Jesus Christ was persecuted by people who did not believe that He was the very Son of God. The apostle Paul, on the other hand, received a lot of his persecution at the hands of believers in Jesus Christ. Paul said that he received his message through revelation of Jesus Christ, not from any other man. This means that Paul did not get his message from the Lord’s original disciples but indeed, from the risen Jesus Christ directly. The message Paul received was radically different from that of Peter, James and John. The disconnect was the difference between a message mixed with faith and law (Peter’s gospel) and a message of pure, radical grace (Paul’s message). This does not mean that God is confused. God simply has a different message and destiny for different groups of people. Namely the Jews and the Gentiles.
In his letter to the Galatians, Paul was addressing the reality that these people originally accepted his message of grace in spirit and then began trying to complete themselves through fleshly acts or in other words, by following the law. Paul calls them foolish for doing this. Paul explains the purpose of the law as he tries to convince the Galatians of God’s plan.
So that the law has become our escort to Christ, that we may be justified by faith. Now, at the coming of faith, we are no longer under an escort, for you are all sons of God, through faith in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3: 24-27).
Every religion in the world seems to have various rules that you must follow in order to be right with god. Even Christian denominations, mix law and faith into their rituals. I can’t count the number of church signs that tell people to follow the Ten Commandments or follow the other commandments of God. Many people, inside or outside of religion, do not understand the purpose of the law given in the bible.
In the letter to the Galatians, Paul explains that the purpose of the law was to be our escort or point us to Christ. In Romans 5:20, Paul explains that the law was brought so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more. So we were never required to follow the law as mentioned in scripture. The law was given by God to reveal our sin and need of a savior. If you believe that you will be saved by following rules, 10 commandments, or any other law, than you must follow them perfectly, your whole life because if you break one iota of the law, scripture says you are guilty of all. Following the law is impossible, that is why we needed the very Son of God to do it for us. Jesus Christ did follow the law perfectly, therefore, through faith in Him we are justified because we take on Christ’s life and His perfection is imparted to us. Law points to Christ and our need for Him, it was never meant to be a self-righteous accomplishment of our own will.
In fact, the very reason Paul was getting on the Galatians was because they were reverting back to law after they came to Christ Jesus through faith. In chapter 5, verses 2 thru 6 in Galatians Paul explains that if we go back to rule following or following the law then we are a debtor to do the whole law. This means that if you want to follow any part of the law, then your standard for salvation is the entire law. However, if your standard for salvation is Jesus Christ, then you are exempt from the whole law. There is absolutely no mixing the two. Law and grace do not go together in Paul’s message, not one bit.
Falling from Grace
I often heard it asked: If we are saved by Jesus by pure grace, is it possible to fall from grace? This very topic is discussed in Galatians 5: 4-6. Paul says the Galatians are exempted from Christ were you who are being justified in law. You fall out of grace. For we, is spirit, are awaiting the expectation of righteousness by faith. This falling from grace does not mean that one can lose their salvation. These Galatians were believers so they will have a special salvation and Jesus Christ will eventually save every person that ever existed. But, this falling out of grace simply means that the Galatians received the message of salvation in Christ alone and then tried to mix that with following certain rules that aided Christ in that salvation.
People do that today all the time. They claim that Jesus alone saves them, but then they begin to mix law as to aid Christ in being their savior. People believe in Jesus then say you must go to church, you must be baptized, you must make a free-will faith choice, you must complete sacraments, you must not drink and have sex, you must not do this or that, you must tithe, and the list goes on and on depending on the denomination. These people fall from grace not as to lose salvation, but that they are adding self-righteous law abiding to do their part to allow or help Jesus to save them. Therefore, following the law nullifies the pure grace of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ alone saves us, adding anything to it denies the full work of the cross.
This is a radical message that the apostle Paul preached. That is why he was persecuted by the very believers of Jesus Christ. The ancient Jews knew law and wanted to earn their way to God. Paul’s message was different; it was one of pure, radical grace based on the sovereignty and love of the Almighty God.
God gave the law to a specific group of people at a specific time in history. God gave the law to the house of Israel and it was operating until the Savior was born from the Jewish race, lived, died and was resurrected. That event entered the era of grace. From that time until now, God has changed His dealings with humans. He has not changed, but He has changed the operation. We are saved purely through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. There is nothing we can add or take away from this. If we try to be good enough by following rules or refraining from evil, then we take this grace away and are back under law. Jesus will save all of mankind. Those that come to the realization that Jesus, without the aid of human will power, saved us on the cross, will have a special salvation. The vast majority that cannot come to this realization and add their own good works to the cross, will be saved at a later time. In the end, all will be with God because of Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ only!!! He is our savior, we are not.
Our response to grace? Live a life of gratitude as best you can for what the Lord Jesus Christ has already accomplished for you!
Saved ignoble 
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