Is It Possible For A Christian To Fall From "Grace"?

[YosefHayim]

If you trip over your Bible and land on your face, is that fallin from grace?

 

[Fish Catcher Jim]

If you trip over your Bible and land on your face, is that fallin from grace?

Depends on the chapter that was marked brother......you could have tripped over a whale or the devil. lol

 

[About the Son of God]

May I ask what happens when someone has fallen from grace?

Grace is a relationship of both gift and thanks. In the OT you find quotes like these: Exodus 34:9, Genesis 19:19. (and many others) etc. In English, Grace is often translated as "favor", but that's vague -- the word means both "thanks" and "gift" ; it is both "reciprocation" and "favor". It is, in a word, a description of "walking with the Lord". In English, the word has changed over the centuries, but we can still catch a glimpse of it's fuller meaning: A woman who is graceful host, for example -- is not just beautiful -- but interacts well with those she entertains. So, we also have words coming from the root word grace -- like gracious, which implies a giver; and the other side of the definition is found gratifying, etc. which all come from the idea of having received a reward or gift.

So, basically -- when scripture says someone has fallen from grace, it means they have destroyed either one or the other side of the relationship, and perhaps both. These people -- at very least refuse to receive freely, or they refuse to thank God. This refusal and back-biting, of course, is a vice and becomes a habit; and ultimately can become permanent blindness to the things of God.

The Law, on the other hand, teaches us about what is required in a relationship, but is not a relationship itself and doesn't give one the power to have a relationship. The necessity of Law, though, implies breaking of rules and penalties according to a monetary system or it's equivalent, a payment system -- That is something very different from a life of friendship, promises, and forgiveness. Note: It's true that Promises can be subjected to laws, but they don't originate with laws but from the charity (grace) of people.

So, what happens when a person falls from Grace ? -- well, the same kinds of things that happen when a relationship is destroyed, promises are broken, and payment is demanded from a judge for pain and suffering. We know that God is offended by it: "Whatsoever you did to the least of my brethren, you did it to me."

 

[progman]

Yes, you're right. God is not inconsistent, God is manifest in His perfection. It's man who cannot record and translate without error, and man cannot thoroughly understand without interpretation.

I accept Jesus as the Son of God, and as my savior. It doesn't matter that there are inconsistencies in the way the Gospel authors record their narrative because I understand Jesus' life, ministry, death, and resurrection in the larger context of the Bible in its entirety The Gospel authors are addressing different audiences, and tailor their narratives in a way understandable to those audiences. Matthew writing for a very Jewish community goes to great lengths to establish Jesus's Jewish pedigree and constant reference to the Hebrew writings, establishing Him as a prophet and the fulfilment of Old Testament prophecies. John was writing later for a community in the later stages of disconnecting themselves from Judaism. He emphasizes Jesus's divinity over and over in every way possible describing His life and death in an overwhelmingly spiritual way. The Gospel of John is quite different from the other three Gospels in tone, and is frequently even called the "Spiritual Gospel."

I'm with you on this. Of course there ARE inconsistancies in the bible, simply because as you say, man cannot record God's word without error. The reader, in turn, cannot read these translated words without error (nor would we be able to read without error had the bible indeed been written by God). Our understanding of God's will IS ever developing. Call it Christian evolution: Seeking SPIRITUAL truth in Scripture. As for the Gospels. they were written long after Jesus walked the Earth. The canon was selected hundreds of years after Jesus walked the Earth (first council of Nicea year 325). We can thank Athanasius of Alexandria in particular for this selection. Those writing the books , those selecting the books for the canon - were all men. Inspired by God? sure, otherwise they wouldn't write anything. God Himself? no!

 

[dianegcook]

If God divorced Israel, I believe He would divorce us.
Why did God divorce Israel?
Jer 3:8
Backsliding, played the harlot
I believe the old is as the new, except for some purposes, as the ordinances, and such.

God is the same today, yesterday and 4ever.

Prov.21:16
The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead.

 

[ezrider]

I have been thinking upon this scripture from Eph 1:13 quite a lot today, and then something dawned on that I have never considered. The Promise throughout the prophets, as well as the promise made by Jesus himself, was that he would send forth the Comforter, the Holy Spirit to come and dwell within our hearts. But this is just the earnest, or a portion of our inheritance, until the time of redemption. Now think of the story of the Prodigal Son.

Luke 15:11-24 And he said, A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat:and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.

This is a parable of the kingdom of heaven, where we find the younger son taking his inheritance and then going out into the world and spent it on riotous living. The younger son in this case is represented by Joseph and the House of Israel, for the promise of the inheritance was given unto Joseph through his blessing. But what of the older brother?

Luke 15:25-29 Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing. And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him. And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends.

The older brother I should point out, did not take of his inheritance, nor did he think he had any sin, as he has claimed to not has transgressed the commandment. He denies his own transgressions. The elder brother is representative of Judah and the House of Judah, which did not receive the inheritance as his blessing, but rather received the sceptre, so that he should rule according to the law and commandments.

The elder brother has never tasted the gift of the promise, but the younger brother has. When you tire of the scraps that the world has been feeding you, or the chance piece of bread that falls your way that sustains you for a day, know that the Grace of God is greater than all of your sins and shame; For as soon as the Lord see's you coming from a long way off, the He sends forth the Holy Spirit to come forth and greet you, that He may walk the rest of the way home with you.

In a way the story of the Prodigal Son makes me think of the movie Brewster's Millions, where in order to receive the larger inheritance bequeathed unto him, he had to squander a smaller yet substantial inheritance so that he would understand the true value of what was being given to him as his inheritance.