Fallen From Grace

“Fallen From Grace” could be the closest most tabloids currently get to engaging with the Bible. The term gleefully describes the drop of status of any important or famous person exposed to scandal. We love taking people down a peg or two.

But the original meaning is much more serious than that: “You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.” (Gal 5:4)

These are terrifying words. The crime Paul is addressing is–perhaps surprisingly–circumcision: “if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.” (Gal 5:2). For the Jew of his day, circumcision was a standard rite of passage, an entry into the Hebrew nation. Why should it be so problematic?

The key here is the intent. We can either seek to be justified by the law, or we can seek to be justified by Christ. We cannot do both. We cannot seek to “ensure” our salvation. The whole objective of the letter is to convince its readers of justification by faith alone. It begins with an expression of near-despair: “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel” (Gal 1:6). Paul goes on to argue that “if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” (Gal 2:21). He points out that the promises made to Abraham preceded the law by 430 years, and so could not be dependent on it (Gal 3:16-18), and that they are heirs of this promise (Gal 4). By Galatians 5, Paul can conclude:

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. (Gal 5:1)

In a way, then, the modern usage is correct. Someone who falls away from grace has claimed to be a Christian, has sought to present themselves as one, but has been motivated all along by something other than a love of Christ: typically pride, self-righteousness, concern for appearances, or a simple love of rule-following are involved. After a while, appearances become misleading: behind the smile is fear, resentment, need, burden. Sooner or later, something will reveal to them the bankruptcy of their ambition; the hollowness of their beliefs. The fall could be shameful or simply painful.

But all of us are at some point alienated from Christ. There is always time to repent. And, joyfully, the life of the Christian is a life of true freedom.