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. 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.”
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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.”
Scripture(s) we will study today:
Galatians 1:3-5 NIV
“Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
Galatians 1:3-5 TPT
“May God’s wonderful grace and perfect peace flow to you from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ. He’s the one who gave himself as the ransom price to free us from the grip of our sins, as ordained by the plan of our Father, the God of glory, to liberate us from this present evil world system. All the glory will be to God alone, throughout time and eternity. Amen!”
Galatians 1:3-5 ERV
“I pray that God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ will be good to you and give you peace. Jesus gave himself for our sins to free us from this evil world we live in, as God our Father planned. The glory belongs to God forever and ever. Amen.”
Setting the Stage:
In yesterday’s message, we examined how Paul opened his letter by establishing his divine authority, not from men, but directly from Jesus Christ and God the Father. Today, we look at what follows: his greeting of grace and peace, followed by a powerful declaration of what Jesus accomplished for us.
This isn’t just a casual greeting. After firmly establishing his authority, Paul immediately pivots to the heart of his message: the gospel of grace. In most of his letters, Paul follows a similar greeting format, but in Galatians, his words carry particular weight because the Galatians were being led astray from grace back to law-keeping.
Before Paul corrects their error, he reminds them of the foundational truth they’re departing from: that Jesus gave himself for our sins to deliver us from this present evil age. This wasn’t just theological theory—it was the very essence of their salvation. The Galatians were forgetting the central purpose of Christ’s sacrifice: not to enhance law-keeping, but to establish a completely new covenant based on grace.
So, what does this mean to you today? A few things.
1. Grace and Peace: God’s Perfect Greeting for Every Believer.
Paul begins with “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” This wasn’t a casual hello but a profound declaration of what God offers every believer through Christ.
How this applies to you:
— Grace always precedes peace. You’ll never experience God’s perfect peace until you receive and understand His amazing grace. In other words, you will never experience the peace OF God until you have peace WITH God, and peace WITH God only comes by receiving His grace by faith. Many believers struggle with anxiety because they’re trying to earn what God has freely given. Paul told us to be anxious for nothing (Phil 4:6,7), but there is no way you can tell me that you are not anxious about anything if you are afraid of going to hell.
— Grace is God’s unmerited favor extended to undeserving people. This is not just a theological concept. I believe it is the atmosphere we are called to live in daily as we walk in THE GRACE LIFE.
— The peace Paul speaks of isn’t the absence of trouble but the presence of God, regardless of external circumstances. It’s peace IN the storm, not just peace AFTER the storm passes.
— These twin blessings—grace and peace—flow directly “from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” They’re not self-generated or achievable by human effort; they’re divine gifts received by faith, and they are both rooted in what Jesus did for us.
— Many believers exhaust themselves trying to generate peace through human means when it’s already available as a free gift from the Father and Son. The peace you can generate through stillness or seeking calm is no comparison to the peace God provides by His Spirit. This peace has nothing to do with external conditions.
— In the world, if they want peace, they have to go somewhere where the external conditions are free from anything that could rob them of their peace. However, in Christ, His peace is not contingent upon external conditions. It is a matter of the heart. Therefore, you can be in the middle of a storm and still be completely at peace in your heart, knowing you have the grace to endure and overcome the storm.
— Your capacity to extend grace and peace to others is directly proportional to how much you’ve received and embraced them for yourself. You can’t give what you haven’t received.
— The order is significant: grace first, then peace. When you try to find peace without first embracing grace, you’ll always come up short. The peace that passes understanding only flows from opening your heart to God’s amazing grace.
2. The Ultimate Sacrifice: Jesus Gave Himself.
Paul emphasizes that Jesus “gave himself for our sins.” This wasn’t a partial gift or a reluctant offering—it was the complete giving of himself.
How this applies to you:
— Jesus didn’t just give something valuable. To be clear, He gave His very self. This means your redemption cost the highest possible price, which reveals your immeasurable value to God. In return, while God offers you eternal life for FREE, there is a HIGH COST to this FREE GIFT. Just as Jesus gave Himself for you, He is looking for you to give yourself for Him!
— The phrase “gave himself” reveals the voluntary nature of Christ’s sacrifice. No one took His life; He willingly laid it down. Jesus’ voluntary sacrifice is the foundation of grace.
— Many believers still live with guilt because they haven’t fully grasped the completeness of what Jesus did on the cross for us. When Jesus said, “It is finished,” He meant your debt was PAID IN FULL!
— Jesus gave Himself “for our sins“—not just to forgive them but to completely remove their power and penalty. This means you’re not just forgiven. Once you are Born-Again, you are fully liberated from the bondage of sin and the sting of death.
— When you truly understand that Jesus gave Himself for your sins, you stop trying to pay a debt that’s already been paid. Instead, you live from a position of gratitude, not guilt. You stop trying to earn what has been freely provided.
— Religious systems always try to add requirements to Christ’s finished work, suggesting His sacrifice wasn’t enough. But grace insists that Jesus’ gift of Himself was completely sufficient.
— The magnitude of Christ’s sacrifice reveals God’s assessment of your worth. Think about this: You were worth Jesus to God the Father. The Father sent His Son to die in your place. The Son paid a price you could not pay for debt He did not owe. And now, the Holy Spirit takes up residence inside of you, and He refuses to leave you, even when you are doing things that break His heart. This is how much you mean to God! This truth transforms your self-perception from worthless to priceless.
3. Deliverance from the Present Evil Age.
Paul states that Christ’s purpose was “to rescue us from the present evil age.” This deliverance isn’t just about future salvation but present liberation.
How this applies to you:
— The deliverance Jesus secured isn’t just about going to heaven when you die—it’s about living free from this world’s corrupt value system right now, in the present.
— Many believers are saved but still enslaved to the world’s way of thinking. God’s grace delivers you not just from sin’s penalty but from its power and the world’s influence. Grace teaches you how to live a life that is free from the shady ways of this world, so you can stand out as light and salt.
— The “present evil age” isn’t primarily about time but about the corrupt system that dominates this world. In Ephesians, Paul said, “Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.” (Ephesians 2:1-3). We all used to live like the world. We all embraced the corrupt priorities, values, and ways of thinking that oppose God’s kingdom. But thankfully, Jesus came to deliver us from all of that!
— True deliverance means you no longer derive your identity, purpose, or sense of value from the world’s definitions of success, wealth, power, or status. Your identity is settled in who you are in Christ Jesus. Paul knew this, and it is why he opened the letter the way he did (which we covered in yesterday’s message).
— When grace fully takes hold, you’ll find yourself increasingly out of step with the world’s values and increasingly aligned with God’s kingdom principles. Said another way, living THE GRACE LIFE will mean that you will live IN SYNC with heaven, but it may cause you to seem OUT OF SYNC with this present world. You have to be okay with that. That is part of the cost of discipleship.
— Trying to follow Jesus while maintaining allegiance to the world’s value system produces constant internal conflict, and it will hinder your spiritual growth. If you tell me you moved, but I keep finding you at your old address, your audio is not congruent with your video, and you will never truly grow the way God wants you to grow until you are willing to LET GO of your old life.
— Jesus said, “Any of you who want to be my follower must stop thinking about yourself and what you want. You must be willing to carry the cross that is given to you for following me. Any of you who try to save the life you have will lose it. But you who give up your life for me and for the Good News will save it.” (Mark 8:34,35 ERV).
4. According to the Father’s Will: The Divine Plan.
Paul emphasizes that Christ’s sacrifice was “according to the will of our God and Father.” This wasn’t Plan B but God’s eternal purpose.
How this applies to you:
— Some people think God came up with the plan to send Jesus to die for our sins AFTER Adam sinned. But salvation wasn’t an afterthought or emergency response to sin. The Lamb of God was slain from the foundations of the world. God knew what He would do by grace. That’s why I call it “THE GRACE LIFE!“
— When you understand that grace was always God’s plan, you stop viewing it as a concession or compromise and start seeing it as God’s highest expression of love.
— The phrase “according to the will of our God and Father” reveals that Jesus and the Father were in perfect agreement about your salvation. The Father isn’t a harsh judge whom Jesus had to persuade; He’s the author of the plan of grace.
— Understanding that grace is God’s will liberates you from the false notion that God reluctantly forgives but secretly holds grudges. His complete forgiveness is His deliberate choice. God chose to send His Son, He chose to forgive us of our sin, and He chooses to use us despite our faults, flaws, and failures. That’s grace!
— Living in alignment with God’s will means embracing grace as the foundation of your life, not just a theological concept for salvation.
I’ll close with this thought: Grace and peace aren’t just nice words to begin a letter—they’re the essence of what God offers you in Christ. Jesus gave Himself completely to deliver you completely, according to the Father’s perfect plan. That’s the gospel Paul was defending, and that’s the gospel we must never abandon. We must never preach any other gospel but this one!
That’s enough for today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I thank You for Your amazing grace and perfect peace that flow to me from You and Your Son Jesus Christ.
I declare that I live in the atmosphere of grace, where Your unmerited favor surrounds me and empowers me daily.
I receive the peace that passes understanding, knowing it’s my inheritance as Your child.
I embrace the truth that Jesus gave Himself completely for my sins, paying a debt I could never pay.
I am fully delivered from this present evil age—its values, priorities, and ways of thinking no longer define or control me.
I rejoice that my salvation was always Your perfect will, planned before the foundation of the world.
I walk in the freedom of knowing that what Jesus accomplished for me was complete and is eternally secure.
I am living THE GRACE LIFE because Jesus gave Himself for me, and GREATER IS COMING FOR ME!
I declare this by faith, in Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and prosper!
