What Does It Mean to Fall from Grace?
The term “fall from grace” means many different things to many people. For several Christians, the idea is based on a believer who yields to sin or goes back to living a lifestyle of sin. In comparison, there is indeed neglect of God’s grace in those situations that are not what or how the Bible defines a fall from grace.
The apostle Paul witnessed an entire church fall from grace, and none of the members went back into the sin they had been living in before knowing Jesus. If you examine their lives closely, you might not think they had fallen into sin at all. They were deeply committed to keeping God’s laws and devoted their lives to obeying those laws, rituals, and feast days. So how is it they fell from grace? So glad you asked because when we see how it happened, we can guard our hearts against making the same mistake.
Paul wrote a very detailed letter in hopes of recovering them from their deception and doctrinal error. He told them they had been seduced (Galatians 3:1). What was the seduction that deceived them? They were tricked into thinking they had to maintain their righteousness/salvation by obeying Old Testament laws. They were told Jesus wasn’t enough, and God required them to obey His statutes to hold on to their salvation and stay blessed. How were they deceived?
After Paul left them after evangelizing them with the gospel, a group called the Judaizers whose name means to convert to Judaism followed Paul and showed up to try and undo everything he had taught them. They even questioned Paul’s authority to teach and preach suggesting that Paul had no such authority to do so. Paul refutes this by telling the Galatians in his letter that he wasn’t sent by men but by God and taught by Jesus Himself. So his authority came from God ( Galatians 1:11-12).
The Galatians, in their early zeal for the Lord, were tricked by the Judaizers into believing that to please God and maintain their salvation they had to obey Old Testament laws. In embracing this false doctrine, they stopped trusting in Jesus and started trusting in their good works. It also disconnected their heart from having faith in God as they put their trust in their flesh or performances to earn them God’s blessings and favor.
While attempting to open the eyes of the Galatians to their error, Paul points out that since they adopted this new belief, they hadn’t seen the same power or spiritual fruit they did when they were totally focused on Jesus and trusted in Him completely.
Paul tells them in the third chapter, they were being foolish to think that after starting in the Spirit, they could now be perfected by their flesh. He asks them how they received God’s Spirit if it was by faith or by keeping the law. He continues to point out to them why faith in Jesus is so important, by explaining to them the miracles they saw and experienced didn’t happen because of their obedience to the law but by faith in Jesus. Over and over again, Paul draws a comparison to the works of the flesh in obedience to the law, compared to faith in what Jesus has accomplished for them in His death, burial, and resurrection.
Here is what Paul says falling from grace is.
“You have been severed from Christ, if you seek to be justified [that is, declared free of the guilt of sin and its penalty, and placed in right standing with God] through the Law; you have fallen from grace [for you have lost your grasp on God’s unmerited favor and blessing]” (Galatians 5:4 AMP).
This was a pretty powerful statement coming from Paul telling the Galatians that in keeping the Old Testament law, they are cutting themselves off from life in Jesus. In their attempt to earn their righteousness by good works, they forgot that Jesus gave them His righteousness as a gift that is received by faith. Anytime we try to work or earn God’s righteousness or favor by our performances, we lose our grip on God’s grace in our lives.
Paul warns the Galatians that whenever the law of God is mixed with God’s grace, it will give birth to a false gospel. This false gospel is cursed because, for one, it is based on the law that requires perfect obedience to fulfill. Secondly, it disconnects our hearts from living by faith and experiencing God who uses faith to transform us.
The next time you hear someone say so and so fell from grace, you now know what the true biblical meaning of that phrase is. It is turning to legalism to try and work for what Jesus already paid for in His death and resurrection. Don’t be seduced like the Galatians into trusting in your efforts to be blessed or saved, trust only in what Jesus did for you.
