Grace Alone

Without grace, Christianity quickly becomes an exercise in human willpower. We begin measuring our standing before God by our performance, trying harder, doing better, sinning less, and proving ourselves more faithful.

That may look like Christianity on the outside, but eventually it becomes moralism. And moralism gives us something to boast about not Christ, but ourselves.

That is precisely the danger Paul confronts in his letter to the Galatians.

As we begin our new eight-week series, Grace Alone: A Study of Galatians, one of my greatest prayers is that our church would develop a deeper understanding of who initiates salvation and who works in us from beginning to end.

The gospel does not begin with sinful people working their way toward God. It begins with a gracious God coming to rescue sinners who could never save themselves.

We are not justified because we performed well enough. We are justified through faith because of what Jesus Christ has accomplished on our behalf. But we must also be careful not to believe that grace gets us through the door and then leaves us to finish the Christian life through our own strength.

We are not saved by grace and then sanctified by willpower.

We pursue holiness. We fight sin. We obey Christ. But we do these things as people in whom God is already at work through His Spirit. From beginning to end, the Christian life is one of dependence upon the grace of God.

That is the journey Galatians will take us on.

Follow Along With Us

I want to encourage you not just to hear Galatians preached on Sunday, but to read it, study it, pray through it, and come each week already familiar with the passage we’ll be opening together.

Here is where we’re headed over the next eight weeks:

Oct. 4 — No Other Gospel
Galatians 1:1–10

Oct. 11 — The Gospel Comes from God
Galatians 1:11–2:10

Oct. 18 — Justified by Faith
Galatians 2:11–21

Oct. 25 — Faith, Not Works
Galatians 3:1–29

Nov. 1 — Sons, Not Slaves
Galatians 4:1–31

Nov. 8 — For Freedom Christ Set Us Free
Galatians 5:1–15

Nov. 15 — Walk by the Spirit
Galatians 5:16–26

Nov. 22 — Boast Only in the Cross
Galatians 6:1–18

By the time we reach the end, Paul brings us back to the heart of the gospel:

“But as for me, I will never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” — Galatians 6:14

That is where grace leads us not to pride in how far we have come, but to deeper dependence upon Christ and greater boasting in what He has done.

So grab your Bible and begin reading Galatians with us. Read ahead. Take notes. Ask questions. Pray that God would use His Word to deepen your understanding of the gospel.

And then join us on Sundays at 10:00 AM at Willowville Elementary as we walk through Galatians together.