Justified, Not By The Law But By Faith!

Hello everyone. How were the holidays? I hope we are all doing great, basking in the glory of God’s grace.

In this first post of the year, we will turn our attention again to Paul’s epistle to the Galatians. We are at chapter 3 and verse 10:

“All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law’. Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, ‘The righteous will live by faith’” Galatians 3:10 & 11 NIV.

We ended last year seeing that all of us who are of faith are blessed just like Abraham. And now we see presented to us more reasons why we should embrace and rejoice in the reality of faith in God’s grace rather than seeking to return to the Law.

As verse 11 reads, no one can be justified before God through the law. All who attempt to follow the law will continually receive only one final pronouncement- one of condemnation, judgement, and wrath. Even the strictest adherents to the law will always find in it a convicting, menacing voice declaring their unrighteousness. 

You see, it’s something like this: there is a penalty for every disobedience to any dictate of the law. And by the very nature of the law, it is impossible for any human being to have a full compliance to every dictate of the law every time.  What that means is that people are only able perhaps to maintain partial compliance with the law. But partial compliance to the law means there is still an outstanding penalty for the other parts of the law that have not been kept! Such is the curse of the law, “by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified”. In fact as we will discover later in this series, God did not give the law as a means of obtaining righteousness. 

The simple call as we begin 2016 is for us to strengthen in our hearts the acceptance of the reality that human effort lacks the capability to put us in a good position with God. No rites or rituals, no amount of piety or sanctimonious acts could ever be good enough really. It is all just not good enough. We are justified by faith. And we did not achieve it on our own. It came by the gracious act of our gracious God.

So we have no other choice than to abandon our souls to the great grace of God and appropriate by faith all that Jesus has freely provided.  For what the law could not accomplish, God by grace through His Son has accomplished for everyone who lives by the principle of faith.  

My song for the week is ‘Redeemed’ by Big Daddy Weave. I encourage you this year to look away from any past failures and inadequacies but focus more on the realities of your new life in Christ. 

Have a wonderful week and please come back again next week for more snapshots of God’s amazing grace.

'Redeemed' by Big Daddy Weave