Galatians 2:18 (ASV)

Passage

For if I build up again those things which I destroyed, I prove myself a transgressor.

Nearby Context

Galatians 2:16 yet knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we believed on Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the law: because by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

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? God forbid.

Galatians 2:18 For if I build up again those things which I destroyed, I prove myself a transgressor.

Galatians 2:19 For I through the law died unto the law, that I might live unto God.

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me: and that [life] which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, [the faith] which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "build", "again", "things", "destroyed", "prove", "myself", and "transgressor". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "build" and "again", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 17's "But if while we sought to be..." into verse 19's "For I through the law died unto...", so "build" and "again" belong inside that flow. In Galatians context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "build" and "again" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.