Denunciation Series

The work of calling men is usually, in the Scriptures, attributed to God, for example:

• 1 Thess 2:12 (NKJV) “That you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.”

• 2 Thess 2:14 (NKJV) “To which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

• 2 Tim 1:9 (NKJV) “Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.”

into the grace of Christ

This clause can also be rendered, "into the covenant of grace which is by Christ." It is the method of salvation which is by or through “the grace of Christ.” There is no doubt that it refers to the plan of salvation which is by Christ, or in Christ; and the main idea is, that the scheme of salvation which they had embraced under his instruction, was one which consider salvation only by the grace or favor of Christ; and that from that they had been removed (or removed themselves) to another scheme, which is essentially different; a scheme where the grace of Christ was made useless and void. It is Paul's objective to show that the true plan of salvation makes Christ the great and prominent object; and that the plan which they had embraced was, in this respect, entirely different.

"The grace of Christ," is Christ's gratuitously purchased and bestowed justification, reconciliation, and eternal life. They had been ‘CALLED’ “into the grace of Christ.” They probably were not looking for Christ when God called them: they did not find Him in the Old Testament scriptures or in the traditions and ceremonies of the synagogue: they found Him in the gospel which had been preached to them; it was the most glorious discovery of divine grace and mercy in Christ Jesus; so they had been called to partake of the greatest blessings and benefits, such as justification, and reconciliation with God here, and eternal life and happiness hereafter. Our Lord Jesus has purchased these for us at the expense of his precious blood, and freely bestows them upon all who sincerely accept Him: and therefore, it is hard to understand how they could set aside the great privileges they enjoyed, in favor of a system God had abandoned. God called the Galatians to salvation which was: (1) purchased at Calvary; (2) offered in and by grace; and (3) to be accepted by faith. All that God requires of man, He has already provided by grace in Christ.

There is a test for the Gospel is grace. If the message excludes grace, or mingles law with grace as the means of either of justification or sanctification (Gal 2:21; Gal 3:1-3) or denies the fact or guilt of sin which alone gives grace its occasion and opportunity, it is "another" gospel, and the preacher of it is under the anathema of God (Gal 1:8, 9).

unto another gospel:

There are two Greek words which mean another. One (Gr allos) means another of the same kind; and the other (Gr heteros) means another of a different kind. Here the meaning is that there is no other gospel, although the legalists had brought them a different kind of teaching, which they claimed to be the gospel. There is an essential difference between the true gospel and a man-made, counterfeit gospel [For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him (2 Cor 11:4 (KJV) Gal 1:6 shows that the Judaizers perverted the gospel to the extent that it was really another gospel. Therefore, Paul tells the Galatians, “There would be an excuse for your conduct, though a bad one (for ye ought to give heed to no Gospel other than what ye have already heard from me, Ga 1:6, 7); but the false teachers do not even pretend they have "another Jesus" and a "different Gospel" to bring before you; they merely try to supplant me, your accredited Teacher. Yet ye not only "bear with" them, but prefer them.”]. There is only one gospel concerning the Son of God who became a man in order to become the propitiation (an appeasement) for the sins of the whole world [And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. (1 John 2:2 (NKJV). Christ is the propitiation, the mercy seat, the meeting place between God and man. Propitiation means “atonement.” It means that sins have been paid for by the suffering of another. Christ is my Advocate, interceding for me, and He Himself is the propitiation.] Christ’s finished work at Calvary enables God to be just and the justifier of him who believes in Christ [To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. (Romans 3:26 (KJV)] God has no other gospel, and He cannot and will not tolerate the perversion of His gospel.