A Christian Can Fall From Grace

1. Read: Galatians 5:1-6

2. About the Text:

1) Paul ends his doctrinal argument against returning to the Law of Moses.

2) He begins the practical portion of the book.

3) He exhorts the reader to embrace Christian liberty.

a. Christian liberty means freedom from the Law of Moses.

b. Christian liberty means freedom from the tyranny of sin (John 8:32).

4) When one abandons Christian liberty, he leaves Christ and reenters bondage.

5) The Christian can, therefore, fall from grace.

3. Ref. to S, T, P, O, and A.

1. The yoke of bondage Paul has in mind is the Law of Moses.

1) A yoke was a device put on animals to control their movements while working.

2) Yokes were also placed on slaves to prevent them from running away.

3) Paul calls the Law of Moses a “Yoke of Bondage” – literally, slavery.

4) Peter also called the Law a yoke.

5) “Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?” (Acts 15:10).

2. A life of sin is also described as enslaving.

1) “Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin” (John 8:34).

2) “knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin” (Romans 6:6).

3) “While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage” (2 Peter 2:19).

3. Any return to slavery to the “elements of this world” is to renounce our freedom and salvation in Christ.

1) “Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world” (Galatians 4:3).

2) “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ” (Colossians 2:8).

4. A Christian can fall from grace by returning to a yoke of bondage.

1. What does it mean to be estranged from someone?

1) It means to be separated from them.

2) A husband who is estranged from his wife is separated.

3) A child estranged from his parent is separated.

4) It usually means that they have not seen or spoken to that person for some time.

2. The word translated “estranged” is the Greek word ?ata????.

1) It means to render idle, inactive, or inoperative.

2) When applied to people, it has the force of removing someone from one’s life completely.

3. The implication is that through our actions, we can so remove Christ from our life that we render Him ineffective in our lives.

1) One way to do this is to stop “coming to church.”

2) Hebrews 10:25 says that we are not to forsake assembling together.

3) “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins” (Hebrews 10:26).

4) Another way to do this is to return to the lusts of the flesh.

5) 2 Peter 2:20-21 says, “For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.”

4. A Christian can fall from grace by ending the practice of Christianity in his/her life.

1. Paul says that the only thing that avails is “faith working through love.”

2. Faith works!

1) Many do not understand this point today.

2) They think that faith and works are mutually exclusive.

3) That is not what Paul says here.

4) He says that faith working through love avails! Faith must work!

3. To be a faithful Christian, we must practice good works!

1) These works do not earn our salvation, but they are necessary to salvation.

2) “who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works” (Titus 2:14).

3) “This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men” (Titus 3:8).

4) “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works” (Hebrews 10:24).

5) “You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only” (James 2:24).

4. Some say that we do good works because we have been saved.

1) This is true, but we also do good works to maintain salvation.

2) This does not mean that one earns salvation by so doing.

3) Only the Christian who has been saved may do good works that avail.

4) This is because he is doing them in the name of Christ or by the authority of Christ (Colossians 3:17).

5) To abandon doing good works is to make the authority of Christ over one’s life ineffective.

6) His works of faith are counted as righteousness (Galatians 2:6, James 2:23, Romans 4:4-5).

7) Abandoning good works is abandoning Christ.

8) Practicing the works of the flesh results in one not inheriting the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:21).

5. Faith must work through love for us to maintain our salvation.

1. A Christian Can Fall From Grace by…

1) Being Tangled Again in a Yoke of Bondage

2) Being Estranged from Christ

3) Faith Not Working Through Love

2. Invitation