I was reading in Galatians and came across this verse that summarizes a thought that I have had and preached before. So many people claim that being a Christian requires an additional act that we must perform. They believe in the following equation:
Jesus Christ + Something = Righteousness
Paul targets a group of people just like this in his letter to the Galatians known as the Judaizers. This was a group of Jewish Christians that still believed that many of the ceremonial practices in the Old Testament were still necessary in the New Testament church. For example, they wanted to force Gentiles that became Christians to follow through in circumcision. The Judaizers believed that righteousness required Jesus Christ + something else. Many current denominations have similar requirements. For example they may require Jesus Christ + Baptism to achieve righteousness. These current day Church requirements are Church Law just like the Old Testament Jewish Law that the Galatians refused let go. Paul describes this as “foolish” (Galations 3:1). Galatians 2:21 summarizes it perfectly:
21 “I do not nullify the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”
If there is any other requirement/law other than Jesus Christ that is required for righteousness, then Christ’s death on the Cross is worthless unless that additional law is fulfilled. That makes the additional law more powerful than Christ’s death and thus his death would be “needless” and it would “nullify the grace of God”. With that being said, I hope you can rely on the below equation as truth:
Jesus Christ = Righteousness
Here is an interesting quote I read just today that kind of goes along with your post.
“It is not faith that saves, but faith in Jesus Christ… It is not, strictly speaking, even faith in Christ that saves, but Christ that saves through faith. The saving power resides exclusively, not in the act of faith or the attitude of faith or in the nature of faith, but in the object of faith.” –B. B. Warfield