Gal 5:4 Falling Away

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May 23, 2026, 5:27:56 AM (3 days ago) May 23

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Falling Away

Gal 5:4 You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.

It is not their keeping of the regulations of the law which was the problem. The issue was motivation. The issue was whether they were trying to be justified by law.

Christians who are trying to be justified by law have turned their backs on God's grace as presented in the gospel and as such are no longer considered believers. They have become alienated or estranged from Christ. The Greek phrase Paul uses for "alienated" also shows up in Romans 7 verses2 and 6. Romans 7:2 speaks of being released from marriage after one dies - or as the common phrase goes, "till death do you part". In a twist to Gal 5:4, Rom 7:6 speaks of being aliented from the law, having become dead to it through the body of Christ, much as being release from a binding marriage through death. But here in Gal 5:4, the Christian's status is reckoned as being alienated from (or dead to) Christ, just as any unbeliever. Such a status is that of the unsaved.

Jesus spoke of people falling away in his parable of the sower. As a sower sowed, "Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root." Mat 13:5,6 Jesus described such people as, "The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away." Mat 13:20,21

Such people have a superficial faith. Their faith is too shallow to endure through trials. And while Jesus spoke of the trials of persecution, there are many kinds of trials and temptations which cause such people to fall. These Galatians were shallow in their faith in that they had not seriously considered the implications of their faith and so were open to false teachings.