Title: Get the Gospel Right!
Galatians 1:6-9
I grew up believing that men that used straight razors are bad people.
I remember seeing a magazine add where the Marlboro man was leaning over a stream shaving with one.
When I’d see a Gillette commercials I’d think, “Those are bad men.”
?- Why was I so convinced that a man’s choice of razor was some sort of window into his soul.
I wasn’t squeamish about it.
I didn’t think they were taking needless risks with those tiny little blades.
It’s not that I thought that electric razors were somehow a sign of a man you could truly trust.
?- So why was it?
It was because my dad used an electric razor.
I guess I figured that my dad was a good person and used an electric razor.
And so, only bad people used straight razors.
This is a cute story from my childhood with ideas that I obviously outgrew.
?- What if I decided that we needed to ask the razor question for every man we considered for leadership?
For one thing, it would make me a hypocrite since no electric razor would ever give my head this shine.
What would be really dangerous is if we had an unbiblical requirement when we’re talking about what it
means to be Saved.
What if we believed that only those who drink Pepsi products can be saved and Coca-Cola is the devil’s
brew.
What if we placed requirements on people like that they had to pledge never to go to movies or eat
seafood.
I think this would be the beginning of the end of fruitful ministry for us as a church.
The question that we’re answering during our time in the book of Galatians is “What’s it mean to be saved?”
And I believe that we’re all going to be better prepared to answer it.
We’re also going to be better ready to guard one another against assaults on the gospel.
This morning, we’re looking at the important challenge to - Get the Gospel Right!
We’re jumping right into the disappointment and surprise that the Apostle Paul voices to the Galatians.
The Galatian churches have started to believe that they need to add to the work of Christ on the cross in
order for them to be saved.
Right out the gate, we find the Apostle Paul telling the Galatians how he sees it.
* 6 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— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want
to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 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. 9 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.
These are some really strong words from the Apostle Paul.
And we’re going to find this letter to be full of strong words.
The situation is that teachers had come from the church in Jerusalem and were claiming that Paul’s gospel
was flawed.
They taught the Galatian church that they needed to become Jews before they could become Christians.
This amounts to teaching that we need to clean ourselves up before God will consider saving us.
These ideas steal the saving power of the gospel and elevate human effort to having a saving effect.
We will see next week that Paul has to defend his position and thus the gospel that he preached.
And we’ll learn that even today; there are those who dismiss the gospel of Jesus by dismissing the Apostle
Paul as Jesus’ messenger.
When it comes to Getting the Gospel Right, the first challenge I want to make is to -
1. BEWARE OF FALSE GOSPELS. (6-7)
* 6 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— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and
want to distort the gospel of Christ.
Paul doesn’t open with the normal tone of praise and encouragement for the church.
Instead, he launches into explaining how he is marveling with amazement at their disregard for the truth.
The term deserting speaks of changing allegiance and is used of a military revolt.
And all this has happened so quickly after their initial conversions and forming into a church.
What’s even sadder about Paul’s description is the personal nature of their desertion.
The New Testament Commentary states, “The Galatians have not simply abandoned a theological position;
they have abandoned a personal, loving God, who has manifested that love by calling them in the grace of
Christ.”
The term “gospel” - εὐαγγέλιον - God’s good news
=> It’s embodied in what Paul told the Corinthians in -
* 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ
died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the
third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
Paul makes a statement about the Galatian believers following a different gospel.
At this point, he wants to make one thing clear.
There’s no other good news of salvation aside from the one that he has preached to them.
This is because no other message of salvation actually saves a person from the penalty of their sins.
It might’ve been better to call it a destructive or devilish gospel rather than a different one.
He says that those teaching a different gospel are troubling the Galatian believers.
The NIV states this as “throwing you into confusion.”
"One Degree Off" (Orion) — revised
In April of this year, four astronauts climbed into the Orion spacecraft and did something nobody had done
in over fifty years.
They flew all the way to the moon and back.
Not a landing - a loop around the far side and home again.
Real people, aimed at a target a quarter of a million miles away.
Here's the part that gets me.
The whole trip depended on one push.
After launch and orbiting the earth, the engines fired one big burn to send the capsule toward the moon.
That's the moment that set the aim for the entire trip.
Six minutes, and that's it.
Everything after that is just trying to stay true to what that one burn pointed them toward.
Think about it like throwing a dart across a football field.
Up close, a tiny twist of your wrist doesn't look like anything at all.
Stretch that same tiny twist out over a hundred yards, and you're not missing the board by an inch
anymore.
You're missing it by yards.
Now stretch that idea out over 240,000 miles.
A mistake so small you'd never even notice it at the start turns into a miss of thousands of miles by the
time you get there.
That's exactly why they didn't just make that one push and hope.
All along the way, they checked where the capsule actually was against where it was supposed to be.
And when it drifted, even a little, they gave it a small nudge to bring it back in line.
But here's what those little nudges could not do.
They couldn't pick a new destination.
They only worked because that first burn had already aimed them at the moon or where the moon would
be.
If that first burn had pointed them somewhere else entirely, no amount of nudging afterward would've
gotten them to the moon.
They'd have just made very precise corrections toward missing their destination.
The nudges only work when the aim was right to begin with.
The beginning of a mission decides everything, and so does the beginning of someone's walk with Christ.
If you get the gospel right at the start - Jesus’s effort without any of our efforts - every bit of growth after
that, every lesson you learn along the way, is keeping you true to the aim you started with.
It's continuing you on in a saving relationship with God.
But if you get the gospel wrong at the start - something close, something that sounds right, uses the same
words, but isn't the real thing -after that is just fine-tuning a path that was never a saving experience.
You can be devoted.
You can be consistent.
You can look, for years, like you're right on course.
And still end up “close, but no cigar.”
And sadly not know what you’re missing.
That's what should stop us cold about Paul's warning.
He's not writing to people who walked away into open unbelief.
He's writing to people who still think they're flying straight, but they’re in danger of being way off course.
And it’s because their believing lies thinking they can make themselves more appealing to God.
True or False Essentials of the Gospel:
___ Everyone is sinful and separated from God.
___ People can do the right things that make them more appealing to God so that he will save them.
___ Jesus died on the cross as a payment for our sins and rose again.
___ The person who is trusting in Jesus alone for salvation can be saved.
___ Once saved, a Christian gets God to continue loving them by avoiding sin.
When it comes to the gospel, if you’re believing something false, you’re not believing the good news.
Moving on into the other 2 verses we’re looking at, I want to challenge you to
2. BEWARE TEACHING A FALSE GOSPEL. (8-9)
* 8 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. 9 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.
Paul has a way of repeating information that he wants to make crystal clear.
But there are differences between verses 8 and 9 which I’ll point out.
Overall, Paul is making clear that there’s no updates to the gospel coming from him or Jerusalem or heaven.
It’s not the source of the information (Paul, Jews, angels) but the content of the message that matters.
The gospel is unchanging and it has to do with one Savior doing all that needed to be done for salvation.
And no righteous actions can add to what Christ did for us.
We’ll see in two weeks how important it is that we maintain the purity of the gospel message.
=> In Paul’s words, if legalism could accomplish salvation, then Christ’s death was useless, as he writes -
* Galatians 2:21 for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
Protecting the content of the good news is such a crucial issue that Paul announces his hope that anyone
that contradicts it with their teaching should be cursed - destined for hell.
In proclaiming this, he uses the Greek term ἀνάθεμα, which we use when we consider something an
abomination - beyond all hope of redemption or acceptance.
Paul’s repetition of the same concept is mostly for emphasis.
But, as I said, there are differences between these verses.
The main difference is that verse 9 places more responsibility on the Galatian believers.
First, the scenario in v.8 is very broad, from Paul to angels and preaching to anyone in general.
In v.9, it focuses in on anyone who is preaching to them.
Secondly, verse 8 speaks of the gospel that was preached, while v. 9 describes it as what they received.
The Greek term that’s translated “received” to take control of something.
Think of a person signing for a package - taking custody and responsibility for it from that point.
He seems to be communicating the importance of the Galatian church to care for the truth that they took
possession of and to allow it to be the standard to which they compare other teaching.
What’s repeated word-for-word is the proclamation of what should happen - “let him be accursed.”
I’ve never been one to worry about curses and such.
But this one, should never be dismissed.
=> Jesus made this same type of warning in
* Matthew 18:6 6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be
better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the
sea.
=> James also gave us fare warning when he wrote -
* James 3:1 1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who
teach will be judged with greater strictness.
This makes me think about Uncle Larry.
Not necessarily my Uncle Larry - everybody's got an Uncle Larry.
He's the guy who diagnoses the whole family at every holiday gathering.
He's not a doctor.
He's never taken so much as a CPR class.
But he read something online at 2 a.m. one time, and now he's convinced your headache is a brain tumor.
Your allergies are actually mold toxicity.
And the cure for basically everything is straight apple cider vinegar, twice a day, no exceptions.
Here's the thing about Uncle Larry.
If he's wrong - and he's always wrong - nothing happens to him.
Nobody takes anything away from him.
He shows up next Christmas with a brand-new theory, and we just let him talk.
Now think about an actual doctor.
There's a reason it takes years of training before anyone lets a doctor write a prescription in the first place.
It's because the medicine has to actually be right - somebody's life depends on it.
A wrong diagnosis doesn't just cost the doctor something.
It could cost the patient everything.
But doctors don't stop practicing medicine because the stakes are high.
They just make sure they know the medicine front-to-back before they hand out a prescription for it.
Here's why I bring this up on a passage about the danger of teaching a false gospel.
It's not to make anybody afraid to open their mouth about Jesus.
Paul himself, a few verses later in this letter, says he wants nothing more than for the true gospel to be
preached - and preached often.
We need more people sharing the gospel, not fewer.
What Paul's after in verses 8 and 9 is the same thing a doctor's training is after -"know exactly what you're
prescribing for someone."
?- If somebody asked you today, plainly, "How can I be saved," could you explain it to them?
It’s not "try to be a good person," not "just love God and attend church."
It’s trust in Christ saving work alone, and ask God to save you by His grace?
Speaking of being careful not to teach a false gospel…
In case you think that Paul is going overboard by mentioning a hypothetical situation of an angel preaching
a false gospel, let me share with you two examples.
The first one took place near Mecca in the year 610
This was when a illiterate, schizophrenic, epileptic named Muhammed was accosted by a demon.
He was tormented to the point of being suicidal by the demonic oppression.
But his wife, Kha-di-ja, convinced him that it was actually the angel Gabriel that he was dealing with.
She reinterpreted his torment as a prophetic experience.
And after this turn, Muhammed start calling himself a prophet and embrace his bloody calling.
Today over ¼ of the world’s population follow his teachings.
The second example is one that’s a little more close to home in 1823
Supposedly, there once lived a man named Mormon who supposedly was a prophet of God.
Mormon supposedly had prophecies that added to the Bible and wrote them on golden tablets.
Mormon had a son named Moroni.
When Mormon died, his son buried the tablets somewhere in Western New York.
Then Moroni died, and you’d expect that the message of the tablets were lost.
Except as the story goes, Moroni, happened to become an angel - yes, this is starting to sound like It’s a
Wonderful Life.
And supposedly, he was promised that he would finally get his wings if he told a man named Joseph Smith
where he might find the golden tablets that held the prophecies of his father, Mormon.
OK, I don’t know if Moroni was promised his wings, or if a bell rang when it happened.
But what did happen was the beginning of a cult that has over 17 million followers today.
=> But it’s another example of the truth of what Paul warned in v.8.
* 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.
In America today, people are still likely to fall for a new teaching.
And what they’re susceptible to is what tells them exactly what they want to hear.
=> As with the warning of angels bringing false gospels, God also warned us of this through Paul’s writings.
* 2 Timothy 4:3 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching
ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions,
The Babylon Bee recently published a book that pokes fun at American False Christianity.
The book is called, How to Be a Perfect Christian: Your Comprehensive Guide to Flawless Spiritual Living
In one section, it outlines just the sort of gospel that people want to hear today.
Seven Essential Truths of the Gospel of Cultural Christianity
1. You are amazing.
a. You are so special and amazing, you've surpassed even God's expectations for your life.
b. As the great theologian Christina Aguilera said, "You are beautiful.... Words can't bring you
down!"
2. God really needs you on His team.
a. What would God do without you?
b. God decided to save sinners because He was really lonely and needed you to cheer Him up.
3. God is love and has absolutely no other distinguishing attributes.
a. Holiness? Justice? Wrath? Sovereignty? Nah.
b. God is love and only love.
4. Jesus died for your temporary comfort and security.
a. You were just so special that God sent His only Son so you could be satisfied with temporary
things of this earth.
5. Did we mention you're amazing?
a. Seriously, we just can't even describe how amazing you are.
b. Turn your eyes upon yourself, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim.
6. The God of the Bible would never do anything you would personally disagree with.
a. God is constantly checking His actions against your subjective moral compass to make sure
you're never offended.
b. He's lucky you're around to keep Him on message!
7. Those who conform to cultural Christianity will be justified.
a. You will be declared right with God only when you look like a really good Christian.
b. Is a hard road, but It’ll be worth it in the end. We promise!
These essential truths of the self-centered gospel may seem ridiculous.
But they’re actually not too far off from how people want God to be like.
So I don’t leave you with those faulty gospel concepts in you mind, let me provide you with a checklist for
sharing the gospel.
This can also be a checklist for you to know if you’re believing the truth.
Checklist for Ensuring that I’m Sharing the True Gospel.
Our Sin — We all begin as guilty sinners separated from a holy God.
Christ's Identity — Jesus is the divine Son of God who became man and lived without sin.
Christ's Cross — Jesus died in our place, paying the penalty for our sins.
Christ's Resurrection — Jesus physically rose from the dead and offers eternal life.
Our Response — Salvation is God's gift, received through repentance and faith in Christ rather than
earned by our works.
I started out talking about how I was impacted by my dad’s simple choice of how to shave.
Here’s something that struck me the other day.
Every time I turn off the water spigot at my house, I have an interesting way of remembering which way
to turn.
I think “toward the house.”
?- Why would I say that to myself?
Well, when I was a kid, our spigot was positioned in a corner of our home.
To turn it on was to turn it toward the yard.
And to turn it off was to turn it toward the house.
To the best that I can recall, I think this and remind myself of it because it’s what my dad told me.
“To turn off the spigot, turn the handle toward the house.”
What’s funny is I recently noticed something as I was making sure I was turning the water off.
I also thought, “Wait a minute. ‘Righty-tighty works too!’”
But what my mind goes to is what my dad told me, “turn it toward the house.”
?- Why is that?
It’s because what our parents tell us sticks with us like nothing else.
?- And guess why, when my kids were little, I read certain Bible story books to them - these Arch books
about Adam and Eve and a shepherd who goes to find his one lost lamb and others stories as well?
I chose those books because they were the ones that my dad had read to me.
I share this with you to remind you of the power that you can have in a young person’s life.
As a parent, a grandparent, an aunt or uncle, or even just a family friend, you can sink gospel truth in a
young person’s mind and heart.
Maybe it’s a statement like,
“Every time you look in the mirror, you’re looking at someone that God loves enough to send His Son to die
so you can be saved.”
While we’re looking at the dangers of false teaching.
Let’s also remember the power behind the beauty of gospel truth and the power that words can have as
we share it.
