Why do so many believers experience failure
and defeat, when the promise of victory is so prevalent? Paul gives
insight to that question when he wrote: "I am crucified with Christ:
nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. . . I do not
frustrate the grace of God. . ." (Gal. 2:20, 21). Paul did not
frustrate grace and the abundance of grace in his life allowed him to
reign in life.
This issue of "not frustrat[ing] the grace of God" was such an
important issue among the early followers of Jesus that the entire letter
of Galatians was written to warn of its consequences. Paul wrote,
"Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by
the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we
might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the
law. . . (2:16). Again, the same emphasis is given when Paul stated,
"I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by
the law, then Christ is dead in vain" (2:21). Understanding the
phrases "works of the law" and "if righteousness come by
the law, then Christ is dead in vain" is to understand the very
essence of why so many Christians struggle. It is also the understanding
of that which frustrates grace.
In beginning to develop this understanding among his first readers of the
the letter, Paul asked a rather penetrating question to the Galatians. He,
in essence, stated, "I just want to know one thing. How did you get
saved?": He asked, "This only would I learn of you, Received ye
the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?"
(3:2). Paul is, indeed, asking the saints, "How did you become a
Christian?" "How did the Spirit of Christ come into your life in
the salvation experience?" "Was it by works, or
self-righteousness, or was it through faith from hearing the gospel
message?"
The response to that question was apparently rather easy to answer for
Paul stated, "I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that
called you into the grace of Christ.. . (1:6). The essence of Paul’s
message to the Galatians was no doubt the same gospel he wrote about to
the Ephesians: "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not
of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should
boast" (2:8, 9). Paul stated to the Galatians, "You did not get
saved by works; you were saved by grace through faith." He is
assuming that they will know this basic truth of how they became
Christians. They were saved by grace through faith.
It is the next statement of Paul to the Galatians that is the key to
understanding frustrated grace. He wrote, "Are ye so foolish? having
begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?" (3:3).
The word perfect is the standard word used in the New Testament for
Christian maturity. It literally means arriving at the end to which you
were intended or being made complete. It simply means becoming all you can
become in Jesus Christ.
One who is perfect is a mature Christian with the emphasis being on the
process of "are ye being perfected" rather than the actual
arrival at perfection. Paul asked the Galatian saints, "how does a
believer go about the business of becoming a perfected saint." He is
probing for an understanding of the very heart of what it means to be a
Christian. He is asking, "How did you get saved; how do you stay
saved?" Paul is laying the foundation for an understanding of
continual victorious Christian living. A believer not only is saved by
grace, he is also perfected by grace.
Paul raised the question, in essence, "Does a Christian develop into
spiritual maturity by the flesh? (Gal. 3:3). The word flesh, specially in
Paul’s letter to the Galatians, is probably one of the most
misunderstood words in the New Testament. Paul gave a vital clue to the
meaning of flesh in chapter four, verses twenty-two and twenty-three:
"For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid,
the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after
the flesh . . . ."
The Old Testament account of the son of the bondwoman being born reveals
that God had promised a child to Abraham and to Sarah in their old age.
The son, however, did not come immediately after the promise. So, what did
Abraham and Sarah do? They decided to help God out in His promise to give
them a child. The error was not necessarily Abraham going into Hagar, but
Abraham and Sarah attempting to help God out in the fulfilling of the
promise.
There is only one way to experience all the blessings of God which allows
the believer to reign in life. Paul gives it in Galatians 2:20, "I am
crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me: and the life I now live in the flesh [humanness] I live by the
faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." Paul
is stating simply that he does not attempt to live for Christ (frustrating
grace). Christ lives in him!
It is not based upon the faith of Paul, but "by the faith of the Son
of God." This is what it means to be Christian. This is the good news
of the Gospel. Christ died on the cross and was resurrected for the
forgiveness of sin. Christ lives within and through the believer for the
sin-free life of holiness. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is
the good news for mankind. The free-flow of grace as opposed to frustrated
grace is how the abundant life is experienced.
Many Christians do struggle to experience the peace, the
joy, and the sense of justice that should occur in the abundant life
of Christianity. They start out well, but something happened
that prohibits them from experiencing the life they know they should
be enjoying. The believers in Galatia had a similar experience.
Charismatic teachers had stirred their emotions and seduced them in to
taking their eyes off Jesus. Becoming religious and zealous in
their activities of working for God, they soon found they were in bondage
to the very things they were attempting to do. They had lost the joy
of their freedom in Christ. The gospel in Galatians will set you
free from religion and let you enjoy once again the fullness of the
life of Christ.
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