You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.
Galatians 5:4
It’s happened to all of us. We went to turn something on – and nothing. We were expecting something to turn on, something to happen, and it didn’t. And while it’s happened in many different ways, it’s still the very same thing.
Turn the key on in the car and nothing but click.
Press a button on one of the seven remotes you have and nothing.
Try dialing someone only to see the battery icon turn red.
Touch the light switch and you stay in the dark.
What used to have power, doesn’t. What was connected, isn’t. A switch got turned off, or it’s broken. The battery is no longer connected, or it’s run down. But my favorite is when a battery leaks, oozing that white, grainy stuff all over the place.
I don’t know about you, but when one of these things happens, I immediately turn into someone else. I put on my superhero costume[1], wrapping a cape over my shoulders, and pulling a mask over my face. And all at once, “Super Solver” appears, able to leap tall obstacles in a single bound.
“Look. Up in the sky. It’s a bird. It’s a plane. No, it’s Super Solver!”
And why do we go through this change? Because something that needs power to work the way it was made to work doesn’t have power. It’s unplugged. The battery’s rundown. There’s a disconnect.
This is exactly what the Galatians have done to themselves. When they alienated themselves from Christ, they unplugged themselves from God’s Holy Spirit. They disconnected themselves from him and his power.
They became powerless. They fell down and weren’t able to get back up. They faded away, becoming fruitless. They let go of the only one who was able to inspire and energize them through this life.
And what did they choose instead of God? In place of his person and power? They turned away from his grace and love, trying to replace him with their own power and works. They chose activity over divinity.
After coming to Christ, he became the absolute center of their lives. He turned into the crucial cog in their existence. He was their God, their savior, their Lord of all.
Now, they’re moving away from total dependence on Jesus. He’s being moved to the side to make room for their own efforts to please God. They still believe in Jesus for their eternal salvation, but their daily dependence is being diluted to include their works.
As the Galatians put themselves under the law, they move Jesus to the side so their obedience to the rules and regulations are put in place of God. They try to fill up their lives with their works. And when they do, there is less room for God.
Think of it this way. You take a bucket and fill it with water. It’s full up to the brim. But then you put some rocks into the bucket. When you drop the rocks in, some of the water spills out. It’s still full, but the rocks take up room where water should be.
By replacing God’s grace for their daily lives with their works, they’ve stopped depending on him and put their attention on themselves. They’ve disconnected themselves from God and tried to connect themselves to themselves and their works.
Like the batter that’s run out of power, or has started leaking, they’ve lost the lifegiving connection with their loving maker and savior. They’ve disconnected themselves from the only one with the power to live today like the way it was meant to.
I fall out, fall off, fall away, fall down. In the language of boats and ships: I fall off from the straight course. Like flowers: I fade away, wither away; I fall from, lose, forfeit; I am cast ashore; I am fruitless.
They’ve made Jesus weak to help them in their daily lives. He’s no longer seen as enough for today. They now look to how faithful they are in following some list of stuff that others are holding over their heads. Guilt-ing them into doing.
I’ve been there. I slid Jesus to the side so I could try and do enough good stuff to earn and deserve God’s kindness. But I failed. I’m sure that you’ve also tried and failed too. We were destined to fail because there is no way that you or I can ever do enough good stuff to deserve God or his kindness.
It’s all grace. It’s only grace. Grace is where God himself reaches down and out to us. Grace is where he does all the sacrifice. He does all the forgiving. He initiates the restoration and relationship.
And we do all the receiving. That’s it. Period. Nothing else.
That’s the only way to receive the power we need to live this life. We bring nothing but need and he delivers all we need.
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