Are You Trusting A False Gospel? Part 1 (Galatians 1:6-7)
GIST: Don’t be misled; you need Jesus’ rescue.
This morning, we’re continuing our study in the book of Galatians. Last week, I touched on this being widely considered the earliest of Paul’s letters and likely the second oldest book in the New Testament behind James. What I probably failed to clarify was the significance of that. Even taking into consideration some of the later dating, this letter was written within about 20 years of Jesus’ resurrection! This was within the lifetime of those who had walked with Jesus and heard His teachings directly. That’s important to remember because as Paul claims to proclaim the gospel he heard directly from Jesus, it would have been very easy for people to contradict him if what he was teaching was different from what Jesus taught. As we see in this letter, his teachings are being challenged, but not on that basis and not from people who heard from Jesus. Those witnesses confirm his message.
Last week, we looked at his greeting which basically established that Paul, as an apostle, was writing to these new Gentile churches in Galatia and reminding them of the gospel, the good news: grace and peace are available to us because Jesus chose to take on Hell in our place. If we come to Him and accept that gift, we will be saved. This truth had transformed their lives, but now they are abandoning it.
Typically in Paul’s letters, this second section would be where he thanks God for the people he’s writing to. That section is noticeably absent from this letter ☺️. Paul is writing with a sense of urgency and, really, emergency because he is so concerned by what is happening in these churches. Does that mean he doesn’t love them? No, it’s because he loves them so dearly that he doesn’t take time for pleasantries. Sometimes the most loving thing you can do is pull off the bandaid and cut to the chase. That’s what he does here.
We’re going to read four verses here this morning: 6-9. However, after typing up these notes, I realized I had too much for one setting, so we’re dividing this into a two-parter ☺️ and only actually addressing verses 6 & 7 this morning. (Like I said, it shouldn’t take us more than 3 years to cover these...six chapters ☺️. )
“6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel-- 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.”
There are some serious words for us to consider in these verses, so I want to dive straight in. Here’s our gist, and now that I’m dividing this into two parts this is our only point as well ☺️: Don’t be misled; you need Jesus’ rescue. →
I. Don’t Be Misled; You Need Jesus’ Rescue. (6-7)
Paul starts this section, and the letter itself, by expressing his astonishment. Essentially, he’s shocked that these new believers are deserting Jesus. They’ve been misled by false teachers who have come after Paul claiming that grace isn’t enough. I want to make two big-picture observations here. First, turning from the gospel of grace is turning from Jesus. Period. Second, “other gospels” just pervert, confuse, and condemn. So first here→
Turning From The Gospel Of Grace is Turning From Jesus’ Rescue. Look again at verses 6-7. “6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel-- 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.” The word deserting here carries the idea of leaving something behind in favor of something else, but notice it’s not some arbitrary teaching they’re leaving. They are deserting the one who came to rescue them! From what I’ve read, there are actually two words for different used here. One basically means “different, but of same kind” and the other means “different and of a different kind”. I only mention that because it probably gives us a little insight into the nature of this desertion. Though they thought they were just moving to a variation, a different way of still honoring God, what they were actually believing was something else entirely. This is key. Any “other gospel” is not the gospel at all. There is no middle ground.
In Tim Keller’s book on Galatians, Galatians For You, he gives three examples of “other gospels” that commonly creep into our churches today. I thought considering them would be a helpful illustration for us today. Now, these are my paraphrases, so if they are confusing in any way, blame me, not Tim ☺️. The first one is→
1. Grace + Level of Commitment. This one is probably close to home. How do we speak about salvation. It’s what happens when we surrender control of our lives to Jesus. We do this because we’ve experienced His gift of grace, and we end up being changed as a result of that. While true, it is easy to let the “being changed” part become a point of emphasis that overshadows the gift of grace. We have to be careful here. Last week I shared an example of a young man who was a victim of this mindset. And guys, he’d grown up in our church. He believed, but didn’t think he was committed enough to Jesus yet to accept His gift of salvation. He was never taught that you had to reach a specific level of commitment to be saved, but that was how his young mind interpreted the expectations. His confusion was accidental, but I have definitely heard this form of the gospel being taught directly as well. Another is→
2. Grace + Open-Mindedness and General Goodness. Tim Keller put it this way, “[In some churches], it is taught that it doesn’t really matter what you believe as long as you are a loving and good person.” This is a very popular stance because it avoids controversy. It’s the idea that all moral living leads to heaven, so your “personal path” is a choice from many equally good options. Not only does this directly contradict the teachings of the Bible, but it ignores Jesus’ gift of grace. It actually puts salvation back on “good works” by really claiming we can just behave well enough to qualify for salvation. However, we know this isn’t true. A third very common distortion is→
3. Grace + Legalism. This teaching says we need grace, but we also need to follow very specific practices to really earn salvation. Grace is the entryway, but works seal the deal. This can be expressed in the requiring of specific traditions or dress requirements, or the holding to extra-biblical creeds or very detailed followings of specific rituals. This, again, teaches that Jesus’ sacrifice and resurrection weren’t enough.
In the past, I’ve used the example of salvation being like a life preserver. Our natural state is that we’re trying to swim in the middle of the stormy ocean. We’ve gotten there ourselves, but we have no chance of getting ourselves out. Jesus’ gift of grace, which He provided through His sacrifice and resurrection, is thrown to us as a life preserver. However, so often, people see that, and decide to keep trying to swim on their own anyway. These false gospels lead to the same results.
Grace + Level of Commitment says, “I’ll grab the life preserver once I’ve proven I’m serious about being rescued.” That’s adding a requirement Jesus didn’t place. Come. Take hold. Experience His grace. Be transformed. You don’t have to feel “ready enough”.
Grace + Open-Mindedness & General Goodness says, “That life preserver is awesome, so is that jagged rock, and that man-eating shark. I won’t actually do anything differently, but I know the option is a good one, and I’m happy about it.” That leaves you in the ocean still thinking you’re clinging to something you’re not, while also leading others to believe they can be rescued by things that will destroy them!
Grace + Legalism says, “You need to grab that life preserver and only that life preserver (so at least it’s good there! ☺️)...but you can only grab it with your left hand and only if it’s been dried naturally by a cool breeze for at least 15 minutes before reaching out to initiate the contact. It must also be during a full moon, and you have to have waited 30 minutes before beginning to drown.” Legalism says grace isn’t enough. It makes us feel like the power is back in our hands. If we just do the right things, we’ll get ourselves there. And as much as we like to trash the Pharisees for doing this, we’re just as bad because, by nature, we want to feel in control of our own salvation.
All of these teachings reject Jesus as our sole Savior! In fact, all these→
“Other” Gospels Pervert, Confuse, and Condemn. The ESV actually uses the word distort where others use pervert. The idea is the same. To pervert is to reverse or flip. It’s the opposite of what something was designed for. When we change the gospel to make it more practical for us, we move the emphasis from God’s grace to our accomplishments. That no longer has any saving power.
Paul is quick to point out that those who spread these false gospels are troubling or confusing us. Why? Because they present a false-reality we can’t really live which leads to→
Condemnation. We’re saved by Jesus alone, so if we’re looking for that anywhere else, we won’t be saved. This next section hits on that even more actually, but for this morning let me just make this observation. A false gospel points people away from the truth which allows them to continue moving unimpeded straight to Hell. If we love, we will want to love people with the truth!
We’ll pause there for this morning and hit some→
TAKEAWAYS
Knowing the real gospel is vital. It is literally a matter of life or death.
Remembering the gospel daily is what will transform your life. Yes, I say this all the time, but we all need this. It’s easy to miss the gospel and very easy to be misled by “variant gospels” if we aren’t continuously remembering the real deal.
Sharing the gospel is loving people who still need rescued. This might be more what we’re addressing next week, but I couldn’t leave it out of this discussion completely. If we know the truth of the Gospel, it is not because we were wise enough to figure it out. It is because Jesus revealed it to us through His Word. As I’ve repeated often, then, as the greatly loved, we should love greatly.
No comments:
Post a Comment