Not of us

 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
² Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. ³ Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. ⁴ You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. ⁵ For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. ⁶ For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.  Galatians 5:1-6

Brothers and sisters, Christianity is not of our own works. We are answering God's calling, and it is HIS Spirit that is at work in our lives that produces fruit. Our boast should be in him. Not of what we have or what we do. 

"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast."  Ephesians 2:8,9

"But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." Galatians 6:14

This is what Paul is talking about in Galatians 5. The Jewish people that were trying keep all the laws and boasted that they were circumcised, Paul writes that circumcision is of no value to them unless they keep all the laws. Being born in a sinful nature, we are all sinners, God's word says there is no one righteous, not even one. God wants us to be obedient to Him and do good works but that it is a result of His Spirit working through us. Through Christ's sacrifice, death and resurrection we are a new creation in Christ. Only through his blood, our slate can be made clean. Not our works. They a result of his working through us.

Christ died to fulfill the law. Imagine you are in a court room and you are guilty for committing crime A,B,C, whatever it be. The judge presents the evidence and we are clearly guilty. We have broken God's law and now stand in judgement before God Almighty. The penalty of sin is death. (Romans 6:23). There really is no way out. We committed sin that has separated us far from God. God is Holy, that his nature, He created us in his image, but we have abandoned his word, and sinned- contrary to what he created us to be.But then in the biggest love act in all of  history of the world, Jesus Christ radically took our place for us. We deserved death. He took our place at the cross where he suffered and died so we can have life through Him. While we were still sinners, he still loved us unconditionally. Now When the judge looks at the case, he no longer sees the death sentence anymore because the penalty has been payed. He looks and sees the blood of His Son, who is pure, and he sets us free to go.

That is essentially the Gospel.

It is a free gift given for all who accept it. Because of Christ we are a new creation, (2 Cor 5:17) our nature has been renewed and we live a life radically different than a unbeliever.

Christianity is a way of life, letting God's Spirit work us. Our character and attitude changes to be that of Christ.