Can a person fall from grace? That is a very good question!

Galatians 5:4 says “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.”

This is a most interesting yet simple verse that has confused many people. Some think that “falling from grace” represents a person who loses their salvation. Nothing could be farther from the context of this passage.

Paul’s discussion to the Galatians was about the law. He was disappointed that they had turned so quickly from what he had taught them and listened to some Judaizers who had crept into the church body. These false teachers were teaching that a person must keep the law along with believing in Jesus Christ in order to be truly saved. That was heresy and not what Paul had taught them.

The Jews had a long heritage of prophets and teachings in the law and this was traditional teaching to them. The gentiles fell for it quickly because they wanted to get things right with God. However, adding the law to the Gospel of Christ was retreating from grace.

If a person is saved by grace, it is through faith and faith alone. There are no works involved in order to be saved. God is satisfied and pleased that we accept His Son by faith and not by following any other teaching, especially the law.

No one was able to keep the law. If he tried to keep it in order to let it count as righteousness to God, he would have to keep all of the law and never break one of its commandments. If a person broke just one of the laws rules, he would not be counted as righteous.

Jesus Christ came to fulfill the law. He entered this world as a human being, lived a righteous life without breaking one of the laws commandments and therefore served as our substitute through faith. We could not do it. Jesus did the work. We simply believe in His finished work on the cross of Calvary in order to be saved eternally and are kept by the power of God through that faith in His Son.

To state it simply, to have fallen from grace means that the Galatians had left the free gift of grace and gone back to the law for their righteousness. Paul was refuting their belief in the law as an addition to faith in Christ.

To conclude, we must come to Christ in simple faith. That is counted for righteousness before God. You cannot be righteous without Jesus life in you. You cannot be saved through any merit of your own. You cannot keep your salvation through any merit of your own. It is all by, through, and of Jesus Christ righteousness that is imputed to you by faith. It is the only way. All of our works fall short of making it. One must fall upon his face before God and accept Jesus righteousness as your substitute in order to be saved. The grace is not yours. You did not earn it and you cannot maintain it. But grace is God’s to give and His to keep you.

Can a person fall from grace?  Yes.  If one trusts anything or anyone but Christ to save them, you have fallen from grace.  You cannot be saved by believing in Christ and believing in another way to be saved.  You cannot add works to believing in order to be saved.  There is nothing else you can do in order to be saved but to trust in the promise of God by faith, nothing!  Why complicate the grace of God by mixing in works of any kind.  That is the wonderful part of the grace of God.  You just come to Him empty-handed and believe in Him and you will be saved.