You do realize that Galatians 2:20 is more about resurrection than crucifixion don't you? This verse is not about death but is directly focused upon life. The reason that I said God had set me up is because He took my focus back then and used it to attach a verse to my life that would speak directly to where I am today. He placed my heart in a letter to the church that would shape my life, ministry, and purpose. He placed me in one of the greatest understandings of grace 20 years ago knowing that today I would finally understand. How's that for the goodness of God?!?
Is it any wonder that the first book I felt compelled to write is a book about grace? It's what the Lord has been trying to teach me for so long. This has been His emphasis in my life. Always bringing me back to these words. Prompting me to discover 7 life changing words: "the faith OF the Son of God..." Many of our modern translations don't read this way. So I will glorify God that I memorized this verse from the King James (blown away that I just gave a KJV shout out!!!). The reality is that if you look into the Greek text that you will see that the faith is not "in" but "of" the Son. That understanding is a game changer.
I don't believe the temptation for us is to over emphasize or over exaggerate the grace of God but to minimize or de-emphasize it. When this happens, we make Jesus out to be a vaccination rather than the CURE. This is exactly where religion takes root in our lives. We place the burden of righteousness squarely on our shoulders and fail to recognize the gift that is Jesus. We miss out on our true identity and we miss out on His ability at work in our lives.
The grace of God is the divine enablement of God upon our lives. It's how He saves us, keeps us, and empowers us to live. The grace of God is crucial to our existence. It's how we move from being crucified with Him to living in His resurrected life. The Father knew that our temptation would be to place rules & restrictions upon this life. He knew that the Jewish community was so fixed on the Law that they would need a way out. He knew that they would try to impress upon the Gentile believers certain rituals that would have to be followed through before they could be considered righteous or accepted. That is why He determined before the foundation of the world that GRACE would be the key that unlocks His quality of life within us.
Go back and read Paul's letter to the church in Galatia. Pay attention to what He is dealing with in the lives of these believers. Recognize the emphasis He places upon the finished work of Christ. And please pay attention to two very important questions:
#1 - Having begun in the Spirit are you now made perfect by the flesh?
#2 - Who has bewitched you?
There is a lot of so called "grace" teachings out there that do not fully appreciate what the grace of God is all about. They preach about love, acceptance, and forgiveness; but if you pay careful attention to them you will also discover that they put a lot of emphasis upon what you do. Much like the Jews that came in and troubled the early church, they want to place rules, restrictions, and rituals upon you. They struggle with the idea that God has got you covered. All you hear about is SIN, SIN, SIN. If they were a true grace preacher/teachers they should be able to talk about LIFE, LIFE, LIFE.
I love the fact that Paul had such a confidence in the grace of God that he saw sin as something you had power over, something you could easily overcome, and something that you could set aside. Sin was no longer a dominating force in life nor a dominating influence in his preaching. His focus was to help the church see the necessity of walking in the Spirit and being dominated by the grace of God. The council in Jerusalem took Paul's lead and the only rules they placed before the Gentile believers was that they would abstain from sexual immorality & not eat food offered to idols. WHAT? YOU HAVE GOT TO BE JOKING!!! I assure you that I am not. Paul would encourage the churches to walk away from the lives that they were so accustomed to living. He would draw them into a life that was Christ centered & grace empowered. He would teach them of the significance of the Holy Spirit in their lives. And He would point out that the pagan religions that they were a part of in the past is not at all like faith in Christ.
See...I'm a firm believer that this is where many people get off track. We treat God as if He is one of the pagan deities. We see Him as something that has to be appeased, something that has to be sacrificed to in order to receive favor, and something that is just waiting to come down in judgement upon us if we get it wrong. Our Heavenly Father is not like this at all. The Apostles got a glimpse into the shared life of the Father, Son, & Holy Spirit. They were able to see how this was the life that we were created to enjoy & that Jesus came to bring us back into this reality. They saw in Jesus the CURE to the sin problem, the LIGHT come into our darkness, & the FREEDOM from our bondage.
The grace life that I am sharing with you is all about Him. It's His power, His righteousness, His goodness, His holiness, & His faith manifest in us. It was all about His incarnation, His crucifixion, His resurrection, & His ascension. And they would always point to the judgement that was getting ready to come upon the Old Covenant (that which was passing away) - which happened around 70 AD with the destruction of the Temple & Jerusalem. They saw life from a new perspective and lived it from a new power. It's this life that will make a difference in you. It's the abundant life that you were promised. It's the victory over sin that you were assured. It's the life that you were always meant to live.
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