Grace and Truth (Part 15): Faith Only Works By Love Pt. 2

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.

(Galatians 5:6 KJV)  

For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.  

We have studied Galatins chapters 3, 4 and some of 5.  Yesterday we got to Galatians 5:6. Here the Apostle 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, and he tells us that our faith works by love.  There is so much I can say about this. I have meditated this verse, off and on, over the years, quite a bit. I shared a few things yesterday. Today I will continue to share some of the thoughts God has spoken to me about it.

So what does this mean for you today?  Let’s see:

1.  For years I thought this verse (Gal 5:6) meant that my faith will work when I love God and other people.  Meaning, that if I am not operating in love towards God or others, then my faith will fail. Thinking this way put pressure on me to perform, to do things right, and to love both God and man, because I feared that if I did not, my faith would not work.  However, the entire letter to the church in Galatia is about comparing human effort (the Law) with God’s effort (Grace). So, in context, Paul is not putting a requirement on you — to make sure your upward love towards God and outward love towards man is perfect, — before your faith will work.  That would be inconsistent/incongruent with the intent of the overall letter. Paul’s emphasis is on God and not us. Therefore, Paul must mean that faith works when we are convinced that God loves us!  

2.  I remember thinking, “If I don’t love others the right way it is going to stop my faith.  Because Paul said that faith works by love.”  When I thought this way, the pressure was on me to perform.  The pressure was on me to do everything right and to treat everyone right.  Now, I am not saying that we can treat others bad. That’s not what I am saying at all.  My point is that Paul was not putting pressure on us to love in order to enable our faith.  Paul was telling us that our faith will be strong when we know God loves us, not the other way around!

3.  God’s motivation to bless you is His love, not your faith.  What caused God to make plans for you, to seek you out, to save you, and to then use you for His glory, is His LOVE and GRACE, not your faith or perfection.  

4.  When you are convinced God loves you, it puts you in a position to receive from Him.  Your understanding of God’s love towards you helps you receive His Grace by faith.

5.  When you are convinced God loves you, it is easier for you to believe.  Because at that point you are believing God and what He wants to do in your life because He loves you, not because you are perfect.  

6.  When you are convinced God loves you, that He wants to bless you by Grace, because of His everlasting love towards you, you will believe God with your confidence in Him and not you.  This way you know you don’t have to be perfect to receive God’s promises. You just have to believe that He wants to bless you; not because you are so good, but because He is so good!

7.  When you are convinced God loves you, your faith is truly energized.  Your faith finds its strength in knowing that God loves you. When your faith is rooted in God’s love towards you, it will be powerful, because it will not be contingent upon you.  It will be contingent upon God and His tireless dedication to you and the plans He made for you before the foundation of the world.

8.  I will close the week with this thought: Faith is not what happens when you convince God to bless you because of your goodness.  Faith is what happens when God convinces you that He wants to bless you because He is so good!  

*** I am not done with this.  We will pick this up on Monday.  

Declaration of Faith: 

Father, I thank You for teaching me about Your love and Grace.  The more I learn about Your love, the more I fall in love with You.  You loved me while I was yet a sinner. You made plans for me before the foundations of the world.  You planned to blessed me, even though You already knew all the mistakes I was going to make. You looked at my life in advance — faults, failures, flaws and all — and You destined me for Your purpose despite my performance.  You and I both know I am not perfect. But I am forgiven. You have saved me, forgiven me, washed me in the Blood of Your Son Jesus, filled me with Your Spirit, and called me according to Your plans and purpose for my life. You did this because You love me.  You bless me by grace, not because I deserve it. Therefore, from this day forward, I declare that my faith will be rooted and grounded in Your Love for me. The more convinced I am that You love me, and that You want to bless me by grace, the more strength my faith will have, because my faith will no longer be rooted or grounded in me.  From this day forward, my faith is rooted and grounded in You. I have FAITH IN GOD! Even when I am faithless towards You, You have promised to be faithful to me. So I will not allow the devil to cause me to feel condemned anymore. The devil comes to condemn me because of my mistakes, but the Holy Spirit convicts me of the righteousness Christ Jesus died to give me.  I enter into this day with fearless confidence, because my confidence is IN YOU and not me. I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen!

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