There is Only One Gospel

Introduction

Good morning and welcome back!

It is excellent to have everyone join with us this morning.

Today, we are going to move into a different study.

And just like we spent some time with James and looking at his letter, this morning we are going to begin to look at the book of Galatians.

Or rather the letter that Paul wrote to the church at Galatia.

And this morning we are going to be focusing in on Paul’s message to them about the Gospel and the truth that is found in the Gospel contained within the introduction of the letter found in chapter 1.

First, though where was Galatia? What made it so special?

Well, Galatia was a Roman province located where current day Turkey is.

And Paul had actually traveled through Galatia in his second missionary journey that we read about in Acts 13 and Acts 18.

The disciples in Galatia had already been established by the time Paul got there and he saw his role as “strengthening the disciples” as recorded in Acts 18:23.

So, this would mean that Paul would have both taught and planted churches throughout that whole region that consisted of the cities of Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, and Pisidian Antioch.

And Paul’s letter here was a follow up to his journeys through Galatia and as many of his letters were, it was a way for Paul to still connect and advise the young Christians in a time when he could not be there with them.

The commentators put the time of the letter around 49 AD, in a time when false teaching and false gospels was running rampant.

This was the time when things like Gnosticism was very popular and Paul spent a lot of time an energy combating this Gnosticism.

And there was also another group that directly threatened the message of Jesus Christ and the ministry of Paul, himself.

These were the “Christian Jewish Legalists,” who were the ones saying that in order to be saved you must accept Jesus Christ and also follow all of the precepts of the Jewish Law.

Which Paul strongly opposed.

And as a response to Paul’s opposition to them, they would claim his apostleship was invalid.

And Paul would have to respond.

Which is exactly what he is doing in this letter.

However, along the way, Paul also gives us all some very relevant and very real instruction regarding how we also regard the Gospel and the competing noise of the world around us today.

So, this morning we are going to be looking at Galatians 1, but are going to really hone in and focus on verses 6-10.

Starting in verse 6, Paul writes this . . .

Scripture Focus

Galatians 1:6–10 NIV - Anglicised

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. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned! 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.

The Apostle’s Authority

So, from the passage I read we see the main point that Paul is trying to make and there is really not much of a debate about what he is talking about.

However, before he gets to that main point Paul, like he does in many of his letters writes an introduction and opening greeting to the people.

It is interesting though on how Paul starts out this letter.

He starts in verse 1 this way . . .

Galatians 1:1–2 NIV - Anglicised

Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— and all the brothers with me, To the churches in Galatia:

And the point that is most interesting here is how Paul introduces himself.

Now, remember Paul already knows these people.

He was the one that actually planted their churches.

But he makes it a point to say that this letter is written by Paul an apostle.

And the point is right up front Paul establishes his authority in writing this letter.

He makes the unequivocal claim that he is, in fact an apostle.

And the term “apostle” used here is “one sent or commissioned as a representative of a church or of God Himself.”

So, they understood Paul was claiming to be one sent by and under the authority of the Church and as a representative of God Himself.

Paul says that he and his message was sent not by men or by man but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised [Jesus] from the dead.

They can in other words take what he is telling them with the same authority as if it came from Jesus Christ or God the Father themselves.

And I will add, if they were living under the power and influence of the Holy Spirit in their lives, then they would know (which I believe many of them did) that what Paul was telling them was absolutely the truth.

It is like when we hear something from someone with Biblical Authority.

Do our souls not speak to us and tell us whether what they are saying is true or not?

Now, that doesn’t mean that sometimes we don’t like what we hear, but we know in our soul what is truth and what is not.

Which is exactly the same authority that Paul is speaking to them in.

And again, Paul establishes this right out of the gate because he knows the false teaching that has been taking place.

And he also knows that many have been falling victim to it and have been led astray by it.

So, after he lays the foundation he continues with the opening remarks.

He writes . . .

Galatians 1:3–5 NIV - Anglicised

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

And there is nothing odd or out of the ordinary with this part of the introduction.

It is the standard greeting.

He is just establishing his belief in Jesus Christ, confirming hopefully that they all believe the exact same thing.

One True Gospel

And then Paul begins to get into the meat of the letter and the purpose.

Starting in verse 6, he writes . . .

Galatians 1:6 NIV - Anglicised

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—

Now, we see the Paul that we all know and love.

He spends mostly 5 verses introducing things and then gets to the nitty-gritty, and the first thing he does is call them out for their hypocrisy.

He is astonished that [they] are so quickly deserting the one who called [them] by the grace of Christ.

And in their desertion they are turning to a different gospel.

So, not only are these people abandoning Paul and the foundation that he had laid for them, they are abandoning Jesus Christ all together.

Now, let’s not get confused though.

They were not turning away from Christ to some sort of devil worship or anything.

In fact, they believed that the way they were going was a “Christian” way or a “Godly way.”

They were falling into the deceptive trap that we continue to see take place today.

There are all sorts of people out there today who will “preach a different Gospel.”

They will take different bits and pieces of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and weave it into their own form of the Gospel.

But their form will always leave something essential out.

Some will deny the virgin birth.

Others will deny the resurrection of Christ.

Others will deny the need for repentance.

Others will add things to the message (like the Jewish Legalists were doing in Paul’s day).

There are so many different perversions of the Gospel of Jesus Christ out there it is hard to pinpoint each and every one of them.

To which though Paul states . . .

Galatians 1:7 NIV - Anglicised

which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.

There is all of this confusion out there.

And the reason for the confusion is because people were there and they are now, operating under their own authority and not the authority of God.

They are establishing churches and whole religions based around self and not Christ.

They are molding and changing their teachings to attract crowds and money and could care less about what the Gospel of Jesus Christ says.

And people flock to these false teachers because they are smooth talkers and put on a good show.

People are entertained and have their consumerist mentality fed.

It is so bad today that some churches have their own “marketing” team, just like big businesses do.

And their entire role is to “sell” the church’s brand.

To attract people to their church.

And everything they do is designed around entertaining someone.

And any message about Jesus is sprinkled in just so they can maintain the “Christian” in their name.

But you will be hard pressed to find any instance where they actually preach the words of Jesus.

They invoke His name and that is about it.

And because the people have abandoned the Pauls that taught them and the Holy Spirit who informs them, they fall for it hook, line, and sinker.

But Paul unapologetically tells them . . .

Galatians 1:8–9 NIV - Anglicised

But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!

Which I think is pretty clear.

It doesn’t matter how successful or how rich the person has gotten.

It doesn’t matter if they are an angel from Heaven itself.

If they are preaching any gospel other than the Gospel of Jesus Christ let them be eternally condemned.

And it is no different today as it was then.

All of these big name TV preachers out there, be careful.

Listen to what they are actually saying and who they are actually promoting.

Are they promoting Jesus Christ or their latest self-help or prophesy book?

And let me say just a word about many of the prophesy books out there.

They are garbage.

I have read several of them.

And I have also compared them to the actual Bible.

And for the most part have ripped them to shreds because either the author did not read them and write them for themselves.

Or they have less of an understanding of the Bible than someone who just casually reads it every day.

The ones that I have read were so bad I threw them in the trash.

Didn’t even want them in the house.

And didn’t want to even give them to the Goodwill.

They went to the dump where they belong.

Be very, very careful, when someone claims to be the authority or have the answers.

You had better compare what they are saying with what the Bible actually says.

Don’t take their word for it.

In fact, don’t take my word for anything.

You read and study the Word for yourself and listen to the Holy Spirit.

And to that, Paul says this . .

Galatians 1:10 NIV - Anglicised

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.

Are we trying to please God or tickle ears?

What is our motivation?

And that doesn’t mean that me or anyone else is above making a mistake or an error.

But you can judge whether the person is a sincere Christian or not if you can bring their mistake to their attention and they can either better explain their interpretation (in a way that actually makes sense) or admit their error and correct their ways.

Because none of us are above correction.

Where you run into problems is when people refuse to listen and refuse to take correction.

That is the tell-tale sign that they are full of themselves and are out for number one and not the truth.

Be very wary of those types of people.

Paul condemns them for their lies and reveals his heart . . .

Galatians 1:11–12 NIV - Anglicised

I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.

Altar/Challenge

And Paul goes on in verses 13-24, which we will not discuss, to talk about how he came about his authority to deliver the gospel message.

He talks about how active and zealous he was in Judaism.

How he had actually persecuted Christians, until Jesus Christ Himself revealed the truth to Paul.

He talks about how he went to to Jerusalem, stood before Peter and James, confirming the work Christ had done in him.

And finally, how he had traveled, sharing the Gospel and planting Churches.

Not in Paul’s name but in the name of Jesus Christ.

And his goal is to preserve the message of Christ.

To combat the lies of the legalists and the Gnosticists among them.

Those dragging them away from Christ.

The noise of the world that we hear today.

Think about in our own lives all the things, whether they are another church or another religion, or our own self-gratification through our stuff and our activities that pull us away from God.

All of the excuses people us to avoid God and God’s teachings.

Our current pandemic is a glimpse into it.

They have already started doing studies that show anywhere from 30-40% of people who stopped coming to church during the pandemic will never return.

Hopefully that is wrong and they will either return to their church or another church.

But look around at our empty seats.

My fear is that we, like many, have been waiting around for things to “get back to normal.”

Well, things will never “get back to normal.”

This is the new normal.

And we might as well consider this church a new start or new church plant, because in a lot of ways we are going to have to start over.

And the biggest part of starting new or starting over is laying the foundation.

And that foundation is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Not our version of the Gospel but the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

And my question this morning is, are we ready for that?

Are we willing to do the work to make that happen?

Are we willing to use the tools around us to share the Gospel in new ways?

Are we willing to get out into the community and share the Gospel?

Are we willing to break out of the 4 walls and go and make disciples?

Because that is what it is going to take.

But first, are we firmly rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

Or have we drank the world’s Kool-Aid and embraced the gospel of the world?

Where are we at, today?

That’s the question and only God and us know the answer.

Let’s pray . . .