Fall From Grace

Have you ever heard the term “fall from grace?”  It is a term I have heard used in many ways, but it is usually refers to someone who was once well respected or viewed highly and has since been relegated to a lesser state.  This might be because of his own doing (for example a business man who was loved by his boss until he was caught fooling around with his bosses’ wife), or because of political maneuvering (such as an economic advisor whom the president loved until others began to paint him in a bad light), or because of other circumstances.

Believe it or not, “fall from grace,” is a biblical term.  It refers to someone who has fallen to the point where they no longer have anything to do with God.  It is a state relative to God that can lead to nothing but our condemnation, and it is a state that we should avoid at all costs.

Falling from grace is mentioned in a letter that Paul wrote to the church in the region of Galatia in what is modern day Turkey.  The Galatian church was uncertain how much they had to do to earn their own salvation.  They were engaged in the old debate of whether or not Jesus’ saving work on the cross is enough to be saved, or whether or not they had to add to that work through good works on their own.  It is a debate that exists among Christians to this day.

Some say that we are only saved by what Jesus did for us.  Other say that we cannot be saved unless we believe in Jesus and do good works ourselves as outlined in biblical law.

Christ alone = salvation

OR

Christ + our good works = salvation

Which is right?

It is in chapter five of the letter that Paul makes the point clearly when he writes in verse four, “You who are trying to be justified by the law have been severed from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.”

Justified in the Bible means “to be made righteous in the sight of God.”  Some Galatian Christians were trying to be made right in the eyes of God by following the law (which for them would have been Old Testament rules such as the ten commandments, following ceremonial rules, celebrating certain holidays, and things like that).  They were trying to have a relationship with Christ while trying to earn a relationship with God.

Others recognized that they could not earn justification and accepted God’s gift of salvation freely given through Jesus.

Paul made it clear.  You cannot even try to earn your own salvation and have a relationship with Christ.  You cannot have both Christ’s work on the cross and your own works as a means of justification.  To try to earn your way into heaven is the same thing as separating yourself from Jesus.

We only have two choices to pursue in justification.  The first option is to try on our own to make ourselves right with God.  The other option is to accept Jesus’ free gift given to us.

The good that I do comes out of the freedom that Jesus gave me.  His salvation paves the way for my good works.  My actions do not earn me favor in God’s eyes. Rather, they are done because Jesus has transformed me to be more like Him.

Christ alone is enough for salvation.

Works alone are never enough.

If you try to add your works to Christ’s to earn your way into heaven, you fall away from grace.