Day 942: Guarding grace – Galatians 5 vs 1 - 10

1 For freedom Christ has set us free - stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. 2-3 Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. 4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified (counted righteous) by the law; you have fallen away from grace. 5-6 For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

7-8 You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion is not from him who calls you. 9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump. 10 I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view than mine, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. Galatians 5:1-10 English Standard Version

We must not take the words which we read in vs 4 lightly. The apostle Paul speaks there of the danger of being 'severed' from Christ, and ‘falling away from grace’. That is a most serious warning. There's a glib saying amongst Christians that 'once saved – always saved'. But, like many of the memes one sees in social media, a glib statement cannot tell the whole story.

This is the same Paul who wrote to Christians at Rome and said: “I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39) So there is indeed strong grounds for believers to have confidence that they will reach heaven. So why would Paul warn the Galatians so strongly?

Perhaps we need to think of the parable Jesus told about the different outcomes of seed that was scattered by a sower. He told how some seed fell on rocky ground where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose it was scorched. And, since it had no root, it soon withered away. Jesus compared that to people who when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. But as they have no root in themselves, they endure for a while; but when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, they immediately fall away. (Mark 4:5-6,17-18)

The truth we need to take to heart is that there is a great responsibility on the part on the part of those who have believed on Christ to cling to the true message by which they were saved. We don't automatically get to heaven. So the apostle Peter also wrote to Christians and said: “Make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with Him . . . since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position.” (2 Peter 3:14,17)

Satan may sometimes use fierce persecution to try and make Christians fall away from Christ. We see that in Revelation 2:10 where Jesus said to Christians in a city called Smyrna: “Don't be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.” But what is the other, more subtle way, by which Satan seeks to turn Christians from the gospel's truth? (vs 2-3, 9)

It’s by bringing false teaching into a Church so that the believers start trying to and save themselves by strict rules and elaborate regulations, instead of trusting that God's grace is sufficient. They start following the teachings of men rather than trusting Christ alone. The apostle Peter warned Christians even in his generation that: “There will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them - bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.” (2 Peter 2:1-2)

We must be on guard that we don’t fall away from grace by listening to people who insist that other things, such as circumcision, are essential to salvation. For freedom Christ has set us free!