Grace in Galatians (Part 192) – Grace Was Always The Plan

https://youtu.be/5ZSTBSUajAc?si=5Wj_ZlbONgL_aDdF

Today, we continue our focus on THE YEAR OF DISCOVERY, as we learn to maintain our posture of faith after God has revealed His plans for our future.

As part of this series, I am teaching a verse-by-verse exposition of the book of Galatians.

Key scriptures for this year:

2 Peter 3:18 GNT“But continue to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Savior, Jesus Christ. To Him be glory now and forever.”

Luke 10:20 Mirror“It’s time for you to rediscover who you are from Heaven’s perspective.”

1 John 3:10 Mirror“There is a very visible and vast difference between living one’s life from your God identity or from a fallen man’s mindset.”

Proverbs 25:2 NKJV“It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter.”

Jeremiah 29:13 NIV“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

Scripture we will study today:

Galatians 6:13 NIV“Not even those who are circumcised obey the Law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in your flesh.”

Galatians 6:13 AMPC“For even the circumcised [Jews] themselves do not [really] keep the Law, but they want to have you circumcised in order that they may glory in your flesh (your subjection to external rites).”

Supporting scriptures:

James 2:10 NIV“For whoever keeps the whole Law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.”

Romans 3:20 NLT“For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the Law commands. The Law simply shows us how sinful we are.”

Romans 5:20 TPT“Now, the Law was introduced into God’s plan to bring the reality of human sinfulness out of hiding. And yet, wherever sin increased, there was more than enough of God’s grace to triumph all the more!”

1 Samuel 16:7 AMPC“For the Lord sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

Romans 2:28-29 TPT“For there is more to being a Jew than the surface, and there is more to circumcision than physical surgery. Real Jews have hearts that are circumcised, and they live in the realm of the Spirit and not in the realm of the religious letter of the Law.”

Ephesians 1:13-14 TPT“In him [Christ] you also, when you heard the word of truth… were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the down payment that guarantees our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s own possession.”

Galatians 3:28 TPT“There is no longer a difference between Jew and non-Jew, slave or free, male or female—because you are all one through your union with Jesus Christ.”

Ephesians 2:14 TPT“Our reconciling ‘Peace’ is Jesus! He has made Jew and non-Jew one in Christ. By dying as our sacrifice, he has broken down every wall of prejudice that separated us.”

Setting the Stage:

Yesterday, we walked through Galatians 6:13. Galatians 6:13 NIV says, “Not even those who are circumcised obey the Law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in your flesh.” Two phrases jumped out at me again. The first is “Not even those who are circumcised obey the Law.” The second is “in your flesh.” These two phrases unlock something important.

The first phrase exposes the impossibility of Law-keeping. Nobody, not even the people demanding it, can actually do it. Which leads to a question every believer has to answer. If the Law is impossible, what is God’s plan? The answer is grace.

The second phrase exposes the futility of external rites. The Judaizers wanted to mark the Galatians on their flesh. But God has never been impressed by what people put on their bodies. He has always cared about what is inside the heart.

So, what does this mean for you today? A few things.

1. Nobody Has Ever Kept The Whole Law, Which Is Why Grace Was Always The Plan.

Paul’s first claim in Galatians 6:13 is devastating. “Not even those who are circumcised obey the Law.” Read that carefully. The Judaizers were demanding circumcision and Law-keeping from the Galatians. Paul says, “You don’t even keep the Law yourselves.” But here is the bigger point. NOBODY has ever kept the whole Law. Not the Pharisees. Not the High Priest. Not the most devoted Jewish scholar in history. The human to ever do it was Jesus. 

James 2:10 NIV says, “For whoever keeps the whole Law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” That is the ceiling. One stumble. Total failure. The Law was never designed to save anyone. It was designed to expose how desperately we all need a Savior. Grace was always God’s plan, because the Law was never going to work.

How this applies to you:

— No one has ever kept the whole Law (except Jesus), and no one ever will.

— James 2:10 NIV says, “For whoever keeps the whole Law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” Read that carefully. One mistake. Not ten. Not three. JUST ONE. By that standard, every human being who has ever lived has failed. And that is exactly the point Paul is making. The standard was never meant to be reachable. It was meant to prove to you that you need a Savior. That Savior came, and His name is Jesus!

— Romans 3:20 TPT says, “For nothing we do can make us right with God, but his Law brings the full revelation of how guilty we are before him.” The Law is a mirror. It does not make you clean. It just shows you that you are dirty.

— The Law was never the destination; it was always the doorway to grace.

— Some of you have been beating yourself up because you cannot live up to a standard that was never meant to be lived up to in the first place. Stop. The Law was never going to save you. Rules can’t make you right. Rules can only show you where you are wrong. The Law was always going to expose you. And the moment it exposed you, grace was waiting to save you.

— The bigger the failure, the bigger the grace. The way Paul said it was, “Where sin does abound, grace does abound even more.” 

— I was raised in a religious environment, and then even after I got born again, I was somewhat bound to religion for many years until I heard the gospel of grace. I did not ever experience the true peace of God until I stopped trying to qualify for what Jesus had already provided for me. The Law cannot give you what grace has already done.

— Here is the celebration of grace. Jesus fulfilled the Law for us. He completed the requirements on our behalf. He paid the price you could not pay. He kept the standard you could not keep. And now His perfect record is credited to your account by faith. You are not living to qualify; you are living because you have already been qualified! That’s good news. That’s the gospel, and that is why I live #TheGraceLife!

2. God Has Always Prioritized The Internal Over The External.

Paul says the Judaizers wanted to boast in the Galatians’ “flesh” – the external sign of circumcision. The AMPC adds a parenthetical that lands the meaning home. It says that they wanted to glory in “your subjection to external rites.” Read that. External rites. Religion specializes in external markers. Circumcision. Clothing. Hair. Diet. Music. Bible translation. Days of worship. The list is endless. And every external marker becomes another way to pass or fail the religious purity test. But God’s standard has always been internal. 1 Samuel 16:7 AMPC says, “the Lord sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” Religion checks the costume. God weighs the heart.

How this applies to you:

— Religion checks what you are wearing on your body, but God checks what’s going on inside your soul. 

— Romans 2:28-29 TPT puts it like this: “For there is more to being a Jew than the surface, and there is more to circumcision than physical surgery. Real Jews have hearts that are circumcised, and they live in the realm of the Spirit and not in the realm of the religious letter of the Law.” Read that. The real circumcision was always a heart matter. God has been looking at the heart since Genesis. He never changed.

— Some of you have been measuring your spiritual life by external markers. How often you go to church. What music you listen to. What clothes you wear when you walk into the sanctuary. Stop. Those things are not bad in themselves. But God is not measuring you by any of them. He is measuring you by your heart.

— In God’s Kingdom, an impressive exterior cannot cover an empty interior.

— Jesus said in Matthew 23:27 about the Pharisees, “You are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but on the inside they are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of impurity.” The outside looked spiritual. The inside was a graveyard. God can see right through the facade.

— The most spiritual believers often look the most ordinary. They do not need a uniform to prove they belong to Jesus. They are not collecting religious credentials. They just love God, walk with God, and let the fruit of their lives do the talking.

— As you know, I’m a preacher, so let me bring clothing into this discussion. There are churches I go to where people wear a suit and tie. There are churches I go to where people wear jeans and Jordans. I’m comfortable in both, and I’ll wear whatever they wear because I don’t want them focused on my clothes. I want them focused on the WORD. Many of my friends on the suit and tie side wear clergy collars and lots of regalia, and they would have a hard time preaching in jeans, Jordans, and a hoodie because they’re putting too much emphasis on what’s going on the outside instead of focusing on what God is doing on the inside.

— The flesh impresses men; the heart impresses God.

— Here is the freedom of a believer who finally understands this. You do not have to perform anymore. You do not have to dress, talk, or behave a certain way to make God love you. He has already seen the heart, and the heart has already been washed by the blood. Walk in that freedom!

3. The Real Mark Of A Believer Is The Seal Of The Holy Spirit.

If circumcision is not the mark of belonging to God, what is? Paul gives us the answer in Ephesians 1:13-14. When you trusted in Christ, you “were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the down payment that guarantees our inheritance.” Read that. You have already been marked. You have already been sealed. The mark is not on your flesh; it is in your spirit. The seal is the Holy Spirit Himself. He is the proof that you belong to God. The Spirit is the mark. Period.

How this applies to you:

— The mark of a true believer is not on the body; it is in the spirit.

— Ephesians 1:13-14 TPT says you “were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the down payment that guarantees our inheritance.” A seal in the ancient world was a stamp of ownership. God put His seal on you the moment you believed. That seal is not a tattoo, a circumcision, or a baptism certificate. It is the Holy Spirit Himself living inside of you.

— Romans 8:16 TPT says, “For the Holy Spirit makes God’s fatherhood real to us as he whispers into our innermost being, ‘You are God’s beloved child!'” That whisper is the receipt of your salvation. Have you ever heard it? You have, if you belong to Him.

— The Holy Spirit Himself is the receipt of your salvation.

— Some of you have been doubting whether you really belong to God because somebody told you that you do not look like a real Christian. Don’t listen to them. The mark of belonging to God was never visible. It was always interior. And if the Holy Spirit lives in you, you belong to God, period.

— Once sealed, always sealed forever.

— 2 Timothy 2:19 TPT says, “the firm foundation that God has laid cannot be shaken… the Lord knows those who are his.” Read that line. The Lord knows those who are His. He does not need an external rite to figure out who belongs to Him. He sealed them with His own Spirit. He knows His own.

— Here is the assurance of every born-again believer. You did not earn the seal, and you cannot lose the seal. It was placed on you by God Himself the moment you believed. He guaranteed it with His Spirit. And until the day He brings you home, that seal remains. No religious leader, no doubt, no failure, and no enemy can break what God Himself has guaranteed!

4. Religious Gatekeeping Is The Opposite Of The Gospel.

The Judaizers were dividing the church into TWO classes of believers. The circumcised and the uncircumcised. The “real” disciples and the “lesser” ones. The “in” group and the “out” group. This is religious gatekeeping. And it is the OPPOSITE of what the gospel does. 

How this applies to you:

— The gospel removes walls; religion builds them.

— Galatians 3:28 TPT says, “There is no longer a difference between Jew and non-Jew, slave or free, male or female—because you are all one through your union with Jesus Christ.” Read that line. There is no longer a difference. Not in salvation. Not in standing. Not in inheritance. The cross flattened every distinction the world uses to divide us.

— Whenever religion adds an “if,” it has subtracted from the gospel.

— Some of you have been made to feel like a second-class believer by religious people who needed you to be lesser so they could feel greater. They built a hierarchy you were never supposed to be in. I am here to tell you today that at the foot of the cross, the ground is level for all us. You are not lesser. You are not greater. You are loved.

— Ephesians 2:14 TPT says, “Our reconciling ‘Peace’ is Jesus! He has made Jew and non-Jew one in Christ. By dying as our sacrifice, he has broken down every wall of prejudice that separated us.” Read that. The cross was a wrecking ball. And every wall the religious spirit keeps trying to put back up, the cross has already torn down.

— I have seen this religious gatekeeping in churches, in denominations, in ministries, and in family lines. Somebody always wants to draw a circle and put themselves inside it and other believers outside. Stop drawing circles. Jesus already drew the only one that matters, and the circle He drew is wide enough to hold every soul who calls on His name.

— Here is the unity of the cross. You are not a Jew or a Gentile in Christ. You are not Black or White or Asian or Latino in Christ. You are not Baptist or Pentecostal or Catholic in Christ. You are HIS. One Lord. One faith. One baptism. One Spirit. One Body. And no religious gatekeeper has the authority to separate what the cross has joined together!

That’s enough for today. 

Declaration of Faith:

Father, I thank You that grace was always Your plan, because the Law was never going to save me!

I refuse to live under the impossible weight of trying to keep a Law that nobody has ever kept!

The Law is a mirror that exposes my need; the cross is the answer that meets it!

I am not impressed by external rites, because You look at the heart and not at the costume!

I have been sealed with the Holy Spirit Himself, and that seal is the proof that I belong to God!

Once sealed, always sealed, and no human voice can break what God Himself has guaranteed!

I refuse to be made to feel like a second-class believer by anyone, because the cross levels every believer to the same ground!

The gospel removes the dividing walls that religion keeps trying to build, and I walk in the unity Christ purchased with His blood!

I am righteous because of what Jesus did, not because of what I add or what I avoid!

I am living THE GRACE LIFE, and GREATER IS COMING FOR ME!

I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen!

This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!