Fallen From Grace

Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.  Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.  For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.  Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; YE ARE FALLEN FROM GRACE” (Galatians 5:1-4).  Many sincere folks have misinterpreted this Scripture to conclude that a Believer can lose their salvation—this is a false teaching!  “Falling from grace” does NOT mean falling away from God’s salvation and God’s promises.  God made us a promise in the Bible, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13).  My part is to “call”, God’s part is to “save.”  I cannot save myself, nor can you.  Only God can save a person because only God can forgive sin.  No priest or Pope can forgive (or absolve) anyone’s sins.  Penance is simply NOT a Bible doctrine.   I must go to Jesus and Him alone!  Thanks be to God, I did this as a young man and have been saved since that day.  Though I am still a sinner and often fall short of God’s standards, I am still a Child of God—safe and secure in the everlasting arms of the Father.   I CANNOT lose my salvation, no way.  No amount of evil or wrong doing can undo what God has done.  I didn’t deserve to be saved in the first place so my actions have no bearing on my salvation.  This does not give us a license to sin, it just means that salvation starts and ends with God.  The only thing God requires of us is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins.  Thank God!  Jesus washed my sins away and wrote my name in Heaven!  He saved a vile, dirty, rotten sinner from hell-fire!  God placed Jesus’ righteousness on my account and placed my grievous sins on Jesus account!  The Father declared me J-U-S-T-I-F-I-E-D, Just-if-I’d never sinned!  Now that’s a wonderful God!
What does the Apostle Paul mean here in Galatians 5:1-4?  What is meant by the phrase “fallen from grace?”  In order to fully understand what Paul meant, we must understand the purpose of the Book of Galatians.  The Believers at Galatia had fallen victim to a false religion.  And let me pause right here to say that there are MANY false religions in the world today, right in our own neighborhoods.  These “deceitful workers” that appear as angels of light are two-fold the “children of hell.”  Not only are they unsaved but they subtly propagate damnable heresies to lead others to hell with them (the blind leading the blind).  They are dangerous and must be exposed for who they are—antichrists!  They are against Christ!  There were false religions in Paul’s day as well.  One false religion in particular had preyed upon the church at Galatia.  This false religion wanted to merge with the true Believers in order to promote their own false religion.  This was a false religion that taught “works” was necessary to be saved.  They believed that a man needed to be circumcised in order to be saved.  This was known as Judaism (the keeping of the ceremonial laws, etc).  Listen here to Paul’s warning to the Galatian Christians, “As many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ.  For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, THAT THEY MAY GLORY IN YOUR FLESH” (Galatians 6:12,13).  This false religion didn’t care about these true Believers, they only cared about promoting their own heresies and foolishness.  This is so often the case, greedy people try to capitalize on the goodness of God’s Children.  I’ve had several people in my lifetime try to recruit me into selling something door-to-door: Amway, life insurance, long distance phone service, etc.  They knew I was a soul-winner and figured they’d make an easy buck if they could get me to do all the work for them.  I never did help those lazy rascals.  Paul heard of the evil which was happening in Galatia and writes this letter of warning to the church.  Paul brings to attention the fact that these unbelievers DON’T keep the very law that they claim can save them if they obey it.  No person can keep all of God’s law, “...there is NONE RIGHTEOUS, no not one” (Romans 3:10).  This is true of false religion today as well.  I’ve met many religious people who take God’s name in vain, wish the boss would burn in hell, hate their spouse, etc, etc.  These are unsaved people who trust in their good works to get them into Heaven someday—good luck!  They won’t make it!  They’ve yet to realize their sinful condition.  One cannot be honest with God until willing to first be honest with one’s self.  This takes an honest person.  Most people run from the truth at all costs and refuse to face the facts.  You can deal with the truth, but a lie cannot be dealt with.   The truth is often painful to accept.  
Having laid the groundwork, now let me explain what Paul meant when he said, “Ye are fallen from grace.”  Paul was simply saying that Jesus is the only ticket to Heaven.  If you miss Jesus, you will have missed your only bus ride to Heaven.  If an unsaved person rejects Christ as Savior, then there is NO OTHER WAY to be saved.  This is all that Paul was saying.  Paul speaks strongly in Galatians 3:1,2, “O FOOLISH Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?  This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?  Are ye so FOOLISH? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?”  Nobody likes to be called “foolish.”  Paul’s strong words must have been a big surprise to these folks; nevertheless, they were much needed words.  “Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?” (Galatians 4:16).   I find myself quoting this verse often because many people do not want to hear the truth.  We must learn to accept the truth, seek the truth and love the truth because God is truth.  The Galatians had heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ and yet we’re being entangled into this works religion mess.  Paul was starting to wonder if these folks had really been saved in the first place.  “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:  Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would PERVERT THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST” (Galatians 1:6,7).  The Gospel is easy to pervert, simply add something to it and it is corrupted.  For example: If you add baptism to the Gospel, then you have added a “work” to God’s simple plan of salvation by grace through faith.  No good deeds can save us and they absolutely cannot be added to salvation otherwise you will have perverted the truth of the Gospel.  Some people have the false impression that they are saved, but are NOT because of various misunderstandings concerning salvation.  If you have heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ, look no further.  You must simply believe the Gospel and make the decision to trust Christ as Savior and ask Him to forgive you of your sins.  If you have heard the Gospel of Christ but it hasn’t affected you, I feel sorry for you.  If you refuse to call upon the name of the Lord, you are fallen from grace (you have rejected your only way to salvation).  If you have called on the Lord but are also trusting in your good works to get you into Heaven, then you are not truly trusting Christ.  I’ve actually met some people who have told me that they are trusting faith and works to get them to Heaven.  No sir!  You won’t get into Heaven any other way than through the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son.  Notice again the Words which we just read in Galatians chapter three, “This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the WORKS of the law, or by the hearing of FAITH?”  Do you see?  Salvation cannot be by works, only by faith.  If the Galatians had fallen prey to the false belief that circumcision was necessary for salvation, then it would have revealed beyond a shadow of a doubt that they were NOT saved.  I often am concerned myself about the salvation of other professed Believers.  You’d be surprised just how many people think they’re genuinely saved simply because they made a commitment to Christ at a crusade or turned over a new leaf at a revival meeting.  Let me tell you, your sins are the big issue my friend.  Have your sins been dealt with?  Have you gone to God as a dirty, rotten, hell-deserving sinner and pleaded for forgiveness for the sins you’ve committed?  Have you turned to Christ in faith, believing that He alone paid for your sins and that He alone can forgive and save you?  “Fallen from grace” simply means that you have overlooked the saving power of the Gospel, you have been deceived and sold a phony life insurance policy.   I don’t know about you but I have “all Saints insurance” with Jesus Christ.  It’s a free policy paid-in-full by Jesus Christ Himself.  God the Father is my agent.  Anybody can have this insurance.  I have no deductible and no hidden costs.  Are you insured with the Heavenly Father?  Don’t miss your only bus to Heaven, trust in Jesus now and let Him become your personal Savior.  
Also, let me make clear that you only need to be saved once and can NEVER fall from grace.  As I’ve mentioned before, we didn’t deserve salvation in the first place and we never will deserve it.  If we cannot do good deeds to earn Heaven in the first place, then we cannot do evil deeds to lose it.   We are kept saved by God’s power and God’s promise, our part was only to believe on Christ.  Once saved, always saved and that’s the Gospel truth!  The Bible teaches that a person must be “born-again”, NOT “born-again and again and again.”  We are born physically into this world one time and we can only be born of God one time.  We become a “new creature” in Christ when God’s Holy Spirit unites in a Holy Marriage with our own spirit (that spirit which was once dead in trespasses and sins but is now made alive by the presence of God in our heart).   
You have probably heard the following verse quoted at some time in your life, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7).  I became curious one day about the context in which this statement was made.  Why did God say this?  I’ve often heard Christians rattle off this Scripture to condemn other Christians.  Surely, we ALL deserve to get what we have coming to us—none of us are without sin.  However, Jesus paid the price and we will NOT get what we have coming to us as Christians.   Jesus was punished on the cross so we wouldn’t have to be punished.  We may lose rewards in Heaven but God will NOT punish us—Jesus paid for our sins!!!  We may ruin our own lives and make ourselves miserable but God doesn’t do that to us—we do that to ourselves.  We can be our own worst enemy if we’re not careful.  Praise and glory be to our Heavenly Father that Jesus paid the price to redeem our souls from destruction.  Paul makes this interesting statement in Galatians 6:7.  He says that we will “reap what we sow.”  I searched the Scriptures and learned that the Apostle Paul had made this statement (about reaping what you sow) in regard to the Galatians who were about to enter into a false religion.  The people which Paul had previously ministered to in Galatia were about to sow something evil.  Paul was warning them that false religion can only lead to confusion and hell.  As I mentioned earlier, Paul was concerned for their salvation.  Had they been saved at all?  Were they going to follow this false religion?  The Apostle Paul certainly had a reason to be very concerned.   God is simply saying that you had better make sure you don’t wind up in some false religion.  You had better “try the spirits” as we are warned in 1st John 4:1, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but TRY (or test) THE SPIRITS whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.”   People are spirits in the flesh, that is who we are.  Once the tent of the body is no longer fit for use, the spirit returns to God.  So what the Scripture means by “trying the spirits” is simply—test someone with the Bible.  Ask them if they believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.  Ask them if they believe that Jesus is God Almighty, Who came in the flesh.  Ask them if they believe in the virgin birth and the blood atonement of Jesus.  Ask them if they believe in the bodily resurrection and the coming physical return of Christ.  Ask them if they believe that God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are all one in the same being.  Ask them if they believe that Jesus is eternal, without beginning or end (He had no Creator).   Be not deceived my friend!!!