Re: Saved?

Let's look at another similar verse, again I want to post it in context though, so I'll underline the one I'm talking about:

Galatians 5:1–8, It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you.

The entire book of Galatians is all about not going back into the slavery of trying to earn your salvation through the law or anything else for that matter. Remember that again the apostle is talking mainly to Jews. Paul isn't telling us that anyone who is circumcised is lost. Like Jesus taught, Paul is trying to get them to see it's what's in their hearts that matters. If they (or we) are being circumcised (or baptized or anything else) thinking that it will save us, then we are going down the wrong path. When we do that, we're turning away from our salvation and once again trying to earn our way to heaven or prove our worthiness. The "Truth" that Paul is referring to is the Truth that salvation is through Christ alone and is a gift to us. We can't earn it or buy it, and no matter how perfectly we live our lives, before or afterward, we can never ever be good enough to warrant it.

Paul was fighting against false teachers that had invaded the church. These were proud Jews who are referred to as Judaizers and they taught that what Moses began in the old covenant and Christ added in the new covenant had to be finished and perfected by our own efforts, in particularly by circumcision. This is very much like what the catholic church does today in it's way.

Back in the days of the early church, remember too that these people had seen and/or experienced some pretty amazing miracles done by the apostles so it was very tempting to hang around the Christians and be part of them and profess faith in Christ. However, being Jewish it was also very difficult for them to put aside a lifetime of learning about the law. These people were ripe for the false teachers! In fact they remind me very much of what Jesus talked about in the parable of the sower, remember?

Matthew 13:20–21, 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.

Notice those words, "falls away" again? So what Paul is telling these folks that are torn between following Christ and following the law is that they cannot have it both ways. Christ alone saves, period. Just because they go to church and say the right things isn't going to help them in the long run. If they return to the law, even just to circumcision in order to be saved, then they have rejected salvation in Christ, and have placed themselves under the obligation of the law again. According to the law, when you place yourself under it, it means you are obligated to keep the entire law and that if you break the smallest of the laws you're as guilty as if you broke them all. Paul is reminding them of that in hopes that they'll realize again how totally hopeless it is and that the only way they can really be saved is through Christ. Paul was contrasting the way of grace vs law, and/or faith vs works, as the means of salvation.

We know that Paul and all the apostles taught that salvation was a free gift and through Christ alone. We know they said it couldn't be lost. We can see from all this that the people who are doing this weren't ever really saved. They had been exposed to the faith, they had been told about salvation, they'd seen the miracles confirming it's truth, and they understood what was being said. But they just couldn't get past their fear that "what if/maybe we need to do this other too". Again it reminds me of the catholic church and the hold they have on many people through fear. That's why Paul called it slavery and bondage. So these folks are what the bible refers to as apostates. The very same kind of people that Hebrews 6 talks about. People who have been exposed to the truth of the Gospel and then knowingly turn their backs on Christ. That's the definition of an apostate. Just like the people in Hebrews 6, these people had been part of this church and had witnessed Christ's ministry in the lives of all the other believers there, but then refused Christ alone. That's what "tasted of the heavenly gift" and "shared in the Holy Spirit" and tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age is talking about. Notice once again the words, "fall away" in this passage as well.

Hebrews 6:4–6, It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.

As John MacArthur puts it: "They came to the very doorway of grace and then fell away, back into their works-oriented religion."

There's one other thing though that I think is really important about this. I think many of us at one point or another worry that we have somehow done this ourselves, and we wonder if we can still be saved or if we ever really were. I know that I went through this myself. Well there's one easy way to tell if you've done this or not. Notice that Paul says it's impossible for them to be brought back to what? To repentance. So what is repentance? Remember this verse about it?

2 Corinthians 7:10–11, Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.

So repentance is a godly sorry that before we're saved brings us to salvation and after we're saved produces an eagerness to clear ourselves, to be free of sin, and concern that we might have sin or that we have sinned.

You see, someone who is apostate doesn't feel godly sorrow about it. They don't long for salvation. Instead their sinful nature usually prides itself on being followers of the law or how good they are by themselves etc. They don't have doubts or remorse or alarm about what's happened. Nor do they desire to change it. So if we've done something that we think might put us in this category, but we are feeling just awful about it, who or what do you think is making us feel awful? Our sin nature? hardly! It's the Holy Spirit and the only way the Holy Spirit can be making us feel that way is if He is dwelling within us! Therefore you can be sure you haven't committed this sin if you're feeling godly sorrow.

If we are longing to be restored and be in communion with Jesus again then that's a sure sign that the Holy Spirit is at work in us restoring us at this very moment. We can then know that all that happened was that we fell out of fellowship, that we stopped "abiding in Him" or weren't "remaining in Him" during that time and that now the Holy Spirit is helping to restore us so that we can once again abide in Him. Or to put it another way, so we will once again be plugged into the source--Jesus!