We've been told it over and over again: Do better so that you'll be a better person. It's the main message taught in most churches. Change the way you behave so that you can become the person God wants you to be. It sure puts a lot on us, doesn't it?
That's not the gospel and it is not the message I teach. The word gospel means "good news" and nothing could be further from being good news than being told that you’re expected to muster up more self-effort to try harder to do better. If you’re like most of us, you’ve probably tried that approach many times and have seen that it just doesn’t work for long. The fact is that there’s only one way to live the life that belongs to you through Christ. We live it the same way we received it – by faith.
Paul wrote to the believers in Galatia about this very thing. The people in the Galatian church had trusted Christ when Paul taught them the gospel but after he left there, things jumped track. A new group had come into the church telling them that, while they were indeed on their way to heaven, they had a personal responsibility to keep certain religious rules in the meantime. Their part, said these legalists, began by being circumcised, as a first step to show their intention to keep a whole list of religious rules about to be imposed on them.
Paul wrote and actually called them “idiots” for falling for such foolishness. The God’s Word Translation renders it this way: “You stupid people of Galatia! Who put you under an evil spell? Wasn't Christ Jesus' crucifixion clearly described to you?” Harsh words, but it was a very important subject. The future of their grace walk was in jeopardy.
Paul was asking them, "Have you had some sort of spell cast on you? You became a Christian without doing a single thing, but now you think that what you do is an important part of growing in your life in Christ? Did you become a Christian by anything you did or didn't do? No? Then what makes you think that now you are a Christian, what you do has anything at all to do with receiving God's blessings? Does God work in and among you because of what you do or because you simply trust Him?"
Paul knew that, in this instance, direct and even harsh words were necessary. The gospel is the fantastic news that you and I have been made righteous because of what Christ has done, not because of what we do. In fact, there’s nothing for you to do - just believe it! For anybody to say that there is something you must do before or after starting to follow Jesus so that you can become more righteous is to water down the pure gospel of Jesus Christ and to insult what He accomplished at the cross. The righteousness of God is a gift, not a goal we have in life. (That's what the Bible says in Romans 5:17.)
To think that you can become more righteous by doing all "the right things" is to act like God’s grace doesn’t exist. Paul wrote, “"I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly" (Galatians 2:21). He was saying that if righteousness can be gained by keeping religious rules there was no point in Jesus going to the cross. To suggest that religious-rules-keeping has anything to do with a grace walk is to nullify the grace of God.
When Paul realized the Galatians were about to get caught up in religious rules, here’s what he wrote them: “Let me put this question to you: How did your new life begin? Was it by working your heads off to please God? Or was it by responding to God's Message to you? Are you going to continue this craziness? For only crazy people would think they could complete by their own efforts what was begun by God. If you weren't smart enough or strong enough to begin it, how do you suppose you could perfect it” (Galatians 3:2-3, The Message)?
The next time you hear anybody saying that there is something you need to do to become a better, more righteous person, I hope an alarm goes off in your heart. That’s not grace. Not everybody who says they believe the Bible has this matter straight in their own minds. If they tell you that you should keep certain rules, they may be sincere but they are sincerely wrong! Legalism is very subtle at times. Remember that a diluted gospel is a polluted gospel, which is no gospel (good news) at all. Don't fall for a watered down gospel being taught by many today.
The gospel is the good news that you are 100% righteous because of what He has done, not because of anything you need to do. You don't have to do anything. Ironically, once you understand that fact, you will find that you want to do some things, but it won’t be because you’ve accepted guilty manipulation that has nothing to do with the true message of the gospel. It will be because you are motivated by the loving grace of God. That is the grace walk experience.
- Steve McVey
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