Fallen from Grace

Prog. A578/a581

Good morning and welcome in today. Today we are going to take a look at the following passage of scripture.

Gal 5:4-6

⁴ Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.

⁵ For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.

⁶ For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.

There are some people today who profess to be Christian who are trying to be justified by the law. I really want to make sure that you understand this today. The Old Testament is Judaism. The New Testament is Christianity. They are two different belief systems and Testaments. You’re either Jewish or you’re a Christian. It’s one or the other.

There are people out there who preach a dual covenant theory, claiming the Jews are saved under the Old Testament alone. There are a lot of examples of Jews who became Christian. The Apostle Peter, the Apostle Paul, and James became followers of Jesus Christ and the Christian faith. Today we’re going to begin by talking about justification.

He teaches that Christ has become of no effect unto you, those of you who are trying to be justified by the law. Justification is the action of declaring or making somebody righteous in the sight of God.

It is clear that the Apostle Paul taught that there are none righteous no not one. We have all come short of the glory of God. The Apostle Paul who was once a Jewish Pharisee himself taught the church that he was the chief of sinners. He understood we could not be justified by the Old Testament. No one had kept the Old Testament law perfectly. No matter how much you tried to keep the Old Testament you were eventually going to make a mistake somewhere along the line. That was its purpose. It was there to show us that we couldn’t get to heaven without God’s assistance and mercy.

There are some people today who really believe that they have kept it all, or can. Remember that without coming to Christ, people don’t have forgiveness for their sins with God. Jesus taught that if you believe not that I am He you shall die in your sins. If people don’t come to Christ and become a Christian, they will die in a state of sin with God. Sin is going to be punished by God.

Jesus is God’s sacrifice that He sent to the world to save us from our sinful condition. The Apostle Paul understood that. So did Peter, James and the rest of the disciples. We are all sinners. Justification has to do with getting forgiven. The Lord taught about the humble publican who went down to his house justified because he asked God for mercy. He sincerely understood the truth of what he was. All of us are sinners.

Remember that the Apostle is speaking to the church in our passage today. He says Christ has become of no effect to you whosoever of you are justified by the law. It sounds like people who were professing to be Christian we’re trying to go back into Judaism. It’s referred to as the ministration of condemnation. The only thing a person is going to find is that they can’t keep it. He said you have fallen from Grace.

When you were a child and you learned to ride a bike did you fall off? There was one time when I was a child that one of my first experiences on a mini bike that my neighbor let me try out, I got about 5 minutes down the road, accidentally popped a wheelie and landed on both of my knees. I still have no feeling in my right knee cap because of it because I tore it down almost to the bone.

When we are children we fall off of things. I fell off a horse when I was a very small child. I can’t tell you how many times I fell down when I was learning to water ski. When we fall down God picks us up through his grace. If you’re going to try to achieve your own salvation I guarantee you’re going to come up short. It’s falling from Grace.

Grace is completely unmerited mercy that God extends to humanity through Christ who died on the cross for us. Falling from Grace is trusting that you’re going to do things in the Old Testament that are going to obtain your salvation. I think that you are only going to learn that you are a sinner.

Grace is unmerited divine assistance that God Grant’s to the repentant. His grace is meant to help us to become better people.

Remember the Old Testament law is there to show us that we need God’s help. Even the Lord Jesus taught certain jews when they wanted to stone an adulterous woman to death, He told them, he that is without sin among you cast the very first stone.

The only way we can attain salvation is through God’s grace and mercy. Without it we are all lost. We cannot survive without it.

Certain forms of Christianity today are still trying to mix Christian doctrine with Judaism.

The Old Testament or Judaism is there that’s a reference for us to look back on as a Christian. It is for historical purposes.

The Old Testament is here to look back at the things that happened that were displeasing to God. They are there as an example to people who are going to live their lives in a wicked and immoral manner.

For examples are Noah and the flood, and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

All of us need to come to Christ to get forgiven for our sinful past. He’s speaking to the Christian church. If you are trying to be justified by the law then you are fallen from Grace. You basically fell off the bike. You fell off the water skis. The only way that we can get back up is through God’s mercy.

We through the spirit wait for the hope of righteousness which is by faith.

As Christians we are waiting to be changed by faith and trust in God’s grace and forgiveness. It’s the hope of righteousness. The Bible is clear that none of us are righteous. The only way that we can become righteous is by trusting in his mercy.

In Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision but faith which worketh by love.

When you have faith in Christ, you’re trusting him and you have confidence in him. When you have faith you have a strong belief in God and in the doctrines of our religious faith. We understand that without faith it is impossible to please him.

If a person really doesn’t believe God is real, they are not going to have any desire to do the things he teaches. Faith is loyalty to duty or to a person or a thing. In Christianity, uncircumcision does not matter anymore. Those are things that happened for a short time.

The New Testament has to do with being baptized into the death of Christ. It has to do with Holy Communion and faith and trust in the Lord who gave his life for our sinfulness. Circumcision is something that is out of Judaism. Those things do not matter to a Christian anymore. What matters to God is love for him and for others.

You can put on a t-shirt with a Bible verse on the back and walk around at a mall but that doesn’t mean that you care and love for other people. It doesn’t mean that you care about their souls. You can wear a bracelet or necklace but that doesn’t mean that you love and care about other people’s souls and their salvation. These are simply exterior things like circumcision. It was a Jewish tradition. Christianity is about change of the heart. The Apostle refers to it as circumcision of the heart.

He’s warning the Christian church not to go back in the Judaism again. There is no salvation there. It’s all law. It’s only going to reveal that you’re a sinner. There are a lot of people who are Jewish who use the law as a way to lift themselves over other people. They were trying to point the finger at everybody else. The story about the proud Pharisee was one example that the Lord Jesus taught in this area. He has really felt that he has never done anything wrong.

There was another young ruler who had approached Christ and felt like he had kept all the Commandments perfectly. Listen closely, nobody did except the Lord Jesus Christ. None of us are good. None of us are nice people. None of us are obedient and faithful. You want to know the truth or would you be scared to hear it?

We are all a bunch of wretched sinners who need Christ. You will never obtain salvation unless you come to Him.

People in the church who are trying to go back into Judaism and trying to keep it are falling from God’s grace.

Instead of trusting in His Mercy, they trust in the law. It’s called the Old Testament for a reason. It is old. It has passed. When you come to Christ and the New Testament and become a Christian you learn how to be forgiving with other people.

Listen to an apostle who was born and raised as a jew who asked Jesus how many times should I forgive somebody? Jesus told him Seventy Times Seven.

The only reason why any of us are here today is because of God’s forbearance to punish this sinful world.

When you wake up tomorrow morning and you think about how the Earth revolves around the Sun, think about spiritual imagery. Each of us are only here each day by the grace of God otherwise He would have destroyed us thousands of years ago. His mercies never fail.

Lord willing we’ll talk to you some more tomorrow. Till then bye-bye everybody.