August 16, 2025

THE POWER OF GRACE

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

“Tell me, you who want to live under the law, do you know what the law actually says? The Scriptures say that Abraham had two sons, one from his slave wife and one from his freeborn wife. The son of the slave wife was born in a human attempt to bring about the fulfillment of God’s promise. But the son of the freeborn wife was born as God’s own fulfillment of his promise.”

Galatians 4:21–23 NLT

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TODAY’S THOUGHT

Paul is confronting the dangerous teachings of the Judaizers—those insisting that Gentile believers must obey the Jewish law to be true Christians. To make his point, Paul takes the Galatians back to the story of Abraham, the very father of the Jewish people. He uses Abraham’s two sons as a powerful illustration of the difference between law and grace, human effort and divine promise.

Abraham had two sons:

• Ishmael, born to Hagar, the slave woman

• Isaac, born to Sarah, the free woman

God had promised Abraham and Sarah a son, through whom a great nation would come—a nation that would bless the whole earth. But years passed, and the promise remained unfulfilled. So, in Genesis 16, Sarah took matters into her own hands. She gave Hagar, her servant, to Abraham to “help” God’s promise along. This was a culturally acceptable practice at the time—but it wasn’t God’s way.

Ishmael was the result of human strategy and effort—man trying to make God’s promise happen on his own terms. That decision brought strife into Abraham’s household—and that strife echoes even into modern times in the conflict between Jews and Arabs.

But years later, God fulfilled His promise supernaturally. Sarah, at 90 years old, gave birth to Isaac. Abraham was 100. Isaac’s birth was not a result of human effort—it was a miracle of God. Isaac was the child of promise, received by faith, not by works.

Paul uses this story to illustrate the contrast between law and grace.

• The law is like Ishmael: born out of human effort, striving to earn God’s favor through performance.

• Grace is like Isaac: born of God’s promise, received by faith in what God alone can do.

We still face this conflict today. Human nature craves rules—a list to follow that makes us feel like we’re earning something and allows us to judge others. But grace removes that list. It humbles us. It reminds us that we can’t earn God’s favor—He freely gives it. All we can do is receive it with open hands and open hearts.

The life of grace is not passive—it’s powerful. When we place our faith in Christ’s finished work on the cross, we are transformed. We no longer live under the control of sin, because grace now controls and empowers us.

We’re not striving to earn acceptance—we’re living from a place of being accepted. That’s the power of grace.

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TODAY’S PRAYER

Holy Spirit, help me to stop striving and start trusting. Teach me to rest in Your grace, not only to receive it for myself but also to give it freely to others. Remind me daily that Your promises are fulfilled not by my effort but by Your faithfulness. Let grace guide and transform my life. Amen.

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