17 But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin? May it never be!
18 For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, I prove myself to be a transgressor.
19 For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God.
20 I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”
Referenced Scripture:
2 Corinthians 5:17
Quotes:
“Paul’s critics argued like this: ‘Your doctrine of justification through faith in Christ only, apart from the works of the law, is a highly dangerous doctrine. It fatally weakens a man’s sense of moral responsibility. If he can be accepted through trusting in Christ, without any necessity to do good works, you are actually encouraging him to break the law, which is the vile heresy of ‘antinomianism’.’” (John R. W. Stott)
“The reason union with Christ is such a magnificent doctrine is that once we get into Christ by faith, then everything Christ has ever done becomes something we have done.” (Dr. Philip Graham Ryken)
“Christ will do everything or nothing: earn your salvation if your obedience to the law is perfect, or else trust wholly to Christ’s completed work; you cannot do both; you cannot combine merit and grace; if justification even in slightest measure is through human merit, then Christ died in vain.” (J. Gresham Machen)