Do not Fall from Grace

Don’t Fall from Grace

Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be
entangled again with a yoke of bondage. Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become
circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. And I testify again to every man who becomes
circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. You have become estranged from
Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. For we through
the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Christ Jesus neither
circumcision nor un-circumcision avails anything, but faith working through love (Galatians
5:1-6).
After Adam’s fall, the Lord God created two institutions in order to bless man: Law and
Grace. First He gave us the law, which consisted in ordinances and regulations. The law
operated through obedience. It was good, but at the same time, it was impossible to keep all
its commandments. If you obeyed all its ordinances, but stumbled at just one point, you
would be in a dangerous position as it says in this verse:
For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he isguilty of
all (James 2:10).
Of course the Lord wouldn’t give us something bad. At that time, the Law was the best
thing that could have been given. In fact, it was given to us in order to bring us to Christ:
Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith
(Galatians 3:24).
Grace, a better institution
When Jesus Christ came, a second and better regime was put into operation – Grace.
It is the New Covenant which was established on better promises: But now He has obtained a
more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was
established on better promises (Hebrews 8:6). Grace, as opposed to Law, doesn’t operate
through obedience, but through faith.
As we should all know, faith is not a longing for a certain blessing that arises in people
who then everything they can to achieve it. The Bible teaches us what faith is really
about: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not
seen (Hebrews 11:1). The Lord God has granted everyone a certain measure of faith:For I
say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself
more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a
measure of faith (Romans 12:3).
The danger of returning to the Law
Writing to the Galatians, the Apostle Paul shows his concern about the danger that
our brethren in Galatia were in: confidence in the Law, disguised as religious practices.
In those days, the Jews were teaching the Galatians that they had to practice
circumcision, and obviously, all the other demands of the Jewish religion. When the Apostle
Paul became aware of this fact, he wrote to the Galatians showing them that this practice was
foolish. Paul severely called their attention to the fact that they had begun in the Spirit, and
then were trying to be made perfect by the flesh. In Chapter 3, he gave them a harsh
warning, calling them foolish: O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not
obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as
crucified? (Galatians 3:1)
In chapter 5 of the same letter, the holy writer begins warning our brethren to stand
fast in liberty: Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not
be entangled again with a yoke of bondage (Galatians 5:1). It was their responsibility to stand
in liberty. If they observed the ordinances of the law, they would be entangled in the yoke of
bondage.
This message is just as up-to-date today as it was back then. All those who hear the
word of God and believe in it, are placed under God’s grace, which only requires faith for the
power of God to operate. Nevertheless there are many voices that keep preaching, saying that
a certain amount of sacrifice is necessary if we want to receive the blessings that have been
given to us for free by the Beloved. This kind of preaching is very dangerous, because all
those who start practicing the rituals of obedience are put under a yoke of bondage. They are
no longer treated as children, but rather as servants and become useless in the Christian
life: Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you
nothing (Galatians 5:2).
The zeal of the apostle for the Galatians grows in such a way that he warns them even
further: And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to
keep the whole law. You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified
by law; you have fallen from grace (Galatians 5:3-4).
The beloved apostle reveals that if they obeyed a single law, they would have to keep
the whole law. This obedience is deeper than it seems. It is an option that people make
inadvertently: they fall from grace and become a debtor to the Law. What is worse is that with
this “simple” act, people separate themselves from Christ. I would do anything not to separate
myself from the Lord.
That is not the end of this revelation. Paul, guided by the Holy Spirit, informs us in
verse 6 of the same chapter that in Christ Jesus, only faith matters: For in Christ Jesus
neither circumcision nor un-circumcision avails anything, but faith working through
love (Galatians 5:6).
If he had written this today, he’d have certainly written the following: “For in Christ
Jesus neither religion nor its absence avails anything, but faith working through love.”
Don’t fall from Grace
The Law operated through obedience, Grace operates through faith. It comes into our
hearts when we hear the Word of God. It affirms that all blessings from God will be given us
by Christ Jesus.
With this faith we don’t need to do sacrifices to have the life in abundance that Jesus
came to bring us, but we must ordain the things we want: "And whatever you ask in My
name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son (John 14:13).
It is up to you to decide if you will live in Grace, using your faith, or if you will return
to the empire of the Law, to the yoke of bondage, to sacrifices, to penitence and other works
of the flesh.
All those who abide in faith, overcome; all those who abide in the law, stumble. How
are you going to live?
Do your best to not fall from Grace, because the other institution has proved to be
insufficient to justify us before God. As for Grace, the Word of God tells us about its
importance: For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is
the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8).