Untitled Sermon (5)

Have any of you heard of the diet whole 30?

Basically it is a diet where for 30 days you cleanse your body from all the junk it takes in on a regular basis.

And its an intense diet, because you can’t have anything processed, you can’t have any sugar other then that in fruit. It is a really hard diet.

And I remember one of my roommates in college he decided that he was going to try to do this diet, and he was a couple days in and it was amazing.

He was already seeing the results and he just looked healthier, but then a couple days later he quite because he said it was to hard.

Well I thought are you kidding me, you were already seeing results.

And I decided since it worked so well for him I was going to try and do it but I was going to go the 30 days.

Well I remember I had my first meal and was proud of myself and then around lunch I was trying to find something and I couldn’t find a thing I liked so I caved in and broke the diet on my first day.

You can imagine my friend who I gave a hard time was really giving me a hard time.

But have you ever turned your back on something that quickly?

where you start a hobby and then the next moment you give up on it

You decide your going to the gym but then you only use your membership twice

Maybe even with your devotion time where you go I am going to schedule this time where I am in God’s word everyday but then things come up and you change your devotion schedule and you kind of just give up on it.

Often times we find ourselves in places where we give up on things so easily and a lot faster then what we plan.

And today we are beginning our new series called “No Other Gospel” where we will be looking at a few passages in Galations,

but the overarching theme of the book of Galatians is that there is a church that Paul who wrote this book helped build and they have turned away from the true Gospel message that Paul taught them and have begun to follow other messages

So we are going to be in , and throughout this book Paul is trying to bring the Galatians back to the true Gospel message, because He knows there is something special about the true Gospel message and it has the power to change the lives of the people in this church but it also has the power to change our lives today.

So turn with me to because it says

(NIV)

No Other Gospel

6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!

10 Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

So you kind of get this hurt feeling that Paul feels in this letter because they have abandon the true gospel,

and in verse 6 Paul actually says I am astonished how quickly you did it.

and in the Bibles original language that word “astonished” is used as “marvel” so Paul is really shocked what has happened to this church.

He is basically saying I am dumb founded with amazement over how you could turn away from the true gospel of Christ so quickly.

and the reason why Paul is so dumbfounded about this is because when you think about your life before Christ and your life after Christ it is amazing what the difference is.

And I ready that and think yes

If you have ever been to a fun house you have probably seen those meres that you will stand in front of and they make your body look really plump or just weird,

and aren’t you glad that you don’t actually look like that?

because it makes you look terrible!

and really I want you to catch this because when we accept the Gospel of Christ

But whats so interesting is when we are living a life without the Gospel message it is like we are looking in a fun house mere where we are distorted by our sin.

But when we accept the gospel message of Christ it is like he takes us from a fun house mere where things are distorted to a normal one where for the first time we can see clearly who we are in the light of Christ.

And this is the reason Paul is so amazed how this church and really he is amazed how we ourselves can turn our back on the gospel message of Christ.

Because we see clearly on who we are in Christ: We are forgiven, made clean, loved by God, created in his image.

But for some reason we turn our back on this Gospel message and look into a fun house mere where everything is distorted, and we view ourselves in the darkness of sin.

and we live life that way.

and Paul is looking at us saying “Why are you doing this to yourselves?”

and this is easier to fall into then we think. because we allow satan to have a foothold in our life and he will distort the gospel message.

And look at verse 7 because Paul says immediately “really this distorted Gospel you are following its not even a Gospel.”

And the point I want you to catch is there is no gospel outside of the Gospel of Christ.

there is nothing that can free you, or change you like the Gospel of Christ.

and what Paul is recognizing is happening in this church that he is writing too is that people are taking away and adding to the Gospel message.

and He is saying if you add of subtract anything thing from the message of the gospel of Christ you do not have a gospel at all.

It would be like if you have ever made a penut butter and Jelly Sandwhich.

But you know you have all of these options in front of you and most of them look okay

because you have the buffet with all the options where you can just pick and choose what you want.

You have two slices of bread, Penut butter and Jelly.

and I think almost everyone in this room

But if you add or take away any of those ingredients guess what it is not longer a peanut butter and Jelly sandwich.

and this is what Paul is saying because he knows we like to view the gospel as a buffette where you pick and choose what you want.

You know I have heard people say that Christianity and the Gospel is just self help. Its something that improves your life.

I have heard people add that to be a Christian you need to work your way up to a place where you can accept Christ.

But what Paul is saying no the gospel of Christ is while we were still sinners (messing up) Christ died for us and He died for you.

and anything that takes us away from that gospel message needs to be cut out of our life.

Because look at verse 8 because it says even if we, being the apostles or an angel preaches anything different let them be under God’s curse.

And obviously Paul and the apostles would never go off the gospel message, but what Paul is saying is “look I want you to stand strong with the Gospel message I have given you!”

because Paul recognizes that in our lives we have things daily that distract us from his gospel message.

and he is saying whatever you do don’t get distracted from what the Gospel message is.

Because the moment we get distracted is the moment we missed the mark.

Because

And really I think almost all of us know what the Gospel is right?

But for some reason it is still so easy for us to find ourselves adding or subtracting to what that message is even as Chritians who should know better.

and I am going to be honest we are going to keep messing up and distorting the gospel unless we can anweser this one question Paul ask us in verse 10.

Because He says look are you trying to win the approval of human beings or of God?

Where is your heart?

You know I remember there was a point in my life where whenever talking about Christ to people it was like I was a used cars salesman trying to sell someone on why they need to accept Christ.

I was trying to help people find the a good Gospel message that would fit in their life.

But the truth is our hearts need to be set on God first. the moment we put anything before Him is the moment we miss the mark.

So Can I ask you a question?

Where is your heart today?

Are you aiming to please people or are you aiming to please God? Because this is really the root of this entire passage.

If we choose to seek the hearts of people instead of the heart of God we miss the mark.

Because we might still end up messing up or mixing things up but when we are seeking the heart of God we aren’t going to miss the gospel message that Christ gave us.

because this Gospel message has the ability to move you away from this warped mere you have been stuck in front of and it has the ability to see yourself the way God created you to be.

I don’t know about you but doesn’t that sound amazing?

because there is no other gospel that can do that.

You can go to counseling and it may be a good thing, but it can’t transform your life like God.

You can do all the good works you want and it might feel good, but it can’t do what Christ can do.

There is no gospel outside of that Jesus Christ died for you while you were still sinner and wants to transform you from the inside out.

just want to end by asking God to search our hearts because maybe you have turned your back on Jesus this morning, maybe today is the day you can turn back around.

Maybe today you are realizing you've added or subtracted things to the message Christ gave you and need to go back to the gospel message.

and maybe today you just need that new heart, I want to invite us to come to Christ today asking him to change our hearts to his message.

Will you pray with me?