GRACE: Your Power To Stand

By Kathi Pelton

There are three threads that we can continually cling to as we live and stand in the grace of God. These three threads are:

1) Salvation that comes as a free gift rather than through works (keeping the law).

2) God’s undeserved favor and mercy.

3) God’s strength in the midst of our human weakness.

As we hold fast to these threads or themes of grace they become braided together into a strong cord that keeps us from falling— it is grace that allows us to continue to stand.

Yet, I find it hard to believe that somehow our souls still strive to return to the law, to works and to human efforts. Maybe it is too hard for us to comprehend this gift of grace? I hear from so many believers how they struggle with constant thoughts of trying to earn favor, mercy, strength or even salvation. They begin in grace but then keep returning to the law.

Paul experienced this with believers when he walked the earth. Many of those who accepted the truth of Jesus’ gift of salvation were then persuaded to go back to believing that they had to be circumcised. This one issue became so controversial that it was one of the first real divisions that we see in the early church.

Let’s look at what Paul says to the Galatians in Galatians 3,

“Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross. Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ. How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it? I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ.” Galatians‬ ‭3‬:‭1‬-‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Are we trying to become perfect by human effort? The Perfect came and his name is Jesus Christ. He came and he gave himself as the perfect and spotless sacrifice to fulfill the law and to make a way for the salvation of all mankind— who had been under the curse of the law.

Paul goes on to say that if we live by the law, we return to the curse of the law. Not that the attributes of the law are bad but the demand to keep the law through human effort was proven impossible for even the greatest among us.

“But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law.” So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”” Galatians‬ ‭3‬:‭10‬-‭11‬ ‭

I have done a lot of counseling throughout my years in ministry and probably the one theme that believers struggle with the most is the issue of condemnation. They are working so hard to perfect themselves through human effort that they are finding themselves feeling under a curse. The truth is that they have denied the gift of grace and put their lives back under the law. Because of this, they feel the weight of slavery and the demand of works that daily they are not able to live up to.

Rather than trying to perfect our lives through human effort, let us embrace the truth found in 2 Corinthians,

“My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

Grace is all we need!

Do you understand that his power WORKS BEST in our human weakness? It can be likened to surrendering your efforts in order to make room for his power.

Grace begets gratitude— and gratitude begets humility— and humility takes us right back to grace.

To put our confidence in the accomplishments of human effort is pride. For if we somehow achieve some measure of success or “power” we will boast in our strength. But boasting in that success will always be limited and flawed because it brings us back under the law that is attached to sin and death. Yet, to boast in our weakness is to humble ourselves and make room for his power and strength to go further than any human achievement can possibly obtain.

Here is the definition of boasting:

To boast means to speak with excessive pride, vanity, or exaggeration about one’s own accomplishments, possessions, or abilities. It also means to possess something impressive.

What we boast about posses us! Some boast in what they possess not understanding that the very thing that they are boasting in has taken possession of them.

People with great talents, beauty or intelligence can often find themselves in the trap of being overly impressed by themselves. We are seeing the terrible results of this in the Church today. Men who became enamored by their God-given gifts (and people who in turn became enamored with them) abd then boasted in their accomplishments. Soon they discovered their public image was greatly exaggerated and then had to turn to deception to keep up their image. They became possessed by boasting in their strengths rather than becoming examples of weak humans who made room for God’s grace and power to be made manifest.

Human efforts apart from humility will almost always end in sin. Pride comes before a fall.

Whether you are in the public eye or are unknown to the masses— grace is the key to being able to stand!

One of the first Christian songs I learned as a young believer was a song by Keith Green called, “Grace By Which I Stand”, and the older I get the more true the words are to me. We must remember— grace is how we stand.

Here are the lyrics to that song that has continued to be a life message for me…

Lord, the feelin’s are not the same
I guess I’m older
I guess I’ve changed
And how I wish it had been explained
That as you’re growing
You must remember
That nothing lasts
Except the grace of God
By which I stand— in Jesus
I know that I would surely fall away
Except for grace by which I’m saved
Lord, I remember that special way
I vowed to serve You
When it was brand new
But like Peter, I can’t even watch and pray

One hour with You
And I bet I could deny You too
Well, nothin’ lasts
Except the grace of God
By which I stand in Jesus
I’m sure that my whole life would waste away

Except for grace by which I’m saved
Well, nothin’ lasts
Except the grace of God
By which I stand in Jesus
I know that I would surely fall away
Except for grace by which I’m saved

GRACE: Our power to stand!