131201 The Promise Given to Believers

Galatians 3:15-22, To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. ¹⁶ Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. ¹⁷ This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. ¹⁸ For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.

¹⁹ Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. ²⁰ Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one.

²¹ Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. ²² But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

Thanksgiving is behind us and Christmas lies ahead! So far as can be determined, Christmas was an unknown concept to Paul and the first century church. So far as we know the first century church did not celebrate the birth of Christ. However, it was very clear that Christ’s birth was important! He had to be born a man in order to become a curse for us so that we might receive the blessing of Abraham — the promised Spirit. Paul’s concern for the Galatian believers caused him to enlarge their understanding of the promise. In a couple of weeks we will look further into what Paul said to the Galatians about the birth of Christ. Right now we need to seek to understand the promises made to Abraham and his offspring and how it affects us.

The promise was made to Abraham hundreds of years before the law was written down. The law condemns a person because it is impossible to perfectly keep it. Twice, on earth, there was a man who was perfect before God — Adam before he sinned and Jesus all his life. Jesus came to remove the condemnation of the law and set us free to serve God by grace through faith. Abraham was chosen by God before there was any written Bible, or law. God, instead of giving a law, gave a promise and,…

The promise was made to Abraham. Let’s look at Genesis 12:1-3 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. ² And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. ³ I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Abram, the son of Terah, was raised in a household that worshiped idols and not the God of heaven. Yet, when God looked on him he saw a man that, according to James, would be his friend and would believe him when he spoke. As result of the faith that Abraham placed in God…

God promised to multiply his descendants. Now, let’s look at Genesis 17:1-6 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, ² that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” ³ Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, ⁴ “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. ⁵ No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. ⁶ I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you.

Abraham was ninety-nine years old. He had a son named Ishmael who had been born out of a wrong relationship. Ishmael was not the child of promise, instead, he was born of a slave woman and represented the legalism of works. God had a better plan for Abraham and Sarah. God would produce for them a child born of the free woman representing the freedom we have in Christ Jesus.

Abraham was ninety-nine years old and Sarah was ninety years old. The one thing that was certain to Abraham was that he and Sarah were long past childbearing years. God had given them a promise and waited until the promise could not be fulfilled by human will. That promise could only be fulfilled by a miracle of God!

Not only would they have a son but they would have, descended from them, a multitude of nations. Not just the people of many nations but Kings would come out of the promise. Even better than that…

All the families of the earth would be blessed. Look at what Jesus had to say about it in Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

God never intended that there would be only one nation that believed in him. When he said that all the families of the earth would be blessed he was talking about Jesus, of course! Not just Jesus but all of us would be part of that blessing. Without the salvation that comes through Jesus Christ there would be no hope of us doing any lasting good on this earth.

God told Abraham that he would bless all the families of the earth. Jesus told his disciples that the gospel of the kingdom would be preached to all the nations of the world and when that happens the end will come. Rest assured that the end will not come until all people groups everywhere have had the gospel proclaimed to them. Today, there are more than seven thousand people groups that have not been reached with the gospel of Jesus Christ. They represent more than 40% of the people on earth. Jesus promised that the gospel would be preached everywhere to all people…

Giving us encouragement. Let’s look at what Hebrews 6:17-20 tells us So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, ¹⁸ so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. ¹⁹ We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, ²⁰ where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

God’s purpose does not change and we should be encouraged by that! Thousands of years ago he told his friend, Abraham, that all the families of the earth will be blessed through him. As the years rolled by it seemed to be an impossible promise. Only a few families were being blessed. They were primarily the physical descendants of Abraham and, in fact, only a few of them. The law came by Moses as an act of God’s grace to show his people how to live and to convince them that they could only live out the law by the grace of God.

Again, thousands of years went by and Mary was approached by an Angel and told that she, who had never sexually known a man, would bear a son who would save his people from their sins. Once again God intervened in a miraculous way to bring a child into the world to fulfill his purpose. Only this time that child would be his own Son, Jesus, son of Mary and supposed to be the son of Joseph. In reality he was the only Son of God.

But I am getting ahead of myself. Paul told the Galatians that…

The law came after the promise. After the promise more than four hundred years passed and the law came by Moses. However the law…
Could not cancel the promise. Listen while I read from Romans 4:13-15 For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. ¹⁴ For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. ¹⁵ For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.

The promise to Abraham and his offspring came through the righteousness of faith. Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. Folks, the most important thing you can do is believe God. Not believe about him, in reality everyone does that, but believe Him! Paul reminds us that if those who keep the law are the heirs then faith is meaningless. Instead, the law brings wrath and puts us in a position where we are doomed to hell. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus which is received by grace through faith.

The law, or good works, cannot give life…

Instead, the law brings sin to life. Look at what Romans 3:19-20 tells us. Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. ²⁰ For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Often, when a person is introduced to faith in Jesus Christ he, or she, thinks to themselves, “This is easy.” However, as time goes by, they try to live out the Christian life in their own strength and fail miserably! The harder they work at keeping the rules the harder the rules seem to get.

In Romans chapter 7 Paul talks about how the tenth commandment, “you shall not covet”, made him aware of covetousness. And the harder he worked at being right with God the more he coveted. The law was doing its work in his life! The law was not given to make us right with God. The law was given to show us how wrong we are! The law, or good works, brings sin to life…

And brings us to the end of ourselves. Look at two familiar verses from what is often called, “The Roman Road”, to salvation. Romans 10:9-10 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

In order to achieve salvation a person has to come to the place where they know they have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We have to see all our righteousness is like filthy rags. We need to recognize what the law was designed to teach us — apart from a work of God in our lives — that we have no hope of eternal life. We have to confess that we have failed in the Lordship contest. When we are Lord of our life we are in serious trouble. Instead we have to acknowledge that Jesus is Lord. That is the first step in salvation! We do not come to salvation little by little and eventually come to the place where Jesus is Lord. We come to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and salvation by grace through faith all at the same time. We confess with the mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead. Then, and only then, are we saved.

The law came to condemn us and…

Christ came to remove the condemnation of the law.

Jesus said that the Father did not send Him into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved. The world was condemned already. We were born in trespasses and sins and therefore spiritually dead. Jesus came into the world to remove the condemnation. The law, or good works, could never set us free but…

The law of life frees us. Look at Romans 8:1-2 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ² For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

No condemnation! Those are very precious words. Mankind is born condemned and in need of deliverance. We are born subject to the law of sin and death. What can I compare this to? Well, let me try this. The law of sin and death is a primary law in the same sense as the force of gravity which affects all of us in the same way. Actually, I am not so sure about that because as I get older gravity seems to increase. I know, I know, actually I am getting weaker with age. But the law of gravity is a powerful force. A good test that we can simply do is stand on a chair and step off it. What will happen? If you do it right you be standing up when you hit the ground. If you do it wrong you will likely hurt yourself. A stronger illustration would be to go up on top of a house and step off. Almost no matter how you land you will hurt yourself. Or, consider this. The average weight of a Boeing 747 airplane is about 900,000 pounds. The law of gravity says that it will stay on the ground. However, there are other laws to take into consideration. As a group they are called the laws of aerodynamics. The four primary laws concern lift, weight, thrust and drag. In order for a 747 to fly when it is fully loaded the lift has to exceed 900,000 pounds. And the thrust has to be adequate to overcome the drag.

In the same way, if we are to overcome the law of sin and death, we have to come under the law of the Spirit of life. We are set free in Christ Jesus by the law of the Spirit of life that overcomes the law of sin and death. In the same manner, the laws of aerodynamics must overcome the force of gravity in order for an airplane to fly. We receive the law of the Spirit of life…

Through the promised offspring. Jesus himself tells us in John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Remember the promise was made to Abraham and to his offspring. Not “offsprings” as though there were many but, a singular offspring! Physically there are multiplied millions of offspring of Abraham. Spiritually there are millions of offspring of Abraham but there is only one that the promise was given to. That one is Jesus Christ! We receive the Spirit of life by God’s grace through faith in Jesus and…

Nothing can take us back to death. Listen while I read Romans 8:32-39  He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? ³³ Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” ³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans Chapter 8 begins with “no condemnation” and ends with “no separation”! We were born under the condemnation of sin. God, in his infinite mercy, determined before we were born that we should have an opportunity to be free of that condemnation. He gave his own Son for us! If he would do that he will also take care of us since he has delivered us from the condemnation of sin.

Nothing can separate us from the love of God that is found in Christ Jesus. Not death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nothing — nothing at all can separate us.

Do not let yourself be brought back into the bondage of works salvation — legalism. You cannot earn your salvation it is the gift of God, by his grace, through faith in Jesus Christ.

The Galatian believers were being brought into bondage to legalism. Throughout history the church of Jesus Christ has been plagued by legalists. If we are not careful any of us can be brought under the condemnation of the law. We must always remember that without faith it is impossible to please God. If a law had been given that could give life then Jesus died for nothing. When he prayed, “Father, let this cup pass from me!” The Father would have sent legions of Angels to stop what was about to happen, if there was any other way! The Scripture imprisons everything under sin so that the promise of faith could be given to those who believe. Have you placed your faith in Him? If not, today is the day of salvation! Be reconciled to God while there is still an opportunity.

All scripture quotes are from: The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

131027 Grace is not Empty

Galatians 2:15-21, We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; ¹⁶ yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. ¹⁷ But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! ¹⁸ For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. ¹⁹ For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. ²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. ²¹ I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

Paul has had to stand up to Peter and the others who were intimidated by Jewish Christians who had come from Jerusalem. He shows that both Jew and Gentile were justified through faith in Jesus Christ. If Christians are to return to the covenant of works they will be declaring that grace is empty of power to justify. The Judaizers argued that in order to be a Christian one had to first follow the laws of Moses. They accuse Paul, and those with him, of sin because they did not keep the law of Moses anymore. Paul says if leaving the law is sin then Christ is a servant of sin. And that cannot be.

Anyone who adds anything to grace through faith for justification before God makes Jesus into a cruel tyrant who demands what we cannot give — absolute obedience! Grace through faith, and grace alone, is the path to salvation. People are drawn to a covenant of works, or works salvation, because we want to be in control of our lives and, therefore, proud of our accomplishments. Wayne Grudem, in his Systematic Theology, writes: “Faith is the one human attitude that is the opposite of depending on oneself, for it involves trust in or dependence upon another. Thus, it is devoid of self-reliance or attempts to gain righteousness by human effort. If God’s favor is to come to us apart from our own merit, then it must come when we depend not on our own merit but on the merits of another, and that is precisely when we have faith.”

The law was designed by God to draw us out of the security of our self-trust into the presence of Holy God so we can see how exceedingly sinful our lives are without Christ.

We must remember that…

The law brings death not life!

The law does not forgive sin. Listen while I read, Romans 3:19-20, Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. ²⁰ For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

The law was designed by God to make people aware that they could not be pleasing to him through what they did. In order to try to live by the Law of Moses the Jewish rabbis compiled a huge list of rules to follow. They were designed to get around the law because, honestly, it could not be kept.

For example, the Bible refers to a distance called “a Sabbath day’s journey” and that amounts to about a half mile that a person can travel without “working” on the Sabbath. If a person had to walk further than a half-mile it was simply a matter of having some food placed beforehand at the end of the Sabbath day’s journey. A person could then stop for the meal and continue on another Sabbath day’s journey. Presumably this could go on as far as the person needed to go. Walk about a half-mile, declare that to be where he lived, eat something that had been placed there to prove it was his residence, and then go on. Of course, this does not work. No matter how the rabbis twisted things around they cannot make the Law of Moses doable. God never intended the law to do anything other than cause a person to rely on him completely for salvation. Not only does the law not forgive sin …

The law enhances indwelling sin. Paul points out how the law worked in his life. Let me read some of his explanation. Romans 7:7-12. What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” ⁸ But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. ⁹ I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. ¹⁰ The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. ¹¹ For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. ¹² So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

The law serves a very important purpose. It is extremely important that we know what sin is otherwise we might accidentally do things that would condemn us. Paul uses the example of the tenth commandment. We are commanded not to covet and when Paul first read that he realized that he coveted many things and that it was sin. And as a result sin worked in his life causing all kinds of covetousness. This law that he thought was to have given him life instead deceived him and enhanced his sin. Works salvation cannot save us and only drives us to redouble our efforts in a failed attempt to please a God who demands perfection.

The law cannot save us it only increases our sin and…

Indwelling sin condemns us. Now let’s look at Romans 5:19-21. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. ²⁰ Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, ²¹ so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The one man’s disobedience refers to Adam in the Garden of Eden. The consequence of Adam’s sin was that we all became sinners. We inherit from Adam and Eve rebellion against God. So we are born in trespasses and sin and in need of a Savior.

The law increases the guilt and condemns the person who attempts to live by it. God, knowing that man could not save himself, by his grace ruled over the law of sin in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. The law came through Moses but grace and truth came through Jesus. It is not possible to live by the law and those who attempt to are condemned to struggle without ever having real peace.

I remember once talking to a pastor’s wife from a church that teaches salvation by works. She told me that if she died with one unconfessed sin she would go to hell. Being the gracious diplomat that I am I simply said to her, “Then you are going to bust hell wide open.” She thought that her salvation depended upon her confession rather than upon Christ’s work on the cross. We need to remember…

Christians have been crucified with Christ! I know that we live a long time after Jesus was crucified. But we need to remember that we do not think the way God does. God sees us in Christ not in our human nature. There is nothing about us, apart from the grace of God, that makes us acceptable to him. We owe a debt we cannot pay. We have sinned — all have sinned — and the wages of sin is death! Apart from the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. Praise God there was more than paying our sin debt when Jesus went to the cross…
Our old self was crucified with him. Listen to Romans 6:6, We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

Our old self, or old man, is who we are as sons and daughters of Adam and Eve. In order to be able to accomplish our salvation Jesus became flesh and blood like us. He was tempted in every way like we are except that he had no sin of his own. He did this so that he could set us free from the bondage of the old man and destroy the power of the enemy over us. Romans 6:6 tells us that this “old self” was put to death with Jesus Christ on the cross to take away the power of sin over us. In the mind of God Jesus became the substitutionary atonement for those who put their faith in him.

There is an old hymn by an anonymous author entitled, “What Wondrous Love is This”. This is one of my favorite songs because it is so full of truth. It goes like this:

What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul, What wondrous love is this, O my soul! What wondrous love is this, that caused the Lord of bliss to bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul, to bear the dreadful curse for my soul?

When I was sinking down, sinking down, sinking down, when I was sinking down, sinking down, when I was sinking down beneath God’s righteous frown, Christ laid aside his crown for my soul, for my soul, Christ laid aside his crown for my soul!

To God and to the Lamb I will sing, I will sing, to God and to the Lamb I will sing! To God and to the Lamb, who is the great I AM, while millions join the theme, I will sing, I will sing, while millions join the theme, I will sing!

And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on, and when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on! And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing and joyful be, and through eternity I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on, and through eternity I’ll sing on!

When we were sinking down beneath God’s righteous frown, Christ laid aside his crown for our souls. Jesus took our Adamic nature to the cross and put it to death! God sees us in Christ and Paul could say to us, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me…” The life that we now live as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ is Christ himself living his life through us for the glory of God and the good of God’s people! When he took us to the cross…

Jesus took our sins to the cross. The wages of sin is death and those wages have to be paid! Listen to 1 Peter 2:24, He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. He bore our sins along with our old man paying the price for Adam’s sin and our sins. He did this in order that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. The only sinless perfection that’s ever been on this earth was Adam before he sinned and Jesus all his life. No matter how well we may obey God we will never be sinlessly perfect. Our sins have to be paid for. So in our account books we have a debit filed against us. Sin is in that line! By God’s grace, Jesus entered into our account, “Paid in Full”! He who knew no sin became sin for us so that we could become the righteousness of God in him. And the righteousness of God that is ours because of the work of Jesus Christ is God’s grace at work. We were crucified with Christ and our sins were nailed to the cross…

So that we might live with him. Having come to faith in Jesus Christ, the life that we now live we live by the faith he has given us through his grace. Listen to what Paul wrote to Timothy. 2 Timothy 2:10-11. Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. ¹¹ The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him;

Wow, salvation in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. The Bible tells us that we died with Christ and were raised up with him and seated with him in heavenly places. Since we have been raised with him already we should be seeking the things that are above not focusing on the things of this earth. We should set our minds on heavenly things. Our focus should always be living out the faith that God has put in us. Jesus took us to the cross and paid the price for our sins so that we might live with him forever. He said that he was going to prepare a place for us so that where he is we could be also. We don’t know when that will be but we have confidence that it will be. We were crucified with Christ…

Yet, we live by faith in the Son of God! Faith is…

Not just belief about Jesus. Faith is much more than “belief”. James tells us that the demons believe and they are no less demons. Jesus had many experiences with demons when he was on this earth. We find the account of one of them in Matthew 8:28-29, And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. ²⁹ And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”

These demons immediately knew who Jesus was. They were with him before they fell with Satan. They had seen him in the creation before there was any people. They had been part of the rebellion led by Satan himself. They immediately knew who Jesus was and that he had the power to do whatever he wanted to with them.

Their belief about Jesus certainly is not reflected as faith. There are people all over the world today who believe about Jesus. Sometimes what they believe is very accurate but it doesn’t translate as faith. They are like the fool who says, “There is no God.” They know he exists but will not allow him to rule over them. Faith is more than believing about Jesus it is…

Trusting in Jesus. Jesus himself talks about this in John 3:16-18, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God,…” And John adds more information, including that in verses 35-36, The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. ³⁶ Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

Faith is not believing about Jesus it is putting one’s trust in him. Jesus tells us that God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes “in him” should not perish but have eternal life. The word “in” in the original language is most often used for “into”. Believing into Jesus may not sound right but it is right. Not just believe about but enter into is the sense in which this should be taken. The concept is absolute trust in Jesus Christ. As the songwriter Edgar Stites said, “Simply trusting every day, trusting through a stormy way.” No matter what I trust Jesus! Trust in Jesus is not something that we work up in a “fake it till you make it” concept…

That trust is a gift from God. Listen to these familiar words in Ephesians 2:8-10.  For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not a result of works, so that no one may boast. ¹⁰ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

There have been many attempts to explain what these verses mean without making them mean what seems clearly, to me, the simple understanding. Grace is a word that indicates God’s pleasure in giving to his people. What he gives, in this passage, is faith! We are saved by grace through faith and that faith is a gift of God. It’s not something that a person can work up from the inside it is a gift bestowed from God. Salvation is not by works but instead salvation produces works that God has prepared for us to do. Praise God for his grace and the gift of faith it bestows on those who believe!

The Judaizers came to Antioch in an attempt to draw the believers there into the Jewish law. Even Peter, and others with him, were caused to turn away from salvation by grace through faith. Paul had the responsibility, which he accepted gladly, to confront Peter, and the others with him. Through the study of the word, and his time alone with Jesus, Paul was thoroughly convinced that the covenant of works could never justify a person before God. Paul could see the strength in grace to bring all people, no matter what their race or culture was, to faith in Jesus Christ apart from works of the law. In fact, the law brings death because it can never be kept. Christ took our sins into his own body and in the understanding of God we died with him on the cross so that we can rise with him and be seated with him in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Have you placed your faith in him? It is the most important decision you could ever make. If you have a desire in your heart to put your faith in Christ it comes from God.

All scripture quotes are from: The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.