Paul gives the spiritual
predicament of an unspecified number of professing to be Christians in southern
Galatia who started out “well” in the faith (Gal 5:7) but quickly jumped off
the ship of grace (“so soon”) and hopped aboard the concept that righteousness
could be achieved through circumcision and law observances (Gal 1:2) –
“You
have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by
law; you have fallen from grace” (Gal 5:4).
Now, if ever there was a verse
of Scripture seized upon as a proof-text that a believer can lose his or her salvation,
brethren, this one is it – “fallen from grace.” This is not a disagreement over
some minor truth of Scripture but a disagreement over a major doctrine of
Christianity. This is big league stuff for the very method of getting to heaven
by grace is being challenged to be by law or works by some in Galatia and continues
today in every part of the globe.
The power behind the movement of
being “justified by law” (or some kind of works) was/is a Satanic attempt to deceive
mankind. This campaign goes beyond the original scope of the law to a
deliberate perversion of the gospel of the death, burial, and resurrection of
Jesus Christ. Let me interject something here. Some religions claiming to be of
the faith will draw a distinction between method and content concerning the
gospel.
They claim to accept the gospel
message of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ but the
rejection of eternal security changes the method of grace for works (a believer
has to do something to keep saved). Salvation now becomes faith plus doing
something to stay saved. They may even admit to believing in grace, but there
are those blasted caveats added to faith that constitutes a working salvation,
contradicting their so-called belief in grace. In biblical salvation grace and
works are diametrically opposed to one another (cf. Rom 11:6; Titus 3:5).
After regeneration, works are very
important (Eph 2:10) for they are the byproducts of love (agape) for God (cf. Jn 14:15). It reveals we are of the tree of life, metaphorically speaking. It is
these works after salvation that will be examined at the bema seat for their
quality: wood, hay, and stubble or gold, silver, and precious stones.
The method (“by grace”) is
inseparably a part of the content of the gospel message. You cannot employ
eisegesis and read into Eph 2:8, “by works,” without being subjected to Gal
1:8, but this is just how twisted it can become which leads to all of the
confusion about salvation. Who is the author of confusion? Well, we know it is
not God (1 Cor 14:33).
Where is the fear of God in all
of the wild, out-of-context interpretations of the Scriptures? Then there are
those who simply reject the whole concept of the gospel message, method, and
content like the Muslim religion. There are many spins on getting to glory,
but we contend there is only one way, the right way (Eph 2:8-9; Jn 14:6). All
the rest are heading in the wrong direction which leads to certain ruin.
The very man arguing against salvation
by law here was once a rising star in the religious sect of the Pharisees (Php
3:5). Paul, formerly Saul, was making his case that it was never the intent of
the Law of Moses to justify a sinner (Gal 3:11). So, who do we believe, the
Apostle Paul or those legalists with a personal agenda (Gal 6:12-13)?
The Law was pedagogical (or
tutorial) in nature to bring us to Christ that we might be justified by faith (Gal 3:24; 7:7). By the Law was
the knowledge of sin (cf. Rom 3:20), not the means of justification (Gal 3:11;
cf. Rom 3:28). But the disturbing ramification is if righteousness is by law, Christ died for nothing (Gal 2:21)! Think of the repercussions of that
for a moment within the Godhead. Work-related salvation essentially
communicates that Christ's death was avoidable and unnecessary! How could there have
been a miscalculation in the Godhead? There wasn’t. Paul stated that those
attempting to be justified by law have become “estranged [separated] from
Christ, and “have fallen from grace.” Attacks on God’s character are not
unusual but highly unwise.
Unbelievers are comfortable in
their own skin with sinning, not so with authentic believers. It has been
said that true believers cannot stand sin in their life any more than
having some foreign matter in their eyes. A believer may sin, but a true believer
will not rebel against the mode of salvation, only an unbeliever, a person who
does not have the Holy Spirit. As Paul told the Ephesians, it is “not of works,
lest anyone should boast” (Eph 2:9).
Work salvationists deal with
their sin guilt by investing in doing more good works in the hope that their
good deeds will outweigh their bad ones in the final analysis of getting into
heaven. It is actually quite ridiculous and futile, but try getting a blind
person to see that! I once was blind due to unbelief and unable to see
spiritual truth. Now through faith, I see it as obvious as the nose on my face!
The religious world has embraced a work-related system that in their eyes
hopefully gets them to a better afterlife through human effort. It is very sad
to see hope in the hopeless.
A believer may buck God’s
authority by not agreeing with God in some area (cf. 1 Jn 1:9, “confess” =
agree), and they may even “feel unsaved” or doubt their eternal security for
doing so (sin can have that kind of effect on a believer; it’s not called “the
deceitfulness of sin” for nothing!), but he or she is not attacking salvation
by grace through faith. In all of my observations to date of believers on the
lam, I had never witnessed a true believer in a backslidden state mocking the
death of Christ on the cross or contesting the way to salvation. I realize that
my saying it does not make it so, but this is what I have personally noticed
as a believer.
It is important to understand that these two descriptive statements,
“estranged from Christ” and “fallen from grace,” pertained to those who were
attempting to “be justified by the law,” or we could say it another way by
application, to be justified by some kind of works. They were non-believers receiving and advocating this
damnable heresy. You simply cannot lose what was never had. No one stumbles into heaven accidentally or in ignorance.
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (Jn 10:27), not
trying to challenge the way of salvation like some kind of apostate. There is
no covering your bases with a combination of grace and works for salvation. The Holy
Spirit is mentioned 8 times in chapter 5 revealing His ministry in opposition
to legalism (or any work-related system) and carnality in the churches of
southern Galatia.
This is not the most popular truth of Scripture, but in every
believer lies the potential to commit any sin in the Book (cf. Gal 5:19-21). I
know that rubs religious people the wrong way, but let me give you another
truth that is perplexing. Now those who “practice” (Gal 5:21, Gk, prasso, G4238, the verb for habitual
doing, not poieo, G4160, the verb for
a single or occasional act) will not see heaven according to Paul.
The habitual practice of these sins (e.g., Gal 5:19-21) is living proof that those claiming to be Christian were never truly born again
(cf. Lk 6:44a). Why is this a little befuddling, “those who practice such
things will not inherit the kingdom of God?” Because no one can define the
length of prasso, habitual or
customary? Only God makes that determination! We could delve, I suppose, into
the psychology of it all to seek to understand what is considered an
expectation derived from a routine in the mind of someone, but this would vary
with the individual and wind up being psycho-babble, anything but theological.
It is similar to how long will God allow a believer to
backslide, or what constitutes the age of accountability other than the vague idea,
“When he or she knows right from wrong?” Those who make a practice of sins like
those listed in Gal 5:19-21 are proof they are not children of God, but what
constitutes practice? Is it once a week, a month, or a year? Is it two times a
week, a month, or a year? Is it three times a week, a month, or a year? All the time? All of these
are a pattern! The attitude may be more revealing!
If it is of any comfort, there is this thing called chastisement
that the Lord resorts to when we allow sin to get the better of us (Heb 12:6)!
What good father would not chasten his beloved children doing wrong, right?
I think that it is best for us to fear God and keep His
commandments in our routine of living (Eccl 12:13-14). I do know that if we
know and love God we will keep His commandments (cf. 1 Jn 2:3-4; Jn 14:15).
Jesus said, “Every tree is known by its own fruit (Lk 6:44).” “Therefore, by
their fruits you will know them” (Mt 7:20).
It would be wise to simply keep the flesh stuff out of our lives
by walking in the Spirit (Gal 5:16, 24), bearing the fruit of the Spirit (Gal
5:22-23). Only the saved can walk in the Spirit and get victory over
fleshly impulses like some of those cataloged by Paul (Gal 5:19-21). Should we
fall, “we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 Jn
2:1). At worst, there is chastening but never
condemnation (Rom 8:1).
Our relationship with God the Father, God the Son, and God the
Holy Spirit is so priceless that the Son was sacrificed on our behalf on that
wicked wood at Calvary. Those who would sully that relationship know nothing of
the love of God.
“If we live in the Spirit, brethren, let us also walk in the
Spirit (Gal 5:25). God wants to love on us and bless us richly in Christ beyond
measure, but to be sure, He will chasten us in His holiness because we are His,
and He loves us eternally. Eternal security cannot be taken advantage of without
repercussions. You would do the same for your children. We should have a
pattern of godliness in our lives because we are truly in love with Jesus, and
we belong to Him now and forever more who have been truly born again.
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| To Part 6 |
