Paul’s discussion of justification by faith in Galatians 2 was centered around the fact that the Jews were not any better off than the Gentiles when it came to being right with God. The Jews were given the Ten Commandments to show others that knowing the Law does not necessarily mean that you will obey it. In fact, their knowledge of the Law worked against the Jews because it made them more accountable to God for their actions. The Jews were sent into captivity because they knowingly disobeyed God and were unwilling to repent (Ezekiel 3:7, 16-27; 5:6).

Paul established the framework for justification in his letter to the Romans by explaining that the Jews’ unrighteousness served to show the righteousness of God (Romans 3:5-6). Paul went on to explain that no one is righteous, and all are condemned because they are under sin whether a person is a Jew or not (Romans 3:8-18). Paul concluded, “Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:19-20).

“Paul concluded that since all men are guilty, they cannot be ‘justified’ by their own personal character or conduct (Romans 3:20). Justification is a legal term signifying that the demands of justice have been satisfied, and there is no longer a basis for condemnation (Romans 8:1). The justified transgressor no longer stands guilty or deserving of punishment. Paul reasoned that obedience to the law of Moses cannot justify one before God because no one can keep it perfectly. The very nature of the law is to prove that he is sinful and deserves God’s punishment. Therefore the purpose of the law was to lead man to renounce his own self-righteous efforts and trust in Christ’s imputed righteousness as the only grounds for acceptance with God” (note on Romans 3:19, 20).

Paul said of himself in Galatians 2:19, “For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God.” Paul was speaking metaphorically about forsaking his effort to keep of the law of Moses, so that he could focus his attention on exercising his faith in God. Paul said in his letter to the Philippians, “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14). Paul was talking about his calling to preach the gospel. Paul was commissioned to go to the Gentiles and to make Jesus known to them so that they could receive salvation just as the Jews had (Acts 9:15; 11:18).

Paul said that he had been crucified with Christ and that it was no longer him who was living his life, but Jesus who was living in him (Galatians 2:20). Paul was speaking of his union with Christ. Paul explained the concept of union with Christ in Romans 6:3-11. Paul said:

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

The believer’s union with Christ is what makes justification possible. When a person believes in Jesus, Christ’s righteousness is imputed to him through their joint death, burial, and resurrection.

Paul warned the Philippians about putting their confidence in their own ability to do what is right. Paul said he counted everything as loss, “because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8) Paul went on to say, “For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and may share in his sufferings becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:8-11). Paul saw being resurrected from the dead as the ultimate goal of justification (Philippians 3:12-14).

Jesus used the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector to illustrate the difference between trusting in oneself and trusting in Christ. Jesus said, “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:10-14). The tax collector’s prayer, “God, be merciful to me a sinner!” (Luke 18:13) was an acknowledgment of his need for someone else to atone or pay the penalty for his sins (G2433). The tax collector knew he was guilty and that there was no way he could ever repay the debt of his sin to God.