot be condemned and is, therefore, forgiven.

Justification by Faith: Exclusive, Personal, Universal

We should note a few things about justification by faith. Paul faith as the means of justification is:
 

1. Exclusive. “But through”—Paul speaks of “That is, faith is the only means by which a person may be justified. There is no other means of justification available to men. We must and may only believe in Jesus to be saved.
 

2. Personal. “We also have believed.” This is not a generic justification, but one of persons, individuals who trust in Jesus—and so you, personally, must believe.
 

3. Universal. “A person,” “no one.” This applies to Jew and to Gentile—to all of humanity. The only way that anyone and everyone may have a right standing before God is through faith in Jesus Christ. It does not matter who you are—you may only come through Jesus.

Paul’s ArgumentAnd so, understanding these terms, here is Paul’s argument:

Statement 1: No human is declared to have a right standing before God by keeping and doing what the law requires.

“…we know that a person is not justified by works of the law…”

Statement 2: A person is only declared to have a right standing before God by faith in Jesus Christ.

“…but through faith in Jesus Christ…”

Grounds: This is because no flesh shall be justified by works of the law.

“…because by works of the law no one will be justified.”

Application: Therefore, Peter and Paul have believed in Christ Jesus, in order that they might be justified by faith in 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…”

Application
 

And so what is the application from this passage:

1) Confess that you are worthless—that is, you possess nothing of any value which would cause or help God to declare you to be in the right with him.

2) Believe in and preach justification through faith alone in Christ alone! Hope only in him for your right standing before God, and look entirely away from yourself to Christ.

And do not require anyone to keep the Law of Moses, for by it, no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight. Human obedience to God’s law is not, never has been, and never will be the basis for man’s standing with God.

3) Beware of deriving your justification (or sense of self-worth) from what you do.Our work, families, physical abilities, education, artistic accomplishments or political prowess will never be the basis on which God finds us to be righteous.

We contribute no thing to our justification—ever!!! We are beggars: this is true.

4) Beware of deriving condemnation from what you do.

Romans 8:33-34 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised--who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

Do not listen to Satan or even to your own conscience when you think about your standing with God. Think only of the Gospel.

For, if God has declared you to be righteous before him, it is the very essence of pride, hubris, haughtiness and demonic arrogance to declare yourself to be otherwise. God has declared you to be righteous—neither you nor the devil nor any other court, human or spiritual has the right to declare you to be otherwise.

If God has declared you to be righteous by grace through faith in Jesus—then there is no reason why nor basis on which you may declare yourself condemned.

5) Beware of thinking that you have made this doctrine sufficiently clear to yourself or to another.The Gospel is not obvious to anyone. No religion of human invention has ever imitated it. It is contrary to our minds and to our flesh.

All human pride and flesh rebels with all its might against this doctrine, for it exalts God and humbles man. And, therefore, our flesh is tempted by the world and by Satan to leave it and misapply it.

The day that we believe we have mastered the Gospel, we have become deceived by our own goodness. We are deluded and forgotten grace. The day that we grow bored with the Gospel and yawn while hearing it, we have forgotten our need for a righteousness that exists outside of ourselves.
 

We never, ever, ever progress beyond the Gospel. Martin Luther said it well:

“Particularly when you hear an immature and unripe saint trumpet that he knows very well that we must be saved by the grace of God, without our own works, and then pretend that this is a snap for him, well, then have no doubt that he has no idea of what he is talking about and probably will never find out. For this is not an art that can be completely learned or of which anyone could boast that he is a master. It is an art that will always have us as pupils while it remains the master. And all those who do understand and practice it do not boast that they can do everything. On the contrary, they sense it like a wonderful taste or odor that they greatly desire and pursue; and they are amazed that they cannot grasp it or comprehend it as they would like. They hunger, thirst, and yearn for it more and more; and they never tire of hearing about or dealing with it, just as St. Paul himself confessed that he has not yet obtained it (Phil. 3:12). And in Matt 5:6 Christ calls those blessed who hunger and thirst after righteousness.”

So, preach this Gospel to yourself every day. You are prone to forget it.

Teach this Gospel every time you open the Bible. If you do not have time to explain the Gospel, then you do not have time to preach your text. For if your text does not take you to the Gospel, then you have not rightly taught your text. And if you have not time to teach your text rightly, you do not have time to teach at all.

Demand that this Gospel be preached by your elders and your teachers every time the Bible is opened. For there is no Gospel, no salvation, no relationship with God and no benefit from Christ outside of faith, through which alone God declares righteous the one who trusts in Jesus Christ the righteous.