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. Today, we move into Chapter 3, verses 1-2, where Paul delivers some of the most passionate and direct words in all of Scripture. Paul is about to wake up believers who have fallen under a dangerous spell.
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 CEV
“But God treated me with undeserved grace! He made me what I am, and his grace wasn’t wasted. I worked much harder than any of the other apostles, although it was really God’s grace at work and not me.”
Scripture(s) we will study today:
Galatians 3:1-2 TPT
“What has happened to you foolish Galatians? Who has put you under an evil spell? Did God not open your eyes to see the meaning of Jesus’ crucifixion? Was he not revealed to you as the crucified one? So answer me this: Did the Holy Spirit come to you as a reward for keeping Jewish laws? No, you received him as a gift because you believed in the Messiah.”
Galatians 3:1-2 AMPC
“O YOU poor and silly and thoughtless and unreflecting and senseless Galatians! Who has fascinated or bewitched or cast a spell over you, unto whom—right before your very eyes—Jesus Christ (the Messiah) was openly and graphically set forth and portrayed as crucified? Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the [Holy] Spirit as the result of obeying the Law and doing its works, or was it by hearing [the message of the Gospel] and believing [it]?”
Setting the Stage:
Paul just finished teaching one of the most life-transforming truths in all of Scripture: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal 2:20). He explained that nullifying God’s grace is the #1 killer of success. Now, as he moves into Chapter 3, Paul is absolutely amazed and deeply concerned.
The Galatians had experienced the supernatural power of God through simple faith. Still, they were now allowing others to convince them they needed to add religious performance to maintain the grace that had been freely given them. This is still happening today! Believers who started their Christian lives by grace through faith are now letting others talk them into thinking they must grow, succeed, and please God through performance-based Christianity.
Paul uses the strongest language possible here. The word “foolish” doesn’t mean mentally incapable. It means someone who can think clearly but refuses to use their power of perception. The word “bewitched” means that you have been so strongly influenced by others that you abandon what you know to be true. It’s almost like you are under a spell. Paul is saying, “How could you let someone talk you out of what you experienced firsthand?”
So, what does this mean for you today? A few things.
1. Don’t Let Others Talk You Out of Your Personal Testimony.
Paul asks in amazement, “Did the Holy Spirit come to you as a reward for keeping Jewish laws? No, you received him as a gift because you believed in the Messiah.” The Galatians had received everything supernatural through faith, but they were now allowing other people to convince them they had to earn through performance what they had already received through grace.
How this applies to you:
— Too many believers allow others to convince them that their personal experience with God and His grace isn’t enough. They got saved by grace through faith, received breakthroughs by grace through faith, and experienced God’s power by grace through faith. But then someone comes along and says, “That’s not enough. You need to do more, pray more, serve more, give more to really please God.” Don’t let anyone talk you out of what you know already works in your life.
— Your testimony is your proof that grace works. Every breakthrough you’ve experienced, every miracle you’ve witnessed, every blessing you’ve received from God came through faith, and it was a gift of God’s grace, not through your perfect religious performance. God did not bless you because you were good. God blessed you because He is good! So, when people try to convince you that you need to add works to grace, and do all these things right in order to be blessed, remind them (and yourself) of your own testimony of God’s goodness through simple faith.
— It comes down to this: God is looking for you to believe! But the problem is that if your expectation from God is based on your performance toward God, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment because your performance will always fall short of God’s standard of perfection.
— Many believers live on a spiritual roller coaster (high when they think they’re doing well, low when they feel they’ve failed), because their faith is tied to their performance. Your faith should never be contingent upon your performance, especially since your performance will fluctuate. Your faith should be based on God’s performance, which was completed through Christ Jesus. Your faith needs to be anchored in what Jesus has already done, not in what you’re trying to do.
— Just go back to what you know. Every blessing you have received from God came by grace, through faith. It was not based on your goodness. So, don’t let religious people make you feel guilty about the simplicity of grace. And don’t let them complicate the simple. God’s grace is supposed to be simple; that’s what makes it grace.
— People who are still trying to earn God’s favor often try to convince others to join them in that exhausting lifestyle. Misery loves company. When people are stressed out from trying to perform their way to God’s approval, they often pressure others to live the same way. Don’t let their performance-based anxiety become your burden.
— When God makes a promise to you, He makes it knowing every mistake you will ever make. His promises are not dependent on your perfection but on His faithfulness.
— Living THE GRACE LIFE means you stop evaluating your worthiness to receive from God based on your recent spiritual performance. God’s grace has already qualified you to receive His best.
— Here’s your daily protection against people who want to complicate your relationship with God: Start each morning by remembering your testimony. Remember how you got saved, how you received your first breakthroughs, how you experienced God’s power. When anyone tries to convince you that you need to do more to earn what you already have by grace, let your testimony remind you that God’s grace is sufficient, and simple faith is enough.
2. Don’t Let Anyone Convince You That the Cross Wasn’t Enough.
Paul says they had “Jesus Christ clearly portrayed as crucified” right before their eyes, yet they were still allowing others to convince them that they needed to add their own works to Christ’s finished work. When people try to talk you out of the sufficiency of the cross, they’re asking you to deny what you’ve experienced. Todd Galberth said, in one of his songs, “I’ve seen it with my own eyes.”
How this applies to you:
— Don’t let anyone convince you that the cross was just the starting point but not sufficient for your ongoing success. Some people will try to tell you that Jesus’ death was enough to save you from hell, but your spiritual growth, financial prosperity, and daily victory depend on how well you perform religiously. This is the deception that Paul was confronting in the text.
— When people suggest you need to add your efforts to Jesus’ finished work, they’re essentially saying the cross wasn’t complete. But when Jesus cried, “It is finished!” He wasn’t just talking about paying for your sins; He was declaring that everything you would ever need was now provided by His sacrifice. Don’t let anyone convince you otherwise.
— Some well-meaning people will try to make you feel like you’re not being responsible if you trust completely in God’s grace. They’ll say things like, “You can’t just depend on grace—you have to do your part too.” But your part is to believe and receive what Jesus already did. That’s not irresponsible; that’s faith.
— Don’t let religious teachers convince you that depending entirely on grace makes you lazy or presumptuous. The truth is, when you understand the complete sufficiency of the cross, it motivates you to serve God from gratitude rather than obligation. You don’t become lazy; you become liberated to live and serve from a heart of appreciation. As a result, you will work harder than you ever have in your life, but it won’t be you doing it. It will be the grace of God through you.
— Stand firm against anyone who tries to convince you that God’s attitude toward you fluctuates based on your daily performance. God’s love, acceptance, and favor toward you are based on what Jesus did, not what you do.
— Basically, what it comes down to is this: Many Christians believe that when you get Born-Again, you receive the power of the cross and forgiveness of all your sins TO THAT POINT. And then, for you to STAY SAVED, you must maintain your salvation through performance. This is just not Biblical and it is a slap in the face to what Jesus did on the cross.
3. Don’t Let Others Convince You to Complicate What God Made Simple.
Paul reminds the Galatians that they “received the Holy Spirit as a gift” through simple faith. The supernatural power of God came into their lives not because they performed well enough to deserve it, but because they believed the Gospel. Yet others were trying to convince them they needed to complicate this simple truth.
How this applies to you:
— Don’t let religious people convince you that God’s ways are complicated when He made them simple. Some people feel that if receiving from God is too easy, it can’t be right. They’ll try to convince you that you need complex formulas, lengthy processes, or elaborate prayers. But God’s grace is beautifully simple. This is what makes it accessible to everyone.
— When people try to convince you that the Holy Spirit’s power in your life is directly proportional to your spiritual performance, remind them of your testimony. You received the Holy Spirit as a gift when you believed, not as a reward when you performed. His power in your life isn’t based on how good you’ve been; it’s based on how good God is.
— Don’t let anyone talk you into believing that you need to generate through human effort what only the Holy Spirit can produce through divine power. You don’t manufacture patience through willpower, create peace through positive thinking, or produce love through determination. These are fruit of the Spirit that come through grace, not works. Your job is simply to believe and receive by faith.
— Stand firm against people who try to convince you that inconsistent religious performance means you’ve lost God’s presence. The Holy Spirit doesn’t come and go based on your performance. I can’t tell you how many times someone has said to me, “The Holy Spirit will not dwell in an unclean temple.” First of all, that is NOT in the Bible. Second of all, if the point they are making is that we must be perfect to house the Holy Spirit, then the Holy Spirit would not live in ANY of us.
— If people think the Holy Spirit comes and goes based on our performance, then they don’t understand scripture. First of all, the Holy Spirit is what made me Born-Again. So, if He leaves me, I would need to get Born-Again, AGAIN! Secondly, the people who make this argument cannot tell me how many sins we must commit to make the Holy Spirit leave. Is it 10, 20, 30, 100? At what point does the Holy Spirit give up on us? And if He gave up on us, then how could we ever come back? Isn’t it the Holy Spirit that leads us to repent?
4. Stand Firm in What You Know and Don’t Let Anyone Sway You.
Paul’s passionate confrontation is designed to wake up believers who have allowed others to talk them out of the truth they experienced firsthand. He wants them (and us) to return to the simple but powerful truth that everything comes from God by grace through faith, not by works through performance.
How this applies to you:
— Stop letting people convince you to doubt what you’ve personally experienced with God’s grace. How did you get saved? By grace through faith. How did you receive the Holy Spirit? By grace through faith. How did you receive your first breakthroughs and blessings? By grace through faith. If this is how you got everything from God, don’t let anyone convince you that maintaining or increasing it requires a different approach.
— Recognize that people who try to add works to grace are actually displaying a form of pride. They’re suggesting that their religious performance can add something valuable to what Jesus accomplished on the cross. Don’t let their pride in their works make you doubt the sufficiency of God’s grace.
— When people try to convince you that grace-based living is too simple or too easy, remind them that God designed it that way. Don’t let anyone convince you that God’s way should be more complicated.
— Stand firm in the confidence that your success doesn’t depend on your ability to perform perfectly. Your success depends on your ability to align yourself (by dying to self) with what God has called you to do. That’s it. Your success is rooted in God’s grace, which never runs out, never fails, and never requires you to earn it. Don’t let people who are stressed about their own performance make you doubt God’s goodness toward you.
— Don’t let others pressure you into serving God from obligation rather than gratitude. When you understand grace, you serve God because you want to, not because you have to. You give because you’re blessed, not to get blessed. You pray because you love talking to your Father, not because you’re afraid He’ll be upset if you don’t.
— Remember that grace-based living produces better results than performance-based living. When your confidence is in God’s grace rather than your performance, you attempt things that only God can accomplish, and you get results that only God can provide. Don’t let anyone talk you out of this supernatural lifestyle.
— When you live #TheGraceLife, you will see the invisible and attempt the impossible. This is how God wants us to live!
That’s enough for today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I thank You for opening my eyes to see the sufficiency of the cross!
I refuse to fall under the performance spell that makes me forget how I received everything from You.
I declare that the Holy Spirit came to me as a gift through faith, not as a reward for performance.
Everything I have from You (salvation, righteousness, blessings, and power) came by grace through faith.
I will not try to earn what Jesus already provided or maintain through works what I received through grace.
I break free from the performance spell and choose to live by grace through faith.
My confidence is in Your grace, not my performance.
Your grace is sufficient for every situation I face.
I am living #TheGraceLife with supernatural power and peace, and GREATER IS COMING FOR ME!
I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen!
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper!
