Followed By Mercy

Abraham Proves It: We’re Saved By Promise, Not Performance

• W. Austin Gardner

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What if the freedom you crave doesn't come from trying harder but from trusting deeper?

We walk through Galatians again, tracing how the law exposes our need while grace steps in to heal, adopt, and transform. This isn't a message about lowering the bar; it's about moving from checklists to a new heart, where obedience turns from burden to joy because love has taken root.

In the story of Abraham, we see that faith came before law. Long before Sinai, he believed God and was counted righteous not by ritual, not by pedigree, but by trust. That simple truth reshapes everything. The law serves as a schoolmaster pointing to Christ, not a ladder to climb. And when the fullness of time came, adoption became our reality. The Spirit teaches our hearts to say "Abba, Father," replacing fear and performance anxiety with confidence in the cross and the assurance of belonging.

From there, identity changes behavior. A servant obeys because he must; a son obeys because he loves. Grace doesn't make us careless; it makes us careful with love. Holiness grows from affection, not intimidation.

We also press into the radical unity grace creates: neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female. The gospel tears down status walls and invites us to a level table where no one stands above another. Even our weaknesses turn into windows for God's strength. His grace proves sufficient when ours runs out.

If you've felt like a spiritual employee clocking in for approval, trade the scoreboard for a family seat. Stand fast in liberty, trust the promise over your performance, and let love be both the motive and the result.

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In This Episode:

  • Law as mirror and diagnosis, grace as cure and transformation
  • Abraham as proof that righteousness is by faith, not performance
  • Adoption as sons with full inheritance and the Spirit crying "Abba"
  • Obedience from love instead of fear-driven compliance
  • Grace shaping holiness without enabling carelessness
  • Unity in Christ dismantles race, class, and gender barriers
  • Weakness as a channel for God's sufficient grace
  • Standing firm in liberty and living out new identity

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Austin Gardner:

Hello, this is Austin Gardner back to you with Followed by Mercy. I am extremely excited to always get to share with you how that we are certain that goodness and mercy are following us all the days of our lives. I don't know where you're living, I don't know what's happening in your life, but I want you to know that you are loved, the Father loves you, the shepherd loves you, and this is so true. Now, as we have been looking at the book of Galatians and just a little brief overview and just thinking about it, I want you to realize that the whole story of the Bible is God's grace. In other words, we are given by God a free gift because he loves us, because he is love. And that's the miracle. Grace doesn't just forgive, it transforms. When Christ lives in you, obedience stops being a burden and becomes a joy. You don't live by a checklist anymore. You live by a new heart. When a man is saved by grace, you don't have to make him good. You can't keep him from it. The spirit that saved you begins to shape you. Not from a fear of punishment, but from love that won't let you go. That's why Paul would say the love of Christ constrains us. It means his love grips me, holds me, compels me. We don't have to earn a smile, we serve because we already have God's smile. So we've said it over and over, but I say it to you again. The law diagnosed you, but grace cured you. The law showed you your sin, but grace showed you your Savior. The law said do, and grace says done. So right where you are, you can whisper it quietly. It's not I, but Christ who lives in me. That's your freedom. That's your identity. That's where we rest. Now, we have seen the law for what it is: it's a mirror, a diagnosis, a schoolmaster that points us to grace. Now, Paul goes into a story to drive the truth home. It's a story of Abraham. Even as Abraham believed God and it was counted him for righteousness. Before there was a law, before Moses ever climbed Mount Sinai, before circumcision or sacrifice, there was Abraham. And he was made right with God by faith. Abraham is God's exhibit A that faith alone saves. He didn't have commandments to keep or rituals to perform. He simply believed what God said. And God called that belief righteousness. Abraham lived about 430 years before the law was given to Moses. That means faith came first, law came later. If the law was the right way to God, Abraham couldn't have been saved. But he was. Because faith was always the way. The law was never the ladder to heaven. It was the light that showed we needed grace to reach heaven. Paul says that God added the law because of transgression, but it was temporary. It was meant to guide us until the real teacher came, Christ Himself. The law is the escort. Grace is the marriage. The law walks us to the altar, but Christ takes our hand forever. Paul said something very revolutionary. Know ye therefore they which are of faith the same are the children of Abraham. That means this family isn't built on bloodlines or behavior, it's built on belief. If you trust in Christ, you're part of that same family. You're a child of promise. I remember reading that years ago. Abraham's story isn't just history. It's my story. It's your story. In thee shall all nations be blessed. That includes me and you. We're not outsiders trying to fit in. We're sons and daughters sitting at the table. Maybe you felt like you're on the edge of God's family, like you got in by a technicality and you're waiting to be fully accepted. You need to hear this today. Grace doesn't adopt you halfway, it gives you full inheritance. Thou art no more a servant, but a son. And if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. You're not a hired hand in God's house, you're his child. You're not a slave, you're a son. A servant obeys because he must. A son obeys because he loves. That's the difference between law and grace. Law says, do this or else. Grace says, You belong to me, now walk with me. Paul uses the image of a young heir under a guardian, still a child, not yet free to enjoy his inheritance. That was us before Christ. But when the fullness of time came, God sent his son to redeem us, that we might receive the adoption of sons, because you are sons. And God sent his spirit of his son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. That's a title of intimacy. It's like saying dad or daddy. You can't say Abba from a distance. You say it from trust. When grace moves in, fear moves out. That's exactly what Paul describes here. The Spirit doesn't drive us with fear, he draws us with love. Under the law, you always wondered if you'd done enough. Under grace, you already know you're loved. That's not arrogance, it's confidence in the cross. I works heard someone say, fact is, I've heard it so many times, if you give people too much grace, they'll sin more. But the truth is the opposite of that. Show them grace and they'll fall in love with the one who gave it. When love is a motive, holiness becomes a result. Maybe you've been scared that faith uh that grace will make you careless. Grace doesn't make you careless, it makes you careful with love. It softens your heart, it doesn't harden it. It teaches you to say no to sin, not out of fear of punishment, but because you've tasted something better. That's a spirit of sonship. Abraham believed God. He obeyed God. He stepped out under the stars with no map, no plan, just a promise. He believed God's word even when it didn't make sense. God told him that he would have descendants as the stars, and many as the stars, and Abraham believed. That's faith, trusting God's word more than what you feel. And Paul says that's how salvation has always worked, not by performance, but by promise. So the law was our schoolmaster to bring us under Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. When you were a child, your teacher had to hold your hand, make you sit still, teach you the alphabet. But when you grow up, you don't need the alphabet chart. You speak the language naturally. Grace teaches you to speak the language of love. There's no more divide. There is neither Jew nor Greek, bond or free, male nor female. We're all one in Christ Jesus. In that culture, those were walls that divided people: race, class, gender. But grace tore down the walls. At the cross, the ground is level. The church isn't a hierarchy, it's a family. And in that family, no one stands higher than another. The addict who comes chumbling through the door is as welcome as the elder who's been faithful for 50 years. The woman who's failed and fears judgment is as loved as the preacher who never missed a Sunday. All are one in Christ Jesus. And that's what the gospel does. It erases the scoreboards, invites us all to the same table. Some scholars believe that when Paul wrote about this, his infirmity of the flesh, he was referring to his eyesight, maybe a weakness from his Damascus encounter. So M. R. Dehan used to say, Paul's eyes may have been dimmed, but his vision of grace was clear. That thorn wasn't punishment, it was protection. It kept him dependent on grace. My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Paul learned that when he was weak, then he was strong. Maybe that's where you are today. Weak, tired, unsure. But you're right where grace shines brightest. You don't have to fix yourself to be usable. You just have to yield. Grace isn't hindered by your weakness, grace flows through your weakness. The greatest tragedy is not that Christians sin, but that they live like slaves when they've been adopted and born again as sons. That hits hard. We pray like beggars, but we're heirs. We serve like employees, but we're beloved children. Paul said, stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free. That's not arrogance, that's identity. You don't belong in chains anymore. Not the chains of shame or guilt or the fear of not measuring up. You belong to your father. So before we go any further, you need to say in your heart, I'm not a slave, I'm a son, I'm not an orphan, I'm loved. That's what the cross accomplished. That's what the Holy Spirit confirms. That's what Galatians celebrates. Grace doesn't just pardon you, it adopts you. I hope that as we are going through this, you are being blessed like I am. As I meditate and think about the book of Galatians, and I think about the grace that God has given to us. And I am so excited that I am saved by the grace of God and given new life. I lay in bed at night and thank God so much for loving me. I don't deserve it, but he loves me. And he doesn't even want to hear me say I don't deserve it. Because he says, I didn't come to you because you deserve it or don't. I came to you because I am love. And I want you to know God loves you. And I want you to know that it's no longer about you keeping records. The grace of God is all that's needed. Trust God. Well, I love you, and I thank you for the chance to talk to you. God bless each of you today, and I pray you'll have a great day.

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Austin Gardner

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