How Quickly You Have Turned

notes

Galatians 1:6–10 (NKJV)

6 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel,

7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.

8 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.

9 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.

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.

Turning away = To change from, abandon, to abandon one’s loyalty to. “The word was also used of desertion or revolt, frequently of a change in religion, philosophy, or morals. The present tense indicates that when Paul wrote, the defection of the Galatians was yet only in progress. Had he used the perfect tense, that would have indicated that the Galatians had actually and finally turned against grace and had come to a settled attitude in the matter.” Wuest, K. S. (1997).

Different = Another kind.

Accursed = “The word accursed is from anathema (ἀναθεμα). It is a word used in the LXX, of a person or thing set apart and devoted to destruction, because hateful to God. Hence in a spiritual sense it denotes one who is alienated from God by sin. It cannot refer here to ecclesiastical excommunication, for angels are included. The epistles of Paul attach to the word the idea of spiritual death. Its use in Romans 9:3 where Paul says that he could wish himself accursed from Christ for his brethren’s sake, associates it with the further idea of separation from Christ and destruction for all eternity, which is the fate of the unsaved. The word does not, like excommunication, pronounce a judicial sentence on particular convicted offenders, but solemnly affirms general laws of the spiritual kingdom. In I Corinthians 16:22, those who love not the Lord Jesus are declared to be outcasts from the Faith.” Wuest, K. S. (1997).

persuade = “to win over, to conciliate and render friendly to one’s self.” Wuest, K. S. (1997).

“For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.”

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter One: Bad News about the Good News (Galatians 1:1–10)

Paul was not a politician; he was an ambassador. His task was not to “play politics” but to proclaim a message. These Judaizers, on the other hand, were cowardly compromisers who mixed Law and grace, hoping to please both Jews and Gentiles, but never asking whether or not they were pleasing God.

Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians & Colossians B. The Distortion of the Gospel of Grace Condemned (vv. 6–10)

Paul’s critics accused him of preaching “easy believism” because he did not include the law as grounds for salvation and Christian maturity. They claimed Paul watered down the gospel, by omitting the law, to increase his popularity among the Gentiles. Through two rhetorical questions, Paul adamantly denies the charge and states clearly that his motive is to please only God. He was concerned with preserving truth not increasing his approval ratings. To please people is to desert Christ. You must choose: serve people’s fickle pleasures or serve the faithful Christ.

If all you are trying to do is please people by being someone they want you to be then they are your masters.

To be in Christ means to be in a relationship with Him that places no emphasis on you being anything to anyone other than you being an abassador of Christ.

Sermon Outline

What kind of message am I proclaiming?

The gospel is not about how one church denomination is better than another.

The gospel is not people who are connected look and sound the same.

The gospel is not God calling the righteous to salvation.

The gospel is about how God, who created man, sent forth His Son into the world to pay for their sin so that they could have His life eternally.

The gospel is a message about faith in Christ not obedience to any laws.

The gospel is the good news of salvation to anyone who believes by faith.

We know this to be true. Yet how many of us are spending their days doing church in such a way as to be pleasing to certain crowds we want to hang with?

We need to start asking some important questions of ourselves regarding which gospel are we holding ourselves accountable to?

In this letter, Paul is addressing the believers who had allowed an alternate gospel almost convince them to turn away from the true gospel.

Why was this necessary from Paul?

Because the end result would be a whole lot of religious converted people who have not truly believed by Faith in Jesus Christ and would ultimately lead them to Hell.

There is no indication that the church was too far caught up in this hypocrasy that there was no way of escape.

What it did mean, however, was they firstly needed to be aware of any other gospel that would get in the way of the true gospel.

Secondly, they would need to adjust and go back to what the true meaning of the gospel was.

Its these two things that I believe as the church (body of Christ), that we need to search within and ask the same questions of ourselves.

Have we compromised the gospel in anyway by making it about anything other than faith in Christ alone?

Have we seccombe to the pressure to preach something other than faith in Christ?

Two things we need to be aware of when it comes to the proclomation of the gospel.

You were called in the grace of Christ. (6)

There is no other gospel to preach than the gospel of Christ. (7)

Do not recieve any other gospel. (8-9)

You do not have to please any man’s rules to be apart of the kingdom of God. (10)