Galatians 2:17-21

2:17 But if while seeking to be justified in Christ we ourselves have also been found to be sinners, is Christ then one who encourages ¹  sin? Absolutely not! 2:18 But if I build up again those things I once destroyed, ²  I demonstrate that I am one who breaks God’s law. ³  2:19 For through the law I died to the law so that I may live to God. 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ, ⁴  and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So ⁵  the life I now live in the body, ⁶  I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, ⁷  who loved me and gave himself for me. 2:21 I do not set aside ⁸  God’s grace, because if righteousness ⁹  could come through the law, then Christ died for nothing! ¹⁰ 

[2:17]  ¹ tn Or “does Christ serve the interests of sin?”; or “is Christ an agent for sin?” See BDAG 230-31 s.v. διάκονος 2.

[2:18]  ² tn Or “once tore down.”

[2:18]  ³ tn Traditionally, “that I am a transgressor.”

[2:20]  ⁴ tn Both the NA²⁷/UBS⁴ Greek text and the NRSV place the phrase “I have been crucified with Christ” at the end of v. 19, but most English translations place these words at the beginning of v. 20.

[2:20]  ⁵ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “So” to bring out the connection of the following clauses with the preceding ones. What Paul says here amounts to a result or inference drawn from his co-crucifixion with Christ and the fact that Christ now lives in him. In Greek this is a continuation of the preceding sentence, but the construction is too long and complex for contemporary English style, so a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[2:20]  ⁶ tn Grk “flesh.”

[2:20]  ⁷ tc A number of important witnesses (Ì⁴⁶ B D* F G) have θεοῦ καὶ Χριστοῦ (qeou kai Cristou, “of God and Christ”) instead of υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ (Juiou tou qeou, “the Son of God”), found in the majority of mss, including several important ones (א A C D¹ Ψ 0278 33 1739 1881 Ï lat sy co). The construction “of God and Christ” appears to be motivated as a more explicit affirmation of the deity of Christ (following as it apparently does the Granville Sharp rule). Although Paul certainly has an elevated Christology, explicit “God-talk” with reference to Jesus does not normally appear until the later books (cf., e.g., Titus 2:13, Phil 2:10-11, and probably Rom 9:5). For different arguments but the same textual conclusions, see TCGNT 524.

[2:21]  ⁸ tn Or “I do not declare invalid,” “I do not nullify.”

[2:21]  ⁹ tn Or “justification.”

[2:21]  ¹⁰ tn Or “without cause,” “for no purpose.”