Galatians 2:21a
"I do not frustrate the grace of God."
Paul is, at this point, talking about relying on fulfillment of the law as a ticket to heaven. Nothing could be more frustrating to God, I think, than to turn one's back on the sacrifice Christ made in order to live by the law, a task that is impossible to do perfectly. As Paul points out elsewhere - what's the point? Christ would have died in vain if it were possible to please God with obedience to rules alone.
Of course, nowadays there are not so many gentiles keen on fulfilling the laws of Moses. Some, however, may pick and choose particular laws that seem to them to be essential to salvation. For instance, keeping the Sabbath on a particular day of the week or, as I found to my dismay once, undue emphasis on the idea that believers should baptize others. I was told that I could not please God unless I had baptized at least one other person. Anyway...
But put aside the laws of Moses for a moment. Are there other things that we put in their place as steps to salvation and grace? There are some, I know, who think the work of the church is part of that road to grace, or spiritual disciplines. Those things are nice, but if they take the place of Jesus - even for a moment - they frustrate the grace of God. There is nothing we can say, do, own, believe, etc that can take the place of the fact that God is merciful.
Paul is, at this point, talking about relying on fulfillment of the law as a ticket to heaven. Nothing could be more frustrating to God, I think, than to turn one's back on the sacrifice Christ made in order to live by the law, a task that is impossible to do perfectly. As Paul points out elsewhere - what's the point? Christ would have died in vain if it were possible to please God with obedience to rules alone.
Of course, nowadays there are not so many gentiles keen on fulfilling the laws of Moses. Some, however, may pick and choose particular laws that seem to them to be essential to salvation. For instance, keeping the Sabbath on a particular day of the week or, as I found to my dismay once, undue emphasis on the idea that believers should baptize others. I was told that I could not please God unless I had baptized at least one other person. Anyway...
But put aside the laws of Moses for a moment. Are there other things that we put in their place as steps to salvation and grace? There are some, I know, who think the work of the church is part of that road to grace, or spiritual disciplines. Those things are nice, but if they take the place of Jesus - even for a moment - they frustrate the grace of God. There is nothing we can say, do, own, believe, etc that can take the place of the fact that God is merciful.
posted by Steven at 10:07 PM
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