Today’s sermon audio can be found on Castbox at 173 “Do Not Nullify Grace” Galatians 2:21.

Our first reading for August 30th was Galatians 5:1-6. We read Galatians 5:1-6 because it is similar to Galatians 2:21 and therefore can help us understand Galatians 2:21. Our text for August 30th was Galatians 2:21. We read Galatians 2:17-21 for context. There is a discussion of one of the five solas, grace alone, in the Introduction: Grace Alone.

Today's Text with Context

17aBut if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, 17bwe too were found to be sinners, 17cis Christ then a servant of sin? 17dCertainly not! 18aFor if I rebuild what I tore down, 18bI prove myself to be a transgressor. 19aFor through the law I died to the law, 19bso that I might live to God. 20aI have been crucified with Christ. 20bIt is no longer I who live, 20cbut Christ who lives in me. 20dAnd the life I now live in the flesh 20eI live by faith in the Son of God, 20fwho loved me and gave himself for me. 21aI do not nullify the grace of God, 21bfor if righteousness were through the law, 21cthen Christ died for no purpose.

Galatians 2:17-21, ESV

Sermon Outline

"Do Not Nullify Grace" Galatians 2:21

  1. Introduction: Grace Alone
  2. I Do Not Nullify (21a)
  3. If Righteousness (21b-c)
  4. Conclusion: How to Nullify Grace

Scripture References: Galatians 5:1-6; Galatians 2:21; Ephesians 2:8-10;

1. Introduction: Grace Alone

8For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 1010 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:8-10, ESV

The Five Solas

‘Grace Alone’ is one of the five ‘solas’. The sixteenth century Reformation can be summarized with just five short Latin phrases. Each phrase contains the Latin word ‘sola’ (or other forms of the same adjective) which are collectively called ‘the five solas’. The word ‘sola’ can be translated as ‘only’ or ‘alone’. These five phrases tersely give us five key early Protestant principles. These five principles get listed in various orders. Here, in English, are the five key principles of the Reformation:

  1. Scripture Alone
  2. Faith Alone
  3. Grace Alone
  4. Christ Alone
  5. God’s Glory Alone

The early Protestants distinguished various aspects of salvation by characterizing faith as the instrument of salvation, Christ as the basis of salvation, and grace as the ultimate cause of salvation1. Ephesians 2:8-10 is one place where we see this pattern of instrument, basis, and ultimate cause.

Grace Defined

We define grace as the word is used in the Bible simply as ‘God’s unmerited favor’. We distinguish Common Grace and Special Grace from each other. Both types of grace in the Bible convey the sense of God’s unmerited favor to us:

  • Common Grace is God’s unmerited favor toward all people both saved and unsaved.
  • Special Grace is God’s unmerited favor in salvation.

Paul uses the word ‘grace’ seven times in Galatians. In every case Paul means what we call Special Grace. We could also call it Salvific Grace or Salvific Unmerited Favor2.

2. I Do Not Nullify (21a)

21aI do not nullify the grace of God, 21bfor if righteousness were through the law, 21cthen Christ died for no purpose.

Galatians 2:21, ESV

I want to consider the question “How could I nullify the grace of God?” We will consider the “how” question in our conclusion. But first I want to think about what Paul is writing about.

Note that I have used Paul’s declarative assertion about grace in my title. But I switched from Paul’s indicative mood to imperative mood for the title. Paul denies that he is ‘nullifying the grace of God’. His denial may suggest that it is possible to do so. Hence my choice of title: Do Not Nullify Grace.

We start with Paul’s use of the verb ‘nullify’. After we look at the rest of verse 21 we will consider Galatians 5:1-6 for further insight into how we might nullify the grace of God.

First of all, we should note that whatever Paul means by nullifying the grace of God it is obviously not a good thing to do. Paul is either responding to a criticism made by his opponents or he is arguing against works-righteousness by indirectly accusing his opponents of ‘nullifying the grace of God’. I think the latter is more likely. Certainly the proponents of Pharasaic Second Temple Judaism were indeed ‘nullifying the grace of God’.

What was it that Paul’s opponents were doing? One New Testament lexical source defines this verb nullify as follows: ‘to annul, make of no effect, set aside, ignore, slight; to break faith with.’3. English translations of this verb in Galatians 2:21 include: ‘nullify’ (ESV, NAS) ‘frustrate’ (KJV), ‘set aside’ (NIV, NKJV), ‘treat as meaningless’ (NLT). Timothy George suggests ‘thwart’ in his commentary on Galatians4. One of my English dictionaries defines nullify as ‘to make of no value or consequence’. That is what Paul is concerned about; his opponents were making the grace of God of no value or consequence.

We should repeat that Paul is here assuredly writing about Special Grace (God’s salvific unmerited favor to the elect). We see that Paul refers to ‘righteousness’ in the next clause of verse 21.

3. If Righteousness (21b-c)

21aI do not nullify the grace of God, 21bfor if righteousness were through the law, 21cthen Christ died for no purpose.

Galatians 2:21, ESV

‘21bfor if righteousness were through the law,’
Now Paul defends his assertion that he does ‘not nullify the grace of God’ as indicated by the word ‘for’. Paul reasons conditionally by making a hypothetical assertion: ‘if righteousness …’. Notice that the ESV suggests by using the verb ‘were**’ that Paul disagrees with the condition. He argues against ‘righteousness … through the law’ by asserting it and in the next clause showing the illogical consequence of the assertion (then Christ died for no purpose***).

The noun ‘righteousness’ could be translated ‘justification’. The verb ‘justify’ and the noun ‘righteousness’ are closely related. Recall that we have defined justify God declaring us righteous. So Paul is still on the same basic subject here in verse 21. Righteousness is not through the law. No one is righteous, no not one. By the works of the law, no one will be justified (declared righteous).

‘21cthen Christ died for no purpose.’
The consequence of the hypothetical assertion would be that ‘Christ died for no purpose.’. Some might try to argue with Paul that Jesus set a good example for us by dying. But Paul is having none of that. In Paul’s doctrines there is a binary choice. You can have it one way or the other way but you cannot have it both ways. If you are going to be justified by your own self-righteousness then you cannot claim any benefit from Christ or even any relationship with Christ.

There are only two kinds of righteousness in the Bible: self-righteousness and Christ-righteousness. Self-righteousness leads to destruction. The imputed righteousness of Christ leads to eternal life.

We note here in verse 21 that Paul has made a shift from emphasizing the means of salvation which is faith to the ultimate cause of salvation which is grace while also strongly implying the ground of salvation which is Christ.

4. Conclusion: How to Nullify Grace

1For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. 2Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 3I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. 4You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. 5For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. 6For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

Galatians 5:1-6, ESV

“How could I nullify the grace of God?”
I thought it would be profitable to discuss this question. I think Paul further explains this nullification of grace in Galatians 5:1-6. So I want to look at that briefly in conclusion. Hopefully we will later on work carefully through this section of the letter. Here in Galatians 5:4 Paul uses stronger language than Galatians 2:21. There he wrote ‘I do not nullify the grace of God’. Here in chapter 5 he writes that under a certain condition ‘You are severed from Christ’ and ‘you have fallen away from grace’. I think the two ideas are similar. We will have to look at them more closely later.

The condition to ‘accept circumcision’. This acceptance is basically part of initiation into Pharasaic Second Temple Judaism. In 5:6 Paul says that really being circumcised or not doesn’t matter one way or the other. The problem is that the readers were being compelled to seek to become Jewish as defined by Pharasaic Second Temple Judaism.

We are not likely to consider becoming Jewish in order to be justified. But there are analogous temptations that we face as Christians or would-be Christians in our own day. Our sure ‘hope of righteousness’ is by grace, through faith, in Christ through the Holy Spirit. Any substitute approach to righteousness has the tendency to nullify the grace of God. Any self-righteousness tends to nullify the grace of God.

I would point out two dangers here. For the unbeliever pursuit of righteousness by his or her own effort leads to eternal death. So if we teach or discuss what is actually self-righteousness then the unbelievers we interact with are being led astray. But also we might say the right words but act as if we are pursuing self-righteousness. This too can mislead the unbelievers around us.

For the believer pursuit of righteousness by his or her own effort leads leads to spiritual poverty. We as believers need to understand the law and the gospel and to live accordingly. As we endeavor to ‘eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness through the Spirit by faith in Christ’ Christ will be of great ‘advantage’ to us.

Footnotes

© 2026 Christian Life Church.

  1. Terry L. Johnson, The Case for Traditional Protestantism, 2004, location 252. ↩

  2. Carl R. Truman, Grace Alone, 2017, kp 24 uses a very similar phrase. ↩

  3. HagiosTech.com, Hebrew/Greek Interlinear Bible, an Android App. ↩

  4. Timothy George, Galatians, CSC, kp 273. ↩