Galatians 2:21 “I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.”
To “frustrate the grace of God” is to teach that our fitness (“righteousness”) for Eternal Life in Heaven is the product of our obedience to “the law”, to include all variations of “the law” contrived by men over the ages. In this context, to “frustrate” is to deny the full power and effect of “the grace of God”. If we, by our works, could secure our “righteousness”, why did our Lord have to come into this world and Sacrifice Himself? It is called “the grace of God” because it is impossible for sinful man to make himself sufficiently “righteous” to earn his Eternal Relationship with God; thus, Eternal Life in Heaven. Because it is not possible for us to earn our home in Heaven by our works, our Lord came into this world and freely Sacrificed Himself to redeem us from our sins; thus, making us righteously fit for Eternal Heaven by His Gracious Death. His Sacrifice is absolutely sufficient in quality and in effect. Our Lord explained it this way, “I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. 39 And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.” (John 6:38-39)! In the act of His Sacrifice, our Lord fully and eternally saved “his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21)! To teach otherwise is to “frustrate the grace of God” and to proclaim that “Christ is dead in vain”; that is, He wasted His time and His life. Paul explained it this way, “But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.” (Romans 5:15)! Thus, we jubilantly sing, “Amazing Grace”!