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Galatians 2:17
ESV But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not!
NIV "But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not!
NASB But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Far from it!
CSB But if we ourselves are also found to be "sinners" while seeking to be justified by Christ, is Christ then a promoter of sin? Absolutely not!
NLT But suppose we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ and then we are found guilty because we have abandoned the law. Would that mean Christ has led us into sin? Absolutely not!
KJV But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid.
NKJV “But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not!

What does Galatians 2:17 mean?

In one of the great verses in the Bible, Paul has declared outright that nobody can be justified—"declared righteous" before God—by the works of the law of Moses (Galatians 2:16). The only way anyone can ever be justified and made acceptable to God is by faith in the Christ who died to pay the penalty for our sins. Adding any other requirement to this gospel is false (Galatians 2:4) and worthy of condemnation (Galatians 1:8–9).

Now Paul begins to answer an objection from some of the critics of the gospel of Jesus: If God declares people righteous for free by faith in Christ, won't everyone just go on sinning? What motivation would anyone have to do what is right? Paul's accusers likely pointed to exactly what happened with Peter. When someone feels they are justified by faith in Christ, they eat unclean food with Gentiles! From the Judaizers' perspective, this was the definition of a sinful lifestyle.

Doesn't the idea of justification by faith in Christ turn Jesus into a servant of our sin? Paul answers harshly: Certainly not! May it never be! Absolutely not! He continues on to explain this position in the following verse.
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