Galatians: The Purity of the Gospel

Galatians 1:1–5 ESV

1 Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 2 and all the brothers who are with me, To the churches of Galatia: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Introduction:

On November 15, 1903 a young Italian imagrant stepped off the gangplank of the SS Vancouver in Boston Harbor with only a couple of dollars in his pocket—the result, he said, of being taken in by a cardsharp during the transatlantic crossing. "I landed in this country with $2.50 in cash and $1 million in hopes, and those hopes never left me,"

scheme based on what’s called an international postal reply coupon (IRC), according to Smithsonian Magazine. When a person received a letter from overseas, they also received an IRC that they could redeem to send a reply. Ponzi zeroed in on the idea of buying IRCs in one country and exchanging them in a different country, where the value was higher.Using his IRC plan, Ponzi lured investors into what would become the classic Ponzi scheme. Instead of using investors’ money to turn profits with IRCs, Ponzi merely moved their cash around from new investors to existing ones in order to keep up with fantastic promises of 50 percent returns in 45 days.He managed to maintain the facade until August 1920, when he was arrested. Ponzi was convicted on federal and state charges of fraud and scammed investors out of an estimated $7 million, reported The Telegraph. However, some sources estimated investors’

Although the details may vary, all flimflam games rely on their basic ability to make a lie look like the truth.

Commission

When Paul speaks in Galatians God speaks.

This is not simply a letter from Paul but the Word of God.

I can trust it.

But I:

I can’t dismiss it.

I must love it.

I must never leave it.

Corruption

Galatians 1:6 ESV

6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—

Astonished means to be extraordinarily impressed. It is a word often associated with the peoples’ response to supernatural work of Jesus.

Matthew 8:27 ESV

27 And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”

The greatest danger we face is moving away from the gospel.

When you modify the gospel you destroy it.

gal 1:6-10

Galatians 1:6–10 ESV

6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. 10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

The word in verse seven is “distort”.

It has this idea of “altering” or “changing”.

We modify the gospel?

We alter the gospel by requiring more than Christ’s finished work.

Conclusion

Galatians 1:10 ESV

10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Faithfulness to the gospel is costly.

Faithlessness to the gospel will be costly.