Q3. Falling from Grace

[Eudora]

Galatians 5:1-4 ¶ Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.

There must be a reason Paul feels this way. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. I wonder if he might have said, ’Any Gentile man who gets circumcised as a result of heeding the Judiazers ‘who is’ obligated to observe the entire Torah.’

It is because of the circumcision its self that would bind them to that law because the circumcision is a work of legalism. It was for the people of that time as a sign of the covenant to do the law by faith so to do the circumcision as a sign now would be a sign of self worth and recognition, getting in the way of faith.

If they got circumcised they might as well just go with the legalism of it all because they would have fallen from grace because he is trying to be shall we say, ‘medico legally or forensically righteous‘. There are so many different versions of Judaism today that I don’t know if Paul’s audience would have known what he meant if he were to speak today. We have to look at this in a time perspective. He must have meant the time prior to Yahushua. Anything after the time of Yahushua was in vain because they now had the teaching of freedom in the law of Christ. Paul said to stand fast in this liberty and not to be entangled with the way of the past. It would profit them nothing. It is through Christ that we find the way, the truth and the life.

Exactly what does Paul mean by "fall from grace" here?

There were Gentiles who had been circumcised in hope that they would be found righteous by legalism but were separated from Messiah. That is why Paul said ‘if you would be circumcised, Messiah profit you nothing.

What has occurred that has caused this fall?

The gentile backsliders who had listened to ‘that other gospel’, had fallen back into legalism and gotten themselves

circumcised hoping to be found righteous.

How can present-day Christian legalism cause such a "fall from grace"?

By believing that the law was done away with but that His laws are now being put in their mind and written them on their hearts; and He will be their God, and they shall be His people. He did not write a different set of laws.

He never found fault with the laws that He wrote. He found fault with them, the people who turned their back on Him. They robbed the covenant of it’s significance. For if that first covenant had not given ground for fault finding, then no place would have been sought for a second.

[linda bass]

What Paul means by "fall from grace" is that the Galatian believers have been alienated from Christ.

What has occurred to cause this fall is that the Galatian believers were trying to be justified by the law by following the rite of circumcision.

Present day Christian legalism can cause a fall of grace by allowing believers to depend on good works and moral behavior rather than trusting only in Christ's sacriface for the remission of sin.

[Dew drenched]

Q3. (Galatians 5:4) Exactly what does Paul mean by "fall from grace" here?

Chapter five is speaking of the liberty which is ours I Christ. This liberty is the practical outcome of living the gospel of faith and based on grace. It is a life of love which is expressed through service to others. It is a life free from law and bondage to the law. To be committed to the practices of the law, such as circumcision, takes Christ out of the equation and we become a debtor to the whole law. In contrast to the grace life of love –service through faith, it is life that has fallen away from grace into a life of law-bondage based on our performance and commitment to keep that which we can’t keep. To fall from grace means that our standing before God is no longer based on who Christ is and what he has done but it is based on what we have done to make ourselves worthy, it’s all about how well we perform.

What has occurred that has caused this fall? We lose sight of the cross and focus on our works.

There is a tendency for man to wander off the path of grace. The focus has to be kept on the cross of Christ. That focus becomes a Spirit led life of surrender to Christ meeting him at the cross. It is there where we receive all that Christ has for us and we meet with God, Our sin is dealt with, the judgement is made, the penalty is paid in full, we are set free from all charges against us, we are accepted as worthy through the righteousness of Christ, justified, where we have access by faith into this grace wherein you stand.

How can present-day Christian legalism cause such a "fall from grace"?

Christianity becomes more a life of duty than of devotion. We begin to think that favour with God is based on how well we perform. We think the more we do to impress him the more he will be impressed by us. In the mean time, we forget about what Christ has accomplished, our works are out of duty not a result of relationship and worship to him.

[wifee]

3a)The Galations succumbing to Judiazers pressure to circumcise, would move from position of living in freedom in Christ, to a lesser situation, turning to heavy yoke of the law,being obliged to keeping whole mosaic law,and Christ’s death is not effective for them.

b)People have chosen a path other than Christ to make them right with God.

c)If seek to make self-right, people depend on their good works alone, or fulfilling man’s laws rather than putting their trust in Jesus as their saviour, and the bible.

[RD35]

Grace is God's favor. Without God's favor on us, we are left to our own devices, to try to cobble together our own righteousness based on righteous deeds that stem from mixed and often corrupt and selfish motives.  “Fall from Grace” here mean losing the status of being a son of God when we choose to follow the law and reject Christ.

 

Obedience to Law to attain salvation than believing in the works of Christ on the cross has occurred that has caused this fall.

 

Any time a Christian believer thinks he has to do something or follow certain laws to attain his salvation he falls from this grace.  We are saved by faith in Jesus and not our works.

[Thanking Joan]

Falling from grace means turning away from the truth of the Gospel and going back to the law.

The fact that they went back to the law and alienated from Christ caused this fall from grace.

Present day Christian legalism can cause  such a fall from grace if they get back to law and traditions of men .

[JoanG]

Paul means that the Galatians are of risk of losing the grace of God and the forgiveness of their sins and in all reality their salvation. They are at risk of undoing all the good that has been done for them. They are willing to go backwards in time and to suffer under the old laws that were created to make life difficult for all men. There was no grace to be had from God with these laws.

 

In today's society, people can fall from grace by turning their backs on their moral convictions and allow people to create laws that cause problems for their fellow man. They can blindly follow things that are wrong. We stand by and watch innocent people being falsely accused of treason for taking a stand on things that are right. We can watch the rich take advantage of the poor in very unfair practices. We can stand by and watch the government destroy our democracy and human rights.

[lighthouse2014]

Q3. (Galatians 5:4) Exactly what does Paul mean by “fall from grace” here? What has occurred that has caused this fall? How can present-day Christian legalism cause such a “fall from grace”?

What Paul means by "fall from grace" is that the Galatians had once accepted Christ as their savior, Christ death had released them from the bondage of sin. God had bestowed his grace upon them, a free gift from God for the remittance of their sins, by accepting Jesus as their savior. Now to go back to the Mosaic law and it's ordinances would cause one to fall from the grace God had granted them. They were instead going to rely on the law for their salvation.

Present day legalism by some congregations stipulate that Christ death was not enough for their salvation. They are told to do penance, pray to heavenly saints and last of all will go to a fiery purgatory to finish cleansing the soul before they can enter heaven. Having these man made ordinances creates a legalism that relies on outer works of the flesh instead of God's grace which would cause them to fall from grace no longer dependent on the saving power of Christ. This is of course just one example of the congregations that have initiated their own idea's of salvation.          

[Lionwolf]

Q3. (Galatians 5:4) Exactly what does Paul mean by "fall from grace" here? What has occurred that has caused this fall? How can present-day Christian legalism cause such a "fall from grace"?

Paul means those that followed Christ but started following the law have lost their salvation. This dependence on the law for salvation is the act that has lost them the grace of God. Present-day Christian legalism which places ceremony and creeds above salvation through faith causes such a fall from grace. Just as the Judaizers placed the law in a position as being necessary for salvation, some present day Christians have at times done the same thing with creeds and ceremonies and rituals. 

[Annie343]

MEANING OF FALLING FROM GRACE: removing self from the relationship in which Christ can be of benefit; not speaking of losing salvation by committing sin but substituting law for grace as the basis of salvation; returned to re-embrace the legal system they once renounced; being severed from the grace of God; being estranged from Christ (losing their grasp of Christian attributes); rejected salvation (seeking to be justified by the law); separation from Christ: desertion of Christ (genuine faith?); cancel the benefits of living in accordance with Christ's will; seek justification by works

OCCURRED TO CAUSE FALL: giving in to the methods used by false teachers (their interference); undergone a change of attitude; determination not to obey the truth; going from liberty to bondage; lapse into legalism; entertaining the idea of justification by works (not having faith in Christ)

CHRISTIAN LEGALISM AND THE FALL FROM GRACE: looking at things as seemingly a minor behavior and attitude that goes against the fundamental matter of faith; presentations of rules and traditions (not focused on Christ); seeking attention from the world (being conformed to its values); wrong attitude concerning the idea of mentoring and discipleship

[Jonathan Edwards]

They lost their hold on SANCTFIYING  GRACE.  Chapter 5 is referring to the Hy Spirit's ministry to the believer.  Here we have grace as daily grace for daily living.  This is what the Galatians were depriving themselves of. God's grace became of no affect.  They have ceased to be in a relation to Christ where they could receive spiritual benefits that would enable them to bear fruits of the Holy Spirit, living lives pleasing to God.

Trusting in the Law of Moses and the Levitical laws.   Christ alone wasn't sufficient for the Galatians;  through sphofistry, they were misled by high sounding arguments.

Today, we have legalists in many major denominations that set forth basic teachings as Dogma contrary to Orthodox Christain teachings e.g.  LQBTXYZ agenda, gender neutral language in Liturgy and Bible translations, condoning sinfull life styles and promoting Unitarian Universalist positions on soteriology, Christ's atonement and inerrancy of the Bible.

[Krissi]

One of the harder things I'm learning as a Christian is that God cares more about what I am than what I do. I keep asking Him for "doing" instructions and He keeps referring me to "being." I think my tendency to revert to action as opposed to doing the hard work of self-reform is a type of legalism. 

Grace has to do with what/who I am. What I do flows out of who I am. Doing is not prior to being.