When Paul wrote his letter to the Galatians, he was astonished at how quickly they had been turned by others who invaded their turf after he had been there ... and these seemed to want to distort the gospel of Christ. These Gentiles had previously been given the pure message of the grace of Jesus, but were now being told they needed to mix some aspects of the Mosaic law with faith in Christ.
Paul referred to it as a different gospel (although it was really no gospel at all). He had some strong words against those delivering this contrary message and it launched the rest of his "Galatians" letter, where he would expound on the differences between a ministry of bondage under works, compared to a New Covenant of Faith.
When someone is accused of falling from grace in today's "religiondom" (introducing a new word on the podcast!), it is usually used in the context of a person who has been caught in some sort of "major" sin or was discovered to have broken a significant commandment from the Mosaic law. Perhaps it involved a habitually failed attempt at commandment-keeping—and caught the attention of the rumor mill—also known as the judge and jury.
The phrase "fallen from grace" appears in one passage (Galatians 5:4). Even within this very Bible verse, it tells us what caused the Galatians to have fallen from grace, and it's pretty much the precise opposite of what church attendees have been told. But as we often do, we will expand the boundaries of the context to help get a clearer understanding in order to avoid the pitfall of yet another false assumption which slipped through the religious church filter.
“The law is not of faith.” This word from Paul is a central theme throughout the book of Galatians. It needs to be kept in mind as we look through the letter, including chapter 5 as the apostle compares the Spirit to the flesh. Believers in Christ who had been freed from the law are no longer in the flesh, but in the Spirit (Romans 8:9). Although we can be tempted with the works of the flesh that Paul lists in Galatians 5, it is those who are of the flesh that will not inherit the kingdom of heaven (unbelievers). They are stuck in “works” mode… which may appear as sinful and at other times it may appear as Godly. This is not a passage on living “good enough” to inherit eternal life. We’ve all continued to struggle with being perfect… we still may have moments of anger, quarrels, jealousy, impure thoughts, etc. Fear not! God is always with you and He desires to be our helper during those times.
The Galatians were earlier accused of having fallen from grace because they were trying to be perfected by the law of works (Galatians 3:3 & 5:4). As children of God, we receive an inheritance as a gift because we are an heir, not because we are living in a way that is going to be considered morally acceptable. This is not to diminish or disregard the importance of behavior - Paul’s exhortation is for us who are in Christ to behave in a way that reflects the true righteous nature of who we’ve been born to be in Christ. This is not accomplished by our empty efforts of trying to produce our own fruit, but by the Holy Spirit within us. Now we can bear His fruit, apart from the law of works.
Continuing with our short series on “The Law is Not of Faith.” In the book of Galatians, Paul uses the women of Abraham (Sarah and Hagar) as illustrations while comparing the two covenants - the Old and the New. One gave birth to a child of promise (Sarah) and the other came from Mt. Sinai and gave birth to bondage. We know this is where the Mosaic law was given birth - including the Ten Commandments. It was something the Jewish people were freed from because of the child of promise. Religious doctrines which encourage us to live by the old commandments from that covenant have missed the point… we can’t live by something that is unable to bring life or righteousness to us. There is no passage that states we should abide by certain laws while others have expired. There is no exhortation in Scripture that trying to keep the commandments from the previous covenant will improve morals, reduce sin, and bring sanctification. In fact, we find the opposite within new covenant writings. We have something better in Christ: It’s called faith (and the law is not based upon faith).
Doing something a little off the beaten path this week, Mike throws Joel some spontaneous questions or statements about common thoughts, assumptions or beliefs found in most Christian circles or church doctrine. Discussions include falling from grace and forgiving others in order to be forgiven.
The term "fallen from grace" usually triggers the thought process of someone that has gone from living a life of righteousness and purity and falling into some sort of terrible sin. Paul uses the phrase fallen from grace when writing to the Gentile believers in the book of Galatians. What is he scolding them about? What is it that they have "fallen" into that Paul said they should avoid? It's not the act of sinning, but something that many Christians have pursued who thought it would help them, when it actually did the opposite.
This week we talk a little more about how "grace" is not simply one subject of many, but is the essence of every aspect of the Christian life and we talk about the biblical idea of what it means to have fallen from grace by going back to trusting in our own works. Along with all this, we talk about how God's unconditional love cannot be separated from His grace, and how growing in our understanding of God's love can change our entire mindset of who He is and who we are in Him.
