Falling from Grace
Falling from Grace: You have been
severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen
from grace. (Gal 5:4)
Fallen from grace. What does it take to "fall from
grace"? I used to think that if I did something really bad, or if I
continued in some little sin long enough, suddenly God would say, "Enough
is enough." What is "enough" for "the God of all grace"
(1Pet 5:10)? When does infinite patience give up on you? At what point does the
good Shepherd settle for ninety-nine and forget about the one? At what point
does grace throw in the celestial towel?
The idea of God giving up on you can become very real when
you have long-standing failures in your life. Something small, something big,
something hidden, something obvious, something completely unjustifiable. It
seemed to me that it would take a super-failure to fail at grace, but I knew if
anyone could do it, I could. When people fall from grace, does God write them
off as a spiritual failure, or do they test the limits, walking just outside the
lines often enough to forget their way back?
In his letter to the Galatian churches, Paul points out that
there certainly are some who have "fallen from grace." The KJV is more
clear. It says, that for some, "Christ has become of no effect." The
people Paul is describing had received the righteousness of Christ by faith and
God counted them as righteous. But when their faith got distracted, they stopped
seeing who they were in Christ, then their faith became ineffective. Now they
want to be justified by something else.
Read Galatians 5:4 again. When these people fell from grace,
when justification in Christ became ineffective in their lives, they were
distracted by something. What were they seeking? "Seeking to be justified
by the law"
Grace is the undeserved, unmerited favor of God. How do you
fall from undeserved, unmerited favor? By falling into deserved, merited favor.
Those who have fallen from grace haven’t fallen from God’s favor.
"Seeking to be justified by the law", they have fallen into
self-righteousness.
Take care, brethren, lest there should be in any one of you
an evil, unbelieving heart, in falling away from the living God. (Heb 3:12)
Here is another verse that deals with the idea of falling
away, this time falling away from the living God. In Strong’s dictionary (1),
he makes a distinction between this word "poneros" used for an
"evil (literally, "hurtful") unbelieving heart" and the two
more common forms, which refer to evil character and degeneracy from original
virtue. The writer may mean a diseased or sickened heart. Thayer (2) puts it in
the more in the terms of a bad condition, i.e. full of labors, annoyances,
hardships, pressed and harassed by labors and in a physical sense: diseased.
Take care, brothers, that not one of you should have a heart that has been
sickened by unbelief.
By the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His
sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. (Rom 3:20)
For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which
were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit
for death. (Rom 7:5)
Make a list what you believe it means to be "in the
flesh".
You probably listed activities or conditions that most
Christians would consider unspiritual or "carnal". These are almost
always sinful behaviors or the effects of sin that bring guilt and condemnation.
In the Greek, the word carnal means "meat" and is usually translated,
in reference to human beings, as "flesh" or "fleshly", to
describe the deeds done by man in the body. These actions done in the body are
the works of the flesh. The law, which reveals the condition of man’s spirit
by measuring the deeds done in the body, is often spoken of within the context
of how it relates to the flesh. The law regulates the flesh and it cleanses the
flesh but it has no power to change the heart (Heb 9:10, 13, 14).
By the works of the law no flesh will be justified in His
sight; for through the law comes the knowledge of sin. (Rom 3:20)
It’s common to believe you are in the flesh if you
"do" something unspiritual like watching bad movies, gambling,
smoking, eating too much, etc., or if you "feel" something in your
flesh, like anger, greed or lust. Am I in the flesh if I look at the girl across
the street or if I eat two desserts when I’m not hungry? Am I in the flesh if
I haven’t had my morning cup of coffee yet? Remember that God is more
concerned about what we believe than what we do. Eternal life is knowing God. It
comes by believing the truth of the gospel.
He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.
(Matt 13:58)
Take care, brethren, lest there should be in any one of you
an evil, unbelieving heart, in falling away from the living God. (Heb 3:12)
And so we see that they were not able to enter because of
unbelief. (Heb 3:19)
Notice the emphasis is on the "unbelieving" heart.
Throughout the New Testament Paul speaks of those who are in the flesh. But
being in the flesh isn’t what most people think. Keep in mind the context in
which Paul’s discussions of the flesh occur. His letters were not an attempt
to get people to stop doing the wrong things, but to start believing the right
things. Over and over again, Paul struggled with those who advocated a different
gospel. A gospel that always added the works of the law (how a man performs in
the flesh) to faith in Christ. This bewitching gospel (Gal 3:1) promised that a
man could be justified in some way by what he does, rather than by faith in
Christ alone.
Our proud confidence is this, the testimony of our
conscience, that in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom but in
the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially
toward you. (2 Cor 1:12)
Make a mental note of the above: underline the words,
"not in fleshly wisdom". Circle the words "but in the grace of
God".
We are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of
God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh. (Phil 3:3)
If I seek to be justified by the law, I am trying to perfect
myself in the performance of the flesh.
Being in the flesh isn’t what you do or feel. It’s what
you are placing your trust in. When Paul talked about being in the flesh, he
wasn’t talking about a passing feeling or momentary misbehavior. He is
comparing justification through the works of the law to righteousness by faith
in Jesus Christ. Paul is saying that being in the flesh is trying to be
justified by your performance in the flesh.
Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law
but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that
we may be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the law; since
by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. (Gal 2:16)
Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now
being perfected by the flesh? (Gal 3:3)
If you are putting your faith for righteousness in your own
works and efforts, rather than accepting the righteousness of Christ by faith,
"you are walking in the flesh" and not serving in the "newness of
the Spirit."
Being in the Spirit is being in the power to comprehend the
love of Christ.
While we were in the flesh [under the law], the sinful
passions, which were aroused by the law, were at work in the members of our body
to bear fruit for death. But now we have been released from the law, having died
to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and
not in oldness of the letter. (Rom 7:5, 6)
In Romans Eight, Paul clarifies the difference between being
in the flesh and being in the Spirit as the difference between attempting to
justify yourself through the law or by being justified by faith in Jesus through
the Spirit. Have you believed that if you do really spiritual things then you
are in the Spirit? Are some people more "in the Spirit" than you are
because of what they do? Have you assumed some people are more spiritual because
they are somehow closer to God than you are? The Bible teaches that all of us
have been placed on the same level. No one has more of the Spirit than you do.
We are all one in Christ (Eph 1:20; 1 Cor 4:6, 7; Jn 17:21).
When man became a sinner through the transgression of Adam,
his spirit was forever separated from God and he died (Gen 2:17). God gave man
the law through the flesh to show him what he could never see about his
invisible spirit. The law measures the actions of a man in the flesh to convince
(tutor) him in his heart (mind, emotions and attitudes) that his spirit
desperately needs a Savior (Gal 3:19, 24). If you are no longer striving to be
justified through the law, but are successfully justified through the Savior,
you are not in the flesh. You are in the Spirit.
The flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit
against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may
not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not
under the law. (Gal 5:17, 18)
The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you
free from the law of sin and of death. For what the law could not do, weak as it
was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful
flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that
the requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according
to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. (Rom 8:2-4)
Don’t overlook what Paul is saying in these opening verses
of Romans chapter eight. He says here that Christ has overcome the bondage of
the law so that it can be fulfilled in those who believe in Him. As he goes on
to contrast the flesh and the Spirit, he has not changed the subject. He is
making it clear that it is impossible to experience justification by faith
through the Spirit as long as you are bound to justification by the law, through
the flesh.
What the law could not do, weak as it was through the
flesh… (James 1:3)
If your righteousness is weak, what is it based on? Flesh!
The gospel reveals the righteousness of God in us. Jesus’
righteousness is not weak, but self-righteousness, based on the law, is weak.
God, who gave the law to measure the deeds of the flesh, is the same God who
intended that law to be fulfilled, not through what you do in the flesh, but
according to the Spirit, by faith. What does Paul describe here as the opposite
of walking in the Spirit? Walking in the flesh. What is walking in the flesh?
Those who are trying to be justified by the law through what they do in the
flesh, rather than in the Spirit, by faith. Keep this in mind as we continue
reading Romans eight:
Those who are according to the flesh [law] set their minds on
the things of the flesh [law], but those who are according to the Spirit
[faith], the things of the Spirit [faith]. For the mind set on the flesh [law]
is death, but the mind set on the Spirit [faith] is life and peace. (Rom 8:5, 6)
Does walking in the flesh mean playing cards, watching
movies, or desiring a new car? Be careful to notice that none of the things
commonly described in the church today as "the works of the flesh", or
anything like them, are found anywhere in this passage. Our understanding of
Scripture needs to have integrity. It must be internally consistent. When Paul
is writing about the impossibility of walking by faith in the Spirit while we
cling to justification by our performance in the flesh, we don’t want to
insert something into the text that doesn’t belong. Paul is comparing those
who receive the righteousness of God in Christ by faith, to those who attempt to
be justified by the things they do in the flesh. The legalist (being judged
under the law, and judging others by it) has been pointing his finger, telling
you that you are in the flesh because he thinks he is on a higher level than
you. The legalist is the one who is really walking in the flesh. His skill in
pointing out sin in others comes from his own familiarity with it.
If you are weak in the flesh, it is because you are under the
law, and are not controlled by the offering for sin which condemned (put to
death) sin in the flesh, fulfilling God’s holy requirements (v. 2-4).
The mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does
not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so; and
those who are in the flesh cannot please God. (Rom 8:7, 8)
If you lack peace with God and don’t have the power to
subject yourself to the expectations that even you believe are right, what are
you trusting in? Flesh!
However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if
indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit
of Christ, he does not belong to Him. (Rom 8:9)
We have trivialized walking in
the Spirit into something that a person moves in and out of based on what they
do or feel. But if you follow that train of thinking, you have probably lost
your salvation half-dozen times in the past week! Such thinking is inconsistent
with true spiritual reality. It cannot produce a heart that is at peace with
God. When you trust in the flesh, your religion will lack the peace and power,
but there will be no shortage of frustration. If you believe that being in the
Spirit is based on your performance in the flesh, or if it is something you can
move in and out of, or if it comes and goes like the rain, then this verse is
telling you that the Spirit of God doesn’t dwell in you. If you haven’t had
your morning coffee yet; if you get angry, depressed or selfish; if you just
aren’t feeling very spiritual today, then you do not belong to God, you are
not even born again. When we think these verses through to their logical
conclusion, we easily see the truth. Our God of covenant is certainly able to
uphold us better than that!
Guilt is not a feeling, but a judgment associated with
something we have done. If you feel guilty, you probably are, and the pardoning
work of the cross needs to be applied to your life. Guilt is the power of the
law to bring about the knowledge of sin, or as we will refer to it later, the
consciousness of sin. The effects of the law are sin-consciousness and a defiled
conscience. The purpose of the law is not to improve your righteousness, but to
reveal your lawlessness. If you are experiencing the effects of the law, then
you are under the law. It is that simple. The one whose mind is set on
justifying himself, based on his performance in the flesh, is the one who has
fallen from grace into legalism. He is hostile toward God. He does not practice
what he preaches because he is unable to; and he can never please God.
Shame is different than guilt; it is attached to who we are
and condemns us as a person. Guilt teaches us to regret wrong things we have
done, but it can be either paid for or escaped and left in the past where it
belongs. Shame teaches to despise ourselves as a person, following us wherever
we go, and tarnishing everything we do. God never uses shame for any purpose.
Little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we
may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming. (1 Jn
2:28)
We abide in confident, unashamed fellowship with God when we
see that God deals wisely with grace. Shame is the power an abusive religious
system to make you shrink away, feel guilty and afraid to come into the presence
of God. The way to be set free from guilt is to believe the gospel and be
forgiven. To be set free from shame, we must see who we are in Christ. We must
see that we are forgiven. Does the Spirit of God dwell in you? Then you are in
the Spirit. It is that simple, that secure. Isn’t that good news?
And if Christ is in you, though the body[flesh] is dead
because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the
Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ
Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit
who indwells you. So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh,
to live according to the flesh—for if you are living according to the flesh,
you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the
body, you will live. (Rom 8:10-13)
There is no justification for the flesh, because the flesh is
dead. How does God relate to you in the flesh? He doesn’t. From God’s
perspective, you died in the flesh when you were baptized into Christ. If you
walk by the Spirit, not trusting in your performance in the flesh, then the Holy
Spirit dwells in you. The very Spirit that raised Christ from the dead is the
power that will give you life to your mortal body.
We have been released from the law, having died to that by
which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in
oldness of the letter. (Rom 7:6)
All who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of
God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but
you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba!
Father!" The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are
children of God. (Rom 8:14-16)
Those who are led by the Spirit into righteousness are the
Sons of God. Believing that being "in the Spirit" is something you
slip in and out of tells you that if you have not healed the sick, read your
Bible, prayed for an hour or received a direct revelation from God today, then
you are not a Son of God. The Biblical definition, on the other hand, makes
sense. Being "in the flesh" is trusting in the deeds done in the body
as a means to relate successfully to God. You are "in the Spirit" when
the Spirit of God dwells in you through faith in Jesus Christ.
Let me point out again, this is not a new doctrine. It is a
not a new interpretation. It is not a new move of God. The good news of
justification and righteousness by faith in Jesus has been the only true move of
God from the beginning. You have already believed it with your heart or you
could not be born again. You were saved by grace, not by your performance. You
were saved, not because of what you did, but because you believed in what Jesus
did. Our goal is to align our thinking to the truth God has already written into
our hearts so that our faith has integrity. Tomorrow, you will see more of the
truth that can set you free—but you must be willing to love the truth more
than anything you have ever believed. You will see that what God reveals in
Scripture matches what God has already written on your heart. Be ready to
embrace it with a love for the truth. Freedom can be a scary thing, but we are
talking about freedom in Christ, and it is the only thing that can make you free
indeed (Jn 8:36).
Footnotes:
(1) Strong's Electronic Concordance (KJV) Copyright © 1989,
TriStar Publishing. All rights reserved.
(2) The Online Bible Thayer's Greek Lexicon and Brown Driver
& Briggs' Hebrew Lexicon, Copyright © 1993, Woodside Bible Fellowship,
Ontario, Canada. Licensed from the Institute for Creation Research. First
published in Canada by Online Bible.
Driven to God. Unit 4 of The Wisdom of God’s Grace Series,
© 1999 EternityNow Ministries. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be
reproduced in any form without written consent of EternityNow Ministries, PO Box
908, Cary NC 27512-0908. Limited consent granted by ShareWare Notice at the
conclusion of this book. See ShareWare Notice for terms and conditions.
Unless otherwise stated, all Scripture taken from the New
American Standard Bible® . The Lockman Foundation © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968,
1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 Used by permission.
Scripture marked NIV taken from Holy Bible, New International
Version® . NIV® . International Bible Society. © 1973, 1978, 1984. Used by
permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.
Scripture marked MSG taken from The Message New Testament
with Psalms and Proverbs © 1995. NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. © 1995.
Scripture marked KJV taken from the Holy Bible, King James
Version.
Scripture marked paraphrased are by the author.
Names and descriptions of the people used in various
illustrations have been changed to protect individual privacy. Some descriptions
are a composite of more than one person or conversation.
The above document was prepared by "Eternity Now
Ministries".
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