We know that sin leads to perdition. But we must realize that the book of Galatians is not on the subject of sin. The book of Galatians speaks of good works. It speaks of keeping the law of God. Galatians is on the keeping of the law and circumcision. Paul did not say that they had fallen into sin. He said that they had fallen from grace. There is a big difference between the two. To be fallen from grace and to fall into sin are two entirely different things. To be fallen from grace is to be fallen from the principle of grace and to follow the principle of works once again. Today, there are numerous saved believers who have fallen from grace. But they have not lost their salvation. Even we ourselves are the same. A countless number of times we think that we are through. But our salvation is because of the grace of the Lord Jesus.

Paul said that those in Galatians 5 strove to overcome, but they had fallen from grace to trust in their works instead. They wanted to have good works, but when they did this, they fell. What is to be in grace? Grace means that we are lowly and helpless persons. We can do nothing. We have received grace before God. We are in a lowly position. We are looking to God to give us grace. As such, we are those that live in grace. It is not a matter of sin or evil conduct here. If a man trusts in his own work, he is obstructing the grace of Christ. Paul rebuked the Galatians here for following the law after they were saved. They had fallen from grace. He reprimanded them for not having received enough grace and not having received enough mercy from God. To receive mercy and grace from God is to allow God to work. This proves that the flesh is incapable and cannot do anything. We can work by our flesh. But those in the flesh do not please God.

Suppose Brother Yau is an unprincipled man. Every day he earns a dollar fifty cents but spends two dollars. Tonight I have pity on him. He is short of fifty cents. I give him sixty cents. He is like this every day, and I have pity on him also every day. Suppose one day Brother Yau starts thinking, "Mr. Nee has had pity on me and has sent me money every day. But I have to think of a way to discipline myself a little." When he does this, he is doing what the Galatians were doing with circumcision. They were doing it in the flesh, and as a result, they had fallen from grace. I have met such people. From the world's point of view, I like such people. They do not want others to feed them the rest of their lives. They want to be independent. This is good. But the Bible says that, as far as God is concerned, this is wrong because such people have fallen from His mercy. Paul was not rebuking them for sinning. Paul was rebuking them for doing good. Paul rebuked them for doing good because their doing good meant that they did not need God's mercy anymore for the rest of their lives. They would not live in God's mercy anymore.

My friends, man's thought is totally different from God's thought. We think that we can please God by doing a little. But God is happy when we remain in His grace. He repeatedly says that He desires mercy and not sacrifice (Matt. 9:13). Mercy is for God to give you something, and sacrifice is for you to give something to God. God desires mercy. This means that He likes to give things to you. He does not desire sacrifice. This means that He does not want you to give things to Him. If God can give things away, He will feel happy. This is salvation. Salvation is not to make us happy. Salvation is to make God happy. God likes to keep giving. He wants to work continually on us. He wants to give us grace. You might think that it is enough. But He thinks that it is not enough. You are a poor man and can get by with a few pennies a day. But now you are given a few dollars. No wonder you would think that it is too much. If God is to do something, He wants to do it to the uttermost. If you allow Him to do only a little, He will not feel happy. If you want to be saved, you have to willingly allow God to work. You have to ask God to be merciful to you. God can only be happy if He is allowed to work this way. If you keep trying to give God something, He will not feel happy. When God sees you being shown mercy, He is happy. This is why I say that God desires mercy and not sacrifice.

Galatians 5:4 says that we should not fall outside of grace. It does not say that we should not fall into sin. What is contended here is not the question of salvation, but the question of enjoyment. Before God, we need not move, and we need not keep the law. We do not have to do anything. We should just allow God to work on us and to give us grace. Once we have works, we are fallen from grace. Hence, to say that one has fallen from grace does not refer to the question of salvation and perdition. To be fallen from grace is a question of whether or not we enjoy Christ's benefits for us. To be fallen from grace is a matter of whether or not one allows the work of Christ to operate in him. We thank the Lord that salvation means to be continually under God's mercy and to be continually under His grace.