“You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.” (Galatians 5:4).

Falling from grace sounds serious. It sounds like something we should avoid at all costs. But how can we avoid it if we are unsure of what it means to fall from grace?

Here are three possibilities:

1. Fallen from Grace = Losing Salvation

Some believe that those who have “fallen from grace” have lost their salvation. The verse states that they have become “estranged from Christ,” implying that those who have fallen from grace once knew Christ. According to this view, these were genuine Christians who lost their salvation because they turned to the Law of Moses.

However, other passages clearly teach that genuine believers cannot lose their salvation. God has already given them eternal life. If it could be lost, this life could not be called eternal. It would have to be called conditional life or possible life–not eternal life. But the moment a person believes on Jesus alone for salvation, he receives eternal life (John 3:16). Furthermore, Jesus promised that no one can pluck His sheep out of His hand or His Father’s hand (John 10:27–29). Nothing can separate believers from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:38–39). Comparing Scripture with Scripture shows beyond doubt that “fallen from grace” cannot mean losing salvation.

2. Fallen from Grace = Proof You Never Were Saved

Given the weight of Scriptural evidence for eternal security, many believers interpret Galatians 5:4 to mean that anyone who has fallen from grace never truly had eternal life. They were professors but not possessors of salvation.

However, while this view is consistent with other passages, it does not fit the immediate context. Galatians 5 is clearly written to believers. The apostle Paul commands these believers to “stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ as made us free” (Galatians 5:1). He includes himself among them. He says that they “ran well” and that God called them (Galatians 5:7–8). In Galatians 5:11 and 13, he addresses them as “brethren,” once again indicating they are believers. Therefore, falling from grace cannot be proof they were never saved since those being addressed are assumed to be believers.1

3. Fallen from Grace = The Wrong Way to Live After Salvation

If those who have fallen from grace are genuine believers, then Paul must be addressing something other than their eternal standing. This brings us to the core of Paul’s argument in Galatians. The theme of Galatians is living by faith, consistent with the gospel of justification by faith. Paul argues that the grace that saves us also empowers us to live for Christ. Faith versus law is not only the question of how we are justified but also of how we are to live as new creations in Christ (Galatians 2:20–21; 3:3; 6:15).

We see this emphasis from the very beginning of the epistle. Galatians 1:4 speaks of Jesus “who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age.” Paul argues that we should be consistent. We are justified by faith, so we should live by faith in this present age. We are not saved by the Law, nor should we live by the Law. Furthermore, we began in the Spirit. So, we should continue in the Spirit (Galatians 3:3).

This emphasis on consistent Christian living flows through the entire book of Galatians:

  • In Galatians 1–2, Paul demonstrates the authenticity and power of the gospel through his own transformation. Christ lived in Paul, and Paul lived by faith in Christ (Galatians 1:24; 2:20).
  • In Galatians 3–4, he lays the theological foundation—we are justified by faith, not the Law.
  • In Galatians 5–6, the apostle brings the letter to its climax—showing what it looks like to live consistently with our justification as new creatures in Christ by faith through the power of the Holy Spirit.

At the beginning of Galatians 5, Paul warns believers of the danger of being entangled again in the yoke of bondage (the Law of Moses). He describes two ways to live:

Entanglement

One way to live is going back to the Law of Moses. If we try to live by keeping the Law, then grace will not help us to have victory over sin. When we do this, we leave the sphere of grace that gives power for living. In the sphere of the Law, we have no advantage from our relationship with Christ (we are “estranged from Christ”). We are bound to obey the Law by ourselves, operating by the very principle Paul has already shown cannot justify. The Law that cannot save cannot sanctify either.2 In Galatians 5:4, Paul is not talking about losing salvation but losing Christ’s power to live for Him (Galatians 2:20).

Liberty

The second way to live is described later in Galatians 5:16–26. He commands believers to “walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16). To walk in the Spirit is to depend on the Holy Spirit step by step (Galatians 5:25). Only He can empower us to stop fulfilling the lust of the flesh. Only He can produce spiritual fruit in and through us (Galatians 5:22–24). Christ’s death and resurrection freed us from the power of sin, and we can live in this freedom through the power of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:1).3

Conclusion: Grace for Living

To be fallen from grace is to live in contradiction to the very gospel that saved us. As Christians, we are not in the sphere of the Law. We are in the sphere of grace. To attempt to live by the Law after being saved by grace is to be entangled in the wrong system (Galatians 5:1). Law and grace are mutually exclusive.

We must live in the grace that saved us. Grace brings us salvation, and grace teaches us how to live (Titus 2:11–15). By God’s grace, the Holy Spirit lives within us. As we learn to rely on Him–day by day and step by step–, we find His strength to defeat sin in this present evil world and exhibit the fruits that He has produced in us (Galatians 1:4; 5:22–23). Being a new creation is not about our performance in meeting a standard but about His work changing us to be like Christ (Galatians 6:15). When others see this transformation–this life lived by faith consistent with the gospel–may they glorify God in us (Galatians 1:24).

Photo Credit: Pedro Forester De Silva on unsplash

  1. Greek scholar Kenneth Wuest makes a similar argument from the immediate context of Galatians 5. Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 140. ↩︎
  2. Some have seen tension between the emphasis on sanctification throughout Galatians 5 and the reference in 5:4 to justification, which reflects back to Paul’s discussion in Galatians 3–4. However, Paul is arguing that law and grace are two lines that should not be tangled together. Justification by faith is the foundation that makes consistent Spirit-empowered living both possible and essential. To abandon faith for works as the means for Christian living is to contradict the very gospel that saved you. If you are saved by faith, you must live by faith. Justification leads to sanctification, and this progression is seen as you move from the central section of Galatians to its climax in chapters 5 and 6. ↩︎
  3. Missionary Hudson Taylor struggled for years, entangled by striving in his own strength to live for God. When he learned the truth of walking in the Spirit, his life changed dramatically. Read more in my missions devotional, Daring Devotion, Day 23, or go straight to the source and read the two-volume biography of Hudson Taylor by Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor. ↩︎

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