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 continue with Galatians 3:1-2, but I want to show you how to identify when you’re under the performance spell and how to break free from it completely.
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]?”
Romans 8:1-2 TPT
“So now the case is closed. There remains no accusing voice of condemnation against those who are joined in life-union with Jesus, the Anointed One. For the ‘law’ of the Spirit of life flowing through the anointed Jesus has liberated us from the ‘law’ of sin and death.”
Setting the Stage:
Here’s what I want you to understand today: The performance spell is real, it’s dangerous, and it’s one of the most common reasons believers never experience the fullness of what God has for them. The Galatians had been “bewitched.” This means they had fallen under a spiritual spell that made them abandon simple faith for complicated performance.
This same spell is active today. It convinces believers that what they received freely through grace must now be maintained through works. It makes people feel like they must constantly earn, deserve, or qualify for what Jesus already provided. The performance spell turns Christianity from a relationship into a religion, from rest into work, and from grace into guilt. Paul was passionate about addressing this, and so am I.
So what does this mean to you today? A few things.
1. Recognize the Symptoms of the Performance Spell.
Paul asks in amazement: “Who has put you under an evil spell?” The word “bewitched” means to be so strongly influenced by others that you abandon what you know to be true.
How this applies to you:
— Performance-spell symptom #1: You start questioning whether you’re doing enough for God. When you’re under this spell, you constantly worry about whether you’ve prayed enough, read your Bible enough, attended church enough, or given enough. You feel like there’s always something more you should be doing to please God or maintain His favor.
— Performance-spell symptom #2: Your confidence in God fluctuates based on your recent behavior. Under this spell, you feel close to God when you’ve been “good” and distant from Him when you’ve made mistakes. Your assurance of God’s love and acceptance rises and falls (like the stock market) based on your daily performance.
— Performance-spell symptom #3: You become hyper-focused on what other Christians are doing or not doing. The performance spell makes you judgmental toward others because you’re constantly measuring everyone (including yourself) by external behaviors.
— Performance-spell symptom #4: You lose the joy and simplicity of your relationship with God. When you’re under this spell, Christianity becomes complicated, stressful, and exhausting. You feel like you’re constantly trying to measure up to God’s standard, and you can never quite reach it.
— Performance-spell symptom #5: You start believing that God’s blessings are rewards for your good behavior. Under this spell, when good things happen, you think it’s because you earned them. When challenges come, you assume God is punishing you for something you did wrong.
— Performance-spell symptom #6: You feel guilty about receiving from God without “paying Him back.” The performance spell makes you uncomfortable with free gifts. You feel like you need to work extra hard to deserve what God freely gives.
2. Remember How You Got Everything Supernatural in the First Place.
Paul reminds the Galatians: “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 cure to the performance spell is remembering your testimony of how God’s grace worked in your life before anyone convinced you it wasn’t enough. In other words, before any religious person made it complicated.
How this applies to you:
— Go back to your salvation experience and remember how simple it was. You didn’t earn your salvation through good works. God saved you from hell by simply believing. It was a free gift of grace that you received by faith. If the most important thing in your life (eternal salvation) came by grace through faith, why would anything else require a different approach?
— Remember your first breakthrough, miracle, or answered prayer. Think about how it happened. Did God require you to perform perfectly before He moved on your behalf? Or did He respond to your simple faith and need?
— Recall the times when God blessed you even though you didn’t deserve it. Every believer has received favor, provision, protection, or a breakthrough during seasons when their behavior wasn’t perfect. These experiences remind us that God’s goodness is based on His character, not your performance.
— Your personal history with God is your strongest defense against the performance spell. When religious people try to convince you that simple faith isn’t enough, let your own experience with God’s grace remind you that it absolutely is.
3. The Pressure To Perform Creates Spiritual Exhaustion.
Paul calls the Galatians “foolish” not because they lack intelligence, but because they know better and they will still allow themselves to be duped. They allowed themselves to be convinced to live in a way that leads to burnout and a loss of divine power, because you can never believe on the level of miracle power when your focus is on YOU and your performance.
How this applies to you:
— When you take on the pressure to perform, it makes you feel like you’re constantly running on a spiritual treadmill. You work harder and harder religiously, but you never feel like you’re making progress. You’re busy with spiritual activities (in church several times a week) but not experiencing spiritual growth or peace.
— Performance-based Christianity creates anxiety instead of rest. When your relationship with God is based on your performance, you live with constant worry about whether you’re measuring up. This is the opposite of the peace that Jesus promised to those who come to Him.
— Focusing on performance makes you competitive with other believers instead of celebrating them. When you think God’s favor is earned through performance, you start viewing other Christians as competition rather than family. You compare your spiritual resume to theirs instead of rejoicing in their success.
— Here is a big one: Performance-based thinking leads to pride when you’re doing well and condemnation when you’re not. Both pride and condemnation are enemies of authentic spiritual growth.
— Performance-based Christianity creates self-righteousness, but never true satisfaction. In one moment, you feel good about yourself, because you judge yourself to be better than others. But in the next moment, since you are focused solely on your performance, you quickly realize that there is always another level, another requirement, and you lose whatever satisfaction you had. Living this way, it is hard to ever be content.
4. Break Free by Anchoring Yourself in the Finished Work of Christ.
Paul’s solution is to refocus on “Jesus Christ clearly portrayed as crucified.” The cross isn’t just the starting point of your Christian life; it’s the foundation for every aspect of your relationship with God. We must learn to rest in what Jesus has already done.
How this applies to you:
— Make “It’s already done!” your daily declaration against performance thinking. When you feel pressure to earn God’s favor, remind yourself that everything you need for life and godliness has already been provided through Christ’s finished work. You’re not trying to get God to do something new; you’re receiving what He already completed.
— Base your confidence on Jesus’ performance, not your own. Everything that Jesus is is who you are, in the spirit. You are in Christ, and Christ is in you. His death is your life. His life is your life. When you understand this, you can approach God with confidence regardless of your recent performance.
— Remember that grace doesn’t excuse sin, but it does empower you to overcome it. You don’t avoid sin to stay saved; you’re empowered to avoid sin because you are saved.
— Understand that your identity is settled in heaven, not determined on earth. Under the performance spell, your identity fluctuates based on your daily actions. But grace reveals that your identity as God’s beloved child is established by Jesus’ sacrifice, not your behavior. God’s opinion of you is not changing every day based on your performance. So, your goal is to base your opinion of yourself on God’s opinion of you!
— Let your service flow from gratitude, not obligation. When you break free from the performance spell, you serve God because you’re grateful for what He’s done, not because you’re trying to earn what you don’t yet have. This changes your approach to doing the things of God from duty to delight.
— Lastly, approach God’s throne with boldness, not timidity. The performance mindset makes you feel like you have to clean up your life before coming to God. Grace reminds you that as you come to God, regardless of your recent performance, God sees that you are covered by the Blood of His Son, you are filled with His Spirit, and you are called according to His purpose! This has nothing to do with your performance.
That’s enough for today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I break free from every performance spell that once clouded my spiritual perception!
I refuse to be bewitched by those who want to add works to Your grace.
I remember how I received everything supernatural in my life: by grace through faith, not by works through performance.
The Holy Spirit came to me as a gift when I believed, not as a reward when I performed.
My confidence is anchored in Jesus’ finished work, not my fluctuating performance.
I approach Your throne with boldness because of what Jesus did, not what I do.
My identity is settled in heaven and secure in Christ, not determined by my daily performance.
I serve You from gratitude, not obligation; from appreciation, not desperation; from delight, not duty.
I am living #TheGraceLife in 2025 and beyond, and GREATER IS COMING FOR ME!
I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen!
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper!
