Only One Gospel
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Introduction:
On August 30, 2005 Coast Guard Lieutenant Iain McConnell was ordered to fly his H46 helicopter to New Orleans and to keep that machine flying around the clock for what would turn out to be a heroic rescue effort. None of his crew were prepared for what they were about to see. They were ahead of every news crew in the nation. The entire city of New Orleans was under water. On their first three missions that day they saved 89 people, three dogs and two cats.
On the fourth mission, despite twelve different flights to New Orleans, he and his crew were able to save no one. None! They all refused to board the helicopter. Instead they told the Coast Guard to bring them food and water. Yet they were warned that this was extremely dangerous. The waters were not going to go away soon. Sadly, many of those people perished because of their refusal to be rescued.
The true Gospel message is a saving life line to all who are perishing spiritually because of their sin nature. One major issue is that many people refuse to be rescued so what happens is that the true biblical gospel is changed in order to make it more appealing to more people. I don’t have to tell you this morning how wrong that is..
GOSPEL SUMMARY
So before we get started this morning lets just sum up what the Gospel is. What is the Good News about Jesus and how does that effect us? Now I thought about share briefly with you the verses in Romans that will take you down a road of discovery about OUR SIN - OUR SEPARATION - GOD’S GIFT - THE GREAT SUBSTITUTION. But instead I decided to just show you a 1:12 sec video that explains the Gospel in a nutshell.
SHOW VIDEO
That is the Gospel in a nutshell, and its this Gospel that Paul is defending here when he writes this letter to the Galatians. Because here is the problem that is going on in the Galatian church and the reason why Paul writes this letter in the first place.
Why did Paul write the letter to the Galatians?
• False teachers were claiming that justification is by faith PLUS WORKS.
• Paul wrote to explain that justification is by faith ALONE.
ANOTHER GOSPEL?
Paul presents two convictions we should have about the gospel of Jesus Christ.
1. There is ONLY ONE gospel!
I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—which is really no gospel at all (vv.6-7a).
Paul doesn’t beat around the bush. He gets straight to the point. He says, “I am astonished.” He’s amazed, shocked, stunned. Why? Because
(1) the Galatians are “so quickly deserting the one who called [them].” Who was that? God! “Deserting” is a military term used for traitors.
And (2) they are “turning to a different gospel” —not a gospel of grace, but a gospel of grace mixed with law.
The word “gospel” means “good news.” When a little law is mixed with grace, the message is no longer good news; it’s bad news.
(Optional) SHOW HEE HAW THAT’S GOOD NO THAT’S BAD SKIT
You know no matter how funny that skit can be, there is nothing funny about changing the Gospel the Good News to Bad News when you add or take away from it.
You know, for pastors, ministry can be a series of good news and bad news. Listen to these scenarios:
Good news: You baptized seven people today in the river.
Bad news: You lost two of them in the swift current.
Good news: The Women’s ministry voted to send you a get-well card.
Bad news: The vote passed 21-20.
Good news: The Deacons accepted your job description the way you wrote it.
Bad news: They were so inspired by it, they formed a search committee to find somebody capable of filling the position.
Good news: Church attendance rose dramatically the last three weeks.
Bad news: You were on vacation.
Good news: Your deacons want to send you to Holy Land.
Bad news: They are stalling until the next war.
So Paul continues in v.7
which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.
other translations may put it this way,
Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ (v. 7b).
The false teachers (Judaizers) were
(1) confusing the Galatians and
(2) perverting the gospel.
Two implications:
(1) We need to be very clear on what the gospel really is.
The most effective way to detect error is to know the truth. (Be on guard because many false teachers use our terminology but mean something very different.)
(2) pluralism is wrong. Pluralism is the belief that all religions are equally valid (different paths, same destination).
So the first conviction we should have is that...
1. There is ONLY ONE gospel!
The second one is
2. There is nothing more IMPORTANT than the gospel!
But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.
How important is the gospel to Paul? It’s so important to him that he says preaching a false gospel should result in a person being “eternally condemned”!
Some english translations will translate the greek word “Anathema to “eternally condemned” The KJV and NKJV translates the greek word as “accursed.” It means “doomed to destruction.” This is a very strong word that Paul is using here.
To put it bluntly, Paul is saying, “If anybody is preaching to you a false gospel, let him be damned,” or, “Let him go to hell.” This is not something Paul can tolerate. Nor should we! (Notice that Paul includes himself: “even if we.”)
Why does Paul use such strong (unloving?) language? Because he understood that souls were at stake.
Imagine you are in an airport and you overhear someone talking about blowing up an airplane. What would you do? Would you remain quiet and let people believe they were safe? Should we be quiet and let people trust in a false gospel?
Paul calls the Judaizers “false brothers” in 2:4. They were teaching their false gospel inside the church.
The church’s greatest danger is not the ANTI-gospel OUTSIDE the church; it is the COUNTERFEIT gospel INSIDE the church.
Paul goes on to say, in v.10
For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.
Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ (v. 10).
Paul was not a man pleaser, but a bondservant of Christ. His message had not changed and would not change to accommodate men. As the servant of Christ, he preached the truth revealed to him by Christ. His objective in life was to do the will of Another, to live his life in service to his King. This prohibited him from changing his message or adapting it to suit others.
A professional violinist was giving a concert. When he finished, the crowd jumped up from their seats and gave him a standing ovation. He had delivered a magnificent performance. The young violinist, with tears coming down his cheeks, walked off the stage, dejected. The stagehand saw him and said, ‘Why are you so sad? Those people are going crazy out there and you are crying. I don’t understand.’
‘Do you see the one man in the center down there? He is still sitting.’
The stagehand said, ‘Yeah, so what? There are two thousand other people who are standing.’
‘This is true, but you don’t understand. That man down there in the middle is my daddy. He’s also my violin teacher. If he doesn’t stand, it doesn’t matter what two thousand other people do.’
If God doesn’t applaud when He sees how you live your life, it doesn’t matter what everybody else does.
We must share the gospel, whether it is POPULAR or not.
The gospel often offends people. It confronts us with our sinfulness and our need of a Savior.
"To Tell the Truth" game show, where you have to question three contestants to determine the true identity of the person who would then stand up to be recognized. Unfortunately, if you're looking for the true Jesus these days, you have more than three "contestants". The cults and false religions of the day have produced some such as these --
Jesus #1: Jesus was Michael the archangel, the first being created by Jehovah God, "a god" but not Almighty God, was invisibly raised from the dead as a "spirit being" and has already invisibly returned to earth.
Jesus #2: Jesus was the "spirit brother" of Lucifer, a man who evolved to godhood and was married to more than one woman while on this earth.
Jesus #3: This is a Jesus who never came in the flesh, but is simply a divine idea or principle inherent in every person.
Jesus #4: Jesus is one of many great prophets but has since been superseded by a greater prophet. He did live a sinless life but was not crucified nor did he die to pay the penalty for anyone's sins.
All of the above are the creations of men although they bear the same name as the true Jesus revealed in the Holy Scriptures. However, as eternally dangerous as all of these "Jesuses" are, there may be some that are even more dangerous.
There are many people, some even sitting in church week after week, who have created a Jesus in their own minds with whom they are comfortable. He may be a Jesus that is all "love" but no judgment. He may be a Jesus that tolerates all lifestyles and life choices even though they conflict with His Word. But, he is not the true Jesus revealed in the entirety of God's Word.
In 2 Corinthians 11: 4, the apostle Paul warned the believers at Corinth, "For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough."
There are other Jesuses, other spirits and other gospels. Are you "putting up" with a false Jesus, one that cannot save? At one point while Jesus was walking this earth, He turned to His disciple Peter, and asked, "Who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, answered boldly, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God."
There is only One Jesus who is God in the flesh, only One who died on the cross for your sins, only One who rose physically from the dead and is alive forevermore, only One who sets you free from the bondage of sin, only One who grants eternal life to those who believe. Only one Gospel, the good news about Jesus. Do you know Him?