Ray Ortlund on The Social Pathologies of Self-Justification

From this interview by Colin Hansen:

What are some of the social pathologies of self-justification? And how does Paul begin to offer a gospel antidote in his letter to the Galatians?


For starters, Galatians 5:15 says, “But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.” How do we “bite and devour”? With our mouths. Our words, our narratives, cut others down, to build ourselves up. The worse they look, the better we look. But whenever we need negative things to be true about others, it’s self-justification. And because it’s about being right, it never feels wicked; it feels right, justified. One fault finding bite leads to another, and the feeding frenzy ends up consuming everyone involved, even the “winners.” John Calvin wrote, “How unhappy, how mad it is, that we who are members of the same body should voluntarily conspire together for mutual destruction!”

Healthy churches feed on the doctrine of justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone apart from all our works. That good news is what healthy churches bite and devour and consume continually. The gospel of justification, applied to our hearts and relationships, creates peace and joy for everyone involved. Paul’s letter to the Galatians leads us into those green pastures and beside those still waters.