In Psalm 6, the psalmist beckons God to bring grace into his life. O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath. Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing; heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled. My soul also is greatly troubled. But you, O Lord—how long? Turn, O Lord, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love [chesed].

The ancient author understands something that, sadly, is so often lost on us.

This God has an abundance of steadfast love. His bank account is bulging at the seams with grace, and He is not reluctant to give it. YHWH is a gracious, loving Father full of mercy and truth, eager to pour out His grace upon His people.

But alas, the temptation towards religious perfectionism leads us to frustrate the very grace we are given. Paul points this out so powerfully in his letter to the Galatians. Turn with me to chapter 3, verse 1, where we 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?

Raise your hand if you believe God saved you on your own merits, because of your good deeds. Interestingly, no one has ever raised a hand anywhere I have been around the world. Why? Because we all come to Jesus as sinners. Until you come to that point, you cannot experience his saving grace. Mercy awaits those who repent.

We all know that our lives begin in the kingdom of God by grace. So far, so good. But then what do we do? We stymie His grace by endeavoring to continue the journey in our own strength, by way of our own efforts. We fall prey to sanctification by performance rather than by the Spirit.

Are you listening? Do you follow what I am saying?

Is this over your heads or under your feet? Or is it hitting home? We start in grace, then subtly shift—trying to please God through our actions. That is what it means to frustrate the grace of God, and it actually undermines what God is trying to do in and through you. Paul, not always noted for his diplomacy, calls that stupid, foolish. He makes his point again in verse 3: Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

What he is saying is clear. After beginning with the Spirit, the Galatians are trying to attain kingdom ends through human means. You have experienced the grace of God, only to think you can add to it by your own exertion. Stand back and take inventory. Do you see how foolish that is?

Yes, you are on a journey of discipleship. Yes, the Spirit will help you reach the goal—day by day. What exactly is the goal? To be conformed to the image of Jesus the Messiah [Christ]. To be perfect, which means to be complete and mature in him. It is a work of grace that is guaranteed because of the way it began. However, do not be deceived into believing that by your religious observances and your own little sanctified works you are going to accomplish it.

Paul uses the word “flesh” in a specific sense when he says that both salvation and sanctification are the work of the Spirit, not the work of the flesh. He is not talking about or putting down the physical body. Paul uses the word “flesh” as a technical term for the unregenerate person. Being strangers to the grace of God, those in the flesh are on their own. But to those who believe and are being saved by Jesus, it is by grace through faith from the beginning to the end—and every day in between!

It is often far easier for a simple sinner to experience the grace of God than it is for a religious person.

I have seen this at work time and time again in my own life and in my ministry to others. Perhaps you can see it more clearly if we translate “grace” as the word “steadfast love” in the following sentence. “A self-centered approach to faith results in a religious expression that both frustrates the steadfast love of God trying to work in us and bars the way for receiving the steadfast love we need to walk in that freedom.”