Danger of a Different Gospel
Book of Galatians Chapter 1
The people native to Galatia were emotional, impulsive, and changeable people.
They were fickle, impetuous, arguing, loud, boastful, and immoral people.
They had a love for the strange, the curiosities, and the unknown.
They were attached to a false religion that was a worship of nature, and these types of people are all over the world today, nature lovers.
Galatia was an area that had a heavy population of Jews who were staunch in the religion of Judaism.
There were also many Greeks who had a strong Hellenistic influence.
Hellenists were normal people who spoke the Greek language.
Some Jews were also called Hellenists because they had settled in foreign countries and had adopted the prevalent form of Greek civilization.
Act 6:1 And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.
Another verse says.
Act 9:29 And he spake boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus, and disputed against the Grecians: but they went about to slay him.
These were Jews who had become Greeks in their beliefs.
We can also find them at the first Church in Antioch.
Act 11:20 And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus.
Some of these were also true Greeks who had become proselytes of Judaism.
We can see that Paul knew beforehand that planting a Church in Galatia would be no easy task.
It is only the Gospel that has such power of conversion because it is the truth!
The message of the Book of Galatians will pierce the heart of any generation.
The message of the Book of Galatians will also stir Christians to action if we understand its message.
*****Gal 1:1 Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)
Notice Paul immediately establishes that he is an Apostle of Jesus Christ and God the Father who had raised the Lord Jesus from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Paul introduces Galatia to the triune God.
What was Paul's commission?
John 20:21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
What is the Great Commission?
Mar 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
Mar 16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
The phrase "and is baptized” simply means "making a public profession of faith".
We can add this commission as Paul saw it.
2Ti 4:1 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
2Ti 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
2Ti 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
2Ti 4:4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
2Ti 4:5 But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.
And Paul continued.
2Ti 4:7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
This message of Paul extends to every man called by God to preach.
Next Paul tells us who gave him his commission:
(not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)
Paul states that no man gave him this commission but the Lord Jesus Christ Himself after God the Father had raised Him from the dead.
There would have been no need to preach a Gospel if God the Father had not raised Jesus from the dead!
We serve a living Savior!
Our God is alive because He is the Almighty Living God.
What did God tell Moses?
Exo 34:5 And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.
Exo 34:6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
Exo 34:7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.
This is the God who we serve!
But notice if ignore this God that Moses saw, then we more than likely send our children, our grandchildren, and our great-grandchildren to Hell also.
If that man standing behind the pulpit of any church does not have the same calling as the Apostle Paul, then he does not deserve to be called pastor, preacher, evangelist, or any name associated with the calling of Jesus Christ!
These Galatians needed to understand this as well as those who were once Jews.
Some are called by the Holy Spirit to be Preachers, Pastors, Evangelists, and Missionaries for sure, but every child of God also has a commission given to us by the Lord Jesus Christ.
Act 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Mar 5:19 Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.
Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Col 1:28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
Col 1:29 Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.
There should not be any doubt that we are all called to be witnesses for the Lord our Savior, Jesus Christ, God's Messiah.
It was a painful moment when Paul first became aware that some counterfeit preachers, who were Judaizers, questioned the validity of his calling, but Paul was strong in the Lord and full of the Holy Spirit.
How can a counterfeit preacher judge anybody’s calling, but they do because they belong to the true counterfeit Satan?
It was they who had no calling at all except for Satan's calling.
*****Gal 1:2 And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia:
The Preacher of God must be recognized as the Lord's man by all Christian believers!
Paul was not alone; he had some Christian believers with him who agreed with everything Paul preached.
Timothy and Titus were probably part of those with Paul and there were others.
Paul knew that there was safety in numbers.
Paul never forgot that He was a member of the Church.
Paul spoke out to the Churches of Galatia with not a word of praise or privilege.
All the other Churches, even the Corinthians received a kinder salutation because they had not "erred concerning the faith" as had these Galatians.
The word Church was used for:
1) A body of believers, "the entire congregation of Christian people dispersed throughout the world".
Paul was not the only one who was spreading the Gospel at this time, Paul was the one who was writing the Bible as the Holy Spirit led Him.
Mat 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon "this rock" I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
2) The word Church could also mean a particular congregation under the same ministry of God's Word.
1Co 16:1 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye.
3) The word Church is also used for those who assemble in one Church to worship the Lord Jesus Christ.
1Co 14:28 But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God.
It should also be very clear that all around the world some gather together to worship some god, but not the Lord Jesus Christ, they are not part of the Church, and neither should they be called a Church.
The news sources have a field day when every building they see where people gather is called a church when this is not true.
If we are not the brothers and sisters of the Lord Jesus Christ, then we are not part of the Church!
If we are not in unity with the Word of God, we are not part of the Church!
True brothers and sisters in Christ have a deep rich bond and relationship when that bond is with Jesus Christ.
We should be clear when we attack the preacher who preaches the truth of Jesus Christ, and then we have given up our privileges in the Church.
It is the Word of God, the entire Word of God, from a legitimate translation of the original Scriptures, that the Church is based upon and there are no additions, and it cannot be modernized because if God gave a new Word today it would be a replica of the Word, He has already given to us.
There are no errors in the true Word of God!
The Word of God is true in every generation and the Word of God will be here when most all the world is gone.
The Word of God is alive.
1Pe 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
1Pe 2:10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
A true Christian will defend every other Christian and come to the aid of brothers and sisters when they are attacked when they are declaring the truth of God.
And then came Grace.
*****Gal 1:3 Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ,
To be sure there would be no Church and no believers without there being first the Grace of God!
Act_20:24 But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
2Co_13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.
This verse perfectly describes the true Christian!
It is Grace that is the gift of God!
Eph_2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Tit_2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
It is the Lord Jesus Christ who is the person who came by Grace, He is the living picture of God's grace!
It is because of the Grace of God that we can find peace in this world!
Eph 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Eph 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Act 15:11 But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.
There should be no doubt that we are saved by the "Grace of God"!
That grace comes to us in the form of the Lord Jesus Christ!
*****Gal 1:4 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:
Gal 1:5 To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Here is another place where we can see the will of God!
It is the Will of God that we be delivered from this present evil world.
It is the will of God that we are delivered from sin, and this was done by the sacrifice of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus, God's Messiah.
We cannot talk about being pardoned without mentioning the atoning death of Jesus Christ.
We cannot talk about justification without mentioning the atoning death of Jesus Christ.
We cannot talk about the acceptance of God without mentioning the atoning death of Jesus Christ.
We cannot talk about eternal life without mentioning the atoning death of Jesus Christ.
We cannot talk about salvation without mentioning the atoning death of Jesus Christ.
We cannot talk about God's "Grace" without mentioning the atoning death of Jesus Christ!
Our salvation depends upon the voluntary act of Jesus, our blessed Lord, to "reconcile" His Heavenly Father to us and to be a sacrifice, not only for our guilt but also for all the actual sins of all mankind.
Oh, What a Savior!
The Father gave a Son. The Son gave Himself!
The Lord Jesus did not merely denounce our sins, this would have been a mockery, Moses and all the Prophets had already done this.
His death was for our sins!
This was the Job of Paul and every preacher since Paul, to explain the difference!
Many have failed to make this clear.
The Lord Jesus had the power to die for our sins and He had the power to resurrect from that death.
The Lord Jesus gave Himself for us because we needed to be washed in his blood!
Rom 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Rom 3:25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
To God be the Glory forever and ever. Amen
When the world looks up to that glorious nighttime sky, most of them take no notice of it because they believe it happened by accident, but if you really look, you have to see the Glory of God.
God the Father does little things all the time and He always has, but they go unnoticed, but when God the Father does something big, He wants all the world to take notice.
God wanted all the world to see the truth of His Son Jesus!
Our Heavenly Father did these things that He might deliver us from sin and this present evil world!
The world was evil in the days of Jesus, and it has gotten very much worse today, but for those who believe in the truth of God, our sins have been paid for we are sin-free.
Paul said all these things to cause these churches at Galatia to remember that they were saved by the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that there is no other gospel, period.
*****Gal 1:6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
Gal 1:7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
When we need to be praising God, we see America going against the Word of God because people have forgotten the truth of God which says we are to "love one another".
What is wrong with America?
2Ti 3:3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
2Ti 3:4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
2Ti 3:5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
Before we get to verse six, we see that Paul has presented the truth of the Gospel in the previous verses.
We just cannot afford to allow false teachers into the Church!
There is no other Gospel than the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ!
When any church departs from the faith, they are no longer a church, they are just a group of people gathering together for no means except to fall into Satan's trap!
After learning the truth of the gospel by the grace of God, Judaizers had come and given them a false gospel which was not the Gospel.
God loves us so much that He has provided a way for us to become righteous and acceptable to Him and this is the only way.
There will never be another way to get to Heaven than going through the Lord Jesus Christ and there are still thousands of people who think there is another way.
This is the only way God has shown His love to us where it is meaningful.
We cannot be justified in any other way than by the grace of God than comes by the Lord Jesus Christ
God will still love us when He sends us to Hell, but He has to judge sin!
Martin Luther said, "From Christ who called you in grace".
Grace is the Lord's free and unmerited favor and goodness, as opposed to all notions of salvation by moral or ceremonial righteousness.
The person who turns away from the Gospel is not turning away from a set of beliefs or principles, nor a church.
That person has turned away from God who sent His love to that person.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
We cannot throw away this scripture and then say we are saved!
*****Gal 1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
Gal 1:9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
Sometimes that false teacher only has to add a little addition or leave out a little truth and it becomes a false Gospel.
It is the same as some teacher intentionally subtracting a truth of the Gospel.
Col 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
I think this is the teaching that is going on in many so-called churches today.
It is evident what God feels about these teachers, they will be accursed.
Accursed means separated from the will of God who they are separated from, and suffering even more than the Lost on "Judgment Day"!
You have to ask yourself why anyone would do such a thing, and the only answer is the Devil.
2Co_11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
Anyone preaching a false Gospel is one of Satan's demons or Satan himself.
We must understand that the "Gospel" is more important than the Apostle Paul even though the Apostle Paul was probably the greatest Christian who has ever lived.
The "Gospel" is greater than all the angels in Heaven. Even if an angel came from Heaven and preached another Gospel, we would have to reject him.
The "Gospel" is greater than any man who has walked upon this earth and any man who does so in the future.
The truth of the "Gospel" is settled and cannot be changed here or in Heaven!
The preachers of any false gospel are doubly cursed. This means they will be sent to the hottest part of Hell!
*****Gal 1:10 For do I now persuade men or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
The Judaizers came into the churches of Galatia suggesting that Paul preached only one side of the Gospel and there was room for their false preaching, which was the Laws of Moses.
This is the same thing going on today where the false church is told that there is more than one way to get to Heaven.
Paul taught that there is no Gospel other than what they had heard from him, which is the truth.
There can only be one truth!
These are the same questions we ask ourselves today!
We should ask ourselves; "What has been the effect of the Gospel on my life"?
"Have I been redeemed" out of this world, a world that will pass away, into a place that is supposed to be the grandest of all places?
Do I live according to the will of my Heavenly Father?
Paul asked himself if he was to satisfy men or to satisfy God.
Paul came to the conclusion that if he indeed pleased men who had not heard the Gospel then he would not be a servant of Jesus Christ.
We can learn so much from the actions of the Apostle Paul!
John and Peter came to the same conclusion.
Act 4:19 But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.
Act 4:20 For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.
1Th 2:4 But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.
It is the same with our own Pastor Preacher Sam.
It is His job to preach the truth of the Gospel even if we do not like the message!
We must understand that the Gospel has some hard truths.
The Lord Jesus asks us to put our faith in a man we have never seen who claims to be God when the world at that time killed because they said He was a fake.
Jesus asks us to believe in a place that we cannot even imagine the glory of.
Paul wrote to the Corinthians;
1Co 13:9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
1Co 13:10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
1Co 13:11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
1Co 13:12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
1Co 13:13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
Which is a love greater than just being affectionate, it is closer God’s love
I do not believe Paul was a self-made man of God,
I do not believe that Paul used the Gospel as a way for an income.
I do believe Paul sought to please God and not man.
I do believe Paul proclaimed the true Gospel.
I do believe that Paul had a radical change of life.
Our goal must be to be more like Jesus, and this begins just as soon as we accept Him as our Savior.
Php_3:21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
What is the Gospel truth?
1Pe 1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
1Pe 1:19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
1Pe 1:20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
1Pe 1:21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
So, it boils down to faith!
Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Paul admitted that once he was a man-pleaser, a time when he sought the approval of man for his actions.
Paul now said because the Gospel had changed him, he no longer sought the approval of man but the approval of God.
Paul said honor, position, and wealth were no longer important to him.
Paul now wanted one thing and one thing only: the favor and the approval of God!
2Co_5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Amen
