Thomas Aquinas Commentary Galatians 2:19-21

"For I through the law died unto the law, that I might live unto God. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me: and that [life] which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, [the faith] which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me. I do not make void the grace of God: for if righteousness is through the law, then Christ died for nought." — Galatians 2:19-21 (ASV)

Here the Apostle expands on the solution given above. First, he explains the solution. Second, he draws his main conclusion (verse 21). It should be noted that the Apostle proceeds in a very thorough manner, leaving no doubt unexamined. Therefore, his words, although they seem complex, say nothing without reason if they are carefully considered. This is clear from the words he uses. Therefore, he does three things:

1. He presents the solution.
2. He explains this presentation of the solution (verse 19): with Christ I am nailed to the cross.
3. He resolves the question (verse 20): That I live now in the flesh.

The Apostle had said, For if I build up again the things which I have destroyed, which is understood to refer to the Old Law. Because of this, one might see him as a destroyer of the Law and therefore impious, according to Psalm 118:126: They have dissipated your law. For that reason, the Apostle wants to show how he destroys the Law without being impious, saying, For I, through the law, am dead to the law.

Here it should be noted that when anyone destroys a law by means of the law itself, he is indeed a violator of the law, but not impious. A law is destroyed by means of the law when the law itself contains some local or temporary precept—for instance, that the law should be observed only for a certain time or in a certain place—and this condition is expressed in the law itself. Therefore, if someone does not follow the law after that time has passed or outside that place, he destroys the law by means of the law itself. This is how the Apostle destroyed the Law.

Hence he says: I did destroy the Law, but I did so by means of the Law, because through the Law I am dead to the Law. This means that by the authority of the Law, I have rejected the Law, being dead to it. The authority of the Law, through which he is dead to the Law, is cited in many places in Sacred Scripture. For example, although not in these exact words, it is found in Jeremiah 31:31, I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and in Deuteronomy 18:15, The Lord will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brethren, and in many other places. Therefore, the Apostle is not a destroyer of the Law in the sense of being a transgressor.

Alternatively, I by the spiritual law am dead to the carnal law. For a person dies to the Law when, being freed by the Law, he casts it aside, according to Romans 7:2: If her husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. Now, because the Apostle was subject to the spiritual law, he says that he is dead to the Law—that is, released from its observances: For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and of death (Romans 8:2).

There is yet another way to set the law aside without violation. Specifically, a law written on a scroll is called a dead law, while the same law in the mind of the lawgiver is a living law. Now, it is clear that if someone were to act according to the word of the lawgiver, even against the written law, he would be set free from the dead, written law while still acting according to the lawgiver's command.

He says, therefore, along these lines, I am dead to the law—that is, the written and dead law. This means I am released from it so that I may live to God, meaning I can guide my actions according to His precepts and be directed toward His honor. A promulgated law is given in writing for the sake of those who are absent and cannot hear the lawgiver's spoken words. But for those in his presence, he gives the law not in writing but by word alone.

In the beginning, people were weak and unable to approach God. Therefore, it was necessary for the precepts of the Law to be given to them in writing, so that by the Law, as by a guardian, they might be led by the hand to the point where they could hear what He commands. This is according to the words given below: the law was our guardian in Christ, so that we might be justified by faith (Galatians 3:24). But after we have access to the Father through Christ, as is said in Romans 5:2, we are not instructed about God's commands through the Law, but by God Himself. Hence he says: Through the Law leading me by the hand, I have died to the written law, so that I may live to God—that is, to the maker of the Law—to be instructed and directed by Him.

Then, when he says, with Christ I am nailed to the cross, he expands on what he said. He had stated that he died to the Law and lives to God. He now explains these two points:

1. He explains that he died to the Law by saying, with Christ I am nailed to the cross.
2. He explains that he lives to God when he says (verse 20), I live, now not I, but Christ lives in me.

The first point can be explained in two ways. One way, following a gloss, is this: every person, according to carnal origin, is born a child of wrath: By nature we were children of wrath, even as the rest (Ephesians 2:3). He is also born in the oldness of sin: You have grown old in a strange country . This oldness of sin is removed by the cross of Christ, and the newness of spiritual life is given. Therefore, the Apostle says, with Christ I am nailed to the cross. This means that sinful desire, the inclination to sin, and all such things have been put to death in me through the cross of Christ: Our old man was crucified with him, so that the body of sin might be destroyed (Romans 6:6).

Also, from the fact that I am crucified with Christ and have died to sin, and because Christ rose again, I too have risen with Him: Who was delivered up for our sins and rose again for our justification (Romans 4:25). Thus, Christ brings about a new life in us after the oldness of sin has been destroyed. Hence he says, And I live. This means that because I am nailed to the cross of Christ, I have the strength to act rightly. Now not I according to the flesh, because I no longer have the oldness I formerly had, but Christ lives in me—that is, the newness that has been given to us through Christ.

Alternatively, a person is said to live according to that in which he places his chief affection and finds his main delight. Thus, people who take their greatest pleasure in study or hunting say that this is their life. However, each person has a private interest by which he seeks his own benefit. Therefore, when someone lives seeking only his own benefit, he lives only for himself; but when he seeks the good of others, he is said to live for them.

Accordingly, because the Apostle had set aside his self-love through the cross of Christ, he said that he was dead as far as self-love was concerned, declaring, with Christ I am nailed to the cross. This means that through the cross of Christ, my own private love has been removed from me. Hence he says, Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ (Galatians 6:14), and, If one died for all, then all were dead. And Christ died for all, that they who live may no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them (2 Corinthians 5:14). And I live, now not I—that is, I no longer live as though having any interest in my own good—but Christ lives in me. This means I have Christ alone in my affection, and Christ Himself is my life: To me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain (Philippians 1:21).

Then, when he says, And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, he answers a twofold difficulty that might arise from his words: first, how can he live if it is not he who lives? And second, how is he nailed to the cross? He clarifies the first point when he says, And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God. Here it should be noted that, strictly speaking, only those things are said to live which are moved by an inner principle. Now, Paul's soul was set between his body and God. His body was indeed enlivened and moved by his soul, but his soul was moved by Christ. Therefore, concerning the life of the flesh, Paul himself lived, and this is what he means by, and the life I now live in the flesh. But concerning his relation to God, Christ lived in Paul. Therefore he says, I live by faith in the Son of God, through which He dwells in me and moves me: But the just shall live by his faith (Habakkuk 2:4). And note that he says in the flesh, not by the flesh, because the latter is evil.

Second, he shows that he is nailed to the cross by saying this: The love of Christ, which He showed me in dying on the cross for me, causes me to be always nailed with Him. This is what he means by who loved me, as in 1 John 4:10: He first loved us. And He loved me to the extent of giving Himself—not some other sacrifice—for me: He loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood (Revelation 1:5); and As Christ loved the church and delivered himself up for it, that he might sanctify it, cleansing it by the washing of water with the word (Ephesians 5:25).

But it should be noted that the Son delivered Himself up, and the Father delivered up His Son: He did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all (Romans 8:32). Judas also delivered Him up, as is said in Matthew 26:48. It is all one event, but the intention is not the same: the Father did it out of love, the Son out of obedience combined with love, and Judas out of greed and treachery.

Then, when he says, I do not nullify the grace of God, he draws his main conclusion. First, he states the conclusion; second, he explains it. He says, therefore: Because I have received such great grace from God that He delivered Himself up, and because I live by faith in the Son of God, I do not nullify the grace of God. This means I do not reject it or show myself ungrateful: The grace of God toward me was not in vain, but I have labored more abundantly than all of them (1 Corinthians 15:10). Hence, another version reads, "I am not ungrateful for the grace of God." As it says, See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God (Hebrews 12:15), which can happen by showing oneself unworthy through ingratitude.

A form of rejection and ingratitude would be to say that the Law is necessary for justification. Hence he says, For if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. This means that if the Law is sufficient—if the works of the Law are enough to justify a person—then Christ died needlessly and in vain, because He died to make us righteous: Christ also died once for our sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God (1 Peter 3:18). Now, if this could have been done through the Law, Christ's death would have been superfluous. But He did not die in vain or labor for no purpose, as it is said in Isaiah 49:4, because through Him alone came justifying grace and truth, as it is said in John 1:17. Therefore, if any were righteous before the passion of Christ, this too was through faith in the Christ who was to come, in whom they believed and by whose faith they were saved.