Galatians 2:15-21 Alternate Translations
New Revised Standard Version
15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person is justified[a] not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ.[b] And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ,[c] and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law. 17 But if, in our effort to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have been found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18 But if I build up again the very things that I once tore down, then I demonstrate that I am a transgressor. 19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; 20 and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God,[d] who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification[e] comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing. |
Kingdom New Testament (NT Wright)
15 We are Jews by birth, not "Gentile sinners." 16 But we know that a person is not declared "righteous" by works of the Jewish law, but through the faithfulness of Jesus the Messiah. That is why we too believed in the Messiah, Jesus: so that we might be declared "righteous" on the basis of the Messiah's faithfulness, and not on the basis of works of the Jewish law. On that basis, you see, no creature will be declared "righteous." 17 Well, then; if, in seeking to be declared "righteous" in the Messiah, we ourselves are found to be "sinners," does that make the Messiah an agent of "sin"? Certainly not! 18 If I build up once more the things which I tore down, I demonstrate that I am a lawbreaker. 19 Let me explain it like this. Through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with the Messiah. 20 I am, however, alive - but it isn't me an longer; it's the Messiah who lives in me. And the life I do still like in the flesh, I live within the faithfulness of the son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. |