Fallen From Grace - Part 2

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

Falling From Grace by Trusting in Law Instead of Christ

If you'd like more information, visit our website morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. Verse 4, you have become what? Estranged from Christ. You who attempt to be justified by law. Then he says, you have fallen from grace.

You have fallen from grace. So here is a possible example of someone who receives the grace of God in vain. It's not that they were saved and then lost it. No, they never really received it because they were trusting in something else.

A person will believe the truth. This is what happens. People will believe the truth. They will make a profession of faith that they have trusted in Jesus Christ, and then they fall away into what they believed in before.

Or they will fall away into some other religious system to where now they're trusting in themselves. You know, this is the biggest issue in Christianity. It always has been. A false gospel. Believing in Jesus, yes, to a degree, but then believing in these other things.

So Paul is probably worried about people because of the false teachers. They were starting to flirt with such ideas.

Right.

What's his exhortation to them? Stand fast, persevere, hold fast to the truth, because there's always going to be people out there that try to bring you in another direction. Right now, turn to Galatians chapter 3.

And I've said before, it appears that the false teachers in Corinth were legalists.

Right.

There's legalism. Salvation by faith plus works. And then on the other end of the spectrum is license. I don't think that's what he's addressing here. License is equally bad. This idea that would just repeat a few words and, you know, just go out and live like the devil and doesn't matter.

But the false teachers in Corinth appeared to be legalists. And the false teachers that Paul is responding to in the churches of Galatia, we know them by a certain name. What's the name? We call those false teachers what?

Judaizers.

Right.

And Judaizers were legalists. So before we read from Galatians chapter 3, just remember, again, Paul in his letters, inevitably he's addressing both true converts and false converts. The message for the true convert is hold fast.

Okay.

If you're a true con, hold fast. Or, you know, maybe you need to get right on some things, but hold fast. The message for the false convert is you need to be saved. Today is the day of salvation. So depending on who you are, there's maybe a different instruction.

Warning the Galatians Against Legalism

So look at Galatians 3, 1 through 4.

See here.

Here's Paul being unloving. That's what the false teachers are going to say. Oh, foolish Galatians. That's not very loving, Paul. That's not very Christ-like. You ever hear people who say, well, that's not very Christ-like.

Yeah, but Jesus actually said that. Read Matthew 23 or something.

But anyways.

Oh, foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified. This only I want to learn from you. Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith?

Are you so foolish, having begun in the Spirit? Are you now being made perfect by the flesh? Have you suffered so many things in vain, if indeed it was in vain? So it's like Paul's not even exactly sure where they're at, but he's concerned.

So here in Galatians 3, I think this could be another example of what it means to receive the grace of God in vain. Someone hears the gospel. They profess to believe it, that they have been saved by grace alone through faith in Christ.

But then because of false doctrine being taught, they start to stray. They start to drift. You know, a lot of people get mixed up in some things. That's true. But if they truly belong to the Lord, the Lord will hold on to them.

That he's never going to let them go. But even if that's the case, there's no guarantee that those people are not going to face the effects of their error. So here is a group that starts off the right way, right?

They've begun in the spirit. Paul brings that up. They've begun in the spirit. They're justified, but now they think they can be sanctified by the flesh. And the flesh there is just another term for the law.

So saved by grace through faith, sanctified by the law. Does that sound right to you? Is that what the Bible teaches? No, that's not how it works, is it? One way this could play out, say, okay, practically speaking, what would this look like in an individual's life?

Well, if someone starts off very humble, and they come to faith in Jesus, and they're very humble. But then they start, you know, maturing, and then, you know, they're obedient. And they could be prideful and start getting prideful.

Look at what I do, and I've cleaned up my life, and I do this and don't do that. You know, that is a temptation for Christians to be prideful. You know, it's like the Pharisee, you know, thank you, God, that, you know, I'm not like that guy over there.

I mean, that's one possible way this could play out. Or someone could say, okay, I've believed, and I'm growing. Okay, thanks. Thanks, God, for the help. I can take it from here, right? Or they may say, Jesus saved me, but now it's up to me to keep myself saved.

Let me just say this.

If you believe you can lose your salvation, that's essentially what you're saying. That it's up to me to keep myself saved. But yes, it's all of grace, but I better start doing the works of the law, or else the Lord won't accept me anymore.

Here's the thing. He never accepted you based on your works to begin with. Here's the point. You need Jesus from beginning to end. You need him at the beginning. You need him in the middle. You need him at the very end.

Christians obey God. We do it because we love God. We don't obey God to try to get him to do something. We don't obey God to try to earn his love. And even our love for him is because of what? We love him because what?

He first loved us, 1 John 4, 19. So you want to know why the false teachers were such an abomination? Because they were saying, whether they use these words or not, the false teachers were teaching, saying, implying that Jesus is not enough.

The death of Christ was not enough. Now you need to do something to add to it. That's why they were such an abomination to the apostle Paul. They say, yes, Jesus is necessary. I mean, Jesus is part of it.

Oh, thanks for giving him a place in salvation. That's really what it boils down to that. Yes, Jesus is a part of it, but it's not enough. You need to do this. You need to do that. You know, it was about, what, 500 years ago, the Protestant Reformation.

The Reformation happened for a reason. And I know not everyone knows a lot about church history, but the Reformation happened for a reason. Rome was preaching another gospel of faith plus the works of the law.

And I'm not saying that the Protestant Reformers got everything right. But they got that right. That salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. So in Galatia and in Corinth, you had this false doctrine of legalism being spread.

Faith plus circumcision. Faith plus whatever. It doesn't matter. Faith plus anything is not the gospel of Christ. So it was being spread in Corinth, in Galatia. It was being spread everywhere. It's being spread everywhere today.

That works either save you, they are part of what saves you, or they're part of keeping yourself saved. And you know, that stands at odds with Paul's message of grace. I remember talking to one person.

They said to me, I tried to explain this. And they said, I just cannot accept the idea that all I have to do to get into heaven is just believe in Jesus. That's too easy. I cannot accept it. There must be something that I have to do.

People who have, you know, broke this commandment, done this, and that they're saved just by believing in Jesus, they wouldn't accept it. They didn't accept it because they didn't believe the gospel. Or if somebody will add up all of their good works, put it all together and say, well, this is, you know, I'm saved because I'm a Christian.

I believe and I do all of this. Well, if that's part of what you're trusting in, you're not fully trusting in Christ. But this generally summarizes most of the world's religions. It's about what you do or what you don't do.

I told you this before that I had one man, only one person has done this. I'm sure it'll happen again, you know, if the Lord gives me more years. But only one person has actually come right out and said to me, I'm going to heaven because I obey the Ten Commandments.

He said, I don't do anything wrong.

Well, Lord knows.

Or as many of the mainline denominations, this is a little more common. Many of the mainline denominations, they would say this, that we are Christians because we obey Jesus's teachings found in the Sermon on the Mount.

Do they really, though?

Is that true?

Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, therefore, you shall be perfect just as your father in heaven is perfect. Well, how are you doing with that one? If that doesn't show someone's need for grace, I don't know what does.

So this is just the common thing that people are inclined to believe that, yes, Jesus is part of it. I mean, it is Christianity after all. But no, you need more than that. It's about what I do. So, Paul, in 2 Corinthians 6, you can turn back there if you haven't already.

What's the title of the message? Receiving the grace of God in vain. What's Paul's message in 2 Corinthians 6? He is appealing to the whole church to make sure that they do not receive the grace of God in vain.

Now, if we go back to get a little context to the last chapter, 2 Corinthians 5, we spoke briefly about this last week. 2 Corinthians 5, verses 20 and 21, he says, Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ.

As though God were pleading through us, we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. For he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

So, if a person is trusting, truly trusting in Christ by faith, if Jesus has already dealt with the issue of that person's sin, then that person has been what? I mean, if Jesus has already dealt with your sin, that person has been reconciled to God.

Things have been made right. The relationship is now friendly. You know, the enmity is gone. A sinner now possesses the righteousness of God within them. And they have God's favor. So, what then was Paul concerned about?

I think at least for some, he's concerned about whether or not they really believe that. I mean, you can say something, but do you really believe it? Later on in chapter 13 verse 5, Paul will say to the church, because you know, this is the thing about the gospel.

We say, it is by grace alone, through faith alone. That is true. But Paul also tells the church later on, examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. And he says, test yourselves. Thanks for listening.

I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornick Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message, or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, morriscornickchurch .com.

And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett. Until next time, may the grace of God be with you.