These are notes on the sermon, What It Means To Fall From Grace, preached by Pastor Joseph Prince on Sunday, 22 November 2020, at The Star Performing Arts Centre, Singapore. We hope these sermon notes will be an encouragement to you!


Overview

1. Introduction: We are no longer under the law but under grace

2. What does “falling from grace” really mean?

3. Your part is not to earn God’s blessings but to simply receive them by grace

4. You fall from grace when you depend on your own effort to get what God has already given you

5. Only grace can produce moral excellence in your life

6. Only grace can supply you with divine favor and peace with people

7. Grace, not the law, is at the heart of true holiness

8. Under grace, divine health and healing flow

9. Under grace, you receive favor in your marriage and relationships

10. Closing prayer
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Introduction: We are no longer under the law but under grace

We are continuing from last week’s sermon, Five Times More Favor and Provision, where we explored how we can learn from Old Testament stories because they provide us with types and shadows of biblical truths that are relevant for us today (1 Cor 10:11).

"Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman."
— Galatians 4:30 NKJV

“So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.”
— Galatians 4:31 NKJV

Today, we are building on last week’s teaching of Galatians 4 by looking at Galatians 5, which states that the law has been cast out. Today, we are no longer under the law but under the grace of God!

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.”
— Galatians 5:1 NKJV

“Stand fast in the liberty by which Christ has made us free” — “Liberty” here refers to freedom from the law, not freedom to sin. Only when you are free from the law can you follow the Spirit and walk in holiness. It is the Holy Spirit in us who produces holiness that the law cannot.

“do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage” — The yoke of bondage does not refer to sin but refers to the law.

Today, we are under the grace of God and no longer under the law!

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What does “falling from grace” really mean?

“Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.”
— Galatians 5:4 KJV

We are often taught that if we have sin in our lives, Christ becomes of no effect.

However, what Galatians 5:4 states is that Christ becomes of no effect to anyone who is trying to be “justified by the law”. These people have fallen from grace.

Pastor Prince reiterates that he is against sin and is for the greatest good of man, which is to have Christ in his life.

“ye are fallen from grace” — The word “fallen” indicates that grace is a high ground from which a person can fall. To have “fallen from grace” shows that grace is higher than the law.

Falling from grace does not take place when a person has sinned, but rather when they are trying to keep the law in order to be righteous.

“FALLING FROM GRACE” DOES NOT REFER TO FALLING INTO SIN; IT REFERS TO FALLING BACK UNDER THE LAW.

“Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.” — The verse states that the “you” referred to here is a person (1) who is justified by the law, (2) to whom Christ has no effect on, and (3) who has fallen from grace. This is a very sad situation to be in. We certainly want Christ to have an effect in our lives, whether in the area of healing, provision, or deliverance!

What causes Christ to have no effect in our lives?

When we have been justified by grace but then put ourselves back under the law in order to earn God’s blessings—that’s when Christ becomes of no effect in our lives!

What Jesus Christ did at the cross for us (bearing the full punishment for our sins and giving us His righteousness) is the reason we can be blessed today. So when we try to earn God’s blessings instead of simply receiving them because of what Christ has done, then Christ becomes of no effect in our lives. And this is what it means to fall from grace.

Actually, the very mentality of “I have to keep the law before Christ becomes of effect in my life” causes people to fall from grace!

How do we know that it is not sin that causes Christ to have no effect in our lives?

In the gospels, many of the people who touched Jesus and were miraculously healed were overt sinners. Yet they were able to reach out, touch Jesus, and receive from Him. Obviously, sin does not cause Christ to become of no effect in a person’s life.

In fact, Jesus said to the Pharisees who were judging Him for eating with sinners that it is those who are sick who need a doctor, not those who are well. Jesus had come to the world to call sinners, not the righteous, to repentance (Mark 2:17 NKJV). The truth is that no one in the world was righteous until Jesus died on the cross for us all, not even the Pharisees who thought they were righteous.

To remain true to the gospel, we must stay true to the Scriptures and not let man-made ideas about Christian life alter it. Some examples of these man-made ideas include, ”Unless you live a holy and sinless life, you cannot be healed,” and, “You must suffer for every known sin in your life before God can heal you.”

Such ideas cause people to feel condemned and responsible for the sickness they or their loved one is facing. No human can bear that heavy burden, and Jesus’ finished work at the cross made sure that we never have to feel that way.

Making people feel burdened and condemned for their sins is what the Pharisees did, and Jesus called them out for it:

“Jesus replied, "And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.”
— Luke 11:46 NIV

Instead of laying the burden of sin upon people as the Pharisees did, Jesus called them to Himself and gave them rest (Matt. 11:28 KJV).

It is when we are in lack or struggling that we need Christ to have effect in our lives the most (Isa. 26:3 KJV).

“Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.”
— Galatians 5:4 KJV

b]“no effect”[/b] — This is the Greek word “katargeō,” which indicates that Christ is still present and holds power but as far as the person justified by law is concerned, none of His power trickles into his or her life.

“ . . . He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil”
— Hebrews 2:14

“Destroy” — This same word “katargeō” is used here, describing how the devil once had the power of death, but that power has been destroyed by Jesus. The devil is still in the world but has no more power to execute death in your life. Instead, Jesus now holds all power in heaven and earth!
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Your part is not to earn God’s blessings but to simply receive them by grace

Everything we receive from God is by grace. That includes the most important gift, the gift of salvation, and every other blessing thereafter—healing, provision, good success, happy and healthy relationships, etc. All these blessings are unearned, undeserved, and unmerited.

The fact that grace was freely given to us does not mean that it came cheap. It cost God His beloved Son who had to lay down His life on the cross to save us.

Because grace has been given to us as a gift, our part is to receive it freely.

This can be challenging because human nature often makes us feel like we need to earn good things in life. But when a friend gives you a gift and you insist on paying for it, you rob them of the pleasure of giving you that gift. This is especially true if they have sacrificed something in order to purchase it, such as working overtime to earn extra money to buy that gift. But when you receive a gift with gratitude, you give the giver joy!

Receiving God’s blessings freely extinguishes our pride as it shows that no amount of our effort or trying to deserve them can bring these blessings into our lives.

God wants you to always be a beneficiary so that you will always be grateful to Him, acknowledging that He alone is worthy to receive all glory, honor, and power.

YOUR PART IS TO BE A BENEFICIARY—TO RECEIVE ALL THE GOODNESS, BLESSINGS, GIFTS, AND GRACE THAT GOD HAS FOR YOU!

Once you know that this is true and you have Someone who is all-powerful caring for you, it’s difficult for you to feel worried and fearful. Jesus said:

“I am the vine, you are the branches…”
— John 15:5 NKJV

“you are the branches” — Jesus did not tell you to try or struggle to be a branch; you already are one! As a branch connected to the vine (Jesus), you don’t need to strain and try to bear fruit. When you simply relax, you will experience the vine’s life (the sap, a picture of grace) flowing through you and causing you to bear fruit in every area of your life. In fact, when you struggle, the sap cannot flow through the branch, making it hard to bear fruit!

LET GO AND LET THE VINE LIFE FLOW!

When you’re in the right environment of God’s love, you simply need to relax and you will grow in grace, which is the only way to grow (2 Pet 3:18 KJV).

Beloved, don’t pray desperate prayers, trying to keep the law to be close to God so that He will answer you. You can come to your heavenly Father freely and comfortably and pray bold prayers to ask Him for what you need in your life. Because you are righteous in Christ, you are close to Him, and He can’t wait to answer you!

People who are angry about the grace teaching claim that it does not factor in the Christian’s part to play. But the truth is that God wants us to rely completely on His grace and not our own effort!

“You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.”
— Galatians 5:4 ESV

The various translations of Galatians 5:4 explain clearly what it means to fall from grace:

to be “cut off from Christ” (Conybeare)
to be “done with Christ” and “have deserted grace” (Moffatt)
to “have finished with Christ” and “lost your hold upon God's favor” (Goodspeed)
to “cut yourself off from the power of Christ” and “put yourself outside the range of his grace” (Phillips)
Based on these definitions, we definitely don’t want to be found outside of the range of God’s grace!
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You fall from grace when you depend on your own effort to get what God has already given you

Falling from grace does not mean to fall into sin. In fact, long before someone falls into sin, they would have fallen from grace.

We can see an example of this in what happened to the children of Israel in the wilderness. When God first brought them out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and to the bitter waters of Marah, they were never tempted to build a golden calf to worship even though they had the gold to do so (they left Egypt with the Egyptians’ riches as back pay for all the years of work).

It was only at the foot of Mount Sinai, where the Israelites boasted in their own self-righteous and presumed on their ability to keep God’s covenant with them, “All that God says we can do it and we will do it” (Exod. 19:, that God gave them the Ten Commandments and this was the result:

Moses told the Israelites not to come near the mountain of the Lord. Before this moment in their journey, God had always been close to them in the form of a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. But once Israel came under the law, God had to adopt a distant tone with them.
The Israelites almost immediately built a golden calf, breaking the very first commandment, which was to not have any other god before God (Exo 20:3–4 KJV). The Israelites fell from grace first (when they presumed on their own strength to keep God’s law), and then sin quickly followed.
As believers who have been saved and justified by grace, we are not meant to keep the law by our own strength, but by the Spirit who lives in us.

Not being under the law doesn’t mean we go crazy and start committing every sin. Actually, when you’re striving to keep the law, you’re presuming on your own strength and you end up activating your flesh and producing the works of the flesh—sin (Gal. 5:19–21). This is because the strength of sin is the law (1 Cor. 15:56).

But when you receive grace, you end up producing the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22–23).

WORKS OF THE FLESH = THE RESULT OF SELF-EFFORT

FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT = THE RESULT OF GOD’S LIFE IN YOU

This is why one of the enemy’s tactics is to come in the form of a religious spirit to give the impression that you need to keep the law in order to receive God's blessings, thereby activating your flesh.


PLEASE READ THE CONCLUDING PART OF THIS WONDERFUL SERMON VIA THE LINK BELOW...


https://www.josephprince.com/sermon-notes/what-it-means-to-fall-from-grace

Lord Jesus...

Bump.....

Yeah......

Evening....

Lord Jesus....

Yes Lord....

Yesss

Bump...

Bump

Abobi
The gospel is sweet

Damnnn niggarrrr
Isoright

Falling from grace is simple enough to understand

means you have lost your spiritual powers and protection and being cast down to a spiritually lower position and as is the spirit so it is in real life so its time for pain suffering and affliction

I don't know too....

Pastor righteousness89, over to you

Sin weakens our spiritual well being, and anyone.still masturbating should pray very very hard, the devil uses these vices to weakens your spiritual self and make your guardian angel dormant!

If You ask me, na who I go ask

Choski78:
Sin weakens our spiritual well being, and anyone.still masturbating should pray very very hard, the devil uses these vices to weakens your spiritual self and make your guardian angel dormant!

Fr. Sexual sin is one of the strongholds the enemy uses to truncate lives and destinies

funny people.The letter J was identified in the year 1524 by an Italian grammarian so his name can't be Joseph. Even Jesus probable name is Yoshua which will be Joshua now. So you all are living a lie

hmmmmm so my question here is how does one who have fallen from grace rise back to his/her full potential even after giving his/her life to christ?

Choski78:
Sin weakens our spiritual well being, and anyone.still masturbating should pray very very hard, the devil uses these vices to weakens your spiritual self and make your guardian angel dormant!

Masturbation yen yen yen. Everything for Una na Sin.

Do you prefer I rape your sister rather than masturbate?

[right][/right] :De

May I and my family not fall from Grace in Jesus name

Okay

Very powerful and helpful. Thanks for sharing.

Bayepot:
Pastor righteousness89, over to you

It is offering time. . .He would answer you later

nice one mr op bt am i the only one dt tinks dt this praying for "grace" dt i do hear especially on sundays do make Christians sounds lazy and biased??
was in a church n d pastor said "grace would locate you and you would be called for a job dt u aint even qualified for or didnt submit application for" and everybody was claiming it and also he said "miracle or mistake alert would visit you" and peps were still claiming and even sowing seeds..
so I asked...is it right to be happy dt u are given a job ahead of others dt are more qualified or deserving than u?? if it happened against u with ur first class wont u call it corruption bcoz u aint connected??
abt dt mistake alert own I jus tell my gee to mind what he prays for bcoz if he gets mistake 5m alert n rush to spend it, efcc go jus pick u up..
pls am a Christian BT with a soem flavour of realism..

Okay