by Dave Brown
Ye often hear it said ...
"...once saved, always saved ..."
but Paul told the false teachers (Galatians 5:3-4):
“Christ is become of no effect unto you,
whosoever of you are justified by the law;
ye are fallen from grace.”
The particular subject, that of binding circumcision as a condition of salvation (see Acts 15), is not a raging issue in our day and age. However, this passage exemplifies a principle that does apply: we should never bind upon our fellow Christians that which the word of God does not bind (2 John 9). We all understand that those who were in error here were Christians. It is never in question that they had obeyed the gospel of Jesus Christ, and they had been added to his body, the church (Rom. 6:3). Neither is it in question that they were at this point saved. The term "fallen from grace" necessitates that the person was, at one point in time, in the grace of God and thus saved. If they were never saved then Paul would not be addressing them as his fellow Christians (Gal. 1:2) — he would be urging them to repent and be baptized as Peter preached the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:38).
Please, open your New Testaments and read the letters written to Christians (Romans through Jude). You cannot read too many pages in a row without seeing warnings that Christians must stay faithful in order to remain saved (e.g., Rom. 2, 1 Cor. 5, 2 Cor. 6:14f, Eph. 4:17, Phil. 2:12, Col. 2:5, Heb. 3:6,14; 10:26; 12:14f; Rev. 2:4,5,26).