The Legal Significance of Christ’s Risen Life: Union with Christ and Justification in Galatians 2.17-20

Abstract

This article addresses the relationship between Paul’s reference to justification ‘in Christ’ in Gal. 2.17 and the description of Paul’s relation to Christ in Gal. 2.19-20. Interpreters typically suggest that these verses bear no direct relation to each other or that they demonstrate that Paul understands justification to entail more than a forensic declaration. There is, however, an old but often neglected interpretation of this passage maintaining that Gal. 2.19-20 should be understood in forensic terms. This view suggests that the phrase ‘Christ lives ἐν ἐμοί’ (Gal. 2.20) does not refer to the indwelling of Christ but rather depicts Christ’s reception of resurrection life as a representative event into which believers are incorporated. The central argument of this article is that several lines of evidence support the viability of this proposal.