Fallen From Grace

FALLEN FROM GRACE I CAN REMEMBER A FEW YEARS AGO, sitting in front of a blazing fire I’d built in my living room fireplace in the middle of the night. As the orange tentacles restlessly clawed higher up the chimney, I could see a reflection of how I felt. I was frustrated with myself. After endless effort to climb higher up the ladder of holiness, I felt farther away than ever from reaching my goals, the standards to which I believed God was holding me. My efforts had been sincere, but success was just out of my grasp. I had fallen from grace. We usually hear this Christian catch phrase to describe the individual who was once an exuberant worshiper, never missed a church service, sang on the worship team, who is now nowhere to be found. They have been drawn back into a life of drinking and partying, or they are living with their boyfriend/girlfriend. People classify them as having “fallen from grace”. These words were first used by the apostle Paul in the book of Galatians, chapter five, verse four: “You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace” (NASB). However, Paul wasn’t speaking to a group of Christians who were repeat law-breakers. The Galatians had turned into notorious law-keepers. And that was the problem. Their intentions may have been right, but they were on the wrong path. They had digressed to trying to be found worthy before God based on their works. What about you? You may not drink or smoke, you might not gossip and slander, or lie and cheat, but how do you try and measure up to God’s standard of acceptability? By attending every Bible study and prayer meeting? Because you’re baptized and speak in tongues? By tithing faithfully? If so, you, like the Galatians, have fallen from grace. This was me, I now realize, as I gazed into the scorching flames in my dark living room that night. I knew I was saved by grace, but I was having difficulty grasping the concept of living by grace. Neglecting this truth was making me miserable, and strengthening the cycle of failure in my life. As we just read, instead of walking out the Christian life in close fellowship with Jesus, the Galatians were “severed from Christ.” Yes, even though they were trying harder than ever, their self-effort was having the opposite intended effect. They had drifted out of grace and into legalism. Now, most Christians agree that we’re not saved by our works, but by grace alone. This grace is appropriated in our lives through our personal faith—that Jesus is who He says He is. We know that keeping the law won’t lead us to salvation. However, it’s precisely at this point that many people get confused. They’re not sure how to live their lives after their initial conversion.

Paul said, “In the same way that you received Jesus Christ as Lord, so continue to live in Him” (Colossians 2:6). That means that our daily walk in Christ should mirror the same posture we had when we got saved in the first place. In my life, I had been deceived into thinking that, though I was made right with God through faith, the way to stay right with God was by keeping His rules. I was trapped in the same error as the Galatians. Paul’s answer is this: Salvation came by grace through faith, not by the law; therefore, walking in Christ should be the same—by grace through faith. And as for the list of rules I was trying to keep? They belonged in the fireplace! Now, you might have noticed that the Bible is full of commands—many of which make logical sense. Are we as Christians supposed to ignore or follow them? Is there a balance? How can we obey the commands, yet not look to them to keep us right with God? This tension has left many Christians confused and on the verge of giving up. I’ve heard it said that God’s commands are the picture of what is right. But they cannot give us the power to live that way. Failure to recognize this can cause us to nearly pull out our hair in self-frustration, as Paul illustrated in his diatribe in Romans 7:7-23. Looking to the commands and expecting ourselves to be able to live by them is counterproductive. On the contrary, continuing to walk our Christian walk by grace—the same grace by which we were saved—is like the car that will drive us to our destination. God’s commands help us know where we’re headed, but we must rely on His grace to transport us to our desired destination. Jesus illustrated this by saying, “The branch can’t bear fruit on its own. It must abide in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you’re abiding in Me” (John 15:4). Paul called this, “walking by the Spirit: (see Galatians 5:16). Walking by the Spirit is the same thing as abiding in Christ, since He is the Spirit. Next, the apostle describes some of the fruit that the vine will bear through us as its branches: “Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). These are called the fruit of the Spirit. We are not the ones who manufacture this fruit. We simply allow it to grow through us. This is a great illustration of how the Christian life is meant to be lived. Fruit is borne as we remain joined to Jesus, not focusing on the commands, but on Him. But repeatedly, we tend to fall back into trying to bear fruit on our own. We attempt to bypass Jesus, trying to reach our destination on foot. And it is just too far away. We must make the journey in the vehicle of the Spirit, powered by our faith in His ability and willingness to express holiness through our bodies. Evaluate your life and ask yourself if you have slipped back into that old pattern of trying to do good works in your own strength. Are you trying to impress God because of your behavior? Do you question His approval of you? Are you critical of yourself? When you sin, do you beat yourself up over it, as I was doing in front of the fireplace? Do you partake in “Christian” activities 2

because you should, or because you really want to? Being harder on yourself won’t help you do better in the future. If anything, you’ll achieve the opposite result. Do you hold others to legalistic standards? Do you say, “You should…You shouldn’t…You can’t…You must…? These are all warning signs. If this is you, take time to recalibrate your belief system. If you have fallen from grace, remind yourself of what it means to be a Christian in the first place. Exchange your list of rules and obligations for the living, loving Christ, alive in you today. Paul said, “Exercise your salvation (live it out) not in your own strength. God is the one who always is working in you, giving you both the power and the desire to do His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). Paul also promises, “God, Who began a good work in you, is faithful to complete it” (Philippians 1:6). Remember that God is your Father. He loves you dearly and He is willing and able to bear the most awesome, loving fruit in your life if you’ll allow Him to. But this means stepping out in faith and giving up your stubborn insistence on keeping a list of rules. This means recognizing that, just as you had no power to save yourself from hell, you have no power to live according to godly holiness without His nature, living through you. Christianity isn’t about God cleaning you up, sending you on your way and telling you to do your best. No, it’s about you dying to yourself, to live for Him. Rather than using Christianity to clean up your act, use it to kill your self reliance. You’re better off dead anyway. Because if you’re willing to die with Christ, He will have a place to make His home in you, living His life through you (see Galatians 2:20). He wants to express His character and nature through you today! Copyright 2009 HolyFire Global Ministries

3