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.
As part of this series, I am teaching a verse-by-verse exposition of the book of Galatians. That starts today. Let’s get into it.
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.”
??
??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.”
??
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.”
Key scriptures for this series:
Galatians 1:6-7 TPT
“I am dumbfounded that you are so quickly turning renegade by accepting a different message from the wonderful news I preached to you. Actually, there is only one message of the gospel, not two, but I realize there are some who are disrupting you with an altered message, distorting the gospel of Christ and perverting it into something it is not.”
Galatians 2:16 ERV
“But we know that people are not made right with God by following the Law. No, people are made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ. So we have put our faith in Christ Jesus, because we wanted to be made right with God. And we are right with him because we trusted in Christ—not because we followed the Law. I can say this because no one can be made right with God by following the Law.”
Galatians 3:3 TPT
“Your new life began when the Holy Spirit gave you a new birth. Why then would you so foolishly turn from living in the Spirit by trying to finish by your own works?”
Galatians 5:1 TPT
“Let me be clear, the Anointed One has set us free—not partially, but completely and wonderfully free! We must always cherish this truth and stubbornly refuse to go back into the bondage of our past.”
Setting the Stage:
In my opinion, Paul’s letter to the believers in Galatia contains the strongest language about God’s grace in all of Scripture. This wasn’t just another pastoral letter—it was a passionate plea from a spiritual father who was watching his children abandon freedom for slavery, trading the power of grace for the powerlessness of religious performance.
The Galatian believers had received the true Gospel from Paul directly, experienced genuine conversion, and tasted the freedom of God’s amazing grace. But false teachers had infiltrated their ranks, convincing them that faith in Christ wasn’t enough. What were they teaching the believers in Galatia? They needed to add Jewish rituals and law-keeping to be truly accepted by God.
As soon as Paul found out about this, he wrote a letter that dismantles every argument against grace while revealing the true power of living under grace rather than the Law.
As we study this amazing letter, verse by verse (a journey that will take months), we will discover why grace isn’t just a doctrine—it’s the very power that fuels our Christian life. We’ll learn that living by grace isn’t a license for laziness or sin, but the only true path to becoming the men and women we are called to be.
So, what does this mean to you today? A few things.
1. The Gospel of Grace is Non-Negotiable.
Paul doesn’t begin his letter with gentle correction—he launches into one of the strongest rebukes found anywhere in his writings. Why? Because when grace is compromised, everything is compromised.
How does this apply to you?
— There is only ONE Gospel, and it’s the Gospel of grace. Any message that adds human performance to Christ’s finished work isn’t just a slight variation—it’s a “different gospel, which is no gospel at all” (Gal. 1:6-7).
— The grace message isn’t something Paul invented—he received it directly from Jesus Christ through divine revelation. As he writes in Galatians 1:11-12 TPT: “My beloved friends, I want you to know that the gospel I preach is not based on mere human reasoning or logic. No one taught me my gospel or trained me in my theology, but it came directly as a revelation from Jesus Christ!” This isn’t Paul’s opinion; it’s heaven’s official position on how salvation works.
— When you add ANYTHING to grace, you subtract EVERYTHING from grace. The moment you believe your performance contributes to your standing with God, you have fallen from grace. In Galatians 5:4 ERV, Paul says, “If you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the Law, your connection with Christ is cut off. You have fallen away from God’s grace.” It’s not grace plus works; it’s grace alone accessed through faith.
— Your freedom in Christ cost too much to surrender casually. Paul was “dumbfounded” at how quickly the Galatians abandoned grace, and many believers today are equally quick to do the same thing. They get Born-Again by grace and then allow religious teachers to keep them bound to the performance of the Law.
— Grace isn’t just one aspect of the Gospel—it IS the Gospel. When Paul says in Galatians 2:21 TPT, “I don’t dismiss God’s grace, as if it were unimportant. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then Christ died for nothing,” he’s making it clear: grace is the whole point.
— The Gospel of grace demands a response. It’s already done! The question is: will you live from what Christ has already accomplished, or will you exhaust yourself trying to accomplish what only Christ can do? You cannot be made right with God by your performance. If you think you can, you will live a performance-based life that will keep you from embracing and enjoying the fullness and freedom of God’s grace!
2. The Law Can’t Empower What Grace Has Already Provided.
The Galatians fell into the common trap of starting with grace but then trying to reach spiritual maturity through law-keeping. Paul confronts this directly: “Your new life began when the Holy Spirit gave you a new birth. Why then would you so foolishly turn from living in the Spirit by trying to finish by your own works?” (Gal. 3:3 TPT).
How does this apply to you?
— The Law was never designed to give life—it was given to expose your need for grace. As Paul writes in Galatians 3:21 ERV, “If there was a law that could give life to people, then we could be made right with God by following that law.”
— Your performance can’t improve on Christ’s performance. When Jesus said, “It is finished,” He meant it. Adding your works to His completed work doesn’t complement grace—it contradicts it.
— The Law says “do,” but grace says “done.” Living under Law keeps you focused on your efforts; living under grace keeps you focused on Christ’s sufficiency.
— This does not mean you do nothing. When you fully embrace the grace of God, you will work harder than you ever have before (see 1 Cor 15:10, Eph 2:10), but it won’t be you doing it. It will be the grace of God THROUGH you!
— You don’t work FOR grace. You work BY grace. There is a revelation of a difference!
— The Law demands perfection but provides no power. Grace provides the power to become what the Law demands. The Law says “thou shalt not,” but only grace gives you the power to actually overcome sin and weights.
— Many believers are stuck in spiritual infancy because they’re trying to grow through rule-keeping rather than relationship. As Paul asks in Galatians 3:3 TPT, “Your new life began when the Holy Spirit gave you a new birth. Why then would you so foolishly turn from living in the Spirit by trying to finish by your own works?“
— What’s crazy is that many believers abandon grace in pursuit of holiness, not realizing that grace is the only real path to walking in holiness. As Titus 2:11-12 TPT tells us, “The marvelous grace of God that brings salvation to all people has now been revealed. It teaches us to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright lives in this present age.”
3. Identity Precedes Performance, Not the Other Way Around.
Throughout Galatians, Paul emphasizes a revolutionary concept (at the time): your identity as God’s child isn’t earned by performance—it’s received by faith. It’s from this secure identity that Godly living naturally flows.
How does this apply to you?
— You are not trying to become a child of God; you already are one through faith. Galatians 3:26 ERV says, “You were all baptized into Christ, and so you were all clothed with Christ. This shows that you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” Your performance doesn’t determine your identity—your identity empowers your performance.
— Religious performance is rooted in fear; grace-based living is rooted in love. One leads to bondage and exhaustion, the other to freedom and abundance.
— In Galatians 4:7 TPT, Paul makes this identity shift clear: “Now we’re no longer living like slaves under the Law, but we enjoy being God’s very own sons and daughters! And because we’re his, we can access everything our Father has—for we are heirs of God through Jesus, the Messiah!” Notice the order: identity first, inheritance second.
— Your true identity comes through spiritual birth, not religious behavior. Galatians 4:4-5 ERV says, “But when the right time came, God sent his Son, who was born from a woman and lived under the Law. God did this so that he could buy the freedom of those who were under the Law. God’s purpose was to make us his children.” It is clear here that when the followers of God were under the Law, they did not see themselves as children. They saw themselves as servants. But under grace, you are not a slave, you are not a servant, you are a SON!
— When you understand your identity as God’s child, you no longer perform to be accepted—you perform because you are accepted. This distinction changes everything about how you approach the Christian life.
— Under grace, obedience isn’t to gain God’s favor but because you already have it. This is the difference between a servant’s mindset and a son’s mindset. I don’t serve God because I am afraid of going to hell. I know I am going to heaven. Therefore, I serve God today (with much more dedication than I ever did when I had a religious mindset), simply because I love Him and I want to please Him!
4. True Freedom Comes From Grace, Not From Law.
Paul builds his case throughout the book of Galatians to the point where he could say the following. “Let me be clear, the Anointed One has set us free—not partially, but completely and wonderfully free! We must always cherish this truth and stubbornly refuse to go back into the bondage of our past” (Galatians 5:1 TPT).
How does this apply to you?
— The ultimate goal of grace isn’t just forgiveness—it’s freedom. Christ didn’t just die to forgive your sins; He died to liberate you from sin’s power and from religious bondage.
— Religious systems always promise freedom but deliver bondage. Only grace delivers on the promise of genuine freedom.
— Not only does God’s grace free you from the power of sin and death, but it also empowers you to live the life God called you to live. Galatians 5:22-23 ERV says, “But the fruit that the Spirit produces in a person’s life is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these kinds of things.”
— True spiritual maturity isn’t measured by how well you keep rules but by how completely you’re led by the Spirit. Galatians 5:16-18 TPT says: “Let me emphasize this: As you yield to the dynamic life and power of the Holy Spirit, you will abandon the cravings of your self-life. For your self-life craves the things that offend the Holy Spirit and hinder him from living free within you! And the Holy Spirit’s intense cravings hinder your old self-life from dominating you! So then, the two incompatible and conflicting forces within you are your self-life of the flesh and the new creation life of the Spirit. But when you are brought into the full freedom of the Spirit of grace, you will no longer be living under the domination of the Law, but soaring above it!“
— The ultimate evidence of grace-based living isn’t lawlessness but love. The entire Law is fulfilled in one command, as Galatians 5:14 TPT says, “Love makes the whole Law complete. For all the Law is fulfilled in this one word: ‘You must love your neighbor in the same way you love yourself.'” This love flows naturally from those who have experienced God’s grace.
In closing,
As we begin this journey through Galatians, I encourage you to approach this study with an open heart. Many of us have been conditioned to believe that grace must be balanced with Law to prevent excess, but Paul is against this mindset. In his mind, grace isn’t just part of the gospel—it is the gospel, and any attempt to add to it only diminishes its power.
That’s enough for today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I thank You for the revelation of grace found in Galatians.
I declare that I am fully accepted through Christ’s finished work, not my incomplete efforts.
I am Your child by grace through faith, not by works of the Law.
I am not a slave. I am not a servant. I am a son!
I choose to stand firm in the freedom Christ purchased for me and refuse to return to religious bondage.
The life I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Your grace is sufficient for me today and every day.
I am empowered by Your grace to do what You sent me to this planet to do, and I declare that I will not graduate from earth to glory until I do it!
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!????????????????
