Deserting God for a Different Gospel

Transcript

GR 1137
11/15/98
Deserting God for a Different Gospel
Galatians 1:6-7
Gil Rugh

We’re in the book of Galatians together, Paul’s letter to the Galatians. The apostle Paul wrote 13 of the New Testament letters. We usually call them Epistles and that’s what an Epistle is, a letter, and 13 of the New Testament letters were written by the apostle Paul. He was the human instrument God used to pen His word. I did not include the letter to the Hebrews in that. Some believe that Paul was the author of the letter to the Hebrews, some do not. But he wrote 13 letters not including the letter to the Hebrews. As you might expect there is overlap in some of his letters. There is overlap in all of the scripture because God is the author of it all and He selected human instruments to record what He wanted said and He used those instruments with their personality to communicate His truth exactly as He wanted it communicated.

Now in some of Paul’s letters there is more overlap than in others. For example, we recently studied the book of Colossians together and in Paul’s letter to the Colossians and Paul’s letter to the Ephesians are very similar in contents. Many of the same things are covered in very similar ways in those two letters. The letter to the Galatians is very similar in content to the letter to the Romans. Now obviously Galatians is much shorter. I had a professor in bible college who would refer to Galatians as a rough outline of the book of Romans. And in reality the content of Galatians is very similar and much more condensed form to what is covered in the book of Romans, particularly the first eight chapters of Romans and Chapters 2,3 and 4 of Galatians we’ll cover much of the same material. And part of the reason is Paul is dealing with issues relating to the Judaizers and their teaching of trying to mix God’s grace in Christ with obedience to the Mosaic Law and so that issue is dealt with in both letters.

Now one major difference in all the similarity is the letter to the Galatians is much more passionate in its style. It is written in the context of controversy and battle, whereas the letter to the Romans is written as a more reasoned teaching book or letter. Now that doesn’t mean that Paul has said anything wrong or intemperate in the book of Galatians. It simply means that the occasion of the writing necessitated a different style. And in God’s plan it was that He would use the emotion and passion of the time to address the issues to the Galatians and then with the letter to the Romans He would put Paul in a more sedate kind of setting, where they would be more reasoned and thought out as a teaching setting.

The Galatians are under the pressure of false teaching and are in danger of abandoning the God who called them. That means He has to deal firmly with them. But even as we talk about the letter to the Galatians being a harsh letter, a severe letter, we ought not to lose sight of the fact God does use Paul as an instrument to write it and Paul demonstrates warmth and love in addressing them. Several times through the letter he refers to them as brethren. The letter would indicate that Paul had a confidence that they had truly trusted Christ and he considers them fellow believers, fellow members of the family of God and thus he has a deep love for them.

Look at these references in the book of Galatians with me, Chapter 1, verse 11. For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel was preached by me. And just that form of address, even in the context of dealing with something harshly and severely, is a reminder of his love and concern for them. Chapter 3, verse 15, Chapter 3 opens up with him addressing them, You foolish Galatians, you unthinking Galatians. Yet though in Chapter 3, verse 15 he says, Brethren, I speak in terms of human relationships, addressing you as brethren. Chapter 4, verse 12, I beg of you, brethren, become as I am. Verse 28, And you, brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise. So again something of his confidence in them as God’s people and God’s children is demonstrated. In Chapter 5, verse 11, But I, brethren, again that warmth of expression. Chapter 6, verse 1, brethren, if anyone is caught in any trespass. And then the letter closes in verse 18 of Chapter 6, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brethren. Amen. In Chapter 4, verses 19 and 20 he addresses them as his children, 4:19, My children. Again there is warmth here. I’m dealing harshly, sternly, but I love you as my children. I love you as my brother in Christ. My children with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you. I’m going through the birth process here and the pain and agony with you. I desire for Christ to be formed in you. I wish I could be present with you now and to change my tone, for I am perplexed. Paul has been unsettled by the circumstances at Galatia. We’ll see that as we move into our section for our study today.

But even though there is that warmth, that family concern for them, the letter is characterized by a stern and severe tongue and that permeates the Epistle. He does not address them as the saints in Christ or the faithful brethren. He does not give them any commendation or express any gratitude for God’s work in their lives. You know, if we would compare Galatians to the letters to the Corinthians, Paul has to deal with some severe issues in the letters to the Corinthians and he deals very sternly with those issues. But in the letter to the Corinthians there is the expression of gratitude and appreciation for the Corinthians, an acknowledgment of God’s work in their midst and so on. That kind of flavor is lacking in the letter to the Galatians. Paul is really concerned for them. Think of it may be like you would some kind of emergency. You’re walking down the street and you see your little child starting to get in a car with a stranger. For me, it would be my grandkids. Well you don’t say, now, you know, I want to be calm about this, just continue walking, when you get there speak calmly. No, why? It’s an emergency. You start hollering and running. I mean it deserves that kind of attention and response.

Well for the apostle Paul there is no emergency so great, no situation so serious as the corruption or alteration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. So you appreciate the tone and flavor of the letter when you put it in that context. Part of the reason that so much of the church has a hard time appreciating the severity of the letter like to the Galatians is we have lost our sense of the importance of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and what a sad situation that is. So we do not have the sense of urgency associated with protecting and defending the truth of Christ as presented in His word.

Go back to Galatians, Chapter 1. There are three major divisions in the letter to the Galatians and with that you have an introduction to the letter and you have a conclusion to the letter. Just rounding off the chapters, the first two chapters are personal. Paul gives a personal defense. Chapters 3 and 4 are polemical. Paul deals with the doctrinal challenge to the gospel and Chapters 5 and 6 are practical. Paul expresses his practical concerns for the walk of the Galatians. The first five verses of Chapter 1 are the introduction. In Chapters 6, verses 11-18 are the conclusions to the letter. So you have three major divisions to the letter and it has an introduction and a conclusion. Now obviously the personal, polemical and practical will be woven through the letter, but as we move through it I think you’ll see the dominant emphasis coming out in each of these sections.

In the first five verses Paul is giving the introduction to the letter and there he has dealt with the two major issues that will permeate the Epistle, the fact of his apostleship, and he has declared in verse 1 that he is an apostle, not sent from men or by men, but sent through Jesus Christ, by the appointment of God the Father. And in verse 4 he has dealt with the second major issue and that is the substance of the gospel that he preached, that he receives from God and that is that Christ gave Himself for our sins, that He might rescue us from this present evil age. Now with that rather brief introduction to the letter, he very abruptly launches into the substance of his concern, and it is an abrupt transition. If you read Paul’s other letters you’ll find about after verse 5, as we have the flow here, Paul’s expression of appreciation and gratitude and so on regarding those believers he’s writing to.

But verse 6 comes very abruptly. I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ for a different gospel. It’s almost like a slap in the face to wake up to Galatians and Paul expresses it very strongly and you’re going to find me expressing again and again as we go through this letter the sternness or severity of Paul’s language. And it is a stern letter, it’s harsh, and he begins right away. He moved to the body of the letter and in verse 6 he says, I’m shocked, I’m astonished at what you’re doing. It’s like I really can’t believe what you’re doing. In Chapter 3, verse 1 he’ll say who has bewitched you. You know I am so dumbfounded by what you’re doing here that, you know, it’s hard for me to understand it. It’s like somebody has put you under a spell. So right away you are grappling with the issue.

The word translated amazed here, and amazed is a good translation, but it denotes surprise or wonder or shock at something totally unexpected and Paul is, if you will, blindsided here, in such a way that it’s hard for him to understand what’s happening. So you can translate that in a way we would say it today is I’m shocked or I am in shock over what’s taken place here. And what the amazement or shock is over, I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you, so quickly deserting Him. That expression so quickly, it might refer to so soon after their salvation, and that’s relative, but I don’t think that’s the prime focus here, because we could be dealing with, you know, rather extensive period of years here. I think what he’s talking about is how quick this process has taken place. The Judaizers have come in and spread their teaching and you are very quickly responding to their false gospel. You know, it’s good for us to be reminded. It seems like you labor and toil into presenting of the truth. Paul had been the human instrument and he had come to the region of Galatia. He had preached the gospel. He had revisited this region on his second missionary journey. He had visited it on his third missionary journey. He had built part of his life into these people. He had taught them the truth, did what he could as an apostle that ground them in the truth and that takes place over time. It could have been 10 years since these churches were established, 12 years. But now very quickly they are abandoning the truth, turning away from God and going after a false gospel. And we are reminded it takes a long time to build truth into people, but very quickly people can be moved away from truth and follow after error.

One writer put it this way, many evangelists of later generations have been similarly astonished and distressed to see how quickly, how readily converts relax their hold of their gospel which they seem to have so firmly embraced. And that happens down to today, where it seems like a person has been growing and maturing and walking with the Lord and false doctrine come along. You scratch your head and say I can’t believe what’s happening. You know, I’m shocked. I would have never expected that. That’s Paul’s reaction here. The language continues to be very strong. The word translated desert, you so quickly deserting him is a strong word and our translation of the word deserting gives the idea. It’s used of turning away, of transferring your allegiance and it’s used in a military context of what we would know of as desertion. It was used of those who transferred their allegiance politically, or to a different philosophy of life. But undergirding the word is the idea of transferring your allegiance from one to another. And I am amazed how quickly you are deserting him, transferring your allegiance from God to others.

I want you to note two things about this word deserting. It’s a verb in the present tense. So Paul is writing that they are in a process here. He doesn’t say so quickly deserted him as though it was done, but he sees them in the process on a road that if they continue, will end up in transferring their allegiance from God to others. So important, he doesn’t say they have deserted God but they are in the process, they are in a dangerous position. That explains the urgency of the letter. Secondly it’s what we call the middle voice. You have active, middle and passive voices. The middle voice refers to something you are doing to or for yourself, and that indicates the responsibility that the Galatians bear for what is taking place here. They cannot transfer the responsibility to the Judaizing teachers, although Paul will deal with them and they bear responsibility, but the Galatians cannot shift their responsibility for their actions. They themselves are deserting God. This is their own actions for which they are accountable. That is distressing but it is comforting. It is never necessary, it is never excusable for a child of God to be deluded and deceived by false doctrine. Now the teachers of false doctrine will bear their responsibility, but I need to remember that there is no excuse for me being deluded and deceived and when I am it’s because I was foolish, I was ignorant, I chose not to carefully examine what was being taught in light of the truth of God’s word, and thus I am accountable before God for my own desertion or being deceived.

I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you. And you have a theological issue that is raised here when you use the word called, Him who called you, and the reference to God the Father, because it’s Him who called you by the grace of Christ. So He is distinguished from Christ here. And the one who has taken the divine initiative, if you will, in our salvation is the sovereign God, and that divine initiative in salvation is emphasized in the use of this word called. So the word called when used of God in His salvation is referring to His sovereign effectual call to salvation of the elect. We call it the effectual call, because it is a call that is always effective. It always results in the salvation of the one who is called. It’s a word that is used repeatedly by Paul in his letters to refer to God taking the initiative in bringing people to faith in Christ. This becomes very important. We’re talking about the gospel and what happens if we are not typed, if you will, careful on the details of the gospel and have them correct, we will begin to drift and false teaching will make inroads.

This is one of those areas that would result in some of the problems the church grapples with. That we understood God takes the initiative in salvation. That deals with trying to make adjustments so that people who are desperately seeking God, who are trying to find Him, who are. . . and on we go and wait a minute, there are no such people, because salvation is by divine initiative. It is God who calls people and any human demonstration of a desire for God or a response or a pursuit is a result of God’s initiative in pulling them to Himself by His call.

Turn back to Romans, Chapter 8. The difference in this is between a man centered theology and a God centered theology. We don’t have time to do a study of God’s sovereignty in salvation or even a study of all the uses of the word called, I believe it’s some 13 or 15. I have them written down here but I don’t want to take the time to count them again, I didn’t write the total down. Thirteen or 15 times God uses the word called to refer to God’s work in taking the initiative in bringing us to faith in Christ. Romans, Chapter 8, verse 29, for those who He foreknew, and the word foreknowledge refers to God placing His favor upon some, God’s work of election, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son. Verse 30, and these whom He predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son He also called, there’s our word, and whom He called, He also justified and whom He justified He glorified. So in eternity past God foreknew. He placed His love and favor upon those that He chose and He predestined that they would be conformed to the character of His Son, Jesus Christ. And so in time He called them to Himself, and as a result of that call they are brought to faith in Christ and thus justified at a point in time in the future they will be glorified. And so you see that salvation is God’s work from before the creation till the climax of creation and glorification. And the call of God is the experiencing of that sovereign choice of God in our lives as He brings us to Christ. That work He does in our heart, that work He does in your heart as you come and hear the truth, as you realize you indeed are a sinner, as you realize that Jesus Christ indeed is the Savior and you come to that point by the grace of God to realize your hopelessness, your lost-ness and you turn from your sin and place your faith in the Savior and you are saved. That is the call of God in your life.

In Chapter 9 of Romans, verse 11, here you have two individuals, Esau and Jacob, twins, for though the twins were not yet born, and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice, literally according to election, might stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls. This gets to the heart of the issue with the Galatians you see. If you understand that salvation is a result of the call of God, you realize it cannot include human works. So that God’s purpose according to election, not because of works, but because of Him who calls.

Turn over to II Timothy, pass the book of Galatians, thumb through some of those smaller Epistles to II Timothy, Chapter 1, verse 9. He’s referring to his suffering for the gospel according to the power of God. So again, the gospel is the issue in this context. Verse 9, who saved us and called us, there’s our word again, with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to His own purpose and grace, which was granted us in Christ Jesus before all eternity. Now keep these facts in mind, the holy calling and not according to our works, but according to His grace in Christ Jesus. They’re all going to come up in Galatians, Chapter 1, verses 6 and 7. So Paul’s use of this expression, the deserting on Him who called you by the grace of Christ is very deliberate, because that’s a reminder that salvation is by divine initiative, not by human works. And so those who want to bring works into the salvation are corrupting the grace of God and denying that it is by His divine initiative, and thus His sovereign work.

Come back to Galatians. Paul uses this word called of Himself in Chapter 1 of Galatians, verse 15. But when God who had set me apart even from my mother’s womb, and called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me and so on. You note that from the time Paul was born he had been set apart by God, because God had chosen him before the creation of the world. But He called me through His grace. The call of God always comes through the grace that is manifested in Christ. We’ll see that in a moment. There is no salvation apart from the grace of God manifested in Christ. There is no salvation grace apart from the finished work of Christ. So you see these Galatians need to give careful considerations to the details of the gospel. If they did they would realize the corruption that is taking place in the teaching of the Judaizers. Paul also refers to the Galatians as those who have been called in Chapter 5, verse 8. He says in verse 7, you were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth? You were growing, you were maturing, you were doing well. What happened? This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you.

Down in verse 13, for you were called to freedom brethren. And his reference to them as those who have been called by God is another indication that he really believes in his heart they are saved. But he is concerned. You know it’s like where you see someone that you have been involved with who has trusted Christ and has been growing and maturing, but now they have come under the influence of false teaching and they are moving away from the purity of the gospel. In talking with them you might say I really know you trusted Christ, but I do have some concern. What is the concern? Well, if this process of desertion continues it will become evident that they really never had believed. For Paul can’t truly see into the heart any more than you or I can. Note what he says in Chapter 4, verse 11. I fear for you that perhaps I have labored over you in vain. I have often been asked by people who have been reading the book of Galatians, do you think the Galatians were really saved? Well, I have to say Paul seems to indicate he really believes they’re saved, but there is room for concern or question, because of their move in following false teaching.

Turn over to Hebrews, Chapter 10 if you would, moving further back in your New Testament to the book of Hebrews. Again you know the problem faced by the writer to the Hebrews is the same we’re dealing with in Galatians, those who wanted to corrupt the truth concerning Christ and His sufficiency by bringing in Judaism. We just have time to look at the end of Chapter 10, verse 38. Quoting from the Old Testament, the book of Habakkuk, Chapter 2, But my righteous one shall live by faith. We must understand that the issues we’re talking about deal both with justification, your initial salvation, and sanctification, the process of growth and development as God’s child. And my righteous one shall live by faith. That not only is initial justification but the whole process of our life now in Christ. And if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him. That’s Paul’s concern for the Galatians. They are turning back from Christ, from God. Verse 39, But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.

For example, if I had shared the gospel with someone who had been involved in Roman Catholicism and they professed to believe in Jesus Christ and they’re growing and maturing in the study of the word, but over time with the pressure from family and materials they’re reading they come to the point they’re telling me I’m contemplating a return to Catholicism. One side I would say you can’t do that, because they teach a different gospel. That would be abandoning God who called you. But at the same time I would say to them I have a concern for you, whether you have really understood and believed the gospel and been saved by the grace of God. For the very fact you were considering such a move puzzles me, astonishes me, shocks me and makes me wonder if you’ve really understood the gospel of grace. That’s the situation that we’re dealing with, with the Galatians.

Come back to Galatians, Chapter 1. Now you note here this is a personal matter. In verse 6, I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ. He does not say I’m amazed that you’re following some different teaching. I’m amazed that you are going after some other teachers. It’s much more serious. I am shocked that you are deserting God, for He is the one who called you. You are turning away from the one who called you. That’s a literal translation. You have a prepositional phrase, from the one who called you here. You are deserting away from the one who called you. Understand the seriousness of the issue, to turn away from the gospel of God’s grace in Christ is to turn away from God himself. There are no alternatives. There are no other ways. There are no other opportunities. You are abandoning Christ. You are abandoning God when you abandon the gospel. You are deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ. By the grace of Christ indicates that the call of God in salvation always takes place in the context of His grace as demonstrated in Christ. Grace is that which undeserved or unmerited. We are sinners under condemnation and on our way to an eternal hell. We are the enemies of God, separated from Him. God in grace intervened and had His Son, Jesus Christ die on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin.

Now the call of God to salvation always takes place in the context of His grace as manifested in what He accomplished in Jesus Christ. That’s crucial to the issue here. We’re talking about grace. Well, Romans 11:6 Paul said, if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace. You see what happens, the churches are confused because they’re not being careful about the gospel. Now people who don’t appreciate the importance of the details of the gospel think you’re nitpicking, think you’re making issues out of little things, think you’re being unkind and unloving, but the Spirit of God has spoken. I mean the Judaizers didn’t deny the deity of Christ, they didn’t deny His death on the cross, they didn’t deny His resurrection from the dead, but they did say, according to Acts 15:1, they must be circumcised in addition to be saved.

Is this really of that great a moment? I mean, you know, we’ve got Roman emperors declaring themselves God, we’ve got all kinds of pagan cults and mystery religions and you want me to draw a fine line between those who believe everything I believe about Christ and all they want to say is you also have to add portions of the law which was given by God anyway. Can there be any problem with that? I mean, let’s not be splitting hairs in a day when people are going to hell. That’s the way we talk about it today, is it not? But isn’t it interesting under the direction of the Spirit of God the most severe letter we have is about splitting such hairs, and in fact when you split this hair, the issues of time and eternity are what are at stake. This is a pretty big hair being split. I mean we’re talking about abandoning God. I mean don’t say I’m nitpicking and splitting hairs as though it was not important.

He called you by the grace of Christ. In Acts 15:11 Peter, on his sermon at the Jerusalem conference which was dealing with the issues of the relationship of the Mosaic law to the gospel of grace in Christ, Peter said, but we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus in the same way as those Gentiles are. In other words, salvation is by God’s grace. The Mosaic Law and the observance of the law is not necessary and not part of God’s plan for salvation. We’re talking about being called by the grace of Christ, God’s grace as manifested in Christ. In other words, everything necessary for salvation which includes justification, which includes sanctification is included in this work of God’s grace in salvation. You’re deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ for a different gospel, which is not really another one. In our translation, I’m using the New American Standard Bible has helped greatly because the King James Bible translated it for another gospel, which is not really another, and we use the same English word to translate two different Greek words. The word translated different at the end of verse 6 is the Greek word heteros and we bring it over into certain English words to make a compound word, put Hetero on the front. It means different. Someone is a homosexual, homo, meaning of the same. They are, you know, involved with the same sex. Heterosexual is those involved with a sex of a different kind. So that’s the word we have here. What he says is you are abandoning God because when you abandon the gospel of grace in Christ, you abandon God for a different gospel. And this word carries the idea it’s of a different kind. It is a gospel of a different kind. In verse 7, which is really not another, Greek word allos. It means another from the same kind. So it would be, you know this is not a variation of my gospel is what Paul says. It’s not another like mine. It’s one of a different kind.

Now keep this in mind. The Judaizers evidently believed that Jesus was the Son of God, He was the Messiah of Israel, He had died on the cross, He had been raised from the dead.

We’ve come today in the evangelical church, if I can use that broad term, to say well, as long as people believe that, that’s what we focus on. We can deal with the other disagreements. No we can’t, because unless you believe that it is that and that alone which brings salvation, you do not believe in the gospel of grace. It is not enough to say, look, we have these things in common with the Judaizers. If they want to believe in the necessity of the law, if they want to add circumcision, fine. At least they believe the facts of the gospel, the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, the Son of God, the Messiah of Israel. Well, the Spirit of God has made clear that we ought not to be entering in to such foolish discussions and that is Paul’s terminology because in Galatians, Chapter 3, verse 1 he calls them foolish Galatians, unthinking Galatians.

That was true of the Galatians. What about us, 2,000 years later with the completed scripture in our hand to read and study, still using and falling for such unbiblical arguments. A different gospel, one of a different kind, which is not a variation of Paul’s gospel. Only there are some who are disturbing you and disturbing is another strong word, means literally to shake together, to stir up. It’s used figuratively to mean to disturb something, to unsettle, to throw into confusion. It was used in a literal way of agitating or stirring up the water. You know, like if you have water in the tub you can stir it up and throw into turmoil, you say, boy, I really got the waters churning. It would be the same words you’d use here. You got them disturbed. Or an ocean in a major storm, you’d say, look at the waters, they’re so disturbed. Well, yea, there’s a turmoil about them. Well, it’s used to portray that what is going on. You see the condition in the Galatians now. They’re in a state of turmoil. They’ve been thrown into confusion and as a result of this confusion there is division and conflict in the church.

Over in Chapter 5, verse 15, but if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another. You know what false doctrine does? It infiltrates among the churches, then it divides in the church and then you have conflict and division and battle. How does that happen? What always happens, when we don’t hold to the purity of the truth of God’s word? Now keep in mind, I keep reminding you, that Acts, Chapter 15, verse 1 we are told that the difference the Judaizers brought was they said you also have to circumcise them to be saved. That simple addition will put them under the curse of God, eternal damnation, as we’ll see in our next study together. This is serious, serious business.

Paul goes on to say, there are some disturbing you, unsettling you, thrown you into confusion and turmoil. They want to distort the gospel of Christ. Here we are, another strong word, distort. It means to change the gospel of Christ into something else. It denotes a radical change, this word distort. You’re changing something into something else. John R. W. Stout, the Anglican, Evangelical who wrote on this passage, “Indeed the church’s greatest trouble makers now, as then, are not those outside who oppose, ridicule and persecute, but those inside who try to change the gospel. It is they who trouble the church.” The gospel is about God’s grace as manifested in Jesus Christ, and the total sufficiency of God’s work in Jesus Christ for justification and sanctification. It is God’s plan for making fallen humanity all that God intends them to be. Now anything that says otherwise is an attack of the gospel, is a departure and a desertion from the one who called you by the grace of Christ. We must have this firmly fixed in our mind. The Evangelical Church, and I use that to refer to those who claim to believe the bible and believe salvation by grace through faith. The Evangelical Church is being shattered and destroyed over this very kind of issue. We see whole sale desertion from the one who called us by the grace of Christ, manifested by people standing up and saying we no longer believe in the deity of Christ, we no longer believe in the bodily resurrection of Christ, we no longer believe . . . . No! By those who claim to believe that, but at the same time say that is not enough.

The battles we have had as a church, a battle we had a number of years ago, I have to say, I come home to Marilyn and say, I don’t understand what’s going on. I can identify with Paul here when he says I’m amazed, I was dumbfounded. I said there’s not going to be a difficult issue. I worked through the material. What they’re saying is Christ is not sufficient. The grace of God in Christ in salvation is not enough for you to live pleasing to God and deal with sin. That’s an attack of the gospel. We’re going to breeze through this, we just walk through it and show . . . It wasn’t a breeze; it wasn’t a cake walk. Then hundreds of people left, and I have to say I’m still amazed to this day. What happened, how did that happen? I mean I’m shocked. You know, I scratch my head and say what happened? You know what happened? We’re not careful. We have to be careful with the gospel. And you know, I wonder what happened to the churches at Galatia. You know, there’s no follow-up here. I wonder what happened in those churches. Did they fragment over this issue? Did they throw Paul’s letters away? Evidently, they didn’t throw them away because Galatians survived. But we’re not told what happened.

You know what happens with the passing of time. Well, in our battles they seem different. Of course, if we had been in the churches at Galatia we would have stood against the Judaizers. But keep in mind our friends might have been on the other side of this issue, our closest friends, the people we like to do things with. I might have family members on the other side of this. There are teachers here that are really good teachers and claim to love the Lord and want to serve Him and want to preach His grace. Then all of a sudden the issue gets blurred for me. Why? Because it’s not just the issue of the purity of the gospel. There’s personalities involved here, and besides you know the issue here is not the gospel, it’s not doctrine, it’s Gil’s personality. Well, you know, how can I deal with that?

Well, you know, you have the same thing with Paul, his apostleship and you know, it’s him and for the Corinthians, you know, he’s different when he’s with you. And you know, the church loses its focus on the issue, the purity of the gospel and the denial of it, that people would put in print. That is not enough. The gospel is not enough. We live in complicated days and people have complicated lives with complicated problems, the gospel is not enough. That is an attack on the one who called you by the grace of Christ, because it says his grace in Christ is not enough. Got this going on and it seems like I continue bringing up the old things because the old things continue to more people to desert God, the demonology issue. I received a letter from a church in Omaha inviting me to a demonology conference. We have a church in Lincoln, on their front board, an Evangelical church, they’re having a demonology seminar, I believe, this weekend by a man who claims and acknowledges in his writing the scripture does not deal with this, but we have found the information in other ways and other places, and this will enable you to deal with the devil and deal with sin. I mean he ought to be, you know, dragged out of town, tarred and feathered, figuratively speaking. Why? Because he claims to be one of us and he is corrupting the gospel, not by denying the basic facts, but by saying it’s not enough. If you speak against it, you’re what, a trouble maker, divisive, opinionated, harsh.

Look in Galatians, Chapter 3, verse 2. This is the only thing I want to find out from you; did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? Were you justified by faith or by works? Well, all right, we get the point. You’re justified by faith. Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Get to this as we move through Galatians. But you see the issue includes sanctification. You can deny the gospel of God’s grace in Christ through a perverted doctrine of sanctification, just like you can by a perverted doctrine of justification. But this perversion of the doctrine of sanctification has become the acceptable doctrine within the church, and to speak against it is being divisive or harsh or unloving.

John Chrysostom lived about 400 A.D., so he’s one of the early church fathers. He was the Bishop of Constantinople. He wrote on this subject on this passage, I believe, in Galatians. “The Judaizers had, in fact, only introduced one or two commandments, circumcision and the observance of days, but he says that the gospel was subverted in order to show that a slight alteration eviscerates the whole. Where then are those who charge us with being contentious in separating from heretics and say that there is no real difference between us except what arises from our ambition. Let them hear Paul’s assertion, that those who had but slightly innovated subverted the gospel.”

And the church of Jesus Christ today needs to stand for the truth of the gospel. Is it not abhorrent to you that these Galatians were deserting away from the God who called them by the grace of Christ? Do you not identify with Paul when he says I’m shocked, it’s inconceivable? Would we have any less of a reaction to those who would be deserting the one who called them today? Is it any less serious? But these are my friends involved. These are people I like. These are teachers that, you know, we respect. Is that more important than my allegiance to the one who called me by the grace of Christ? Do I love family and friends more than Him? Then I cannot be His disciple. I don’t want to apply these are easy issues. We ought not to think this was an easy issue for the Galatians. If it was easy Paul would not have to have written so sternly and harshly and severely. Perhaps the saddest thing in the Evangelical Church today is the indifference over the subject, a rather quiet passiveness. Because things are masqueraded, because we have large numbers, and we agree on the basic facts of the gospel and these other things can be worked out later. No, they have to be worked out now! This minute. And any drifting away from this truth is a deserting and an abandoning of the one who called you. And if that course continues, it demonstrates then that you never experienced the gospel of grace in your life. That ought to concern us about the mixture that we have in the professing Evangelical Church today.

Praise God for His grace and it is a gospel of grace, a gospel of mercy and love and kindness and nothing can be allowed to take away from that, to alter that, to corrupt that, because then it is something totally different even though many of the facts are woven into the error. We have a gospel of grace that brings salvation to those who by God’s grace believe the truth, that we are sinners and Jesus Christ is the Savior. And we must offend that truth against our closest friends, our closest relatives, because He is the one who called us to Himself, and that supersedes everything. Let’s pray together.

Thank you, Lord, for your grace. Lord, we who have been redeemed can speak of that grace, marvel at it and know the thrill of experiencing it in salvation. Lord, may we be passionate in our love for you and love for that truth. Lord, may we carefully, meticulously guard the truth, defend the truth and live the truth in our lives. Lord, as we
study the letter to the Galatians, may we take to heart its truth in our own circumstances and situations and be ready to acknowledge and recognize that there are painful consequences and heartache and difficulty in faithfulness to you, but Lord may we count that an honor, a privilege, and a great blessing. We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.