Law or Grace?
8/19/25 Bible Thought (Galatians 5)
Justification only comes in one way. If it is by law, then it is not by grace. If it is by grace, then it is not by law.
In Galatians 5, the apostle Paul continues his call for the Galatians to depart from those who would require circumcision for salvation. In fact, the apostle feels so strongly about it that he puts forth his hope that the troublers would be super-circumcised! (see Gal. 4:12).1
One cannot be justified by the law and grace; they are mutually exclusive. To be justified by grace means that the believer is not justified by the law. Which is good news, because no one can be justified by the law (Gal. 2:16). As Paul wrote previously,
“I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose” (Gal. 2:21).
Yet, we cannot be confused.
Just because justification comes apart from the Mosaic law does not mean that the believer ought to live lawlessly. The New Testament is chock-full of passages that point to this reality.
Yes, we are justified by His grace as a free gift. Our good works will not justify us. Likewise, personal righteousness will never be enough to justify us. To be justified is a passive reality, it is something that God does that we receive. We cannot do it ourselves.
However, God still cares how we live as those who have been justified.
As Paul wrote in another place in response to the amazing forgiveness found in Jesus Christ,
“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” (Rom. 6:1-2).
Here, in Galatians, Paul puts forward that the believer ought to “walk by the Spirit” and thereby not gratify the desires of the flesh (Gal. 5:16).
The natural, fleshly desires that are engrained in our sinful D.N.A. are opposed to the work of the Spirit. Because of this, God is at work in us to reshape our desires (see Phil. 2:13).
The new, God-given desires manifest fruit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal. 5:22-23).
Grace seems to be too good to be true, and it is. Yet this grace will not be abused because it brings about a change in the inner man:
“And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Gal. 5:24).
We will still wrestle with temptation in this life, but we can rest assured that God’s grace was never to enable people to live perpetually sinful lives to take advantage of Him.
God’s grace leads to Spirit-wrought fruit in our lives. His work will result in change (see 1 John 3:4-10).
I first heard this phraseology from someone else, but cannot remember who. I find it both humorous and helpful.