If you’re like most believers, you’ve probably been taught that when you sin, you fall from grace. What if that meaning of falling from grace isn’t actually scriptural?
When a person sins and makes a mistake they can experience such strong feelings of condemnation. That feeling of being written off, as though they are no longer able to be a part of the godly community. And when the church leaders tell them that they have fallen from grace, that often pushes people further and further away from the church, and sadly, away from God.
It is unscriptural teaching such as this, which has put the body of Christ on edge. Teachings that try to propagate the message that a Believer “loses their salvation” when they sin.
Today, God wants you to know that you are secure in His grace. You are not hanging by a thread about to fall at any moment. So let’s discover what it truly means to fall from grace.
Ye are fallen from grace – Galatians 5:4
Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.
Galatians 5:4 KJV
Who does Christ become of no effect to?
The first part of the scripture says “Christ is become of no effect unto you“. If we believe that falling from grace is referring to a person who has sinned, then in fact, we are saying that Christ is not effectual to a sinner. Of course, this doesn’t make sense because Christ came to redeem sinners from sin.
The Bible speaks about a righteousness that comes by the law and a righteousness that comes by faith in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:9). Righteousness can only be obtained by either one of these, not both at the same time. If a person believes that they are righteous by living holy and doing right and pleasing God by the things they do, this is just a pretty way of saying they are trying to obtain righteousness by the law. It means they think they can be righteous based on living right.
When a person believes that their good actions are what makes them righteous, that is when Jesus Christ cannot have any effect on their lives. That person is focussing on earning God’s approval rather than receiving God’s approval as a gift.
Justified by the law means to fall from grace
It is interesting that people attribute falling from grace to mean that a person has sinned. There is no mention of sin in this verse. What does it say? The verse says that if you are justified by the law you are fallen from grace. It’s saying that if you trust in your own actions to make you right with God, then there was no point in Jesus Christ dying on the cross. Jesus died and He gave us access to God. He didn’t die so that we would still have to work to earn access to God. But in us believing that we have to earn God’s approval, that is when we fall from grace.
Your heavenly Father doesn’t want you to feel condemned. He wants you to know that his love and unending grace have freed you from condemnation. Just because you may have made a mistake doesn’t mean that you have fallen from grace. In fact, when we make mistakes the best thing for us to do is to lean right back into God. We can say ‘Lord I know I have messed up but I thank you that you don’t remove your hand from me, because Christ has made me righteous.‘
Related: 4 Things To Do After You Have Sinned
If you have sinned, God’s grace is for you.
If we sin and immediately fall right back into the arms of the Father we are not falling from grace instead we are falling into grace.
It is only the word of God that will help you to experience freedom from any condemnation you may be battling with. I have created a free pdf on scriptures to help overcome false beliefs. Beliefs such as I am condemned, I am in fear, I’m not healed.
Related: Scriptures to Help Overcome False Beliefs
Today I want you to know that you are free. Free from the pressure of needing to live right in order to experience God’s grace. God’s grace is exactly for those who choose not to trust in themselves.