No Gospel At All Series

If I say the word “Gospel”, what do you think about?

Or if I were to ask you “What is the Gospel?” What would you say?

Do you think of:

Finished work of Christ on the cross,

His sacrificial and atoning death – the price paid for our sins

His burial, His resurrection

Do you think of Faith alone, in Christ Alone?

If that is our answer, if that is what we think of when we talk about the Gospel, then we are in line with scripture and we have a biblically accurate picture of the Gospel.

To understand the gospel is to understand salvation.

To understand the gospel is to understand our need for a Savoir -

Our complete lack of ability to have a right relationship w/ God apart from Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross.

What do you think? Do you think that the majority of the people in our community have a solid grasp of the Gospel?

How about the people in our churches? Do you think THEY have a solid grasp of the gospel? Of what it means to have a saving faith?

I’m afraid it’s fewer people than you might think.

As human beings we have this almost irresistible urge, this tendency to put ourselves in the center of the universe.

We make everything MAN Centered – its all about ME ME ME

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO ME

In a MAN centered world, everything can shift and change depending on who you are.

This scripture might mean one thing to you, but something else to me –

whos to say what is right and what is wrong.

Can there really be any absolute, objective truth

Not in a man – centered world.

In a man-centered world there can’t just be 1 way – can there? That’s too narrow minded

In a man-centered world, everyone can claim his or her own truth

When we put man at the center of our thinking,

When we focus on ourselves instead of focusing on HIM,

All of the sudden its about what I can do

WHAT CAN I DO to have eternal life – What Can I do to become righteous?

Give me a formula to follow, Give me an aisle to walk down

Give me a prayer to say, some rules to obey, some good deeds to do

Follow these rules, be a good person, or at least better than your neighbor,

Do some good deeds, and you are on your way – RIGHT?

OR if Jesus is the way to salvation – I can at least Add to my salvation with good deeds, or with tradition and obedience to laws , RIGHT?

We see it every where these days – People trying to add something to salvation

That is where we are in the book of Galatians.

The new Christians in Galatia are being mislead, they are being convinced that in order to be good Christians, they have to follow Jewish laws and traditions. The problem is, When you add an extra requirement for salvation, you are saying that the suffering of Christ on the Cross was not enough, that the work of Christ on the cross was not sufficient to pay our sin debt. – to save you

That is a serious error – not just a diff. Of opinion on a secondary issue

Paul is so focused on getting to the point and correcting the error that he skips his usual praise and thanks to God for the people he is writing his letter to.

Instead, he jumps right in with his rebuke for those in Galatia who are in the process of deserting the Gospel

Gal 1: 6-10 (NIV) 6 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-- 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 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! 9 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!

10 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.

PRAY

Deserting the Gospel

Distorting the true Gospel

Declaration about the false teachers

Distinction of the true Gospel

Desertion: V6 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