Letting Go of Grace

 

Letting Go of Grace

Comments on Galatians with an ear to Luther’s commentary

Scripture Text: Galatians 1:6-9 and Hebrews 13:20-21

Series: Comments on Galatians

Today's Scripture Jigsaw

God provides “everything good” for our continuance in faith but some let go of his grace anyway. Why? The writer of Hebrews gives us a clue. The reason God provides us with “everything good” is so we may “do his will.” Let us confess: the flesh has no real interest in God’s will; it just wants those things that it perceives as good. So, we rebel, wanting to do our own will. We can end up kicking at God until there is no peace in our lives, and eventually end up bucking grace. The apostle is not simply making a religious sounding greeting (Galatians 1:3). We really do need “grace … and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

In order to receive the true grace of Christ, one must receive Christ too, for after all, it is his grace. Sometimes people want grace but then “let go of it” because they do not want Christ. They want to have the benefits of grace without being a follower of Jesus. They want to feel better without doing better, or even desiring God’s forgiveness in failure. So, we must be careful to not grasp at Christ’s grace while neglecting to receive Christ himself. Christ is the “benefit,” as Luther puts it, and his grace is part of that benefit, as is everything else needful to “do his will” (Hebrews 13:21). 

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