Is It Faith or Is It Works? Galatians 3:1-14 NLT
Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ's death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross. 2 Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ. 3 How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? 4 Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it? 5 I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ.6 In the same way, Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith. 7 The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God. 8 What's more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would declare the Gentiles to be righteous because of their faith. God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, All nations will be blessed through you. 9 So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith.10 But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God's Book of the Law. 11 So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, It is through faith that a righteous person has life. 12 This way of faith is very different from the way of law, which says, It is through obeying the law that a person has life.13 But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree. 14 Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith.
Although Apostle Paul emphasized this point in his day; many still deal with this question today: Is it by Faith or is it by Works? Is salvation accomplished simply by believing, or should I try to earn it by performing good deeds to please God? From a human point of view, the latter would seem more reasonable. Everyone knows there's no free lunch.
Things are acquired in life by hard work and determination. Our houses and vehicles are the result of sacrifice. Our possessions are just that, earned! If in life we have relationships, they will take time and effort. Why should a relationship with God be any different? In one sense, it's not. A great work was done. A tremendous price was paid. Blood, sweat, and tears were poured out. The issue is simply that the work done was too great for us to accomplish on our own.
The price paid was far more than we could ever afford. Our efforts, blood, sweat, and tears would have come far too short.
God did for us what we could not do for ourselves. He did the work we could not do. He paid the price our insufficient account could not cover. He sent his Son to pour out pure and sinless royal holy blood that we did not possess. Salvation comes at an awful cost. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. The work we could not do, was done by Jesus God's perfect Son. He offers us a relationship with him that has been paid in full. The work's already done,
We must respond to Him in faith alone.
Please Forgive Me "Jason Crabb"
Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ's death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross. 2 Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ. 3 How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? 4 Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it? 5 I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ.6 In the same way, Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith. 7 The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God. 8 What's more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would declare the Gentiles to be righteous because of their faith. God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, All nations will be blessed through you. 9 So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith.10 But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God's Book of the Law. 11 So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, It is through faith that a righteous person has life. 12 This way of faith is very different from the way of law, which says, It is through obeying the law that a person has life.13 But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree. 14 Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith.
Although Apostle Paul emphasized this point in his day; many still deal with this question today: Is it by Faith or is it by Works? Is salvation accomplished simply by believing, or should I try to earn it by performing good deeds to please God? From a human point of view, the latter would seem more reasonable. Everyone knows there's no free lunch.
Things are acquired in life by hard work and determination. Our houses and vehicles are the result of sacrifice. Our possessions are just that, earned! If in life we have relationships, they will take time and effort. Why should a relationship with God be any different? In one sense, it's not. A great work was done. A tremendous price was paid. Blood, sweat, and tears were poured out. The issue is simply that the work done was too great for us to accomplish on our own.
The price paid was far more than we could ever afford. Our efforts, blood, sweat, and tears would have come far too short.
God did for us what we could not do for ourselves. He did the work we could not do. He paid the price our insufficient account could not cover. He sent his Son to pour out pure and sinless royal holy blood that we did not possess. Salvation comes at an awful cost. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. The work we could not do, was done by Jesus God's perfect Son. He offers us a relationship with him that has been paid in full. The work's already done,
We must respond to Him in faith alone.
Please Forgive Me "Jason Crabb"
