I was raised to think that sinning too much would make me lose my salvation. I never knew how much would do the trick but I watched Christians who were addicted, gossiping, overeating, judging others and swearing, wondering when their salvation would expire. My understanding of grace was that it was limited to our ability to stay out of trouble after the day we were saved by the Grace bell.

Upon further study however, I eventually found the truth about salvation and now the books of Romans, Hebrews and Galatians are very clear. Falling from grace is defined in Galatians 5:1-6.

Verse 4 tells us exactly how to fall from grace. Abandoning grace to return to religion is giving up Christ. Considering yourself as “under the law” is actually returning to sin. Like a dog returning to its vomit 🤢 is one who is saved by grace yet returns to legalism. And if you try to mix law and grace then Christ is of no value to you. This is the gospel! 😳 We have started sharing this with people for years.  The wide-eyed surprise on their face is a common reaction. “People should know this!” is the best reaction we’ve heard. There’s surprise, relief, embarrassment and sometimes offense. No wonder Paul declared that he was not ashamed of the gospel since some people find it so simple they are embarrassed. They are ashamed that they didn’t realize all these years that the gospel is much better than they had believed.

When Hebrews 10:26 says “if you sin willfully after knowing the truth” it means if you go back to your sin by forsaking your faith in the grace God gave you! When Paul said “What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.” (Rom 6:15) He was referring to the question that still bothers the church today, calling the real gospel the “hyper-grace movement.”

Some won’t believe it because it is too-good-to-be-true and they are angry at those who do believe it. Some fear that to believe the gospel of grace would cause anarchy in the body of Christ. The opposite is actually true. A full revelation of God’s grace actually empowers us into freedom from sinful behavior. It is the power of God. A legalistic church is a sinful church. Grace frees us from sin, not to sin.  Every verse in Paul’s letters is about Grace but so many have been interpreted legalistically. It’s easy to see verses through a legalistic lens with guilt and condemnation and fear but once you get a hold of the truth of grace empowerment, Bible study should be one that involves viewing each verse through the lens of grace. Without Grace there is no empowerment to live a life of faith without fear. Understanding Grace is a revelation each of us has to learn. I pray this is the year people grab a hold of the truth so we can get people truly free from guilt and therefore free from sin. Let’s start 2017 by teaching and preaching the real gospel.