ANOTHER GOSPEL

August 16

Bible Reading: Galatians 1

Galatians 1:6-9, “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—not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble 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 the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.  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.”

Most of Paul’s epistles begin with some expression of praise regarding the church to which he was writing.  Not so in this letter.  Instead, Paul wrote of his astonishment regarding what was happening in the church in Galatia.  The people were abandoning the true gospel in favor of a legalistic deception  under the sway of some false teachers.  These verses introduce what continues to be the central theme of the remainder of the epistle.

Paul was concerned because of the desertion of the Galatians.  The term “deserting” translates a Greek term meaning “to move a person or thing from one place to another” (Vine’s Expository Dictionary).  Vine’s also comments that “the present tense suggests that the defection of the Galatians from the truth was not yet complete and would continue unless they changed their views” and that “the middle voice indicates that they were themselves responsible for their declension, rather than the Judaizers who had influenced them.”  The Judaizers were the legalists who were presenting a false gospel requiring circumcision and other such religious observances.  The Galatians were abandoning the true gospel for the sake of a good-news-less legalism.

There is a tragic element to what was transpiring.  The Galatian believers had been called by God out of rebellion to worship Him.  He had called them by grace.  They hadn’t deserved salvation and had done nothing to merit it, but God, who is rich in grace and mercy, freely bestowed it on them.  They had been saved by grace through faith in Christ and His finished work on the cross (Ephesians 2:8-9; 1 Peter 3:18).  By grace, they had been immeasurably blessed.  Their desertion from God in pursuit of a burdensome legalism was especially troublesome and surprising to Paul.

Their desertion came “quickly.”  The church in Galatia came into existence through the preaching of the gospel.  They had received the Spirit.  They had “begun by the Spirit” (Galatians 3:1-5).  But the legalists quickly intervened and worked to spread their lies.  Tragically, the church listened.

They were “turning to a different gospel” (Galatians 1:6).  Two different Greek terms are translated “another” in our English Bibles.  The first “allos,” speaks of something that is “another of the same sort.”  The second, “heteros,” speaks of something that is “another of a different sort.”  Both terms are used here: “a different (”heteros”) gospel—not that there is another (”allos”) one” (Galatians 1:6-7).  The gospel of grace constituted good news.  The gospel of the legalists was no good news.

The gospel of the legalists was a distorted gospel.  The term “distort” translates a Greek term meaning “to transform into something of an opposite character” (Vine’s Expository Dictionary).  The “gospel of the glory of the blessed God” is a beautiful and praiseworthy representation of who God is (1 Timothy 1:11).  The distorted and man-invented gospel of the legalists was a “Frankensteinian” monster.

The gospel of the legalists was contrary to the gospel that Paul himself had preached to them.  But the Galatians failed to exercise discernment (1 Thessalonians 5:21).  They didn’t recognize the difference when the legalists came offering their counterfeit wares.  It is sometimes said in our day, “They all preach the gospel.”  But that sentiment is both dangerous and naïve.  There are many divergent gospels out there: social gospel; Jesus-plus-works gospel; prosperity gospel; etc.  Though the true gospel is simple enough for a child to understand, it is at the same time of such transcendent profundity that one can spend a lifetime studying and admiring it.  We do well to do both!

Paul doubly warned the Galatians of their need to practice discernment, no matter the credibility of the source: “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.  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” (Galatians 1:8-9).  Paul condemned any false teacher of another gospel using the strongest possible language.  How could it be otherwise?  The glory of Christ and the salvation of souls are at stake in the matter. 

To abandon the true gospel for a contrary message is not good news!

I love to tell the story
of unseen things above,
of Jesus and his glory,
of Jesus and his love.
I love to tell the story
because I know it’s true;
it satisfies my longings
as nothing else can do.

I love to tell the story;
‘twill be my theme in glory
to tell the old, old story
of Jesus and his love.