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. Over the past four messages, we’ve been diving deep into Galatians 2:20—the most life-changing verse in Scripture. Today, we move to verse 21, where Paul reveals the #1 thing that will kill your success and sabotage everything God wants to do in your life.
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.”
Scripture(s) we will study today:
Galatians 2:21 TPT
“I refuse to be one who nullifies God’s grace. For if righteousness could be obtained by the law, then Christ would have died for nothing!”
Galatians 2:21 ERV
“This gift of God is very important to me. I don’t want to make it useless. If we could be made right with God by following the law, then Christ did not have to die.”
Romans 11:6 TPT
“And since it is by grace, it can’t be a matter of their good works; otherwise, grace ceases to be grace.”
Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Setting the Stage:
After experiencing the life-changing revelation of Galatians 2:20—that our old identity has been crucified with Christ and He now lives through us—Paul makes a critical declaration that every believer needs to understand: “I refuse to be one who nullifies God’s grace.”
Here’s what Paul is saying: The #1 success killer in your life is nullifying (making void, useless, or powerless) the grace of God. Most believers don’t realize they’re doing this, but when you try to accomplish God’s plans for your life through human effort, religious performance, or your own abilities, you’re actually working against the very grace that God provided to make you successful.
Grace is not just how you got saved; grace is how you succeed in every area of life. Whether you’re building a business, advancing in your career, improving your marriage, raising your children, or pursuing any goal, the moment you shift from depending on God’s grace to depending on your own performance, you nullify the very power that was designed to make you successful.
Paul understood something that many modern believers miss: you can actually make God’s grace useless in your life by trying to earn through works what God has already provided through grace.
So, what does this mean to you today? A few things.
1. Nullifying Grace Kills Your Business and Career Success.
Paul declares: “I refuse to be one who nullifies God’s grace.” When you try to build your business or advance your career through human effort alone, you’re actually nullifying the grace that could make you supernaturally successful.
How this applies to you:
— Most entrepreneurs and business professionals work themselves into exhaustion trying to force success through longer hours, more networking, and endless hustling. But when you nullify grace, you cut yourself off from the supernatural favor, divine connections, and supernatural opportunities that God wants to provide for your career/business success.
— You nullify grace when you believe that your success depends entirely on your education, your experience, your connections, or your natural abilities. These things matter, but when they become your confidence instead of God’s grace being your confidence, you’ve nullified the very power that could multiply your efforts supernaturally. In other words, once you are Born-Again, God no longer expects you to operate as a mere man. You are a man/woman walking around with God in you and the grace of God on you.
— Performance-based business thinking sounds like this: “If I work 80 hours a week, network with the right people, perfect my pitch, and outwork my competition, I’ll be successful.” Grace-based business thinking sounds like this: “I will work with excellence and wisdom, and I will put in all the work the Holy Spirit leads me to, however, my confidence to succeed is in God. As a result, I learn to rest and trust while I work and grind. This positions me to experience open doors, divine opportunities, and supernatural favor; all things that human effort could never generate.”
— When you nullify grace in your business, you take on pressure that was never meant for you to carry. Instead of operating from rest and trusting God’s provision, you operate from anxiety, fear, and the constant need to perform. This stress will literally kill your creativity, your decision-making ability, and your capacity to hear God’s voice about business opportunities.
— Here’s what happens when you don’t nullify grace: You work with excellence, but your confidence is in God’s ability to bless your work, not just in your ability to work hard. You get contracts, clients, and opportunities that exceed your qualifications because grace provides favor and opens doors that performance could never open.
— Your business becomes a demonstration of God’s goodness rather than a monument to your abilities. People are drawn to do business with you not just because of your products or services, but because there’s something different about the way you operate. People get to experience God’s grace as they work with you.
2. Nullifying Grace Destroys Your Leadership Effectiveness.
Paul continues: “For if righteousness could be obtained by the law, then Christ would have died for nothing!” When you try to lead others through rules, control, and performance demands instead of grace, you nullify the very power that makes leadership effective.
How this applies to you:
— Many leaders (whether in business, ministry, or family) try to get results by creating more rules, increasing accountability measures, and demanding better performance from their teams. But law-based leadership always produces fear, rebellion, and eventual burnout. Grace-based leadership produces loyalty and confidence, and it also produces more leaders.
— You nullify grace in your leadership when you motivate people through guilt, manipulation, or the threat of consequences instead of inspiring them through vision, encouragement, and empowerment. Grace-based leaders understand that people perform better when they feel valued and empowered rather than controlled and criticized.
— Performance-based leadership asks: “How can I make my team work harder and be more accountable?” Grace-based leadership asks: “How can I create an environment where my team members thrive, grow, and want to give their best because they feel valued, empowered, and inspired?”
— When you lead by grace, you understand that your role is not to control people but to create an atmosphere where they can succeed. You provide resources, training, encouragement, and clear expectations, but you trust people to rise to the occasion rather than micromanaging every detail of their performance.
— Grace-based leaders focus on developing people, not just using people. You invest in your team members’ growth, celebrate their victories, and help them recover from their failures. This creates loyalty and commitment that performance-based leadership could never achieve.
— Your leadership becomes supernaturally effective because you’re operating in the same grace that God uses to lead you. Just as God leads you with kindness, patience, and empowerment, you lead others with the same grace, and it produces results that exceed what control-based leadership could ever accomplish.
— People want to follow grace-based leaders because they feel better about themselves and their potential when they’re around you. Instead of feeling criticized and controlled, they feel encouraged and empowered to become the best version of themselves.
3. Nullifying Grace Kills Your Financial Prosperity.
Paul warns against nullifying grace because “Christ would have died for nothing!” When you try to achieve financial security through works alone, you nullify the grace that God provided to make you prosperous.
How this applies to you:
— Most people approach money with a performance-based mindset: “If I save enough, invest wisely, work extra jobs, and manage my money perfectly, I’ll be financially secure.” While financial wisdom is important, when your confidence is only in your financial performance, you’ve nullified the grace that could multiply your resources supernaturally.
— You nullify grace when you believe that your financial future depends entirely on your salary, your savings account, or your investment returns. These things are tools, but when they become your source instead of God being your source, you’ve cut yourself off from the supernatural provision that grace provides.
— Grace-based financial thinking sounds like this: “I will be a good steward of what God provides, I will work with excellence, I will save and invest wisely, but my confidence is in God’s ability to provide for me, not just in my ability to earn and manage money.” This doesn’t make you financially irresponsible; it makes you financially supernatural.
— When you don’t nullify grace, you experience provision that exceeds your salary. You get opportunities, bonuses, unexpected income, and financial breakthroughs that you didn’t earn through your performance. Grace provides multiple streams of income and opens doors for wealth creation that your education and experience alone could never provide.
— Your approach to giving changes completely. Instead of giving based on what you think you can afford, you give as the Holy Spirit leads you, trusting that grace will provide for both your generosity and your needs. This positions you to experience the supernatural return that comes from grace-based giving.
— You stop panicking about economic conditions, market downturns, or job security because your confidence is not in the economy. Your confidence is in the God who owns everything. This doesn’t mean you ignore financial wisdom; it means you make financial decisions from faith and peace rather than fear and anxiety.
— Money becomes a tool for Kingdom purposes rather than just personal security. You’re free to use money strategically to advance God’s purposes and bless others, knowing that your giving positions you for even greater grace-based harvest.
4. Nullifying Grace Sabotages Your Spiritual Growth and Impact.
Paul’s warning about nullifying grace applies to every area of life, including your spiritual development and your ability to impact others for Christ. When you try to grow spiritually or serve God through religious performance, you nullify the very grace that makes spiritual growth and ministry effective.
How this applies to you:
— Many believers try to grow spiritually through religious performance: praying longer, reading the Bible more, attending more services, following more rules, and working harder in ministry. While these activities can be beneficial, when they become your confidence instead of God’s grace being your confidence, you’ve nullified the power that actually produces spiritual growth.
— You nullify grace when you believe that your spiritual maturity depends on your religious performance rather than on your relationship with Jesus and your understanding of what He’s already done for you. This creates a works-based Christianity that produces pride, judgment, and eventual burnout rather than humility, love, and a heart to serve that is renewed over time, becuase you are continually resting in God’s love and grace. Without this renewal, burnout is inevitable.
— Grace-based spiritual growth focuses on receiving and believing what God has already provided rather than trying to earn what you think you lack.
— When you don’t nullify grace, people are drawn to Christ through you. They are not drawn to you because you’re perfect, but because they experience the same grace, acceptance, and love through you that God has shown you.
— Your witness becomes supernaturally effective because you’re sharing from grace rather than from religious superiority. You don’t approach lost people as someone who has their act together. You approach them as one person who needs God’s grace, talking to another about the amazing grace that changed their life.
— Your ministry becomes a demonstration of God’s grace rather than a monument to your spiritual superiority. People experience hope, healing, and change through your ministry, not because you’re so spiritual, but because the grace of God is freely flowing TO and THROUGH you. This is #TheGraceLife.
That’s enough for today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I refuse to nullify Your grace in any area of my life!
I declare that my business success, career advancement, and financial prosperity come through grace, not just through my performance.
I will work with excellence and wisdom, but my confidence is in Your grace to provide opportunities, favor, and supernatural provision.
In my leadership, I choose to operate by grace, creating environments where people thrive rather than controlling them through rules and performance demands.
My spiritual growth comes through receiving what You’ve already provided by grace, not through religious performance.
Christ did not die for nothing—His death provided the grace that empowers me to live supernaturally in every area of my life.
I am living #TheGraceLife without nullifying Your grace, and GREATER IS COMING FOR ME!
I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen!
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper!
