Creflo Dollar - What It Means to Fall From Grace - Part 2
If you have your Bibles, go with me again to the book of Galatians chapter 5 and verse 4, We started a teaching last week, dealing with and answering the question, «What Does It Mean To Fall From Grace»? Now, when you hear people talk about falling from grace in a worldly setting, it is normally when someone falls into sin that the world says they have fallen from grace. But is that the way that the Bible defines falling from grace? I believe it’s an important issue for us to settle, especially in the times that we’re living in right now.
And as Christian people, for us to understand that your identity, who you are in Christ Jesus and what you believe is and will be under attack. And you have to know, you have to know who you are and more than that, you’ve got to know your God. You can’t let somebody deceive you about your God. You spend time with him, you should know him much better than the world claims to know him. So in Galatians chapter 5 and 4, we’ll pick up here where we left off. And he says, «Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace».
So whoever is justified by the law or you’re trying to become righteous, and you’re having to go back to the law where that depends on your performance or that depends on you trying to do something to earn something from God that depends on your works. You’re trying to be justified by works, performance, self effort. He says, «You’ve fallen from grace». It’s the person that gets born again and he comes to the understanding that it all happens because of my faith in Jesus Christ that I’m saved because of my faith in Jesus. I’m delivered. I have all the finished works because of my faith in Jesus. I’m righteous because of my faith in Jesus. Redeemed because of my faith in Jesus. And then all of a sudden you get this big idea. No, no, no, no, I need to perform in order for God to do something for me.
If I want God to be good to me, oh, I gotta be good in order to get God to be good to me. And all of a sudden you’re wrapped up into all of those work based performances to try to get God to do something. He says you have fallen from grace if you go back there. You’re now at the place where you need to be trusting and dependent on God. You’ve now come to the place where you have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, you depend on him, you receive him, you trust him, and now all of a sudden where it’s not really all of a sudden, now somehow you’ve been talked out of it and you have fallen from grace back into trying to be justified by what you do, trying to be justified by the law. And even a more important issue is that Christ is become of no effect unto you.
And we see why. He becomes a no effect because you in a sense, decide to step in his way. You in a sense saying that my performance is better than yours. You in a sense are saying that my works are better than yours. And in a sense, you’re idolizing your works and performance over what Jesus has done. And he says, I have no effect. I can’t have any effect. I can’t have any effect. What I want you to do is to believe in me. You know, they asked him about, you know, doing great works and he says the only work I want you to do is to believe in the one who I sent to you. And now all of a sudden, we’re wondering, why is it that Christ doesn’t have effect? Why is it that I’m doing these five things and it seems like Christ has no effect.
He tells you because now you’re trying to be justified by the law. And something happens when you have fallen from grace. So when you are sick, when you are in trouble, when you are depressed, you want Christ to be of effect. When things happen in your life, you want him to be of effect. But when you ask, why is there no effect from Christ in your life situation? Most most people, if you ask that question, you know, why is it that Christ has no effect in my life? Most people would answer like this, because of sin. It’s sin. Brother, there must be sin somewhere in your life. That’s the reason why Christ didn’t have the effect. And the scripture just told you why Christ wouldn’t have effect, but people still say you must be sinning. There must be something wrong, why Christ doesn’t have an effect in your life?
I remember in the book of John, I think verse 9, there was a man that was born blind and immediately the disciples asked, «Who sinned? Did the boy sin or the parents sin that he was born like this»? So immediately that’s how religion trains you. It had to be sin. It’s almost like we’re exalting sin greater than Christ. And the response to that was, he said, «No one sinned, but that my glory might be seen in the midst of the situation». So there may be things you’re going through and it’s not because you sinned, it might be because God’s getting ready to show his glory in your situation, amen. But I see something in the Gospel. I didn’t have a chance to show you last week.
Go to Matthew 8:16 and then Mark chapter 6:5 through 6, Jesus went and healed all of people, those people who had sin in their lives. And Jesus in the scripture was called a friend of sinners. You know, today people are trying to shame you from becoming a friend to sinners. You’re a little bit afraid. Now, I don’t want nobody to see me, you know, ministering and being a blessing to sinners. Well, dear Lord, had that same attitude about you and me, we probably would never get saved. Praise God. Thank God that a Christian man wasn’t feeling shameful enough. And he showed up and ministered Jesus Christ to a sinner. Praise God.
Jesus was called a friend of sinners. But now I want you to just notice this, Matthew 8:16. He says, «When the evening was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast the spirits. He cast out the spirits with his word». Glory to God. «And healed all that were sick». All right, so notice here, the guy, the guys who had devils, Christ had an effect in their life. And then there were sinners 'cause he had not yet died and he healed all that was sick. So it can’t be sin that’s the reason why Christ has no effect on a person’s life. And then look at Mark chapter 6 verses 5 through 6, verse 5 says, «And he could there do no mighty works, except that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and he healed them».
Well, we just left the place where he healed all the sick folks, okay? And somebody says, «Well, why? What happened here»? «And he marveled because of their unbelief». Because of their unbelief. I want you to understand something. The reason why you fall from grace and go back to your works is 'cause you don’t believe that Jesus has already done it. Unbelief is there. You don’t really believe that the works are finished and so you go into self preservation mode and you know, you operate in unbelief that’s moving you there. He said he couldn’t do those works because of their unbelief. And then he went around about the village and he just started teaching because of their unbelief. He has no effect, ladies and gentlemen, because we fall back into self performance.
Please listen to this. If sin can stop Christ from having effect on the sick, then sin is greater than God’s grace. No way. No way that’s true. No way that’s true. Grace is greater than sin. When sin abounds, what happens? Grace does much more abound. Healing is greater than any disease. Provision is greater than any lack but the enemy wants to convince you that somehow that sin is so powerful, it can stop God’s effect and power in your life. And that’s not true. And that’s what you’ve heard. That’s what you heard. Oh, the reason you didn’t get the promotion is 'cause of the sin in your life.
Now, I’m not here justifying the sin in your life, but I’m here to show you that Jesus has taken upon all the sins of the whole world and you are no longer being condemned because of your sin. But if he stops doing things in your life because of your sin, that’s condemnation. And he didn’t come to condemn the world. The Bible says that he wants to bring people to repentance by showing his goodness to them. God’s gonna be so good to you. You ain’t gonna wanna keep doing what’s bad because he’s so good. But somehow in our hermeneutical theoretical thinking, we have concluded, listen to what people are thinking. You have concluded that sin is greater than God’s grace. Oh my goodness! That sin is greater than the healing of God.
I heard a story of a man that was at a funeral and a couple that lost their baby. And in the middle of the funeral, he said, «The reason why your baby died is 'cause you didn’t have enough faith». That’s not the God we serve. Our God is rich in mercy. Do you understand what that mean? He’s doing stuff for you you don’t deserve, but he’s doing it anyway. And hopefully one day you’ll have a flashback and remember when God showed his mercy and say, «Look here, I got to change my mind about how I’m living because God has been so good to me». He’s not holding things against you. He’s releasing mercy in your life. My God.
You remember in Mark chapter 5 verse 28 and 29. Flip there. This is a story of the woman with the issue of a blood. The woman with the issue of blood depended on Jesus for her healing. Now, what happened? Well, here’s what happened. She tried for 12 years paying doctors for 12 years until she ran out of money and could not afford to pay the doctors anymore. There’s something big I want you to get out of this illustration here. You remember John, Saint John chapter 2 and I believe it’s verse 3 through 11. You can read it. Saint John 2:3 through 11. This is the record of the first miracle of Jesus turning water into wine. It’s amazing how the mother of Jesus came to him and said, «They don’t have any more wine, they’re out of wine, they want wine, they don’t have any more».
And Jesus says to her in so many way, «Woman, I mean, what is that to do with us? That’s none of our business right now. My time has not yet come». I thought it was so amazing. As soon as he said, «My time had not come,» it came. And of course, the mother of Jesus, while she couldn’t get involved in that, she did say to those guys, «Whatever he tells you to do, do it. Whatever he tells you to do, do it». And he told them to get the water pots and fill it up with water and so forth and so on. And then, it looked like water from the time they dipped it all the way to them placing it to their mouth and it was wine and it was the best wine they ever had.
In fact, they said this wine is better than the first. Said somehow you always, you know, you start off with the good wine and at the end, you get the cheap wine 'cause everybody too drunk to even care whether it’s good or not. He said, «But you just saved the best here for last». Listen to this story. We just look at it like he turned it into wine. Check it out. When their supply came to an end, when they no longer had any more wine, then Jesus' supply showed up and I believe it’s the same thing in our life. When your supply, when my supply comes to an end, when my works come to an end, when my self effort comes to an end, when my performance comes to an end, then the supply of Jesus will be made available to your life.
And I think this is what happened with this woman with the issue of blood, her supply came to an end. No more money to pay doctors to try to figure out what was wrong. And something happens when your supply is not there anymore. Okay, let me bring it home. Your money ain’t there no more. Yeah, it ain’t there no more. The thing you depended on is not there. What are you depending on? The thing you depended on is not there anymore. It’s not there anymore.
And so many of us, we have things that we depend on. While we vocalize our faith in God, we’re dependent on something else. And God knows, he says, «All right, until you decide to voluntarily put your dependence on that away, I’m just gonna wait. I’m not gonna leave you, I’m just gonna wait till your supply run out and when your supply run out, I’m gonna show up with my goodness. I’m getting ready to blow your mind with what I’m getting ready to do». Are y’all hearing what I’m saying?
I wanna dig deep into something here. Let’s talk about what this means to be justified by the law. Go to Hebrews chapter 9 and let’s look at verse 12 through 14. Hebrews chapter 9, 12 through 14. Now, he’s talking about the blood of animals, the sacrificial offerings that the people would bring once a year to cover their sins. They could never get rid of it like Jesus’s blood did but this was atoning blood that would cover the sins. He said, «Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered in wants into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us», talking about Jesus.
13. «For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:» covering their sins for a year. «How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God». How much more can the blood of Jesus purge your conscience? Look what needs to be purged. «Your conscience from dead works». Underline dead works. «So that you can serve the living God». He says there’s a challenge here. The challenge is that you are dead work’s conscience and it may affect how you serve God.
Now, what is he saying here? Dead works conscience. Dead works show up when you try to do something for God to deserve something from God. That’s dead works. Now, I want you to think about this in your life. Am I living my Christian life feeling and thinking like I got to do something for God in order to deserve something from God? He says, if that’s the case, if that’s the case, he says, the blood of Jesus has been made available to purge your conscience from dead works so you can serve the living God. So depending on your own efforts to deserve favor from God is considered dead works. Are you dependent on your own efforts? Are you depending on your performance? Is God’s desire for us to depend wholly on the unmerited favor of Jesus?
My goodness! That’s why he said here in Philippians chapter 3 verse 4 through 9, flip there. You’ll understand what Paul was talking about here. Philippians chapter 3 verses 4 through 9, he says, «Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh,» he says, «I would be one of the guys». He says, «I more». He says, «I was circumcised on the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as touching the law». He said, «I was a pharisee». Next verse. He says, «Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, I was blameless». Come on, Paul said, «But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ’s sake».
This is so interesting because Paul counted all of his dead works. These were all dead works. Even the persecution of the church, Paul didn’t do that 'cause he was a mean guy. He was trying to enforce the covenant of the law. He was trying to do everything, he was going around saying according to the law, this person should be stoned, this person should be put to death. He says, I am doing something to try to get God to do something for me. I am performing. That’s why I’m persecuting the church. That’s why I’m doing all the things that I’m doing because I’m trying to earn God’s favor. But then Paul came to a point and he counted, he counted his deeds loss so he could find salvation. He spent all of that time doing these deeds.
Now, you read about Paul and you read about this and you think, you know, wow! You know, Paul was a pharisee of Pharisees. He was all of that because he was trying to earn his favor. It’s like you. You are a member of a church trying to earn his favor. You sang in a choir trying to earn his favor. You usher on the usher board trying to earn his favor. You come pick up paper on Saturday trying to earn his favor. So you got to examine why you doing what you do. You even have to examine why you’re here.
A lot of us, we’re not here to gain the favor of God. We’re here because we’re so in love with this Jesus that keeps showing us the richness of his mercy and grace. We can’t get over how extravagantly he loves us. I just got to, I got to go, I gotta get in the fellowship with the believers. I want to be in fellowship believers. I want that corporate anointing. I want to go to a place where he’s gonna, he’ll sit down on me. But now there are some who come because all right, this is my check. You know, I need to go to church so I can check that out. Maybe God will do something for me this week. Especially when you believe him for something to happen. You know, I’m up for a promotion. I need to go on and go to church now.
That’s what Paul was saying. He did all of that stuff trying to earn God’s unmerited favor. And there’s so many people in churches today around the world, they need to back up and examine why they do what they do. Until your giving becomes an act of love instead of just a sacrifice that you get with God, ought to be happy. I’m giving a half of what I had. I’m as generous as I’m gonna get today. I’m gonna tell you that right now. Bro, keep that money and go down the street and buy you a McDonald’s happy meal because that’s the only way you’re gonna be happy. We got to start doing things because we believe him. We got to start doing things because we trust him. We got to start doing things out of our heart. We gotta start doing things because we believe him, that we receive him, that we depend on him.