I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. Galatians 2:21 ESV

Do you ever think that you aren’t good enough? Good! Being a Christian isn’t about being good enough; being a Christian is about knowing that God’s grace is enough. The Grace of God is the foundation of our ability to interact with him, be blessed by him, and know him as Father.

Martin Luther often used the word religion in a negative sense; he associated religion with “salvation by works.” For that reason, he said, “religion is the default mode of the human heart.”  While our confessional belief is “by the grace of God” often our functional and emotional belief can be “If I am good enough today, God will continue to love me.” This subconscious tension we feel daily is the temptation to “nullify the Grace of God” for, “if we could earn it, then Christ died for no purpose”.

Below are five ways we do exactly what Paul is warning against in Galatians 2.

1. Holding to a Doctrine of Works Righteousness

We nullify the grace of God when we say that being right with God is possible by being a better person. In other religions, this is the unapologetic teaching: be good and you will be saved/delivered/made whole. In Christianity, this contrary to the very good news of Jesus. Yet, we as Christians can often still feel as though we need to earn the Grace of God. One of the key phrases that can indicate a flawed view of the gospel is when someone speaks of another as “being a good person” without reference to the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives. For example, “she might not be a Christian, but she is a good person.” I am not denying that non-Christians can, and often are, better image bearers of God than some Christians are! However, this does not undermine their basic need for grace. Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone” (Mark 10:18).

2. By Being Defensive

We are not Christians because we are moral, we are Christians because of God’s grace. Thus, there is not a moral prerequisite to following Jesus; there is a grace of God prerequisite to following Jesus. Often we can forget this, and end up believing that being Christian is synonymous with being moral, rather, we will be in the process of becoming more like Jesus until we die. We should continually presuppose that there is room for growth in our lives; we are sinners and thus we should not be surprised when we are called out on our shortcomings. Having a posture of defensiveness when someone comes to us out of love to correct us reveals that we subconsciously believe that we are fundamentally good rather than fundamentally in need of grace.

3. Being unable to Self-Forgive

I often hear people say, “I know God forgives me, but I just can’t forgive myself.” What this is essentially saying is, “while I know that God is Holy and has an impossibly high standard, I have a higher standard for myself than God has for me.” You do not have a higher standard than God and Jesus fully kept God’s standard on our behalf. Self-forgiveness comes when we really believe that our only hope is Grace.

4. By Gossiping

Gossiping says, “I want to bring attention to the sin of others” or “I have some special knowledge that makes me important.” When was the last time you gossiped about someone who sinned in the same way that you do? You probably didn’t, because the goal of gossip is to make it seem like your sin is not that bad compared to other peoples’ sin. Anytime you try to minimize your sin, you are trying to minimize your need for God’s grace. The only thing that makes you significant is the way in which you will be used by God. Rather than testifying to others’ behaviors/problems (gossip), we should share Paul’s heart in Acts 20:24, “I do not account my life of any value nor as precious… [except] to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”

5. By Being harsh 

When we are harsh, impatient, or generally unkind to others as a result of their sin, we nullify the Grace of God. Being harsh reveals that, in our hearts, we still feel as though it was our repentance that led to God’s kindness, when in reality, it was God’s kindness that led us to repentance (Romans 2:4).

Everyday you will be temped to nullify the Grace of God by believing that you can be good enough to earn God’s favor. For this reason, Martin Luther said that we ought to “preach the gospel to ourselves daily” for we truly are forgetful creatures.