Good Morning!
I can recall the times when I fell out of favor with my parents. To be honest it was those times that I disappointed my father that caused a strain with both of my parents. The results of committing an act that caused me to fall out of favor with my parents caused a rift throughout my household. I never had a desire to do something that would disappoint them. It was during those times that I knew I needed to make a change to heal the hurt that I had caused. It was during those times that I knew NOT to expect any favors from them. It was during those times that I knew I needed to say little and do a lot to mend the brokenness that I had caused. In a sense...I had "fallen from grace" with my parents.
I realize that I was their son and that relationship never changed, but, what I had done to hurt them was unnecessary and I needed to change my life and show proof of the change so the hurt could be healed and our relationship could be one that was again a blessing.
The writer of Galatians was dealing with people who had broken their relationships with God. They had listened to the lies of people who wanted them to live by the tenants of the law and NOT by Faith. They had abandoned their daily walk by Faith in Jesus Christ to walking by the law to please God. They had gone backward in their spiritual journey. They lived to be justified by the law and not by Faith. Look at what Paul writes in 5:4:
"You who are trying to be justified by the law are alienated from Christ; you have fallen from grace!" This does not mean that you have lost your salvation. It means you have turned from the mercies of God...the Grace of God...to legalism. You, as a child of God, are tying the hands of God to grant to you His grace. God has a strong desire to bless you. He is your Heavenly Father and loves you more than you could ever comprehend. But, when you trust something other than Him with your life...when you give allegiance to something or someone other than Him...He cannot offer to you His hand of Grace and His blessing. Let the thing or person you are trusting more than God give that blessing to you. Let them bestow their grace on you. Eventually, you wake up and realize that you have gotten yourself in a deep hole unfulfilled when you realize that you are putting your Faith in something that does not give back and leaves you at a dead-end in your life.
I went to pastor a church a few years ago who had just let go of their pastor because of some distorted moral issues he had exhibited. It caused great hurt in the congregation. There were a few members who had become so hurt that they reacted by becoming legalistic to the constitution. When I went to pastor the church many of the members would bring their Bibles to church couched behind their copy of the constitution. They had turned into legalistic people! Every word that was spoken and every action taken needed to be listed in the constitution. That's walking in law and not grace. When we began looking to God for our guidance and NOT the constitution God's hands were untied and the church experienced the mighty blessings of God. We saw what it looked like to see God's grace in our church.
Maybe you ask...How can you fall from grace?
Living in sin is falling from Grace.
Trusting the law over Faith is falling from Grace.
Standing up for political issues that have nothing to do with the mercies of God is falling from Grace.
Living in an adulterous relationship is falling from Grace.
Having a broken relationship with your family is falling from Grace.
Racism is falling from Grace.
Possessing pride is falling from Grace.
Prioritizing anything in your life over your relationship with God is falling from Grace.
For the Galatians, the problem was being legalistic. Trusting the law and making others live by the law to get to heaven. The result is they had "Fallen from Grace."
For you, it means living by Faith...walking by Faith and building your relationship with God stronger every day. Never fall away from His Grace. Always be under the umbrella of His blessings.
This is the life to live in Christ Jesus. When challenging things come like a Pandemic and a shut-down...You will be under God's blessings and Grace and not shattered by circumstances that the law cannot repair.
Trust God implicitly. Walk by Faith and experience His Grace!!!
May God Bless You!
Don Betts
DBEA/campus320
DBEAWINNING.COM
TO GOD BE ALL GLORY!