Today we continue our series entitled “Living the Grace Life,” where we will learn to embrace and walk in God’s unmerited, unearned, and often undeserved favor throughout 2025.
Key scriptures for this year:
2 Corinthians? ?9?:?8? ?TPT??
“Yes, God is more than ready to overwhelm you with every form of grace, so that you will have more than enough of everything —every moment and in every way. He will make you overflow with abundance in every good thing you do.”
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??Galatians? ?5?:?4? ?TPT??
“If you want to be made right with God by fulfilling the obligations of the law, you have cut off more than your flesh—you have cut yourselves off from Christ and have fallen away from the revelation of grace!”
Romans? ?6?:?14? ?ERV??
“Sin will not be your master, because you are not under law. You now live under God’s grace.”
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1 Corinthians? ?15?:?10? ?NIV??
“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.“
Additional scriptures for today:
Galatians 4:21-26 TPT
“Tell me, do you want to go back to living strictly by the law? Haven’t you ever listened to what the law really says? The Scripture tells us that Abraham had two sons; one was born of the slave woman under the strict rules of human effort and law, while the other was born of the free woman through God’s gracious promise. These two women and their two sons represent two covenants. The first covenant was born on Mount Sinai, birthing children into slavery—these are those born of Hagar. For Hagar represents Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to the present system of religious works—man’s attempt to please God through his own effort—which leads to bondage. But the heavenly Jerusalem is the true free woman, and she is our spiritual mother.”
Galatians 4:31 TPT
“It’s now so obvious! We’re not the children of the slave woman; we’re the supernatural sons of the freewoman—sons of grace!”
Setting the stage:
Many believers today, just like in Paul’s time, are living under a performance-based religion instead of having a grace-based relationship with God, even though they have been Born-Again. The Apostle Paul used a powerful analogy in Galatians to help us understand the difference between living under The Law (which he ties to performance/human effort) and living under grace (God’s unearned favor). Paul used Abraham’s two wives – Hagar and Sarah – to paint a clear picture of these two covenants. As I am still laying the foundation for the teaching I will provide you this year, I pray that this message, and the ones that preceded it, will help you change how you approach God and live your life.
So, what does this mean to you today? A few things:
1. Understanding The Two Births Paul Refers to in Galatians 4.
Paul uses the births of Ishmael and Isaac to illustrate a profound truth about how God works. Ishmael came through human planning and human effort. When Sarai asked Abram to sleep with her servant, it was a man-made idea. This was not God’s best, nor was it birthed in the heart of God. It just happened because Abram and Sarai were tired and frustrated, believing in God for 13 years, and they still did not have a baby. So, they came up with their own PLAN B. They got tired of waiting on God and decided to “help God out.” This is what religion does. Religion says, “Here’s what you need to do for God.” But Isaac came when human effort was no longer possible. Abraham was 100 years old, and Sarah was 90. This birth required supernatural intervention. This is how grace works.
How this applies to you:
— Ishmael was born of human effort and represents living under The Law.
— Isaac was born of divine promise, which represents living by faith under the covenant of grace.
— Human effort can produce results, but they won’t be God’s best.
— What God has planned requires His supernatural involvement.
— God calls us to do things we cannot do without Him.
— You can’t accomplish God’s will with human ability alone.
— Isaac came when human ability was dead (Abraham was 100, Sarah was 90). His stuff was not working, and her womb had never worked. So, when all human possibility was dead, God manifested the promise by His grace and their faith.
— God’s grace shows up most powerfully when human ability is exhausted. When we know we can’t, we rely on God to do what only He can do.
2. Breaking Free From Performance-Based Living.
Religion has taught many believers that their relationship with God is based on their performance. They believe God’s love, blessing, and favor depend on how well they live, how much they pray, or how much they give. This is the essence of the Old Covenant – it was based on human performance. However, under the New Covenant, everything is based on what Jesus has already done. You don’t work FOR blessing; you work FROM blessing.
How this applies to you:
— The Law puts the spotlight on YOU and what you must DO for God.
— Grace puts the spotlight on GOD and what He already DID for you.
— Many believers are saved by grace but trying to live by works.
— Religion makes you a slave to performance.
— A religious mindset keeps you in bondage because you will never be good enough to measure up to the size of what God has called you to do.
— If your expectation of God (your faith) is based on your perceived level of goodness toward Him, then you will never be able to believe on the level that you are called to because, quite simply, you are not that good.
— Grace makes you free to receive God’s unearned favor.
— Stop trying to earn what God has freely given. Open your heart to the fullness of what God wants to do to you in your life. It is far greater than your performance. It is not based on the fact that you are good. It is based on the reality that God is good.
3. Embracing Your Identity As A Child Of Promise.
Just like Isaac was born through supernatural means, you were born again by the Spirit of God. Your new birth wasn’t based on your performance or your goodness. You were Born-Again by grace through faith. Now, you must learn to live like who you are – a child of promise, not a child of human effort. Your identity is not based on what you do, but on what Jesus has already done.
How this applies to you:
— Like Isaac, you were born by promise, not performance. Therefore, your purpose is tied to God’s call on your life, not because you measure up it.
— Your status with God is not based on your works. It is based on His decision to call you, and your job is to believe and receive it by faith.
— You are an heir of God’s promise through faith.
— Grace makes you free from religious bondage. This does not mean you are free to sin. It means you are free from the power of sin.
— Grace empowers you to focus on doing what God has called you to do, being led by His Spirit, relying on His power. When you are led by God’s Spirit, you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. You will abstain from sin, but not because you are focused on sin. It will be because you are focused on your purpose.
— Don’t let anyone put you back under The Law. If you shift your focus to rules instead of being led by the Holy Spirit, you will be more rules-conscious than Spirit-conscious. And whatever you focus on is what you will do.
— When you know who you are, you’ll live like it.
4. Living The Grace Life.
The Law was about what man had to do for God. Grace is about what God has already done for man. Under the Law, man worked and God responded to man’s work. Under grace, God has already worked, and we respond to His finished work. This is why Paul was baffled that anyone would want to go back under the Law after experiencing grace. Grace is a better covenant with better promises.
How this applies to you:
— Under grace, God does all He does by His unmerited favor.
— We access what grace has provided through faith.
— Faith is not about trying to get God to do something. Faith is about receiving what God has already done.
— Grace-based living is about discovery, not achievement. It is about walking with the Holy Spirit and being sensitive to His promptings. Not living with a mindset that is focused on compliance with rules.
— When you live a life focused on your performance, and you are attempting to measure up to your calling, you are actually trying to create a pleasing life in God’s sight. Stop trying to create a life and discover the one God planned. The one He planned is already pleasing in His sight.
— Your role is to believe and receive what grace has provided.
5. The Power of Grace Through Faith.
When we look at Abraham and Sarah, we see a perfect picture of how grace and faith work together. Grace had already provided the promise of a son, but it took faith to receive that promise. Just like Sarah accessed God’s supernatural provision through faith, we too must learn to access what grace has already provided. This is why Hebrews 11:11 tells us that “Sarah received strength to conceive seed.” She could not have babies at 18, but when she was 89 when the fullness of time came, she received, by faith, what grace had already provided. And Abraham was almost 100 years old. His body, from the waist down, was not working. But he heard what God said, and he believed it. Not because he was perfect (because he was not). Not because he had done everything right (because he made his fair share of mistakes). He and Sarah even produced a baby through Hagar that was outside of God’s will. But God did not hold that against them. God was like, “I knew all the mistakes you were going to make and I called you anyway. If you can believe what I want to do in your life, all things will be possible for you.” This is how we are supposed to live today.
How this applies to you:
— Grace has already provided everything you need to fulfill your divine assignment.
— Faith is not about getting God to move but receiving what He’s planned and done (in the spirit).
— Sarah’s faith accessed what God’s grace had already provided. Abraham too. They had a baby when he was 100 and she was 90. How? By their faith and God’s grace. This is how we are supposed to live.
— When human ability ends, supernatural grace takes over.
— Your part is to believe what God has already decreed over your life.
— Faith doesn’t move God. Faith receives from God.
— Faith is not about you convincing God. Faith is what happens to you when God convinces you!
— Just like Abraham and Sarah, you must believe God’s promise even when it seems impossible.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I thank You for using Paul to paint such a clear picture of Your grace.
I declare that I am a child of promise like Isaac, not of human effort like Ishmael.
I choose to live free from the bondage of performance-based religion.
I am delivered from the exhaustion of trying to earn what You have freely given.
Your grace is sufficient for everything You’ve called me to do.
I walk in the freedom of knowing my relationship with You is based on Your goodness, not my performance.
I access by faith all that Your grace has already provided.
I rest in knowing that You get all the glory when I live by Your grace.
I choose to live by faith, tapping into Your grace. Living this way, I know GREATER IS COMING FOR ME because my life IS ALL ABOUT YOU!
I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen!
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and prosper!
