Galatians 2:21
Memory Verse
I do not set aside the grace of God. For if through law is righteousness, then Christ had died without purpose (Galatians 2:21).
Grace is God’s attitude whereby He gives a benefit without consideration of merit. When we seek to live a life through any quality of law—base our righteousness on works—we reject His grace. Through His grace, we are able to live out a life of righteousness because of who we are in Christ. Therefore, our standard does not relate to laws for the purpose of displaying righteousness through our own works, but the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, which sets us free from the law of the sin and death (Romans 8:2).
Law gives our sin nature strength (1 Corinthians 15:56). The sin nature—the corrupt nature we have in our flesh—uses the law to work out the bad that we do not desire to do (Romans 7:17). However, when we serve the Lord with our mind, the sin nature is unable to prevent the good works that are produced, for they come from who we are, not who we are seeking to be (Romans 7:25).
Do we live by grace—thereby living a life of righteousness because of who we are in Christ—or do we seek maturity through the flesh? If any quality of law could bring about righteousness, then there was no purpose for Christ dying for our sins. Christ is our righteousness, for His death and resurrection are imputed to us so that we may walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4–6; 1 Corinthians 1:30).