A Hard Fall

Introduction

The Fall

v.4

Galatians 5:4 NASB95

4 You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.

This is the fall of deception.

Think about it!

You are practicing the Law all the while believing that God will welcome you into His kingdom.

However, you realize upon getting there that all the while you were severed from Christ, the only Way to the kingdom!!

What a horrifying thought!

The indication is that of living a life of seeking justification.

In the end, you are not justified before God.

In the end, you do not have Christ’s justification, but your own, feeble, justification.

Martin Luther wrote:

Galatians (2) Falling from Grace (5:2–6)

For just as someone on a ship is drowned regardless of the part of the ship from which he falls into the sea, so someone who falls away from grace cannot help perishing. The desire to be justified by the law, therefore, is shipwreck; it is exposure to the surest peril of eternal death. What can be more insane and wicked than to want to lose the grace and favor of God and to retain the law of Moses, whose retention makes it necessary for you to accumulate wrath and every other evil for yourself? Now if those who seek to be justified on the basis of the moral law fall away from grace, where, I ask, will those fall who, in their self-righteousness, seek to be justified on the basis of their traditions and vows? To the lowest depths of hell!

κατηργήθητε = to render inoperative.

If a person is believing in a law to make him holy, justified, and just, then he is not actually believing in Jesus Christ for that holiness, justification, and righteousness.

In the end, the person who depends upon a law will descend into a darkness that will not allow him to see Christ.

Further, Jesus’ righteousness will not be credited to your account because the Father won’t act on your misguided faith.

What does it mean to “fall from grace”?

Are there examples?

The word indicates a literal falling from something.

Acts 12:7 NASB95

7 And behold, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter’s side and woke him up, saying, “Get up quickly.” And his chains fell off his hands.

Acts 27:32 NASB95

32 Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship’s boat and let it fall away.

Romans 9:6 NASB95

6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel;

James 1:11 NASB95

11 For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away.

But, the one I want to concentrate upon is this passage:

2 Peter 3:17–18 NASB95

17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

2 Peter 3:17–18 UBS4

17 Ὑμεῖς οὖν, ἀγαπητοί, προγινώσκοντες φυλάσσεσθε, ἵνα μὴ τῇ τῶν ἀθέσμων πλάνῃ συναπαχθέντες ἐκπέσητε τοῦ ἰδίου στηριγμοῦ, 18 αὐξάνετε δὲ ἐν χάριτι καὶ γνώσει τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν καὶ σωτῆρος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα καὶ νῦν καὶ εἰς ἡμέραν αἰῶνος. [ἀμήν. ]

The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament D. The Word Group in the New Testament.

3. στηριγμός occurs only once at 2 Pt. 3:17. It denotes “perseverance” in the truth mentioned in 1:12, in orthodox teaching, and in a Christian stand. The context makes it clear what is at issue, for στηριγμός is threatened by a fall into error through ἀθέσμων πλάνῃ. στηριγμός is thus used in a transf, sense for “perseverance,” “steadfastness” in the teaching which has been handed down; the same thing is expressed negatively by the metaphor of going away and not abiding in 2 Jn. 9: πᾶς ὁ προάγων καὶ μὴ μένων ἐν τῇ διδαχῇ → V, 739, 11 ff.

To be established in the “faith” is to be firm, fixed, immovable.

To change from that position is to “fall.”

That fixed position is not the issue of salvation, as if to say you can lose your salvation.

Rather, it is to say that maybe you falsely believed in a gospel that was true, or you truly believed a false gospel

A person cannot fall from salvation, grace, election, or out of the Lord’s hands.

Rather, a person can fall away from faith by means of believing the Law for sanctification.

This is very common.

2 Peter 1:10–12 NASB95

10 Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; 11 for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you. 12 Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you.

Who is it that leads a person into falling?

Compromisers

2 Peter 2:1 NASB95

1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.

Hypocrites

2 Peter 2:2–3 NASB95

2 Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; 3 and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

Mockers

2 Peter 3:3–4 NASB95

3 Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.”