YOU HAVE FALLEN FROM GRACE!

I have heard Galatians 5:4 used to explain that a believer [including one who still clings solely onto the finished work of Christ] may fall from grace and thus no longer be a beneficiary of eternal life. The scripture says:

You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. [NIV]

It is always always always important not to cut off parts of scripture to make a point 🙍🏽‍♀️. The Galatians were non-Jews to whom Paul had preached Christ in person. Upon his departure, some people crept in and preached a ‘new gospel’ which required them to be circumcised and follow the law of Moses [which the Jews followed] in order to be saved. So Paul says in his opening statements in 1:6-7 [NIV]:

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel – which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.

What was this perversion Paul was talking about? Before explaining what he meant, he took time in Chapter 2 to establish that his calling was directly from God and needed no human affirmation. I suppose this was to ground the authority with which he spoke about the things he spoke. And then he proceeds in Chapter 3 [NLT] to address what he meant by the perversion of the gospel he had earlier preached to them:

Oh, foolish Galatians! What magician has cast an evil spell on you? For you used to see the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death as clearly as though I had shown you a signboard with a picture of Christ dying on the cross. v. 1

Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by keeping the law? Of course not, for the Holy Spirit came upon you only after you believed the message you heard about Christ. v. 2

Have you lost your senses? [Ouch! 🤕] After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? v. 3

I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law of Moses? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ. v. 5

And on and on went Paul, explaining with Abraham’s faith and life how God’s promise was given to Abraham and his seed [Jesus Christ – 3:16], how that we who belong to Christ are also Abraham’s seed and heirs of God’s promise [3:29], and how the slave woman he married [Hagar] and her child represented the old covenant [the law and slavery] while the free woman [Sarah] and her son represented the freedom and promise God had promised Abraham and his seed/s [4:22 – 31]. Paul opens the 5^th chapter by saying:

Christ has really set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.

He continues:

Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ cannot help you. I’ll say it again. If you are trying to find favour with God by being circumcised, you must obey all of the regulations in the whole law of Moses. For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace! [5:2-4, NLT]

I don’t think I ought to belabour the point here. If you live an unrepentant, nonchalant life of sin, of course, you’re not even a beneficiary of grace in the first place even if your behind keeps your pastor’s pew warm 5 times a week. The believer’s attitude to sin in his life is completely different from an unbeliever’s. This piece and every other article in this series do not apply to an unrepentant/unsaved churchgoer. For believers, however, we do not fall from grace because we give in to temptation sometimes. You do not fall from grace because you are struggling with a particular sin you are still fighting to overcome. We fall from grace when we give ourselves to ‘new gospels’ which make nonsense the work of Christ, not only on the Cross but in us; when we try to supplement His work on the Cross, as if to say something was missing when He did the work to save us. So how exactly is this scripture relevant to us who were never tempted with Judaism? Let me tell you. I have met a man in a rural area who firmly believes that Jesus died and rose. He has given his life to Him even, and plays a key role in his church. But he also believes that his god under his bed existed before Christ, and supplements what Christ does for him as a believer. Imagine the conconbility! It is different variants of ‘new gospels’ that have grown into certain cults that we wrongly call ‘denominations’ nowadays🤦🏽‍♀️; that also make people preach salvation through works.

They are an indictment on the wisdom of God expressed in the Cross, on His intentions for us as His people, and on His unmatched sacrifice of shamefully becoming sin so that we can become not just any righteousness, but God’s!

I will be wrapping up on this series soon, but there are tons of scriptures that have been deeply misunderstood and used to steal the joy of believers who should rather have been released by the Good News to live wholly for God knowing that the Lord does a work in them daily! I encourage you therefore to study the scriptures for yourself.

If you haven’t, do check out the other pieces in this series: Double Jeopardy, We’re Not All Sinners, You Cannot ‘Work Out’ Your Salvation, Depart From Me Or Not? and The Hebrews 10 Confusion.

Love,

💝 RAD! 💝