From: September 16, 2024
“I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose” (Galatians 2:21 ESV).
God’s grace is that which saves and sustains the one trusting in Christ’s finished work of salvation. Grace is about God’s mercy, while working to keep the law is about our merit. Yet grace is more than mercy, for mercy only postpones or withholds the punishment we deserve. But grace gives us the opposite of what we deserve. This is not only saving and sustaining grace, it is scandalous grace. For it gives the one who deserves an “F” in life, an “A+.”
How is this just? It is just because Christ died in our place. He took our “F” and offers us His “A+.” He took our sin, separation and death and offers us His righteousness, Sonship, and eternal life through faith in Him.
When we attempt to add law-keeping to salvation, we “nullify” grace. And having set aside grace, we nullify the work of Christ on the cross with it. Grace (Greek: χάρις, charis) is God’s unmerited favor freely bestowed on those who having recognized their own inability to save themselves, willingly put their trust in Christ and His finished work of salvation. For salvation is by God’s grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
PRAYER: Dear Father, we thank You for Your grace and mercy. We humbly recognize that You have given us the opposite of what we deserve. Therefore, we glory not in ourselves, but in Your Son. For we desire to live for Your glory. Not as earning, but out of gratitude and out of our new identity as Your children. In Jesus’ name, amen.
From: September 16, 2023
“My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20 NLT).
Christianity is not a self-improvement course. We are not called to come and do, but to come and die. For the new life is not self-improvement, but self-denial. We consider our old self “crucified with Christ” and our new self risen with Him to new life. We die to sin and we also die to self-effort, no longer trying to please God by following some set of religious rules and regulations that we are unable to keep. Dying to self, we live by Christ, “trusting” in Him to live His life in and through us.
This new life that we live by faith is based on our new union with Christ Jesus. For whatever He has accomplished, is now accounted unto us by grace through faith. As Paul wrote to the Ephesians, God has made us alive with Christ, raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavens (See Eph. 2:5-6). Therefore, let us lay hold of this great truth, setting our hearts and minds on things above. “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3).
PRAYER: Dear Father, we are overwhelmed by Your grace and mercy, that You would make us one with Christ Jesus, so that we are coheirs with Him. Strengthen us by Your Spirit today, so that we might walk by faith and not by sight. In Jesus’ name, amen.
From: September 16, 2022
LIVING IN THE SPIRIT, NOT HUMAN EFFORT
The apostle Paul warned the believers in Galatia not to foolishly give up their freedom in Christ to be entangled once again under a yoke of slavery to religious rule-keeping. For since we are saved by faith, we must live and walk by faith. Self-effort neither saves nor sanctifies. We must learn to lean, being filled with the Spirit, we depend on Him for power and progress. When we attempt to be self-justifiers, we lose the joy of the Lord and we groan when suffering comes our way. For we worry that trouble has come due to some failure on our part, or that God is punishing us.
Yet, those who live by faith in Jesus, depending on the Spirit for strength, are able to rejoice in the midst of their sufferings (Rom.5:3). For living by faith we know that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:1). More than that, we know that if we “count it all joy” (James 1:2), God will cause it to produce in us perseverance, character, hope and other godly attributes as we are being conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29). Therefore, let us live and walk in the Spirit.
PRAYER: Dear Father, we rejoice in our justification by faith in Jesus Christ. We even rejoice in our sufferings now that we know that You will not withhold any good thing from us as Your very children. You only always want what is best for us. This fills us with unconquerable joy! Now, fill us afresh today with Your Holy Spirit that we might joyfully live for You all day long! In Jesus’ name, amen.
From: September 16, 2017
God’s grace, as Paul speaks of it here, is that which saves and sustains the one trusting in Christ’s finish work of salvation. Grace is about God’s mercy, while “works righteousness” is about our merit. But grace is more than mercy, for mercy only withholds the punishment we deserve. Yet, grace gives us the opposite of what we deserve. This is not only saving and sustaining grace, it is scandalous grace. For it gives the one who deserves an “F” on life’s test, an “A+.” How is this just? It is just because Christ died in our place. He took our “F” and offers us His “A+.” He took our death and offers us His life. When we attempt to add law-keeping to salvation, we “set aside” grace. And having nullified grace, we nullify the work of Christ on the cross with it. Grace (Greek: χάρις, charis) is God’s unmerited favor freely bestowed on those who having recognized their own inability to save themselves, put their trust in Christ and His finished work of salvation. Grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone saves.
From: September 16, 2016
Christianity is not a self-improvement course. We are not called to come and do, but to come and die. For the new life is not self-improvement, but self-denial. We consider our old self “crucified with Christ” and our new self risen with Him to new life. We die to sin and we also die to self-effort, no longer trying to please God by following some set of religious rules and regulations that we are unable to keep. Dying to self, we live by Christ, “trusting” in Him to live His life in and through us.
From: September 16, 2015
In this psalm of David, he spoke of a “banner” given to Israel by the Lord, that was to be “displayed.” In the armies of old the one who carried the banner or flag was among the most courageous of the soldiers. He was commissioned to carry and protect the banner, to keep it raised high in the sky and blowing in the breeze, so that all could see it. In Spurgeon’s meditation on this verse, he identifies the gospel as the church’s standard. I agree. We are to hold the gospel, the message of the cross, high over our lives. We have been given this banner by Christ and instructed to display it before the nations. Let us keep it lifted up, not allowing it to fall, or to be trampled in the mud. It may be bullet-ridden from the battle, but it is still the standard of truth given to us by the Lord Himself. Let us wave high the gospel banner over our lives until all the nations have heard.