Paul’s case against the supposed righteousness of Israel through observance of the Law is taken one step further as he brings all men, including Jew and Gentile, under the bondage and penalty of sin. In chapter three, verse nine, Paul asks this question, “What then? Are we Jews any better off?” Paul has just immediately shown that the case for the Jewish nation has no merit and that salvation is found in obedience; however, Paul clarifies that although the gentiles who obey God are better “Law keepers” than the Jews, they are none-the-less still under condemnation from the Law because of their transgressing the requirements of the Law. In the verses following verse nine, Paul brings every last person under the condemnation of the Law for sinful disobedience. It is not that some have or even can keep all the mandates of the Law; all have wantonly broken the Law with malice and forethought. As Paul brings to a conclusion this section of the Epistle that deals with the universal nature of sin and depravity, he illustrates that all are under the just penalty of the Law for rebellious transgressions. The logic follows that if those who have no knowledge of God and His Law are guilty of breaking the Law’s mandates and stand rightly condemned for their transgressions, how much more those who have been entrusted with the knowledge of the Law but yet fail to keep it; “Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.” But Paul goes yet one step further as if there were any doubt, any question as to his intent. In verse twenty he confronts the issue at hand, “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” Rites and observances cannot save. They only prove that those who trust in such things in fact have the knowledge that condemns their transgression. Once again, modern faith life is not much different. Many churches see themselves as having exclusive province to God. They see themselves as possessing all that is necessary for salvation and they further see themselves as the guide to the unbelieving world. Surprisingly, just like Israel, their system of salvation is in fact based more upon the rites than what the rites are intended to communicate. Obedience is minimized in lieu of membership in the community. Entrance into the community is founded on external incantations as opposed to a faithful devotion to God and the supposed love of God is seen as something that only they are able to accomplish as opposed to being a divine work of the Holy Spirit. It seems that faith life today has chosen the same path as the Judaizers of Paul’s day who added to the purity and simplicity of the eternal gospel of Christ. Accordingly, the words of Paul are just as cutting.
“So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.”
The true Church of God are those who by their love for God obey the word of God. They do have tradition and rites that they follow, but these are not for the salvation as defined by the community as a collective. They are a formalized expression of the collective love of the community of believers. In short, salvation in the gospel of Christ is still a matter of the heart and not a matter of the letter and God’s people still receive their praise from God and not man. It would bode well for the modern day institutional church to hear these words. Just as Paul sought to bring surety and comfort to the Church of Jesus Christ in Galatia by confronting the errors of the Judaizers, so these same words bring comfort to those who will heed their warnings. For those who choose to discount or ignore these warnings, the words of the Lord once again have a marked poignancy,
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.”
It should be clear as to why most of modern faith life has a decidedly “institutional” quality. Perhaps this is the very reason that some have begun referring to the church as the “institutional church.” When the modus operandi is the observance of programs or philosophies with minimal emphasis on true agape love, then the organization is only displaying what it really is; in essence it is bearing fruit in keeping with its kind. This phenomenon should not take one by surprise for Paul saw men as they really are; depraved. Attention will now be turned to the rightly pessimistic view of mankind that the Apostle Paul possessed.
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