Galatians 2:21 “I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness comes by the law then Christ died in vain”
Frustrate: prevent (a plan or attempted action) from progressing, or succeeding, or being fulfilled, to thwart, defeat, foil, block, stop, put a stop, circumvent, disappoint, nullify.
I was walking up a trail near my condo in Colorado the other day, and the wind was so strong it was almost pushing me backward. A walk that would normally take me an hour took a whole lot longer. I pressed forward, but the wind pressed back, opposing me every step of the way. That’s what it’s like when we frustrate the grace of God.
In Galatians 2:21, Paul said, “I do not frustrate the grace of God”. Do you know we can actually hinder and stop God’s grace from working in our lives? How? He tells us in the same verse, by thinking that our righteousness comes by self-effort, by trying harder to do right, by trying to come up with all the answers, by trying to earn our way. These works frustrate the grace of God. They stop the progress and circumvent what God wants to do in our lives through His free gift.
Romans 5:21 says that “grace reigns through righteousness”. Grace reigns in our lives when we know and believe that we are made righteous through the blood of Jesus. An endless supply of God’s unmerited favor flows in our lives when we simply receive our righteous standing and add nothing to it by our own works. Every time you face a challenge, let God’s grace bring you through. Let the grace of God work through you to work it all out. Be like Paul and boldly declare, “I do not frustrate the grace of God”!
