Bob said:
Originally Posted by
BobRyan
Gal 5 NASB
4 You have been severed from Christ[/b], you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.
Yes Bob. If you are trying to be justified by the Law, you have cut yourself off from Christ. You will not come to Christ if you are convinced that keeping the Law will save you. You are separating yourself from the grace of God. You cannot be saved by works, only by grace.
Nothing in this passage speaks of losing one's salvation.
Hint - you cannot "fall from" a position you never had.
You cannot be "severed from" a connection you never had.
Another big clue here is that those who ARE joined to Christ and enjoying their position covered by Grace - are not the lost... they are the saved.
Another not-so-subtle clue for context here is that in Gal 5:7 "
you were running well - who hindered you?"
Is it the lost and depraved that "were running well"?
Is it the lost and depraved that are "joined to Christ"?
Is it the lost and depraved sinners that are "not to fall from their position of Grace" - but rather to persevere in that glorious lost condition?
Surely the traditions of man are able to blind the bible student who thinks that this must be the condition of the lost -
It is not possible that Paul's gospel can be downsized to a message telling the lost how to persevere in a better lost state - than a worse lost state.
How in the world were we supposed to miss that not-so-subtle detail?
in Christ,
Bob