Rachel, my wife, was in my office. We were talking and I said some things that I probably shouldn’t have said. I did not intend it to be mean or rude but she rolled her eyes and shook her head. She then leaned over and kissed me and then looked into my eyes and asked, “Did you deserve that?” I looked sheepish and said, “That’s grace!”
Grace is kissing your spouse when he deserves to be slapped. Grace is speaking kind words to your spouse when he deserves to be yelled at. Grace is kindness when she deserves bitterness. Grace is forgiveness when she deserves vengeance. The essence of grace is – you don’t deserve it.
The Concise Evangelical Dictionary of Theology defines grace as “Undeserved blessing freely bestowed on mankind by God.” And we need to be in a state or condition, firmly fixed or attached to grace! We are in a “state or condition of” grace, according to Paul in Romans 5:2.
The word “grace” is found in Paul’s letter of Galatians 7 times. In 1:3, Paul extends to the Galatian Christians “grace” from God the Father. In verse 4, we see that this grace is worked out on man’s behalf through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Please observe that the result of receiving the grace of God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is to glorify God, verse 5. Worship is the natural expression of thanksgiving.
Let us spend time focusing on the key text of the letter of Galatians. This text does not use the word “grace” in the text. But it helps us understand what grace is and how it impacts us. So, let’s focus our attention on 3:10-14…
LIFE WITH NO GRACE – 3:10:
Verse 10 – “For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, to perform them.” Paul quotes from Deuteronomy 27:26.
This verse is the OT equivalent to Paul’s statement, with which we are more familiar, in Romans 6:23 – “The wages of sin is death.” That’s the essence of Deuteronomy 27:26 and it highlights two things: 1.) Even the Jews in the OT were saved by grace. They were not saved by obedience to the law because if you broke one commandment, you were cursed 2.) This law emphasizes the need for the sacrificial system under the law of Moses. How was that violation of the law to be satisfied or atoned or forgiven? Through the sacrifice of animals.
Life with no grace? Eternally cursed by God.
GRACE AND FAITH – 3:11:
Paul draws a conclusion based on the Deuteronomy 27:26 quotation here in this verse, tying it in with another passage from the OT: Habakkuk 2:4 – “Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, “The righteous man shall live by faith.”
Of course, God made provision for sin under the Old Law: animal sacrifices. But when a Jew sinned, he needed to have believed that God would curse him for that sin – that’s faith. Then he also had to believe that God would forgive him of that sin if he would offer the animal sacrifices the law (God) commanded. So you see, even under the Law of Moses, “the righteous man lived by faith.”
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GRACE AND LAW – 3:12:
In this verse, Paul looks at the other side of the coin, so to speak. Following the law – just for the sake of following the law, I think we need to understand, is “not of faith.” To support this point, Paul quotes from another part of the Law of Moses, Leviticus 18:5: “However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, “He who practices them shall live by them.”
Consider the parallel law from the Ten Commandments, the fifth commandment: Exodus 20:12.
If you just focus on the law, it is not “of faith.” There’s no faith there. If you obey, you live. If you sin, you die. Without taking the law in the overall context of God’s dealings with men, or even with the Jews, you just see the law and you don’t understand the faith that motivates the obedience.
GRACE AND CHRIST – 3:13:
The word “curse” from verse 10 and its quotation of Deuteronomy 27:26 leads Paul to put Jesus into the picture now, by quoting again from Deuteronomy, this time from 21:23: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”—
Christ “redeemed us,” Paul says, “from the curse of the law, becoming a curse for us!” We deserved that curse – He became that curse! “The wages of sin is death,” yes, but Paul also says in Romans 6:23b: “but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord!” Hallelujah!
THE REWARD OF GRACE – 3:14:
Observe that verse 14 begins with the words “in order that” (NASV; NIV); “so that” (ESV) or “that” (KJV; NKJV). This preposition shows result or purpose. “Christ redeemed us so that…” And here Paul lists some rewards that have come to us through the grace of God in giving Jesus for us: The blessing of Abraham – the salvation that was promised through his seed, Jesus Christ. And, secondly, so that we (all – both Jew and Gentile) would receive the promise of the Spirit, the Spirit that makes us holy and makes us fit to be in the presence of the God of heaven.
Again, the principles by which God has dealt with man have not changed from the Law of Moses to the Law of Christ. Yes, we still have law: Hear, believe, repent, confess, be baptized. Study your Bible and grow. Evangelize. Pray. Give. Worship on the Lord’s Day. Take the Lord’s Supper.
But none of these acts can or should be separated from our faith in Jesus Christ and the fact that He is the one who died for our sins and we are always saved by the grace of God through Jesus Christ. Stay faithful to Him and we’ll see what kind of rewards His grace will provide!
