Lesson 19: Now - How Do I Get Beyond Despair? (2)

We open this part of our lesson by turning to the book of Galatians, chapter 3, where the first three verses read, "O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

This brings us to a question that has faced mankind since Christ's death and resurrection. This subject is also one of the major causes of despair in a Christian's life – a Christian’s view of works. There are essentially only two views: 1) our works are based on the law, 2) our works have nothing to do with the law. In the first view, the works the Christian performs are the basis for that individual keeping his or her salvation. In the second, works have nothing to do with being eternally saved. When we read the entire book of Galatians we find that a certain group, called Judaizers, had come to the area and were telling the new Christians that, while they had been saved by grace, they were now required to keep the law of Moses in order to maintain their salvation. This is the lie against which Paul was speaking in the verses we just read. This lie is still around today, and must be addressed as severely as Paul did in his day.


Let God say it: we are no more kept by works then we were saved by them. A great pastor of the past said it this way: “Human ability can no more maintain a right standing before God than it can attain such a standing.” We cannot lose our salvation for anything connected with our works. We cannot lose our salvation for anything – see Romans 8:31-39. Dear reader, this is of such great importance that I want you to stop here for a moment and make sure you grasp this truth. You cannot lose your salvation. You are kept by God in His eternal and everlasting love. None of your works after becoming a Christian have anything to do with keeping your salvation. You are kept by God's grace alone just as you were saved by God's grace alone. We are all, who are saved, still subject to getting things wrong, to sin. There is not one of us who can accomplish God's commands perfectly and completely, not one of us. And yet this situation is one of the greatest sources of a Christian’s despair known to humanity. Believe me, Satan knows this too and will use it against you at every possible opportunity. Burn this truth into your heart and your mind – God keeps you saved by His grace, not your works. Romans 8:1-4 is a very good passage for every Christian to memorize and use when despair attacks: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

*Read chapter 7 to find out what the "therefore" is there for.