I am astonished that you are so
quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning
to a different gospel— which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people
are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the
one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already
said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than
what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned! Am I now trying to win the
approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still
trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Nobody wants to be known as a “deserter” or a “pervert” or “eternally condemned” for that matter. Yet these are adjectives that Paul was throwing out towards the Galatians. Now, if this were no more than a decision between wearing blue jeans or shorts – it wouldn’t have mattered to Paul. Nor would it have mattered if they had chosen to follow Peter instead of Paul – for they both had the same Gospel. But this decision would have eternal consequences – heaven and hell was at stake – because they were choosing to go to a different gospel. There are many things that you can choose to change in your life – your diet, your hairstyle, your job and your clothes – but the gospel is not one of those things.
Why not? The gospel of Christ is what saves the world. It is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. When you die it isn’t going to matter to God what color clothing you were wearing. He won’t determine whether you go to heaven based on the size of the home you live in. It won’t even have any influence on him whether you were living a better life than your neighbor. What will matter – and one thing alone – is whether you believe that Christ lived and died for you. What will matter is whether you were bathed in that blood of Christ by being baptized into Christ. The only thing will matter is whether your eyes are fixed on Christ for your salvation. That is the sole thing that matters to Him – that’s it. Are you trusting in the Lord Jesus or not? If you answer this question by saying, “yes, but. . .” or, “sort of” or “I think so” – then you don’t get it. Then you are on your way to desertion. Paul’s warning is clear.
Do
I. There is only one Gospel
I don’t know about you, but I enjoy the idea of being holy in God’s sight, don’t you? Isn’t it comforting to know that when you die that every one of your sins has been thrown on the cross of Christ? Isn’t it great to know that in your baptism you were clothed with Christ? I mean, who would want anything less? We know that in Christ we have the ultimate defense attorney and the perfect covering for our sins. I love this. It motivates me to live and smile and enjoy life.
So what was it that was so enticing to the Galatians – that made them thinking about deserting such a wonderful message? Paul referred to it as a “different gospel”. Perhaps that is what his adversaries were touting it as – as if it were a “new and improved” version. In context, when you look at the following chapters – I believe you can get a feel for what this “different gospel” was. It was not people who were out and out denying Christ. It was people who were saying, “yes, we too believe that Jesus died for the sins of the world. He wiped out your sins – He gave you a fresh start. NOW – all you have to do is be circumcised and make sure that you follow the Old Testament dietary habits of eating the right kind of meats. Then with a combination of a fresh start and a new and continued life – you will enter heaven!” It was enticing because it gave them a little bit of something to do – a little bit of pride – a little bit of something they could take ownership of and a structured way they could prove themselves to God.
This is the same thing that entices millions of people yet today. Think about what the Mormon Church teaches. While calling Jesus their Savior, what they mean - according to their own literature - is that Jesus is like a divine type of loan officer – who “saves us” by paying off the full sum of a perfect life and suffering to God - and then extends the payments of holiness that we can make to him over a much longer period. When you go on a mission journey, tithe, get baptized, and perform your temple rituals you are doing your part. It makes sense, doesn’t it? I mean – why should God just give you salvation free of charge? If I can just follow their words of wisdom – don’t drink hot tea or coffee – go through temple rituals – get married and have children - then why not do it? If I can also go through these temple baptisms for other people who have not been baptized – then why not do that also? It gives millions of people the structure and direction they so desperately seek.
How different is it when you are told that God is a God of grace, but you can only get this grace by piece meal – a little bit from baptism, a little bit from the Lord’s Supper, a little bit from Last Rites, and then after all of these things you can experience the final touches of suffering through Purgatory. It is enticing because it gives you a little bit of something that you can do – something that you can see, feel, and touch. Isn’t it only right for you to understand and suffer a little bit before being allowed into heaven?
Consider even what
has been coming out in popular Christian books on the market today. In a book called, “How to Find Freedom
from the Power of Sin,” it says on page 35, “We must guard against the idea that God will conceal sin with a robe of
righteousness. No! No! Nakedness is clothed, but not sin. Sin is taken away,
and the righteousness of Christ is imparted to those who know the recovery power of the blood and
the cross of Jesus Christ” (35). Do
you see what this says in a very veiled manner?
It says that sin is not forgiven until you figure out how to overcome it
in your life? When people within
Christian churches say, “Jesus did His part, now you have to do YOUR part. You need to tell people about Christ. You need to step your faith up to the next
level. If you want to be TOTALLY
FORGIVEN you need to really prove that you’ve accepted Jesus into your heart by
dedicating your life to Christ. When you
amend your sinful life then you will in turn be experiencing and bringing
Jesus’ forgiveness on you and empowering yourself to be saved.” In a
George Barna poll, more than seventy percent of
‘professing evangelical Christians’ in
All of this talk of human participation is enticing. Yet Paul ultimately says that all of these things must be done only lead to confusion. How so? How do I know that I’ve done enough? If you say I only need to be circumcised, how do I know that I don’t also need to keep the Sabbath? If you say I just need to pray daily, how long do I have to pray? If you say I need to knock on doors, how many doors do I have to knock on? How many “Hail Mary’s” must I speak? How excited do I have to be at a prayer meeting? How much of sin do I need to purge from myself to be really forgiven? When will I really be holy? The devil uses these kinds of things to make you always wonder if you’ve ever done enough – if you ever really believe enough – if you ever really have the Spirit – and ultimately if you’ll ever end up in heaven. Why? Because even though they mention the gospel, they take away it’s sweetness by mixing law with it. They take Jesus’ perfection and add imperfection to it. They pervert it – so that the end just end up with garbage. It’s not a different gospel. It’s no gospel.
II. Going to the other “gospels” is like committing desertion
Therefore, Paul doesn’t mince words. If you fall for this “different gospel” – which likes to combine your works with Christ’s works for a type of joint salvation – he declares that you are in reality deserting the one who has called you by the grace of Christ. That same word was used for soldiers who deserted their post. It also means to put your self in a different area. In the olden days when a fire was raging across the plains, a group of settlers would burn out a large area prior to the coming of the fire, and then place themselves in the middle of that burnt out area. As a result, there was nothing there to catch fire, and the settlers would remain safe in the middle of that area. But if someone were to panic and try to run out of the area – they would be burned in t fire.
God’s Word tells us that there is only one place to find refuge from God’s wrath. Even as a converted Christian Paul wrote,
Philippians 3:8-9 What is more,
I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing
Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them
rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness
of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in
Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.
It is so tempting to think, “oh Jesus – if you would just let me do one little thing! If you could just let me have some little hook to hang my hat on – something to do – then I will feel good about myself.” But if you walk outside of His circle – if you desert His righteousness - it is equal to saying to Jesus, “I don’t trust in you. Your righteousness is not enough for me. Your perfect life as the Son of God was not good enough. I must also produce some righteousness of my own in the way that I live.” What greater slap in the face could you give to the Son of God – who declared to the world “it is finished” - than to tell Him that His work was not finished – that it wasn’t enough? Here Jesus’ put you behind Him and designated you as a soldier of the cross – and you have decided that it is not safe underneath His cross? You have determined that you must get in the front line and obey God’s laws in addition to what Christ did? This is tantamount to desertion!
This is why
Paul’s response to such a teaching was so harsh. But even if we or an angel from heaven
should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be
eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is
preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally
condemned! The original word in the
Greek for this condemnation is “anathema”.
Paul said to anyone who would try to change His original gospel or try
to improve it or enhance it, “let him be eternally condemned. Let him burn in hell forever and ever!” Even if Joseph Smith did have a vision from the angel
III. The warning needs to be sounded
It is
neither politically correct nor socially acceptable for Christians in
Paul knew that such a teaching would not be popular, yet he did not care. Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ. Why was Paul so harsh? Because he considered himself a servant of Christ. A servant of Christ is here to serve Christ – not piecemeal – not as a desert or an appetizer – but as the appetizer, main course, desert and all. How can we serve Christ by telling people they don’t really need all of Christ’s life and death? How can we serve Christ by telling people that they don’t really need as much of Him as they have been told? What kind of servants would we be if we didn’t tell them what Jesus told us? What good will it do to tell people that Christ is one way to heaven – but that there are many ways to heaven? How loving is it to tell people they can help earn their salvation when God’s Word says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God? Even if it sounds good to men, it isn’t what God requires.
Remember what God requires. God requires complete holiness – not 50 percent holiness or even 20 percent holiness – complete holiness. If you try to offer God even the best of your works, Isaiah declares that they are nothing but filthy rags in God’s sight. So the only thing that can be offered is an offering that was already made and accepted by God – and that is the offering of Christ. The only way that you can stand before God is to be completely covered in the blood of Christ from head to toe. Paul later on assures us in Galatians 3:26-27 that, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” The only way that you can have this is through being baptized into Christ and remaining in that faith. The only way you can keep this is by continually drinking of the blood and eating the body until the day Jesus comes again – being continually reminded from the promises of God that you already have what God requires. What you need very simply is faith in Christ – which is given through the Word and sacrament. This has not changed. This will not change. If we really love the world and if we really care for the world – this is the most loving thing we can tell them. There is only One Way. Jesus says, “its not my way or the highway. My way is the highway – the highway to heaven.”
As David fought Goliath, God calls each and every one of us into war as soldiers of the cross. The gates of hell are coming full force to try and steal your soul. The powerful threats of the Law are calling on God to damn you to hell. They are powerfully scary opponents to victory. Your sinful flesh wants to retreat. Paul warns us not to desert the battle. Like David with Goliath, God has only given you one weapon to fight the devil – only one weapon to fight against the wrath of God Himself. It is not your feet, your mouth, or your wits. It is only the slingshot of the Gospel of the cross of Christ. Satan may mock it. He may claim that you are arrogant for walking into battle with nothing else. He may claim that you have no chance of winning. Do not listen to him. Now is not the time to flee the battle. Now is not the time to desert the one weapon that has gotten you this far. The Gospel – the love of God in Christ - is the only thing that can keep us from God’s wrath. The Gospel is the only thing that can protect us from the devil’s accusations. Keep on holding on to it. Keep on proclaiming it. Walk into the valley of the shadow of death and fear no evil – for you have the Gospel. It is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. Amen.