Getting The Gospel Right
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Open Your Bibles to the book of Galatians…
Over the course of this year we will be opening and looking at this power packed letter to the Galatians and uncovering the sufficient, inspired, inerrant word of God verse by verse…
This morning is an overview of the letter revolving around the sixth and seventh verse of Chapter 1. Look at your scriptures with me at what it says…
I marvel that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ for a different gospel,
which is really not another, only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.
This is the reason the letter as written and ended up in our bible at all. Gospel distortion and gospel fleeing. The Galatians were a body of Christ in the region of galatia, a roman ruled Provence in what would now be considered central turkey. They had not been Christians terribly long when they received this letter. But had in the past, received the gospel from Paul na began living for Christ as a healthy body of believers.
That very thing, the gospel, will be the focus of this letter. Because their understadning of it had been distorted from false teachers and their lives were quickly fleeing away from the truth. What is the gospel? I bet if I went around the room today I would receive a number of different answers. If you took a poll online, watch out, you would receive all the more.
Paul writes this letter to the church in Galatia to clarify, and solidify the gospel of Jesus Christ while correcting the other one they are presently believing. As paul says, not that there is another one. There is only one gospel of God… there is only one salvation. And one proclamation worthy of devoting your life to. Yet there was something taught to them falsely that was opposed to this gospel and they were happy to live their life in light of it. So we must clarify… We must get the gospel right.
Getting the gospel right involves getting the word of God right. The whole counsel of God tells of the good news. Which my friends is why you must take the word seriously. We do well to know what God says, and hold on to it full stock. Again, last week with Adams sermon, what could have been a greater comfort to John the baptist, the man of God, the man whom is unlike any other man, Jesus said. What could have been more comfort to him in his moment of wavering than the reassurance of the unwavering, never failing very word of God?
I want to give you two instances this morning of the very thing you must see from this sermon. Two instances, really two warnings, that I pray will call you, as Paul calls the galatians, to get the gospel right… To take seriously the command to know the words of Christ and follow them. I pray it will cause you to, or deepen your desire for truth. It is the very issue that is at the heart of the letter to the Galatians.
But now, to set the stage we need to look at genesis… Genesis 2:15-17
Then Yahweh God took the man and set him in the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.
And Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may surely eat;
but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat from it; for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”
Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which Yahweh God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”
And the woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;
but from the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God said, ‘You shall not eat from it, and you shall not touch it, lest you die.’”
And the serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die!
“For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Then the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, so she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.
Now, the other instance, come with me to matthew… Matthew 4:1-11 this should be very familiar to the children in the room because they are studying this in Sunday school.
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry.
And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’”
Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple,
and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written,
‘He will command His angels concerning You’;
and
‘On their hands they will bear You up,
Lest You strike Your foot against a stone.’”
Jesus said to him, “Again, it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory;
and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.”
Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’”
Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.
Both instances deal with real people, real situations, and real consequences. Both revolve around the word of God, the people and their understanding of the word of God, and the devil and his misuse and misdirection of the word of God. Both show us the outcome of getting the gospel right.
In both instances the devil comes to the people and speaks first… He is the tempter. In the first instance the word of God is used in order to defend the woman’s position. However, the word is misunderstood, or at least misquoted by the person quoting it. There seems to be a wavering in her ability to quote the original command of God. A legalism if you will, meaning an added rule not said by God. Seeing the chink in her armor, the devil fires back with an interpretation of his own. Only to throw a dart of confusion and convince Eve to give up what she believed about the word all together. She trusted the devil’s word, and her own reasoning, over God’s word.
The second instance the word is being quoted by the person as a defense as well. Except this time it is quoted rightly, with authority, and with perfect faith. The interpretation is not up for discussion, the word is firm. The devil thinks that he is speaking first, that he has the upper hand because of hunger, and thirst, but make it clear, the word of God has been established before the foundations of the earth, even before the devil was created. Jesus points to an authority, the authority of the inerrant word of God. And the outcome is perfection, no falling into sin, no dishonor to God, and the devil left him alone.
These are two instances that can be used to illustrate the main point of the book of Galatians. God glorifying, Christ exalting, Spirit filled life is dependent on getting the gospel right. Listen, the devil or demons coming to you and tempting you to believe a lie and lead you away from God is not a matter of if, it is a matter of when. And how will you handle it? Will you believe it and fall away from the glory of Almighty God, or stay true.
What you know about the word of God effects your present life and at least your eternity but quite possibly the eternity of many more people whom you may lead rightly or astray. So this morning, I want to kick off our study in Galatians by giving you 3 things that getting the gospel right does… These three things will also be how one could divide the book and see how Paul structures his letter… First, getting the Gospel right....
Proclaims the power of salvation by Faith alone in Christ alone. (Galatians 2:16) [Galatians 1-2]
The gospel could be summed up into two proclamations. That the kingdom of God has drawn near, and secondly that Christ is the fulfillment and king of that kingdom because of His death and resurrection. Our world like to make a discussion about everything… Lets just have a conversation. Paul Rees once said “the gospel is neither a discussion nor a debate. It is an announcement.”
This is a message, a proclamation, of salvation by grace through faith alone, because of Christ alone, to the glory of God alone. Christ is the savior. And man can only be saved by believing, by faith, that Christ’s finished work on the cross is enough to save them.
False Gospels however, chain man to the law of salvation through works. You will see throughout the letter how false teachers got to the galatians and taught them salvation by the law. They skewed the word of God, and the word that Paul brought to them by adding works or stipulations to it. Saying in order to please God, in order to be saved, yes take jesus, but you must also do this other thing. You must hold to this other standard, rather than just the one set forth by the apostles sent forth by Christ himself.
Getting the gospel right first proclaims the power of salvation by faith alone in Christ alone. Secondly, Getting the gospel right…
Establishes a doctrinal foundation in the scriptures of which all knowledge is to be discerned through (Galatians 3:22, 4:9) [Galatians 3-4]
As I said earlier, the gospel takes the whole counsel of God, from the beginning, the law, the prophets, and the work of Christ, and puts them together. This proclamation that the kingdom has come, and the second that its king as well is told of in the law. That it would happen. That it must happen. But more than a proclamation the word is the our very source of life. Jesus told the devil the very words of the law, Man cannot live on bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. So, the people of God need a framework to discern, is this word we are hearing or this teaching or whatever it may be, God’s word, if its His intention, or is it error. Without gospel framework man is led back into slavery. Because,
False Gospels lead away from God and toward the prince of this world. Without a proper frame work you are lead astray into your own reasoning. The galatians you will see were led back into the elemental things. They become overly concerned with the circumscion of the law before Christ, they become overly concerned with festivals, and keeping traditions as a means of pleasing God. We see it today. Churches overly concerned with the traditions of man. You must do this or you are not a church, you must do this or you are not a christian. Ok, tell me where the bible says this? Tell me how the gospel demands this of me?
There is only one Gospel that frees a man. Because there is only one thing that pleases God. Perfect and holy obedience. Remember the warning, Deuteronomy 4:2
“You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of Yahweh your God which I am commanding you.
Doing so leads to death… It is a slow death for sure, but death none the less. Have you accomplished that perfect and holy obedience? No you haven’t. You and I sin so much in an hour we should be sent to hell for ten thousand eternities. Yet there is a sort of man that continues to hammer away to prove his worth to God…
John calvin once said that the gospel is an anvil that has broken many a hammer and will break many more hammers yet… His point is he can’t and never will be able to. Lay your hammers down. Stop working and start surrendering.
Because of Christ, and his perfect obedience, and his holy sacrifice on the cross, man doesn’t have to worry about keeping traditions, or festival days. We have one thing to worry about to be saved, to take Christ as Lord. Our faith is simple, our gospel is simple. Man is saved from the wrath of God by Jesus Christ alone. Man is saved because of CHRIST’s work, alone.
Getting the gospel right establishes a doctrinal foundation in the scriptures of which all knowledge is to be discerned through. A foundation that our minds can be set upon, and find sure and steady peace. Third, getting the gospel right
Frames a pleasing life to Christ (Galatians 5:13-16) [Galatians 5-6]
What does a Christian life look like? This has been a debate for two thousand years. It goes on in our hearts everyday. What does it mean to be a Christ follower, and live Christian life? Paul tells you. But it only come from getting the Gospel right. Because the spirit of God is only given to us when saved. Only the redeemed, the born again, the adopted Children of God can walk in the spirit, Pauls says, because they are not under the law, but under Christ. The holy spirit is not proved by speaking in tounges, for Paul himself says to a bunch of Christians, Are all apostles? The answer unspoken yet implied answer is no… All are prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? Do all have the gifts of healings? Do all speak with tounges? Do all translate? No… Desires the greater gifts, but I will show you a more excellent way. Love.
Paul goes on in Galatians to say, those who walk in the spirit, what the real proof of the spirit is, is a denial of the flesh for the glory of God and bearing the fruit of the spirit for the glory of God. Whereas,
False gospels please the flesh. It feels really good to say, you must be circumsced to be saved, you must feed one hundred people out of the goodness of your heart to be saved, you must visit temple once a year to be saved, you must speak in tongues to be saved, you must attend this church, and memorize this book...and and and… These are rules. You must follow the rules to be saved. If this is your understanding of Christianity, that you must follow the rules to be saved, you are not saved. because that is not Christianity. Salvation comes through Christ alone. Man cares about these things, while God cares about your heart. Who owns your heart?
This is why it is so easy for false gospels to creep in. Because it takes faith in Christ alone to believe that that is enough. It doesn’t seem like enough… Come on, tell me how much to tithe, and how often I should read my bible, and if I am allowed to watch football on Sunday's or not… My friends, who, or what owns your heart? Galatians 5:24 says, “Now those who belong to Christ Jesus crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” Are you living for Christ or to keep the rules perfectly? Are you live for Christ, or to simply do enough to have fire insurance?
I plead with you as Paul pleaded with them, to take this seriously and make sure you know the one gospel.…
My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you—
but I could wish to be present with you now and to change my tone, because I am perplexed about you.
Listen, getting the gospel right effects our present life… And it is telling if it is. Rowland Hill once said, “the gospel makes husbands better husbands, wives better wives, parents better parents, masters better masters, and servants better servants; in a word, I would not give a farthing for that mans religion whose cat and dog were not the better for it”…
But think bigger… This is a matter of eternity. It effects your children and grandchildren’s eternity. What do you pass on to them? What you learn now, what you understand, you will pass on to others. So, are you leading people astray? Or leading them to Christ.
Pray that the Lord would continue to correct your errors, would shore up where you have sprung a leak and began to give up your zeal for Christ, would help you to be unashamed and bold for this good news. It is not just good news my friends, it is the best news ever.
