“For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.” -Galatians 2: 18
The scripture, Jesus, tells us that they which hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled. When you are lost in sin, it can be difficult to even comprehend a hunger and thirst after righteousness; until you find it, or rather, it finds you. It could be through a sermon, song, testimony, but through divine grace the Spirit of God arrests your heart, and you begin to realize how hungry you really are and how empty your life has become. This begins the journey to death which ultimately leads to resurrection and new life. A new path, never to return to the old way, and never to build again, that which has been destroyed.
Paul the Apostle was a seeker of righteousness. Even when he was Saul and did such horrible things, his testimony was he did it ignorantly in unbelief. He was looking to be justified before God, to be right in God’s sight and until the Damascus Road; he firmly believed that righteousness was through the law and the works of the law. In the end, the “strength of the law is sin.” The law could carry them no further than atonement, it could not take away all sin; it could not deliver from sin. Jesus brought deliverance and victory to Paul's life; he destroyed the “works of the law” and ushered in “righteousness by faith.” It is by faith that all men are justified, made righteous. It is by faith that we are turned from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to that of God. Since it is faith, then it is no more work. It is no longer Jew and Gentile, bond and free, male and female, but all are one in Christ. There was a time when Paul was Saul, and Saul staked his life on the works of the law. Then Jesus came into Paul’s life and totally decimated that man’s: ideals, traditions, wills, ways, and wishes; and Paul just kept saying “yes, Lord.” This is evident just two verses later when he writes in Galatians “I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me” What transpired between Peter and James in that second chapter of Galatians alarmed Paul, because this was something that God had destroyed in his own heart and life. It was no longer Jew and Gentile; it was no longer works of the law, but by faith. It was not enough to simply avoid it, but Paul felt he needed to make it known that this was not the right way anymore, that he was not going to build these walls again. What a picture that must have been, the zealot Pharisaical champion of that day, who once persecuted Christians and labored to keep the whole Levitical law; now shouting down the very notion of it and standing for Jesus as the fulfillment of the law by faith alone. When we repent and are converted, it is a wonderful experience. The weight of sin has been lifted and the flood of forgiveness felt. However, for Jesus to sanctify us we must die to the world, sin, flesh, and ourselves. Complete destruction. Complete surrender. Once we do that, ask Jesus to come into our heart and sanctify us wholly. There is a glorious life felt at the end of the destruction of your sin.
You will not get the Holy Spirit unless you first give all. When you do, you will not go the same places you used to go, you will not do the same things you used to do; and God will know, your family will know, your friends, co-workers, and you will know that holiness is not a future experience, but a present reality in this life. When you are changed like that, to “build again the things you once destroyed, would make you a transgressor.” In other words, “I am never going back. That bridge is out.” This is the testimony of the Christian; this is what Jesus will do for you. He breaks down so he can build anew.
