Culver Community Church
Pastor Chris Sweeney
Sermon Notes
July 21, 2019
Galatians 1:6-10 – The Unchanging Gospel from God
{vs. 6-7} Julius Caesar said of the Gauls: “The infirmity of the Gauls is that they are fickle in their resolves, fond of change and not to be trusted.” The Gauls (people who settled Galatia) were notoriously fickle (unstable, quick to change – flip-floppers), war-like, treacherous, mystical, superstitious and ritualistic. This cultural characteristic (stereotypical behavior) may have contributed to their turning away from the gospel, but it is beyond Paul’s understanding how they could flip on something – no, Someone so important. Notice they are turning to a different gospel (a false gospel) but they are turning away from “the One” – a person! They are turning away from Christ, “who called you to live in the grace”. To turn away from the true gospel is always to turn away from the Person of Jesus Christ because the gospel (true gospel) is all about Christ. He is the Word made flesh – you cannot have the gospel without Christ and if you have Christ, then it is by the Word (the gospel) that you know and have Him!
In these two verses, Paul (and the Holy Spirit) are also telling us that the gospel (Christ) is tamper-proof. By that, I mean we cannot change the gospel, to even the smallest degree. Those who try, give up on God’s good news of grace and teach another message (gospel) – they have abandoned their only hope because something about ‘God’s way’ did not sit right with them. Many today do the same thing. There are many different heresies that try to change the gospel – some change who Christ is (the only begotten Son, who is God incarnate); others add requirements (must do’s and/or don’ts – sins too great for God to forgive or needed works that God cannot save without - sacraments, street witnessing, giving, etc.); others add more people/beings into the mix (the ‘Virgin’ Mary, the Angel Maroni, the Watchtower, their favorite celebrity preacher, etc., etc.) As we said last time, anything other than the pure gospel truth as Christ delivered to the Apostles for them to preach and put into the Inspired New Testament is worthless! A perverted, adulterated or diluted gospel is no gospel at all and those who try to hold onto it will hear from Christ -
"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father who is in Heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name and in Your name drive out demons and in Your name perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from Me, you evildoers!' - Matthew 7:21-23 NIV
The gospel message is a take-it or leave-it offer. It may seem too good to be true but we cannot (never, ever – even the best of us) earn God’s favor. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) – that right there excludes us from Heaven, from God’s family and presence! There is no undoing a sin, the God of justice cannot overlook even one small sin and to be just He must punish those who commit such crimes but the next verse tells us how we can break free (Romans 3:24) – “and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Our redemption is a free gift and if we try to pick up the tab or reimburse our gracious Lord it is a denial of His gift! Sadly, many do deny the gift and it must be received by/through faith – without faith (those in denial) are not (cannot be) covered by God’s grace.
Don’t get me wrong in this – God does not want us running around sinning because ‘He paid the price’ for all my sins (past, present and future). While that is true (for believers), those who are redeemed should be becoming more holy (sanctified by the Holy Spirit) day by day - - - not to earn our place or salvation, but because we want to be like Him and because know sin breaks His heart. Nor does God want believers to sit around all day on a pew or couch because ‘I can’t add any works to my salvation’. Believers should work for the Kingdom – because Christ commands us and we obey out of love! As James (Jesus’ half-brother and leader of the first church) tells us in chapter two of his epistle – “faith without works is dead” or said another way a living faith automatically produces good works! It is all about our motivation, our intentions – we do, because we want to please the One who gave Himself for us, not from fear of going to Hell or losing our salvation!
{vs. 8-9} Emphasis – even if I, Paul (the one who delivered the gospel to you) go back or change what I’ve said or if someone reports that I am; even if an angel comes to give you ‘another witness’ (or some imagined angel, more likely a demon disguised as an angel of light) - - - don’t be fooled! No one, but God alone can change this gospel because it is His deal, His offer to us – and He changes not!
Let any such false messenger be cursed by God (no stronger damnation available to Paul!) The word used and repeated is anathema – meaning devoted to God for annihilation, complete and utter destruction! That doesn’t sit well with some people – God curses people? I don’t want to think that ‘a loving god destroys or sends people to Hell’ - - - well, I’m sorry that offends your sensibilities but read the Word of God! “If anyone does not love the Lord, let that person be cursed!” (1 Corinthians 16:22a) Jesus taught about Hell, the scriptures both Old and New Testament describe the curse of sin and the wages of death (physical and spiritual death) earned as a result of sin! There is no other choice for God but to curse! Those who sin, who rebel against Him and harm His creation (themselves and others) must be punished! What kind of loving father would sit around and ignore someone abusing his children? What kind of just god would look the other way while people break the law, perverting justice? What kind of sadistic god would force a person, who repeatedly (through words and actions) says to him ‘I don’t believe in you’, ‘I won’t follow you’, and ‘I hate you’ – would force such a person (who will not change their minds) to spend all eternity in His presence? Hell was created for fallen angels (Matthew 25:41) – beings who after knowing God, rebelled and became His enemies. However, people like the ones I’ve described – who choose to believe Satan and His lies and will not seek God in faith (even though there is evidence all around them) will be sent to Hell with those evil spirits they choose to follow.
{vs. 10} Paul has now reminded them of His credentials, of the gospel of grace and exposed the evil imposters in summary. Now, he will begin to fill in the details of his defense – beginning, as all good witnesses should with his own first-hand knowledge and experiences. One of the charges leveled against Paul was that he was inconsistent - - - that he and the message he preached changed depending on who the audience was. It is crucial that he defend against this charge, because it is the exact charge he is bringing against these Judaizers! They must be confident that Paul would not, could not compromise, omit or ignore any part of God’s message. It’s easy to see how they could twist the truth to come to this conclusion, Paul would later write of himself – “… I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.” (1 Corinthians 9:20-23 NIV)
However, notice that Paul is becoming ‘all things’ to ‘all people’ not to please them (that should be obvious, everywhere he went a riot followed!) Paul was not a people pleaser! No, he did this “for the sake of the gospel” – not ever changing the gospel, but to further the spread and acceptance of the message! Sadly, God’s gospel is often hurt because we fail to do the exact same thing when we witness! We hold on to cultural differences, judge those lost in sin (expecting them to be perfect without the power of God to accomplish it) or are simply offensive in our delivery. The gospel can cause offense because the first step is recognizing that we are sinners (wrong-ers) and that we need a Savior (a sin eraser) – that is a difficult thing for most of us to accept. However, this offense is needed to bring healing (like a surgeon who cuts, to expose cancer to promote health.) If the gospel itself can cause offense (a necessary offense) - - - we certainly do not need to add our own! Let us not be like the proverbial Bible-bashers, beating people over the head with scriptures; or the holier-than-thou crowd, expecting the lost to get their act together before coming to Christ!
As believers, we must hold on to the true (take-it or leave-it) gospel as given by God, not accepting any perversion! The consequences of false gospels are real, they are eternal and for those who run out of time - - - they are irreversible and inescapable! You and I are apostles (little a, messengers) of this gospel, so let us strive to not offend and to not be people pleasers watering down the Truth! Let us learn to be flexible with everything except God’s Word! Lord teach us to consistently go to a world in need, not pushing them away from the very answer to that need!