You Can Fall from Grace

“For by grace have you been saved through faith” is one of the most universally held doctrines of the Bible (Ephesians 2:8-9) – accepted by almost every religious denomination. It is likewise one of most commonly misunderstood statements in scripture. Some have construed it to mean that sinners are saved by “faith alone” – a reformation doctrine taught nowhere in the Bible. Others have just a wrongly interpreted the expression to teach “grace alone” – a Calvinistic doctrine that asserts that once a man has been saved he can never again be lost.

John Calvin taught that in salvation an irresistible grace by God’s Spirit captures the souls of those God predetermined to be saved and that they can in no way free themselves from his divine grip. The entire epistle to the Galatians is an assault against this view – asserting that they had turned from the gospel of Christ to a different gospel (Galatians 1:6-7), that they that do this shall be accursed, and that as a result of this change they had been “severed from Christ” and “are fallen away from grace” (Galatians 1:8-9; 5:4). They fell from grace because they sought salvation by the law of Moses – a system of salvation that demands perfect works (Galatians 2:16; 3:10-11).

The epistle to the Hebrews also discusses brethren who had been saved by the gospel and then fell away. The writer describes the Hebrews as Christians “who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift,” who “were made partakers of the Holy Spirit,” and who had “tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come.” Then, he says, they “fell away” (Hebrews 6:4-6).

He had warned them earlier that Israel had fallen away from God through unbelief and that they themselves needed to “take heed…lest haply there shall be in any one of you and evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God” (Hebrews 3:7-12). These brethren did fall, he says, and face a more severe punishment than physical death because they had “trodden under foot the Son of God, and had counted the blood of the covenant wherewith they had been sanctified an unholy thing, and had done despite unto the Spirit of grace” (Hebrews 10:28-29).

Simon the Sorcerer is an example of a sinner who was enlightened by the power of the gospel and, along with other Samaritans, was baptized into Christ. Later he fell away when he was enticed by the lust for power to purchase the gift of the apostles. Peter reproved him, spelled out the sinfulness of is heart, described him and his money as fit to perish, and demanded that he repent and pray for forgiveness (Acts 8:13-24). The Bible warns that some will depart from the faith, and a number of men are singled out as false teachers who had erred from the truth, made shipwreck of the faith, and had turned the grace of God in lasciviousness (see 1 Timothy 1:19-20; 4:1-3; 2 Timothy 2:16-18; Jude 3-4; Acts 20:29-30)

“Take heed,” Paul warns, “lest ye fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12). Yes, Christians can fall from grace, and they must receive God’s warnings and seek to faithful, obedient members of his church (see Revelation 2:10).