“Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.” Galatians 3:11 NIV
The verse for today comes from Paul’s letter to the believers in Galatia who were struggling with letting go of their old life and completely embracing their new life, a life in Christ. There were Christians who believed that they still had to maintain the Mosaic laws of Moses and were not understanding that the Law had nothing to do with being justified.
Being justified or righteous occurs because the believer is living by faith. Living according to the Laws and without faith is not the path to be justified. The law was what condemned the Israelites when they broke it, and it was broken a lot because it was impossible to not break it. There were 613 laws that the Israelites were to live by and not break and the moment one of them was broken, the whole overarching concept of the Law, was broken.
So if keeping all of the laws did not justify a person before God, what did and what does now? Jesus. Accepting Jesus as your Savior, a relationship with Jesus, faith in Jesus is what justifies you and me before God. Jesus came and freed us from the laws and gave us a different path to justification, righteousness, life – faith in Jesus, faith in the Holy Spirit, faith in God. Those who live life through faith in God are righteous before God because they are living a life of faith in Him, not performing mindless acts to fulfil a law. We do not become justified and then decide to live by faith, it is through our faith, the act of having faith and the active use of our faith, that we become justified.
Are you living by a list of rules you feel will entitle you to be justified if you complete all of them? The way to being justified before God is to live by faith that Jesus saved you when you accepted Him as your Lord.