The Meaning of Galatians 2:17 Explained

Galatians 2:17

KJV: But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid.

YLT: And if, seeking to be declared righteous in Christ, we ourselves also were found sinners, is then Christ a ministrant of sin? let it not be!

Darby: Now if in seeking to be justified in Christ we also have been found sinners, then is Christ minister of sin? Far be the thought.

ASV: But if, while we sought to be justified in Christ, we ourselves also were found sinners, is Christ a minister of sin? God forbid.

Discover Galatians 2:17

CONTEXT: What is the Context of Galatians 2:17?

MEANING: What does Galatians 2:17 Mean?

WORDS: What do the individual words in Galatians 2:17 mean?

RELATIONS: What do the major concepts mean in Galatians 2:17?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

But  if,  while we seek  to be justified  by  Christ,  we  ourselves  also  are found  sinners,  [is] therefore  Christ  the minister  of sin?  God forbid. 

What does Galatians 2:17 Mean?

Study Notes

we seek
That is, "we" Jews. Romans 3:19-23 . The passage might be thus paraphrased: If we Jews, in seeking to be justified by faith in Christ, take our places as mere sinners, like the Gentiles, is it therefore Christ who makes us sinners? By no means. It is by putting ourselves again under law after seeking justification through Christ, that we act as if we were still unjustified sinners, seeking to become righteous through law-works. Galatians 5:1-4 .
sinners Sin.
sinned
Sin, Summary: The literal meanings of the Heb. and (Greek - ἀλεκτοροφωνία sin," "sinner," etc)., disclose the true nature of sin in its manifold manifestations. Sin is transgression, an overstepping of the law, the divine boundary between good and evil Psalms 51:1 ; Luke 15:29 , iniquity, an act inherently wrong, whether expressly forbidden or not; error, a departure from right; Psalms 51:9 ; Romans 3:23 , missing the mark, a failure to meet the divine standard; trespass, the intrusion of self-will into the sphere of divine authority Ephesians 2:1 , lawlessness, or spiritual anarchy 1 Timothy 1:9 , unbelief, or an insult to the divine veracity John 16:9 .
Sin originated with Satan Isaiah 14:12-14 , entered the world through Adam Romans 5:12 , was, and is, universal, Christ alone excepted; Romans 3:23 ; 1 Peter 2:22 , incurs the penalties of spiritual and physical death; Genesis 2:17 ; Genesis 3:19 ; Ezekiel 18:4 ; Ezekiel 18:20 ; Romans 6:23 and has no remedy but in the sacrificial death of Christ; Hebrews 9:26 ; Acts 4:12 availed of by faith Acts 13:38 ; Acts 13:39 . Sin may be summarized as threefold: An act, the violation of, or want of obedience to the revealed will of God; a state, absence of righteousness; a nature, enmity toward God.

Context Summary

Galatians 2:11-21 - Living By Faith In Christ
Evidently Peter had gone back from the clear revelation of Acts 10:1-48, and from his former practice as stated in Galatians 2:12. The fear of the conservative party of the mother Church had brought him into a snare. His example had a very unfortunate effect upon the rest of the Hebrew Christians, who took their lead from him. But Paul's remonstrance probably brought Peter back to his former and happier practice.
Paul goes on to show that the death of Christ has taken us altogether out of the realm of the ancient Law, with its restrictions and distinctions between clean and unclean, Jew and Gentile, Galatians 2:15-19. If the conservative view was right, and it was wrong to eat with the Gentiles, then all that Christ had done and taught was in vain. Indeed, he had become a minister to sin, Galatians 2:17, because he had taught his people to associate with Gentiles. But such a suggestion was, of course, unthinkable, and therefore Peter was wrong in withdrawing from Gentile fellowship.
Then the Apostle breaks out into the memorable confession of the power of the Cross in his own life, Galatians 2:20-21. It stood between him and the past. His self-life was nailed there, and this new life was no longer derived from vain efforts to keep the Law, but from the indwelling and uprising of the life of Jesus-the perennial spring of John 4:14. [source]

Chapter Summary: Galatians 2

1  He shows when he went up again to Jerusalem, and for what purpose;
3  and that Titus was not circumcised;
11  and that he resisted Peter, and told him the reason;
14  why he and others, being Jews, believe in Christ to be justified by faith, and not by works;
20  and that they live not in sin, who are so justified

Greek Commentary for Galatians 2:17

We ourselves were found sinners [ευρετημεν και αυτοι αμαρτωλοι]
Like the Gentiles, Jews who thought they were not sinners, when brought close to Christ, found that they were. Paul felt like the chief of sinners. [source]
A minister of sin [αμαρτιας διακονος]
Objective genitive, a minister to sin. An illogical inference. We were sinners already in spite of being Jews. Christ simply revealed to us our sin. God forbid (μη γενοιτο — mē genoito). Literally, “May it not happen.” Wish about the future (μη — mē and the optative). [source]
God forbid [μη γενοιτο]
Literally, “May it not happen.” Wish about the future (μη — mē and the optative). [source]
Are found [εὑρέθημεν]
More correctly, were found: were discovered and shown to be. See Romans 6:10; 1 Corinthians 15:15; 2 Corinthians 5:3; Philemon 2:8; Philemon 3:9. [source]
Sinners [ἁμαρτωλοί]
Like the Gentiles, Galatians 2:15. Paul assumes that this was actually the case: that, seeking to be justified in Christ, they were found to be sinners. To seek to be justified by Christ is an admission that there is no justification by works; that the seeker is unjustified, and therefore a sinner. The effort to attain justification by faith in Christ develops the consciousness of sin. It compels the seeker, whether Jew or Gentile, to put himself upon the common plane of sinners. The Jew who calls the Gentile a sinner, in seeking to be justified by faith, finds himself a sinner also. The law has failed him as a justifying agency. But Paul is careful to repudiate the false inference from this fact, stated in what immediately follows, namely, that Christ is a minister of sin. [source]
Minister of sin []
A promoter of sin by causing us to abandon the law. [source]
God forbid [μὴ γένοιτο]
See on Romans 3:4. Not a reply merely to the question “is Christ a minister of sin?” but to the whole supposition from “if while we seek.” The question is not whether Christ is in general a minister of sin, but whether he is such in the case supposed. Paul does not assume that this false inference has been drawn by Peter or the other Jewish Christians. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Galatians 2:17

Romans 9:1 In Christ []
Not by Christ, as the formula of an oath, Christ being never used by the apostles in such a formula, but God. Romans 1:9; 2 Corinthians 1:23; 2 Corinthians 11:31; Philemon 1:8. For this favorite expression of Paul, see Galatians 2:17; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 2 Corinthians 2:14, 2 Corinthians 2:17; 2 Corinthians 12:19, etc. [source]
Galatians 6:14 Far be it from me [εμοι μη γενοιτο]
Second aorist middle optative of γινομαι — ginomai in a negative (μη — mē) wish about the future with dative case: “May it not happen to me.” See note on Galatians 2:17. The infinitive καυχασται — kauchāsthai (to glory) is the subject of γενοιτο — genoito as is common in the lxx, though not elsewhere in the N.T. [source]
Philippians 3:9 Be found [εὑρεθῶ]
Discovered or proved to be. See on Phlippians 2:8. Compare Romans 7:10; Galatians 2:17. [source]
Philippians 3:9 Be found in him [ευρετω εν αυτωι]
First aorist (effective) passive subjunctive with ινα — hina of ευρισκω — heuriskō At death (2 Corinthians 5:3) or when Christ comes. Cf. Phlippians 2:8; Galatians 2:17. [source]
1 Timothy 3:8 Deacons []
The office of Deacon appears in the Pastorals, but not in Paul's letters, with the single exception of Philemon 1:1, where the Deacons do not represent an ecclesiastical office, though they remark an advance toward it. Clement of Rome (ad Corinth. xlii., xliv.) asserts their apostolic appointment. But the evidence at our command does not bear out the view that the institution of the diaconate is described in Acts 6:1-6. The terms διάκονος and διακονία are, in the Pauline writings, common expressions of servants and service either to Christ or to others. Paul applies these terms to his own ministry and to that of his associates. Διακονία is used of the service of the apostles, Acts 1:25; Acts 6:4. Διάκονος is used of Paul and Apollos (1 Corinthians 3:5); of Christ (Galatians 2:17; Romans 15:8); of the civil ruler (Romans 13:4); of ministers of Satan (2 Corinthians 11:15). The appointment of the seven grew out of a special emergency, and was made for a particular service; and the resemblance is not close between the duties and qualifications of deacons in the Pastorals and those of the seven. The word διάκονος does not appear in Acts; and when Paul and Barnabas brought to Jerusalem the collection for the poor saints, they handed it over to the elders. [source]

What do the individual words in Galatians 2:17 mean?

If however seeking to be justified in Christ have been found also we ourselves sinners [is] then Christ of sin a minister Never may it be
Εἰ δὲ ζητοῦντες δικαιωθῆναι ἐν Χριστῷ εὑρέθημεν καὶ αὐτοὶ ἁμαρτωλοί ἆρα Χριστὸς ἁμαρτίας διάκονος μὴ γένοιτο

δὲ  however 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: δέ  
Sense: but, moreover, and, etc.
ζητοῦντες  seeking 
Parse: Verb, Present Participle Active, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: ζητέω  
Sense: to seek in order to find.
δικαιωθῆναι  to  be  justified 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Infinitive Passive
Root: δικαιόω  
Sense: to render righteous or such he ought to be.
Χριστῷ  Christ 
Parse: Noun, Dative Masculine Singular
Root: Χριστός  
Sense: Christ was the Messiah, the Son of God.
εὑρέθημεν  have  been  found 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Passive, 1st Person Plural
Root: εὑρίσκω  
Sense: to come upon, hit upon, to meet with.
καὶ  also 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: καί  
Sense: and, also, even, indeed, but.
αὐτοὶ  we  ourselves 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Nominative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
Root: αὐτός  
Sense: himself, herself, themselves, itself.
ἁμαρτωλοί  sinners 
Parse: Adjective, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: ἁμαρτωλός  
Sense: devoted to sin, a sinner.
ἆρα  [is]  then 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: ἄρα  
Sense: therefore, so then, wherefore.
Χριστὸς  Christ 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: Χριστός  
Sense: Christ was the Messiah, the Son of God.
ἁμαρτίας  of  sin 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Feminine Singular
Root: ἁμαρτία  
Sense: equivalent to 264.
διάκονος  a  minister 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: διάκονος  
Sense: one who executes the commands of another, esp. of a master, a servant, attendant, minister.
μὴ  Never 
Parse: Adverb
Root: μή 
Sense: no, not lest.
γένοιτο  may  it  be 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Optative Middle, 3rd Person Singular
Root: γίνομαι  
Sense: to become, i.

What are the major concepts related to Galatians 2:17?

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