Justified By Faith, Not Law

Galatians 2:15-16 We who are Jews by birth and not 'Gentile sinners' know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.

I am always so refreshed to read these scriptures from Paul. It is so easy to get caught up in the rule-following, Christian-service kind of religion. Here Paul is talking about his conversation with Peter who was being a bit of a hypocrite and reverting back to some of the "old ways" of their Jewish heritage that were based out of the law. Paul is very clear in his writings about where our salvation comes from.  He describes it very well throughout the New Testament. We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.  There is nothing in his writing about following rules or being sure to serve.  But let me be completely clear here. If we are living IN Christ Jesus, as Paul explains also, the law of God is written on our hearts and we will naturally do the things that are spiritual fruit instead of fleshly habits.  We will be people who are good. We will do good things and we will be good to others because we won't be able to do anything else, if we live in Christ. We won't have to try to be good or do good, we just will because it will become our very nature. (It's a journey, remember, so we won't be perfect. Read verse 17 about that.) We are not saved because of the list of rules we follow or because our good deeds outweigh our bad.  We are saved through the death of Jesus on the cross, and His resurrection gives us life to the full on earth and everlasting with God.