“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.”
But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, does that mean Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! — if justification through Christ alone requires abandoning Torah-righteousness, the charge arises that Paul makes Jews 'sinners' like Gentiles; Paul's response is emphatic: Christ does not encourage sin ('diamartyrō' — solemnly attest), but this reductio shows the absurdity of thinking that grace leads to antinomianism.
Church Fathers on Galatians 2:17
“But if, while we sought to be justified in Christ, we ourselves also were found sinners is Christ a minister of sin?” If faith in Him, says he, avail not for our justification, but it be necessary again to embrace the Law, and if, having forsaken the Law for Christ's sake, we are not justified but condemned for such abandonment — then shall we find Him, for whose sake we forsook the Law and went over to faith the author of our condemnation. Observe how, he has resolved the…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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