Today, we are reading the first chapter of Galatians in the NASB. Verses 1 through 5 say:
1 Paul, an apostle (not sent from men nor through human agency, 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 the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 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, 5 to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen.
This is a letter written by Paul to the churches in Galatia. He begins by mentioning that he is an apostle, and not an apostle sent from men or through men, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father. By calling himself an apostle, I think he is stating his authority, for otherwise, why would the recipients of this letter listen to him? He’s making it clear that he has been given a role of authority and leadership, not appointed to this by people, but by God. Then he begins the letter.
Unlike other letters of Paul, this is not written to one particular church in a city, but rather to all the churches, and thereby, all the Christians in Galatia. Also, unlike other letters, Paul does not include a message of thanksgiving for them or their faith, but after his introduction launches straightaway into the purpose of his letter. He gets right to the point. He says in verses 6 and 7:
6 I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel, 7 which is not just another account; but there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.
Paul does not yet mention what this different gospel is, but back in verse 4 he includes a statement about Jesus which seems like an aside. What if he is making this statement in reference to this different gospel? Paul writes about Jesus saying, “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.” Perhaps part of the teachings of this different gospel is the idea that Jesus didn’t give Himself willingly, or that His death was not to atone for our sins?
We can’t say for sure if we read only chapter 1, but if we read all of Galatians, we get a pretty clear idea that Paul is making a case for the importance of grace. Therefore, we can deduce that this different gospel is proclaiming something other than grace.
For example, Galatians 2:21 says, “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.” Also, Galatians 5:1-10 says, “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. 2 Look! I, Paul, tell you that if you have yourselves circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you. 3 And I testify again to every man who has himself circumcised, that he is obligated to keep the whole Law. 4 You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by the Law; you have fallen from grace. 5 For we, through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love. 7 You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you. 9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough. 10 I have confidence in you in the Lord, that you will adopt no other view; but the one who is disturbing you will bear the punishment, whoever he is.”
It seems like these Christians in Galatia were deserting the true Gospel for a different gospel that proclaimed that in order to be saved, instead of grace, believers must still follow all the old laws, including the ceremonial laws, specifically circumcision. We know from reading more of the New Testament that some Jewish people who became Christians wanted all gentiles who became believers to follow all the Jewish laws. Some people felt that certain foods were still off limits. And, clearly here in this text, some people felt the laws about circumcision needed to be kept.
Paul points out to these Christians that they had started off well. They became believers and were following the truth, but now someone has stirred up trouble and has confused their theology. It seems like Paul does not know who this man is who is hindering these Christians’ faith, but Paul is not happy about it. This man has been so persuasive that he has succeeded in convincing these believers to adopt his point of view. And as Paul said in verse 9 of chapter 2, “A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough.” That means that even as a little bit of yeast will work its way all throughout a lump of dough, in the same way, a seemingly simple matter can spread all throughout a community of believers. Paul says that this man will “bear the punishment” for what he has done by spreading this false theology.
Back to chapter one, Paul wants these believers to stop following this distortion of the gospel because it has been disturbing them. The Greek word in verse 7 for disturbing, according to Strong’s Concordance, is tarassó, and it means “to stir up, to trouble.” This false other gospel has caused trouble, and he goes on to say emphatically in verses 8 and 9, “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! 9 As we have said before, even now I say again: if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!”
The word accursed, according to Strong’s Concordance, is the Greek word anathema, and it means “that which is laid up, i.e. a votive offering.” Another way to say it is, ‘something pledged for destruction.’ Paul says those who are preaching a gospel contrary to God’s word should be anathema to the Church. That is a strong statement. But certainly, someone who is spreading a false gospel should not be accepted by the Church, and as far as cursing them, neither Paul nor we have to do that, for if they are not following the Gospel of Jesus Christ then they are already cursed for they are not saved.
Even more specifically in this instance, that word anathema is fitting for as Paul explains in Galatians 3:10-14, “For all who are of works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all the things written in the book of the Law, to do them.’ 11 Now, that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, ‘the righteous one will live by faith.’ 12 However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, ‘The person who performs them will live by them.’ 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’— 14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”
When Jesus died on the cross for our sins, becoming the sacrificial lamb offered as a sacrifice for us, He broke the curse of sin. If someone does not believe in Jesus Christ, and does not receive His grace and forgiveness, then that person is still under the curse of sin. As Paul stated, “he is to be accursed” already. Why would these Galatian Christians want to believe in a theology that says we must keep the old Mosaic Law in order to be saved when Jesus has fulfilled the law for us?
It might seem preposterous to us today that this was even an argument, but at Paul’s time, this was dividing everyone. And if you wanted to be popular, then apparently you would side with the Jewish leaders who were saying that Gentiles were not welcome unless they became like Jews in following the Mosaic Law. I guess that side was more popular, for Paul says in verse 10:
“10 For am I now seeking the favor of people, or of God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.”
Last week, we read Psalm 5 and David prayed for God’s favor to go before him as with a shield. If we have God’s favor, we do not need other people’s favor. He may cause other people to give us favor, but if we don’t receive it, we can have confidence knowing we have God’s approval. Paul knew this to be true, too. He is not afraid of offending anybody or losing favor with people. He knows that he was called by the Lord to be an Apostle and his authority comes from God. He stands under that favor and that is all he needs in order to go forward and speak the truth. He is so confident that God is with him that he continues by saying, in verses 11 and 12:
“11 For I would have you know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel which was preached by me is not of human invention. 12 For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.”
This is why he is confident. He is not counting on his own wisdom or ideas; he is relying on the gospel given to him by Jesus.
Paul then gives his testimony. He says in verses 13 through 24:
“13 For you have heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it; 14 and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions. 15 But when He who had set me apart even from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace was pleased 16 to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood, 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus.
18 Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas, and stayed with him for fifteen days. 19 But I did not see another one of the apostles except James, the Lord’s brother. 20 (Now in what I am writing to you, I assure you before God that I am not lying.) 21 Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22 I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea which are in Christ; 23 but they only kept hearing, ‘The man who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy.’ 24 And they were glorifying God because of me.”
I can’t help but think if Paul was going to write a letter to the Christians in America today, he would say much the same things as he does in this chapter. He would say that he’s amazed, meaning he’s shocked, that so many Christians have deserted the grace of Christ for a different gospel. And it’s not just another way of interpreting scripture or denominational differences, but a total distortion of the gospel of Christ. This has happened to so many people who claim to follow Christianity.
It’s not just a matter of picking up a different style of Christianity. It’s not deciding to be a different denomination. Verse 6 says it very directly when Paul writes, “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel.” The Christians in Galatia were deserting Jesus because they were abandoning grace for works. And truly, so many versions of Christianity today operate without mention of Jesus dying on the cross. They have completely deserted Jesus for a different gospel.
When we read or listen to a teaching from whomever it might be: a pastor, a theologian, a bible study leader, your Christian friend, a random blog on the internet, we always should evaluate the teaching or advice through a careful lens. The lens should be this: is this gospel message pointing us to the cross? Is this teaching about Christianity lining up with Jesus’ purpose in dying on the cross?
To be the Gospel of Jesus, a message must include grace and the cross, not just rules. If a message is solely about rules, it's legalistic and not a genuine Gospel message. If you're told that believing is enough and your actions don't matter, it's not the Gospel of Jesus. It's antinomianism. Which is simply a word that means lawless.
Sin and legalism are two different things. The same way freedom and lawlessness are two different things. In modern Christianity, a lot of people seem to have confused those things and melded them together. When Paul speaks of freedom to not be circumcised or Peter speaks of freedom to eat all foods, they are speaking of those specific things. We should not view circumcision and food as placeholders for the word sin. Too often people switch out circumcision or food for any other thing and say that Paul and Peter are declaring that nothing is off limits for Christians. That is not true. Sin is off limits. Circumcision and eating food are not immoral activities. Just because we have freedom in Christ from the old ceremonial or Mosaic law, we have not been given a license to commit immorality. We have only been given the freedom to either be circumcised or not, eat all foods or not, or at the widest application, follow or not the other ceremonial laws of the Old Testament. It is not permission to commit sin. In an effort to apply God’s word to our modern times, people have really messed up the application of these verses.
The only way to be saved is through God’s grace given to us by faith. Our good works do not add to that nor save us. Yet as Paul explains a little further on, God’s grace, which is forgiveness of sins and freedom from having to follow the laws such as circumcision, does not give us a license to sin. He says in Galatians 5:21 about those who practice immorality and live by the flesh, “those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” In other words, we have freedom from sin, not freedom to sin.
Legalism is bad because it says you must keep these rules and not sin in order to be saved. Antinomianism is bad because it says you don’t need to keep any rules nor worry about sin in order to be saved. They are equally incorrect. Like Paul explains at the end of his letter in Galatians 6:8, “For the one who sows to his own flesh will reap destruction from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit.” Once we become children of God, we are given freedom; freedom not to sin. Why would we want to be enslaved again to sin? The path of sin always leads to destruction.
In our modern world, we are bombarded every day with different gospels. These false gospels cause trouble and lead people astray, away from Jesus Christ. We must be careful that we are not falling into the same trap that the Christians in Galatia fell into. Popular thought has constructed new gospels that tell us sin is okay, everything is relative, feelings matter more than truth, there are no absolutes and God’s word is merely an analogous story. None of these false gospels are the true gospel of Jesus Christ, for none of them proclaim the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Let us not be deceived. Let us cling to the cross. Let us echo what Paul said in Galatians 6:14-16 which says, “But far be it from me to boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. 16 And all who will follow this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.”
The reason circumcision is not “anything” is because that is not what really matters. What matters is that through the cross of Jesus Christ we have been given grace and made a new creation. This is the “rule” that matters. As 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 explains:
16 Therefore from now on we recognize no one by the flesh; even though we have known Christ by the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. 17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their wrongdoings against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
The unalterable, unchanging, solid rule is this: It is only through the grace of Jesus that we are saved. It is exactly as Paul started his letter to the Galatians. Let us read it again: Jesus 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.
Praise be to Jesus, the giver of grace. Let us pray for the Holy Spirit to help us follow Him, holding to this Gospel of grace, not being troubled by other false gospels. Let us hold fast to the gospel we have, and not exchange it for another. And let us lay off sin so we do not become enslaved again, but rather live as the new creations in Christ that He has made us to be.
Pray: Lord Jesus, we thank You for giving Yourself for our sins. Thank You for rescuing us from the bondage of sin. We pray that by Your Holy Spirit You would help us to follow You. Help us to hold on to Your Gospel of grace. Please give us wisdom to discern false gospels and reject them. In Your name we pray, amen.
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