Galatians 2:15
We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles,
Truth to Learn
An arrogant Christian is an oxymoron. We who are saved by the blood of Christ should never be proud of ourselves.
Behind the Words
The words “by nature” are translated from the Greek word phusis. This word is derived from the noun phuo, which means “to bring forth” or “to give birth.” In this verse this word refers to the Jews who were natural born Jews, that is, those who had been Jews since birth.
Meaning Explained
Although this is a short verse it elicits a couple of questions that have been the topics of debate for centuries. The first, and less obvious, is, “Who is Paul addressing with the remainder of this chapter?” Some say that he is now again addressing the Galatian Christians, while others argue that Paul is still addressing Peter, Barnabas, and the other Jews in their company. To answer this question let’s look at the context. In this verse and the remainder of the chapter Paul does not specifically indicate that he has changed audiences however beginning with the first verse of the next chapter he does, for he says: “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that …” So it appears that the remainder of the current chapter is a recounting of what Paul said to Peter, Barnabas, and the others.
The second question that has arisen about this verse is, “What does Paul mean by “not sinners of the Gentiles’?” It appears that he is saying that all Gentiles are sinners and that all Jews are righteous. But, if you read Paul’s letter to the Romans you find that Paul understands that there is neither a Jew nor a Gentile who is not a sinner.
What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Gentiles that they are all under sin. As it is written: “there is none righteous, no, not one;”(Romans 3:9, 10)
What Paul is referring to in the current verse is that the Jews were given special revelation with the bringing of the Law, and God chose them to be caretakers of this Law. Therefore, the Jews had complete instruction of what God’s expects from mankind whereas the Gentiles did not have this instruction. As a result, the Gentiles were not restrained from sinning as the Jews were because they didn’t have God’s revelation to man. And, for this reason, the Jews tended to think of themselves as righteous by the keeping of the Law and they thought of Gentiles as unrighteous and sinful, unfit for fellowship or even conversation.
Paul is going to use this notion to reiterate for the others that it is not through the keeping of the Law that we are righteous but through faith in Jesus Christ. And these others know this truth, but they have allowed themselves to be drawn away from the simple truths of the gospel into hypocrisy.
Application
Have you allowed yourself to become arrogant in your faith, somehow better than others who are sinful and unsaved?
We all need to return to the basics of our faith from time to time to remember that we are saved by God’s grace. As such, our calling in life is to be humble, submitted servants of our Lord (our owner) who is also our Savior, Jesus Christ.
In God’s service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2007 Will Krause. All rights reserved.
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