For literally thousands of years, perhaps longer, Christians have faced attempts by those outside the faith, or those with little understanding of the Christian gospel, to make the grace of God only partially sufficient for salvation. As Paul and Barnabas began their first missionary journey to establish churches in the Mediterranean area, they only preached a gospel of salvation by the grace of God.
In other words, no human effort will ever result in man gaining God’s forgiveness of sin except through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, God’s perfect Son; no human effort will ever result in eternal life in heaven with God on the throne and Jesus Christ seated at his right hand. It’s all because of the gift of God’s grace - God’s unmerited favor given to men and women, children of all ages. There is nothing else that can secure an earthly salvation and a heavenly eternity than the grace of God.
But men and women have tried, since the first century, to add something else to God’s grace. The first Jerusalem council met shortly after Paul and Barnabas completed their first missionary journey, to decide the issue. Many Jewish believers felt that Gentiles had to be circumcised in order to complete their salvation. Paul’s defense of God’s grace alone and no other human effort resulted in the council not adding circumcision to the requirement for salvation and church membership.
The strongest, and most southern Galatia church was the Antioch church which had commissioned Paul and Barnabas for their first missionary journey. The Antioch church had reached out to other Galatian cities and established churches in Derbe, Lystra, and Cappadocia. Now, some years later, men showed up and tried to add their own requirements to the grace of God. Word had been sent to Paul and he wrote the letter to the Galatian churches to refute these false teachers and preachers.
Introduction
“Paul, an apostle - sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God, the Father, who raised him from the dead - and all the brothers with them, to the churches in Galatia...” (1:1-2)
First thing, in every letter Paul wrote, he identified himself and his qualifications to write to the church. Usually in that introduction, the description Paul uses of himself is on purpose. To the Galatians, Paul identifies himself as an apostle that was sent by Jesus and God, not by man. This was said to refute the presence and claims of the false teachers and preachers who didn’t have those credentials.
In our churches today, before a church calls a pastor, it should always examine the credentials of the pastoral candidate. What are his qualifications? What credentials does he present? College graduate? Seminary graduate? Ordained minister? What kind of experience does he have as a pastor? Examine the credentials before you accept the teaching and preaching of the Word.
And even after calling a pastor, the church needs to make sure that his teaching and preaching remains true to the gospel and the Word of God. Many men have assumed pulpits across the world, begun good and well-meaning pastorates, only to later hear something new and tempting and all of a sudden their teaching and preaching is not from the Bible and leads people astray. Other spiritual leaders in the church should be wary of this and do all they can to confront the false doctrine before it ruins members and the church.
Apparently the Galatians, and other churches as well, were accepting and adopting the teachings of false teachers and preachers without checking their credentials. And Paul is writing to put a stop to their acceptance of these heretics. No matter how good, how logical, how correct it may sound, check it out!
Blessings
“Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (1:3-5)
Paul also included a blessing for the church and usually it was for grace and peace. In a time when there was a lack of peace due to the Roman rule and the type of ruler Caesar was, being a Christian could be anything but peaceful. There was also the challenge that came from Jewish synagogues because many new believers came from their midst.
Paul prayed for peace in all the cities and towns where a Christian church had been established. He also prayed for God’s grace to be upon the congregation so that they would be accepted and approved by those pagans and Gentiles in the places where they lived and worshiped.
The final part of this scripture acknowledges the belief that the Lord Jesus would soon return and rescue them from the “present evil age.” One of the teaching points that gave believers who were persecuted hope was that Christ would rescue them from their suffering at the hands of the Romans and legalistic Jews.
Desertion
“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.” (1:6-7)
Paul’s first point, in any of his letters, is to always address what he perceives to be the most important problem facing the church. In this case, it’s Christian believers accepting false teaching and preaching. In both instances, he refers to this as a different gospel - read that different good news. This different good news is really not good news at all, he says.
Everyone has a different opinion as to what comprises good news. For the golfer, good news is a clear sky, a little breeze, and freshly cut greens. For the football player it is a warm - not too hot or too cold - playing day with everyone healthy. Good news to the preacher could be an increase in offerings or many guests for the worship service.
The good news of the gospel is that Jesus Christ came to seek and save those who are lost, who are separated from God by their sin and disobedience. Jesus is the perfect mediator between man and God; Jesus is the sinless, perfect sacrifice for man’s sin. His blood, and his alone, can be applied by God to atone, to erase the sin that is in your life and mine. No one else qualifies - no one else even comes near to being qualified except Jesus. That’s the good news of the gospel.
Anyone preaching or teaching anything different from that is peaching and teaching heresy. And as Paul notes in verse 7, this is throwing the believers into a state of confusion. They had probably thought all this was solved by the Jerusalem Council meeting that is recorded in Acts 15. There was peace as the gospel was preached and spreading in the Galatian towns and cities, resulting in new believers.
Now, there is upsetness and indecisiveness. And when the church of God is in a state of confusion there can be no advancement of the gospel, no strong message of salvation, no attraction to Christ, no working of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not the author of confusion, nor does he bring about confusion. He is all about unity, peace, and ministry.
Condemnation
“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 condemned1" (1:8-9)
Paul will not allow for anyone to preach anything but the pure gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ. Notice that he first condemns any angel that would do so. Here his implication is from the extra-spiritual realm, not necessarily heaven but rather from hell. In other words, angels from the realm of Satan. Remember, Satan is the author of confusion, the expert at deception. He will do anything to disrupt the church of God. Be aware! Be alert! Don’t fall for his tricks.
Next he condemns other believers. Don’t fall for their false teaching and preaching. Many have selfish motives for falsifying the true gospel of Christ. There are unscrupulous minsters all around us. They make claims and dilute the true gospel in order to make more money for themselves, or to steal a church for their own purposes. And while the message they preach and teach may appear to be true to the gospel of Christ, close examination will reveal the holes in their story and should bring rejection and condemnation.
Finally, notice that Paul did not spare himself from their scrutiny. He says that should the time come when he might preach a gospel that is different from what he first presented to them, his new teaching should also be rejected as false. “Believe what I preached to you the first time! Adhere to it, and it only. Reject everything else.”
Revelation
“I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.”
(1:11-12)
Anyone who preaches or teaches the gospel of Christ should be recognized as coming from God, lead and in filled with the Holy Spirit, and not from man. If comparisons are going to be made, let them be authentic points of contention or agreement, not false.
Paul refutes the false teachers and preachers by indicating that their doctrines are made by man and not from God. They might have been saying the same thing of Paul’s teaching and preaching, they could not claim that their doctrine was from God.
Their doctrine, their arguments, would be from logic and not from the leading of the Holy Spirit. What they had to say would seem correct and their conclusions would seem to be logical to any learned person. But all that they said did not have the imprint or inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Eventually its falseness would be exposed.
Paul’s first lesson from the letter to the Galatians is to reject any false gospel that seeks to add conditions to the salvation message of Christ. There can be no additional conditions to the grace of God. God’s grace is his benevolent forgiveness for our sin through the unmerited application of Jesus’ blood. God’s grace is so deep and wide that nothing more is needed.
It is required of each of us to examine any teaching or preaching that is different. If we don’t feel qualified to do so, we need to be sure that we have someone in our church who is qualified to do it. That could be a deacon, a Sunday school teacher, a staff member. And regardless of how enticing the speech, how correct and logical the argument, falseness should be rejected every time.
Are you the product of a false gospel - or the recipient of God’s true grace - his unmerited favor bestowed on your confession of sin, your repentance from sin, and your belief in Christ as your savior?
As long as no other conditions havebeen added to the gospel you believed in, then you have the true gospel of Christ. There is nothing you could do, can do, or will ever be able to do to bring God’s grace upon you - it is always the work of God and God alone.
