Fallen From Grace
You hear this most often when a public figure or a church leader has to step down because of a moral failure. (It happens way too often.) Maybe they were having an affair, got caught and had to resign. We speak of their “fall from grace.”
My response to that has always been that it’s impossible to fall from grace. No matter the sin or shortcoming, grace remains. I still believe that.
Kind of.
Let me explain…
We didn’t come up with the phrase, “fallen from grace” on our own. It’s actually in the Bible.
“You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.” -Galatians 5:4
There’s also a passage in Hebrews that puts those words together…
“See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.” -Hebrews 12:15
So we know there is some kind of possibility that a person could “fall from grace.” That’s serious because we know that it is by grace we are saved. If we fall from grace, that’s it. We’re doomed.
So I have to believe that there is a way to fall from grace because the Bible talks about it. But it’s not done in the way we normally refer to it as the result of some kind of moral failure. If that was the case, you and I both would have been doomed a long time ago.
So what does it mean to fall from grace?
To fall from grace is on the exact opposite end of the morality issue. It seems obvious, especially in the Galatians passage, that we fall from grace when we try to be moral enough to save ourselves. When we rely on our own righteousness to prove our worth to God or anyone else we step away from Christ and remove ourselves from grace.
By trying to attain salvation through good behavior, we accomplish the opposite.
Paul’s main point when writing the letter to the Galatian believers was to combat this very issue. There were some believing Jews that were still clinging to obeying the Law (specifically circumcision) in order to be saved. They were trying to compel these Gentile believers to comply. This infuriated Paul! He was so ticked off that he said he wished those who were teaching circumcision would just go all the way and cut off their entire…um…member.1
Listen…we cannot, by good behavior, increase our odds of heaven. Perfect morality does nothing to add jewels to our crown. That’s something else that is said a lot that just isn’t true. If we get any kind of crown (which there is no mention of everyone receiving a crown), we will lay it down at the feet of Jesus2 because anything that is to our credit is only because of him. And there is no biblical mention of good works being commemorated as a jewel in a crown somewhere. In fact, a summation of biblical principles makes me believe that would never happen.
Focusing on the Wrong Thing
Christianity too often focuses on what we can see in people. Jesus said that the main evidence of being he follower would be our love for one another.3 But we make judgments about the condition of their soul based on other measurable outcomes. It’s an easy thing in which to get wrapped up.
I used to teach an outcome-based righteousness. I would preach that our goal is to make disciples. True enough. So I would then place qualifications on that. What does a disciple look like? I would talk about outwardly measurable data points like church attendance, small group involvement and regular monetary giving. Measurable outcomes. I’m sure there were other things, but those were to top three. I made it sound good enough that people would nod their heads in agreement.
Now, I was very sincere in that teaching. I did not have ulterior motives. But only recently have I realized how much the desire for bigger offerings influenced my preaching. It was all about my success. If about 75% of the congregation were in small groups, I was doing well. The church would be in a position to grow and offerings would increase.
If you’ve been with me throughout the life of this blog, you might remember that I used to be part of the problem.
Things about discipleship that I didn’t preach…
How engaged we are with our neighbors?
How well do we love our neighbors?
Is our character being overtaken by the fruit of the Spirit?
Okay, okay…I preached about this stuff. But our entire discipleship model was all about external, measurable outcomes.
We are immoral
The existence of grace confirms that we are immoral. Our immorality establishes our need for grace. So to claim that our immorality has caused us to fall from grace is asinine.
“But where sin increased, grace increased all the more.” -Romans 5:20
If you’re trying to be righteous based off of your morality, I guess there’s no need for grace, huh? If our perceived righteous acts could accomplish perfection for us, I guess it would be another viable option for salvation. You could then do it apart from Jesus.
So yes, it is very possible to fall from grace. But not through out shortcomings. They only make grace that much stronger. Remember that God’s power is made perfect in our weakness.4
The only way we can fall from grace is an active removal on our part to step outside of that covering to reliance on our own righteousness.
Does it Matter What We Do?
Do I really need to answer this question? Paul expressed the same kind of sentiment…
“What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means!” -Romans 6:1-2
But if we do sin or fail morally somehow, grace remains.
That’s good news, right? So if you’re like me, take comfort.
Grace and peace to you.
I am often reminded that the Lord “chastises those He loves”. Reproof and correction are such a comfort to me when I have sinned in my foolishness. “Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.”.
Ultimately, I believe that all sin boils down to the idolatry of self. We are no different than Lucifer who said, “I will sit on the sides of the North, and everyone will look to me. I will be like the Most High”. Like Adam, we are continually looking for someone to blame…and, yes, the most likely candidate is “that woman you gave me”.
Increasingly, as my life tips down the escarpment of time, I am reminded to cherish the Lord and the love of my life, purposefully and daily. He has given to me the beauty of imputation and the comfort of a beautiful woman. My sin was imputed to Him on the cross as His righteousness was imputed to me. He has provided my wife to help me remember. He holds me in His great strength reminding me that at every shattered turn of life “He who began a good work in me is faithful and just to complete it.”