Grace in Galatians (Part 204) – STOP Trying To EARN What Jesus Already PAID FOR
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 have taught a verse-by-verse exposition of the book of Galatians. We have now studied every verse in the letter. Over the next two weeks, we are recapping the entire book.
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 2:4-5 TPT“But because there were some who were ‘false believers’ who had infiltrated our ranks to spy out the freedom that we have in the Anointed One, Jesus, hoping to enslave us, we did not yield to their false teachings for even a moment, in order to preserve for you the integrity of the gospel.”
Galatians 2:16 TPT“We know full well, for example, that the Jewish person is not made right with God by the works of religious law, but only through faith in Jesus, the Anointed One. His faithfulness, not ours, has saved us, and we have believed in him to be saved from the guilt of sin and not because we kept the law. For keeping the law will never save anyone.”
Galatians 2:21 TPT“So that is why I don’t view God’s grace as something minor or peripheral. For if keeping the law could release God’s righteousness to us, the Anointed One would have died for nothing.”
Supporting scriptures:
Galatians 2:11 TPT“Now, when Peter came to Antioch I had to oppose him publicly, speaking strongly against what he was doing, for it was wrong.”
Galatians 2:12-13 TPT“Before certain Jewish friends of James arrived, Peter would freely eat his meals with the non-Jewish believers. After they came, he withdrew and separated himself from the non-Jewish believers because he feared offending those of the circumcision party. The rest of the Jewish brothers got caught up in this charade, even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy!”
Galatians 5:1 TPT“At last we have freedom, for the Anointed One has set us free! We must always cherish this truth and stubbornly refuse to go back into the bondage of our past.”
Romans 3:28 TPT“We conclude that it is by faith that one is justified and made righteous before God—not by his good works.”
Ephesians 2:8-9 TPT“For it was only through this wonderful grace that we believed in him. Nothing we did could ever earn this salvation, for it was the gracious gift from God that brought us to Christ! So no one will ever be able to boast, for salvation is never a reward for good works or human striving.”
Galatians 2:20 TPT“My old identity has been co-crucified with Christ and no longer lives. For the nails of his cross crucified me with him. And now the essence of this new life is no longer mine, for the Anointed One lives his life through me—we live in union as one!”
Setting the Stage:
Today, we continue our recap of Galatians. Yesterday, we walked back through chapter 1 and reminded ourselves that there is one gospel, the gospel of grace. Today, we recap chapter 2.
Chapter 2 is where the gloves come off. Paul stands his ground against false brothers who slipped in to steal the freedom of the believers. Paul confronts Peter publicly. And right in the middle of the chapter, Paul drops the verse that has set countless souls free. A person is not made right with God by works of the Law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. Let’s talk about this chapter.
So, what does this mean for you today? A few things.
1. Stand Firm And Protect Your Freedom.
In chapter 2, Paul recounts a trip he took up to Jerusalem to meet with the other Apostles. He brought Titus with him, a Gentile believer who had not been circumcised, as a living test case for the question on the table: do Gentiles need to follow the Jewish Law to be saved? While Paul was there, false brothers slipped into the meeting. Their real mission was to spy out the freedom these believers had in Christ and drag them back under the bondage of the Law. In this setting, Paul makes one of the boldest declarations of his life. He writes in Galatians 2:5, saying, “we did not yield to their false teachings for even a moment, in order to preserve for you the integrity of the gospel.”
Paul did this because, in his mind, the truth of the gospel had to be preserved. Guess what? The same enemy still works the same way today. Legalism is still trying to fight grace and bring us back unde the bondage of THE LAW.
How this applies to you:
— Your freedom in Christ is worth fighting for.
— I want you to picture a believer who started out walking in the freedom of grace. He was joyful. He was light. Then a religious voice whispered, “Yes, grace is wonderful, but you also need to do this, and this, and this.” The voice did not deny Jesus. It just added rules. And one rule at a time, the joy drained out, and a man Jesus had set free became a slave again.
— Galatians 5:1 TPT says, “At last we have freedom, for the Anointed One has set us free! We must always cherish this truth and stubbornly refuse to go back into the bondage of our past.” Read that. Stubbornly refuse. That is the posture Paul modeled in Jerusalem. Stubborn freedom.
— The truth of the gospel is worth more than the approval of religious people.
— Walk into today guarding your freedom the way Paul guarded it. Do not surrender even one inch of grace to legalism. What Jesus paid for in full, no man gets to charge you for again.
— I have religious family members. I have religious friends. I hear the comments from time to time, but I refuse to allow anyone to cause me to live under the bondage of the Law. God delivered me from performance-based religion, and I’m going to stay free. I pray that you have the same mentality. I am committed to living #TheGraceLife.
2. Grace Gives You The Courage To Confront.
The most uncomfortable scene in chapter 2 is Paul’s confrontation with Peter at Antioch. Peter, the assumed “Lead Apostle,” had been freely eating with the Gentile believers, enjoying the freedom of grace. Then, when men came from Jerusalem, men of the circumcision party, Peter suddenly withdrew from the Gentiles. He separated himself from the Gentiles because he feared what the religious crowd would think. Even Barnabas got swept up in this hypocrisy. But Paul will not let it slide. He confronted Peter publicly, and he made a big deal about it. Why? Because grace is worth fighting for, and the truth is bigger than anyone’s perceptions or your reputation.
How this applies to you:
— Grace gives you the courage to confront what needs to be confronted, because you become emboldened by God’s Spirit.
— Galatians 2:11 TPT says, “Now, when Peter came to Antioch I had to oppose him publicly, speaking strongly against what he was doing, for it was wrong.” Read that. Publicly. Paul did not take Peter aside privately because the compromise had already gone public. A public compromise required a public correction.
— Galatians 2:12-13 TPT says, “Before certain Jewish friends of James arrived, Peter would freely eat his meals with the non-Jewish believers. After they came, he withdrew and separated himself… The rest of the Jewish brothers got caught up in this charade, even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy!” This was the same Barnabas who had stood up for Paul when no one else would. This teaches us that no one is too mature to be pulled back into the fear of man.
— Peer pressure does not stop in middle school; it just dresses up in religious clothes.
— I want you to picture the scene at Antioch. Believers from many nations sitting at the same table, eating the same meal, enjoying the same Jesus. One table. One family. One gospel. Then Peter stands up and walks away to a different table. The moment Peter divided the table, he divided the gospel. But Paul saw it, and he refused to let it slide. Paul loved the Gentiles and Peter enough to confront it.
— Real friends will sometimes have to confront you in love.
— Silence is not always kindness. When the gospel of grace is being compromised, or when one of your friends is being wishy-washy, don’t be surprised if the Holy Spirit leads you to confront the situation, in love, with holy boldness.
3. No One Is Made Right By The Works Of The Law.
This is the main message of the chapter. After confronting Peter, Paul lands on the main truth. A person is not justified by the works of the Law. He says it three times in one verse. Paul wants this nailed down so deep that no man can ever move it. Religion offers you a thousand boxes to check. Grace says the box was already checked at Calvary. You are not made right with God by what you do for Him. You are made right with God by what He has already done for you. All you do is receive it by faith.
How this applies to you:
— You are made right with God by what He did for you, not by what you do for Him.
— Galatians 2:16 TPT says, “the Jewish person is not made right with God by the works of religious law, but only through faith in Jesus, the Anointed One. His faithfulness, not ours, has saved us… For keeping the law will never save anyone.” Read those words again. His faithfulness, not ours. Keeping the law will never save anyone. Salvation does not rest on your faithfulness to God. It rests on His faithfulness to you.
— Religion requires a thousand checkboxes. Grace provides you with a checklist that Jesus completed FOR YOU!
— Romans 3:28 TPT says, “We conclude that it is by faith that one is justified and made righteous before God—not by his good works.” Your right standing does not fluctuate with your performance. It was given to you the day you believed, and it stands as long as Jesus stands.
— I want you to picture a believer who has been a Christian for 20 years, but still wakes up every morning wondering if he is right with God. He measures himself by how good his quiet time was, by how kindly he spoke, by how many religious boxes he checked. He is exhausted, and the exhaustion is religious, not spiritual. The day he reads Galatians 2:16 and finally believes it is the day his soul exhales (in the spirit), and he is finally able to enter into God’s rest.
— Performance-based religion is a treadmill that wears you out and takes you nowhere.
— Ephesians 2:8-9 TPT says, “it was only through this wonderful grace that we believed in him. Nothing we did could ever earn this salvation, for it was the gracious gift from God that brought us to Christ! So no one will ever be able to boast.” Walk into today resting in the truth that what you could not earn, Jesus already finished. Receive it by faith, and live.
4. Do Not Treat The Grace Of God As Something Small.
Paul closes chapter 2 with a sentence that should rattle every believer who tries to mix grace with works. He says, “I do not set aside the grace of God.” Or as the Passion Translation puts it, “I don’t view God’s grace as something minor or peripheral.” Paul is saying that every time you try to earn your right standing, you are nullifying the very grace you say you believe in. And then he says this: If righteousness could come another way, Christ died for nothing. The cross was either everything, or it was nothing. There is no middle ground.
How this applies to you:
— Do not treat the grace of God as something trivial.
— Galatians 2:21 TPT says, “I don’t view God’s grace as something minor or peripheral. For if keeping the law could release God’s righteousness to us, the Anointed One would have died for nothing.” Read those words slowly. Died for nothing. That is the weight of adding works to grace. Every checkbox you add to the cross is an insult to the One who hung on it.
— Every time you say “grace plus my effort,” you make the cross important.
— Galatians 2:20 TPT says, “My old identity has been co-crucified with Christ and no longer lives… My real life is the faith I now have in the loving Son of God, who gave himself for me.” Even Paul did not graduate past faith. He did not move on from grace into performance. He lived every day from the same faith that saved him.
— Grace is not small; grace is everything.
— Walk into today, refusing to nullify what Jesus paid for in full. You do not honor God by trying to earn what He already gave. You honor Him by receiving it, resting in it, and living from it. This is #TheGraceLife.
— I will close with the statement I made earlier, but it is worth repeating. The cross was either everything, or it was nothing. I don’t know where you stand, but for me, I can boldly declare that the cross was EVERYTHING. I am righteous right now! But not because of what I do or because of what I fail to do. I am the righteousness of God, right now, because of what Jesus did! That’s the gospel, and it is based on God’s amazing grace!
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I thank You that I am justified by faith, not by works!
My right standing with You is settled and does not fluctuate with my performance!
The grace You gave me is not minor; it is everything!
I will not nullify the cross by trying to earn what was already paid for!
Grace gives me the courage to confront when the truth is at stake!
I refuse to bow to religious peer pressure!
I stand fast in the freedom Christ purchased for me!
Religion is a thousand checkboxes; grace is one finished cross!
What Jesus paid for in full, no man gets to charge me for again!
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!
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