Today we continue our series entitled, “Grace and Truth” by continuing to look at by continuing to look at The Law given under Moses vs. the Grace provided by Jesus. Our main scriptures are John 1:14 & 17. Let’s look at them again.
(John 1:14 NIV)
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
(John 1:17 NIV)
For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
So far we have studied Galatians chapters 3 and 4. Yesterday we crossed over into chapter 5 with a message about falling from grace. I trust yesterday’s message cleared some things up for you. Today’s message will flow in the same vein. We will only look at one verse today. It is Galatians 5:6.
(Galatians 5:6 KJV) For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.
After teaching four chapters about The Law (which came through Moses) and Grace (which came through Jesus), and about circumcision, where many Gentile believers were being asked to have their penis’ cut in order to be right with God, Paul gives a statement that seems to clarify all his teaching.
Paul tells us that once we are IN Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything. In other words, ceremonial Laws are no longer our focus. As New Testament, Born-Again, Spirit-filled believers, the Apostle Paul teaches us that our focus should be on living a life of faith. In order to do so successfully, Paul tells us that faith works by love.
So what does this mean for you today? Let’s seek to glean a few golden nuggets:
1. As New Testament, Born-Again, Spirit-filled believers, external ceremonial Laws or rules should no longer be our focus. We are not made right with God by performance-based religion. We are only made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ.
2. The focus of the Born-Again believer is to be led by the Holy Spirit, to pursue what He leads us to do by faith, and to maintain our love walk with God and man.
3. Faith is not about you telling God what to do, because believe me, you can’t. Faith is not you grabbing a scripture and declaring it over and over, commanding God to perform it in your life, as if God is your servant and He is at your beck-and-call. No, faith is about agreement with and submission to God’s will. Faith begins where the will of God is known. Which is why God gave us His Word and His Spirit. To live by faith we must get God’s Word dow in our hearts and we must be led by the Holy Spirit in all things. Living this way we are not focused on external rules. The life of faith is focused on the internal leading of God’s Spirit to do whatever He leads you to do, however He leads you to do it.
4. Living by faith is about dying to self daily, submitting your will to God’s will, accepting what He wants to do in you by His grace, and then seeking to pursue it by faith.
5. If you don’t acknowledge and embrace the Love of God towards you, your faith will not work. Because you will inevitably make a mistake. You are human and flawed. You are not perfect. When you make a mistake, satan will tell you that you have disqualified yourself from what God promised. If you believe satan, you will cross over into condemnation and no longer believe God for the manifestation of His best. However, if you are convinced that God loves you, and that He knew you were going to make the mistake before He gave you the promise, and He promised it to you ANYWAY, you will press forward by faith. Because at that point your faith is fueled by God’s love and grace.
6. Your faith will be strong when you are convinced that God loves you and that He wants to use you by His Grace, not because you are so good. If you bring over a performance-based-religion mindset to the life of faith, it is not going to work, because every time your performance does not measure up, you will mentally disqualify yourself and disengage your faith. If you understand what Paul is teaching in Galatians you will realize that you are no longer under The Law, that your performance does not dictate God’s goodness towards you, and that your faith will only be strong when you are convinced that God loves you. God wants to bless you, not because you are good, but because He is!
7. If you attempt to live by faith without embracing God’s love in your heart, you will attempt to live by faith with your head. This is more mental assent than true faith. People who live this way people spent lots of time praying for things, making confessions, declaring this-and-that, but to no avail, because faith does not work from your head. Faith works from your heart. Faith works when you are led by the Holy Spirit and when you believe God, despite your performance.
*** I have more to say about this, so we will stop here for today and continue with this verse tomorrow.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I thank You for teaching me about Your love, Your grace, and my requirement to live by faith. I am a New Testament, Born-Again, Spirit-filled believer. I don’t live my life focused on ceremonial Laws that could never bring about internal change. The focus of my life now is to be led of Your Holy Spirit daily. Your Spirit leads me. He speaks to me. He reveals Your will to me. As I hear, I say. As I see, I do. As You lead, I go. And I do all of this, because I am convinced that You love me. You love me. You love me. You love me and I know it. I believe the love You have for me. You love me with an everlasting love. You love me, because love is not something You have, or something You do, Love is who you are! I enter this day with fearless confidence, knowing that You love me, that You want to use me for Your glory, and that You want to bless me by grace, not because of my performance. I live by faith and my faith is fueled by Your love for me! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
