(Read Galatians 5:1-4)
This morning we continue our series “Grace that is Simply Amazing” by continuing to look at The Law given under Moses vs. the Grace provided by Jesus. Over the last few weeks we walked through chapters 3 and 4 of Paul’s letter to the church in Galatia. This morning we get to chapter 5. Paul opens the 5th chapter with a bold statement. The Apostle said, “So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.” The Apostle is clear. In no uncertain terms he tells the believers in Galatia, who had been going back for portions of the Law after being Born-Again, that they were to stay free from the slavery and bondage the Law brings.
Paul goes on to say, “Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you.” Remember, there were some Jewish-Christians in Galatia who required Gentile converts to Christianity to get circumcised. Paul already taught about this, but he comes back to the issue. And the Apostle further reiterates his point and says, “I’ll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses.” Paul once again makes the point that if you are going to take a portion of the Law, thinking that your compliance with that portion is making you right with God, then the Law actually requires you to abide by the entire Law and if you break any portion of it, you are guilty of breaking the entire Law (see James 2:10).
Paul continues with another very strong statement. Paul says, “For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.”
So what does this mean to you today? Let’s seek to glean a few golden nuggets:
1. Once you have been Born-Again and God’s Spirit is in you, you are called to walk in the freedom wherewith Christ Jesus has made you free; being led of the Holy Spirit to find, follow and finish your purpose in life.
2. Once you are Born-Again you are in-Christ and you have victory over sin and death. The Bible also teaches that you must not allow yourself to get entangled with the yoke of bondage (slavery) of the Law.
3. The Bible teaches that if you attempt to abide by the Law, as if your compliance with the Law will make you right with God, then Jesus is of “no benefit to you.” Instead of allowing yourself to be righteous because of what Jesus did, you are attempting to be righteous with your own works.
4. You must not perform works TO BE righteous. You must perform works BECAUSE YOU ARE righteous in Christ Jesus. There is a difference.
5. Paul said, “If you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.” I was taught that “falling from grace” meant losing your salvation, but that is not what Paul is teaching at all. “Falling from grace” is leaving the Grace Jesus died to give you, in order to go back and live under the Law of Moses. If you attempt to live by the Law, Paul said you are “cut off from Christ!” (which is a very strong statement), and you are “fallen away from God’s grace.”
6. How are you living your life as a Christian? Are you living under and by God’s Grace? Or have you fallen from Grace by attempting to earn your righteousness with your works and human compliance with the Law?
Closing Confession: Father, I thank You for Your Word. This series is helping me to see the areas of my life where I have not fully embraced Your Grace. I am being convicted of things I am doing out of human effort, and in an attempt to earn my right-standing with You. I repent and I fully embrace Your Grace. From this moment on, I will not work to be right with You. I will work because Jesus made me right with You. I do all that I do BECAUSE I am right, not in order to BECOME right. I am the righteousness of God by faith and I will never forget it. I will not entangle myself with sin or the yoke of bondage of the Law. What I will do is fully engulf myself in Christ. Without You I am nothing. Like Jesus, I say, “The son can do nothing without the Father.” I am nothing without You Lord. It is in You that I live and move and have my being. I lose myself in You, and by losing myself in You, I find my true self and my divine purpose. I will never fall from Grace, because I am determined to live every day of my life IN, WITH and BY Your amazing, undeserved and immeasurable Grace! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
