In Defense of the Gospel

Galatians 1:1–12 NASB95

Paul, an apostle (not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead), and all the brethren who are with me, To the churches of Galatia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen. I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed! For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ. For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

INTRO: Today, we begin a new series in the book of Galatians. Galatia was not so much a city as a region and was located in modern-day Turkey. The folks here were Celtic people who had fled Ireland when Rome’s empire was expanding. In other words, they were Gentiles/ Pagans. If you’ve studied Paul any, he is known as the apostle to the Gentiles, so for him to establish a church in this region is not surprising.

But there was a problem in Galatia. False teachers, known as Judaizers, had come in behind Paul and began to corrupt the lives and thinking of the Galatian Churches. The main teaching was that salvation was accomplished by both God and man working together. They insisted that the Galatians be circumcised to be saved. Then they insisted that they keep the Mosaic Law or they might lose their salvation.

ILL: This reminds me of a story of a young girl who was adopted from an orphanage. She was thrilled to be a part of a family. But when she went to school, some kids began to tell her that if she wanted to remain in that family, she would have to make better grades, she must never get in trouble, always be working to earn a place at the table. Over time, she began to feel less joy than she did at the orphanage. These kids had corrupted her thinking.

The Galatians were being sucked into a false idea that tradition was the power unto salvation.

Hearing this, Paul responds with a letter in order to set things straight. You will notice throughout this book that he does not dance around the issues nor is he ambiguous. Actually, at times, you might think he is a bit too blunt and unorthodox. Yet, we must grasp the urgency of the apostle. The Gospel message is constantly under attack and it is necessary that we correct these blunders.

This morning, my hope is that we can identify attacks upon the Gospel, and learn how to offer a defense for the hope that is in us. Let’s pick up our bibles, grab your sermon guide located in the bulletin, and let’s dive in. The message today is entitled “In Defense of the Gospel: Grasping the Good News”

Now, as we look at the opening of this letter, we should note that Paul emphasizes his mission- he is an apostle who was called out by Jesus Christ, thus he writes not as someone who might be working for another religious group, but as one who is commissioned by God. The Galatians could count on Paul’s words to be bold and even forceful as he was speaking with the authority of the One who sent him.

Paul first lays out for the Galatians

The Truth: The Gospel Equals Freedom (3-5)

Let’s read these verses again (READ)

This might seem like a mere formality or greeting, indeed Paul opens several letters with this same phrase, yet in it Paul lays out the simple truth of the Gospel.

Let’s break it down: “Grace to you...”

GRACE is unmerited favor. We cannot earn favor with God, but He extends it through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 2:8–9 NASB95

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

In the Gospel, we receive favor with God because HE took the initiative to reconcile us, not because we deserve it.

Next, he says “and peace from God...”

PEACE, as opposed to enmity. You see, as sinners, we are enemies of God; we are at war against Him through our rebellion. We don’t extend peace to God- that would be like a murderer telling the judge and his victim’s family that he forgives them for holding him accountable...

But look at this: The GRACE of God brings about PEACE because we have been set free from the penalty of our sins. The unmerited favor of God extended to those who believe releases us from the judgment that we deserve. Paul said to the Romans,

Romans 8:1 NASB95

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

The Gospel equals freedom from the penalty of sin because Christ Himself (look at v. 4) paid that price. He is our rescue. He is our salvation.

And further, we see that the Gospel equals freedom from the power of sin. (4b) Paul does not just speak of the future, but of the present. He says that Christ has rescued us from this present evil!

IOW, Satan has no claim to me. I don’t have to live in bondage or in fear because I am in Christ! I don’t have to live in anxiety as to whether or not God will take away my salvation. No, he bought me with His blood and there is a strict, no-return policy!!

All of this- GRACE and PEACE. Our FREEDOM is according to God’s desire. (4c) The truth of the Gospel is that the salvation God gives is given no begrudgingly or reluctantly, but abundantly and with great joy! His desire is for your salvation and adoption into His family.

The truth is that the Gospel equals freedom for those who believe. Next, we see

Discuss: Are you living in freedom? Is your view of the Gospel wound up in tradition or truth?

The Trap: A Distorted Gospel is a False Gospel (5-9)

The Galatians evidently were quickly drawn in by the Judaizers. Perhaps led by fear, they began to comply with the demands for their circumcision, dietary laws, etc. Paul wasted no time calling them out. Let me read these verses again for us (READ)

Paul was ‘amazed’ or taken aback at the Galatians who have suddenly decided that they could trust their own actions to bring salvation more than they could trust the finished work of Jesus Christ.

You and I should be able to see this as well: Did God somehow lose His power? Are we, His own creation able to do more to affect our holiness than God Himself? Would we really assert that God CANNOT save someone if they did not follow our rules? That is preposterous! Yet that is exactly what took place in Galatia under the teaching of the Judaizers.

What Paul is saying is that this distortion of the gospel was not another way of salvation (because there is no such thing), but instead it was BAD NEWS because it was a lie.

ILL: It’s easier than you think to fall into this though. We see it throughout history. It begins with good intentions- we want to honor God by seeking His will and His kingdom. We want to protect the integrity of Scripture and of our worship services, so we begin putting parameters on these things… but then, we forget that we are seeking God, and instead begin doing things out of habit or tradition. We then become more concerned with how we look than the reality of our heart. Before you know it, we get really good at “playing church” but truly have wondered so far away from the grace of God that we no longer have peace or freedom, but instead have enslaved ourselves to a religion instead of being surrendered to our LORD.

Paul saw the dangers here and makes a bold statement. Look down to v. 8-9. No matter who it is, if myself, Timothy, or even the archangel Michael comes preaching a different Gospel, he should be accursed. It is that important. And this is why John teaches us to ‘test the spirits’.

We can see Paul’s motivation here in v. 10. Let me give you the “Marc Reynolds translation” “Guys, do you think that I’m trying to manipulate you? Do you think that I’m more concerned by how people view me rather than God? Do you think that I came to you with a message of “easy-believe-ism” so that you would like me? I’m not in the people-pleasing business anymore- I serve Christ alone.”

As Christians, we must seek to serve God alone. Distortions and perversions of the Gospel are all around us. Some come out in legalism like we see here in our text. Others come out in liberalism, like we see Paul address in his letters to the Corinthian church. We can look around and see how dangerous these false gospels are because they steal people from truth and trap them in religion. There are hundreds of thousands of people who practice Mormanism, Islam, or who are Jehovah’s Witnesses. They have a message that distorts the Gospel of Jesus Christ and are a dangerous trap.

The Truth is that the Gospel equals freedom and the Trap is a distorted and false gospel.

Discuss: In what ways have you been tempted by a false gospel? How can we avoid the trap of both liberalism and legalism?

Finally, Paul gives us

The Test: God is the Source of the Gospel (11-12)

Paul is getting a bit wound up by the time we get to verses 11-12. Let me read those for you (READ)

Here’s what he is saying: The Gospel that I preach- the truth that it is by God’s grace and mercy that we are rescued from the power and penalty of sin through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ - This Gospel is not something that I conjured up. It’s not a fairy tale or a pipe dream. It’s not a man’s hope or dream like we see in other religions.

No, this is GOD’s invention! He came up with this plan.

So, the way that we test to see if a message is a false gospel is to check the source.

For Paul, he could say that he received the Gospel straight from Christ (12). He didn’t learn it in school or from a tradition like the Judaizers. In fact, even the Galatians were at a disadvantage because they relied on a secondary source. But Paul received it first-hand.

He goes on to explain his conversion and how it was years before he would meet Peter and others and how the Gospel he preached was the same as the ones the other apostles preached.

This gives us further understanding of the test. When the source is the same- that is, God Himself, the message is the same. Scripture tells us that God is unchanging - He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Therefore, the source and the message are stable and consistent.

That’s why you can go to Africa and China and Iran etal. and hear the same Gospel that we preach here at LRBC. We have the same source!

If left to mankind, the message changes to adapt to cultural norms and pressures. The rules and practices are arbitrary at best, and soon enough we see that these religions are very similar to, say, joining the YMCA. We can see this in many denominations in the US.

When it comes to the Gospel, we must learn how to listen and discern the true source. As Gamaliel, a well-respected Pharisee said

Acts 5:39 NASB95

but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found fighting against God.”

Discuss: How can you determine if someone has distorted the Gospel? How confident are you in the Gospel?

So, church- as we close this morning, I want to encourage you to engage in the Gospel: to really know the truth.

Have you placed your sincere trust in Jesus Christ? Have you deserted God? Turned your back on Him in pursuit of a false Gospel?

I’d like to invite you to respond to the Holy Spirit… you can do that right now. Will you bow your heads?