The Gospel of Grace!

This morning I am reading from Paul's letter to the Galatians.  This is such an important book for us today, as Paul is addressing the modification of the Gospel, as it was being pushed upon the Galatians.  This modification was a mixing of the Gospel of Christ and the Law, adding to the Gospel some set of works or physical acts.  I am looking at a few of his statements -

Galatians 1:3-5 NIV:

[3] "Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, [4] who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, [5] to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen."

Galatians 1:6-9 NIV:

[6] "I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel--- [7] which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. [8] But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God's curse! [9] As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God's curse!"

Galatians 2:15-16 NIV:

[15] “We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles [16] know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified."

Galatians 2:20-21 NIV:

[20] "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. [21] I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

I think it is pretty clear that Paul felt very strongly about this topic.  He recognized the danger of adding to the Gospel, and in His words, that is "really no gospel at all", or in other words not good news at all.  The Gospel is supposed to be GOOD NEWS!  It is the good news of the grace of Christ Jesus, applied to our lives.

It was His sacrifice ALONE that paid the price for our sins.

NOTHING we do earns this gift (Grace) of forgiveness.

It is ONLY through faith in Him that we are justified.

It is ONLY through this grace and faith in Him that we gain righteousness, not by the law or works.


A somewhat quick definition of  justification from the "ATS Bible Dictionary":

"The being regarded and treated as if innocent; or acquittal from the consequences of guilt before the tribunal of God. "Justification by faith" means that a person, on account of true and living faith in Christ..., will be delivered from condemnation on account of his sins; that is, his sins will be forgiven, and he be regarded and treated as if innocent and holy. Thus, besides the remission of sins and their penalty, it includes the restoration and everlasting enjoyment of the favor of God."

A somewhat quick definition of righteousness from "Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Bible Theology":

"God the Father is righteous (just); Jesus Christ his Son is the Righteous (Just) One; the Father through the Son and in the Spirit gives the gift of righteousness (justice) to repentant sinners for salvation; such believing sinners are declared righteous (just) by the Father through the Son, are made righteous (just) by the Holy Spirit working in them, and will be wholly righteous (just) in the age to come. They are and will be righteous because they are in a covenant relation with the living God, who is the God of all grace and mercy and who will bring to completion what he has begun in them by declaring them righteous for Christ's sake."


One could say that the perfect work of salvation, by which we are justified and declared righteous was accomplished by Jesus, through His death.  Nothing we do or say could ever add to this perfect work.  There is no amount of good works, no right living, no following of rules, no embracing religion that will ever add anything to this perfect work.

There is a call to obedience to Christ, but that is after salvation has already been accepted and applied to one's life.  Obedience to Christ is not the entry requirement.  Good works are a sign of gratitude, not a way to earn favor, for that favor was already gained through our being declared just and righteous in Christ.  Good works are the result of us being in relationship (right relation) with Him and becoming like Him, which is a process.  Good works and obedience to Christ (learning to walk in the way He leads us) is not a sign of salvation, but rather the result of salvation, and a grateful response.

There are those that argue by being good, and doing good, that salvation is somehow earned, but works in any form could never earn our salvation.  As Paul says, if that was the case then Christ died for nothing.  There are those that argue that it is only by good works that we know if salvation has really occurred, and while there is some justification of that argument found in Jame's letter, in the truest sense of the Gospel, that is not required.  It is through faith alone, in Christ alone, that we receive and experience salvation, justification and righteousness.

Likewise, there are those that preach that salvation can be lost by sinful lives, and that clearly is a misunderstanding of the perfect work accomplished by Christ Jesus, available by grace.  If salvation comes through faith alone, how do we lose it by works?  That would make sense if we earned it by works, and it was some balance that God kept where we needed to have so many good works, to earn our salvation.  However, when salvation comes through faith in Jesus, and His perfect sacrifice is applied to our lives, and we are declared justified and righteous, how do our works cancel that declaration of God!  All our sins are forgiven, even those we have yet to do.  It sounds crazy, but it is true!  As Graham Cooke says, "the Gospel is too good to be true, but it is!"

So let us examine our lives.  Let us look to our understanding of the Gospel (Good News) of Christ and let us hold onto the truth, and reject anything that is not in line with this clear Gospel of grace through faith.  As Paul says, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." (Gal 5:1).  The yoke of slavery he mentions is the law, and its requirements (works and religion).