Several years ago (December 2008), I had the opportunity to go to Belarus to teach church multiplication to young Belarussians getting ready to plant churches in various parts of the country. I had about a hundred pages of notes for the students, so I looked into translating them into Russian. However, when I found that it would cost me $5 a page (or $500 total) to translate them, I looked for a program on the internet that would translate the material for free.
I remembered reading about a guy who used such a program to translate the song, “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” into German. Then the guy wondered about the accuracy of the translation, so he had the same program translate the German back into English. You know the song:
Take me out to the ballgame.
Take me out to the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and Crackerjack.
I don’t care if I ever get back.
Let me root, root, root for the home team.
If they don’t win, it’s a shame.
For it’s one, two, three strikes you’re out at the old ballgame.
Well, when the guy translated it into German and then back into English, something got lost in the translation. It sounded a little militant, kind of like the Terminator:
Execute me to the ball play.
Execute me with the masses.
Buy me certain groundnuts and crackerstackfusig.
I'm not interested if I never receive back.
Let me root, root, root for the main team.
If they do not win, it is dishonor.
For there are one, two, three impacts on you at the old ball play.
(Lee Strobel, Meet the Jesus I Know, Preaching Today Audio No. 211)
Well, so much for the idea of using the internet to translate my notes! You’d think somebody was going to get beat up rather than enjoy a good ball game. Sure, the song is somewhat recognizable, but the meaning comes out quite different.
Do you know? The same kind of thing can happen in our understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There are people who sincerely want to translate the gospel into something everyone can understand, but all too often things get lost in the translation, and the Jesus they communicate ends up as a parody of who he really is: somewhat recognizable, but really quite different.
Dear friends, please be careful that you believe the RIGHT Gospel. Otherwise, you could be headed in the WRONG direction and never experience true freedom in this life or the next. If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Galatians 1, Galatians 1, where we find out what Freedom’s Gospel is all about.
Galatians 1:6-7a 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 – not that there is another one… (ESV) Literally, “which is really not the same gospel.”
You see, false teachers were coming after the Apostle Paul and claiming to preach the same Gospel he did. But Paul makes it very clear, “They are preaching a different gospel.” And he warns his readers…
DON’T BELIEVE IN A DIFFERENT GOSPEL.
Don’t trust in an altered faith system. Don’t turn to another so-called “truth,” which may sound the same, but is really not the same.
Nataly Kelly, a professional translator, tells the story about what translators have called the “$70 million word.”
In 1980, 18-year-old Willie Ramirez was admitted to a Florida hospital in a comatose state. His friends and family tried to describe his condition to the paramedics and doctors who treated him, but Willie's family only spoke Spanish. They told the hospital staff that Willie was intoxicado. Now, in Spanish, intoxicado refers to a state of poisoning, usually from ingesting something toxic to the system. Ramirez's family was trying to say that Willie was suffering from food poisoning – literally, “he is poisoned.”
But the hospital staff person, who was asked to translate for the Ramirez family, said that Willie was “intoxicated,” just like the word sounds. So the doctors treated him as if he had ingested too much alcohol or drugs. As a result, Willie became permanently paralyzed, and eventually a court settlement required that the hospital pay the Ramirez family $71 million. (Nataly Kelly and Jost Zetzsch, Found in Translation, Perigee Trade, 2012, pp. 3-5; www.PreachingToday.com)
The doctors believed in a different “truth”. Oh, it sounded the “same”, but the difference was devastating. In the same way, those who believe a different Gospel experience devastating spiritual results.
My friends, that is what has happened in many of our evangelical churches and why we see so many of our members, young and old alike, still living in bondage to their sin. They have believed a different “truth”, a different Gospel than what the Bible actually teaches.
For too long, our evangelical movement has proclaimed, “Pray to receive Christ and you will be saved”, or “Ask Jesus into your heart and you will have eternal life.” But that is NOT what the Bible says! The Bible says, “BELIEVE in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31).
Now, what we have told people SOUNDS the same, but it is NOT the same. It is different, and that difference is deadly! Unwittingly, we have led people to believe that it is something they do that saves them: “Just pray this prayer, and you’re in!” But nothing you and I do can ever save us! Our salvation depends only on what Christ has already done for us on the cross.
All that remains for us to do is believe in Him, i.e., to trust Him. We must depend on the Lord Jesus for our deliverance from sin, not just for our deliverance from hell, but for our deliverance from sin, which ultimately condemns us to hell.
Oh my dear friends, please, make sure you are NOT believing in a different Gospel. Please, make sure you are NOT depending on something YOU did, on a prayer YOU prayed, or a religious ritual YOU participated in. Instead, depend on Christ, and Him alone, to save you from your sin. lease, don’t believe in a different gospel. And please…
DON’T BELIEVE IN A DISTORTED GOSPEL.
Don’t depend on any perversions of the faith. Don’t trust in a tainted truth.
Galatians 1:7b There are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. (ESV)
False teachers distort the good news. They twist the truth, and it confuses people. The false teachers that were following Paul, told people that they had to earn God’s acceptance, that they had to earn God’s favor and blessing by observing certain rituals. In essence, they were saying that faith in Christ is not enough, that there are other things you and I have to do to get God to like us more.
And that’s what false teachers are still saying today. As a result, many of God’s people are confused. Many of God’s people really believe that God doesn’t like them very much unless they do more, unless they read more Bible verses, or go to more church services, or help more people. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The Bible, in Ephesians 1, makes it very clear that for those of us who are depending on Christ, we are already “blessed with every spiritual blessing” (vs.3). And we are already “blessed in the Beloved” (vs.6) – Literally, we are highly favored in the One who is loved, i.e., in Christ. It’s the same terminology the angel used when he addressed the Virgin Mary, “Greetings, O favored one” (Luke 1:28). God cannot love us more than He already does!
Every believer is “blessed” and “highly favored” by the Lord, simply because we believe, simply because we trust and depend on Him. God really appreciates it when we depend on Him. And anytime anybody adds anything to faith as a requirement for God’s acceptance, then all kinds of red flags should go up.
We should be like those little bluegills that the cities of San Francisco and New York use to detect the presence of toxins in their water supplies, a possible sign of a terrorist attack.
According to an article by the Associated Press, a small number of bluegills are kept in a tank at the bottom of each city's water treatment plant, because they are highly susceptible to chemical imbalances in their environment. When a disturbance is present in the water, the bluegills react against it. If the computerized system of the treatment plant detects even the slightest change in a bluegill's vital signs, it sends out an e-mail alert. (Marcus Wohlsen, Fish used to detect terror attacks, www.ABCNews.com, 9-19-06)
We should be like those bluegills. When the pure, living water of God’s good news gets tainted with any additive, then we should react against it. When we as believers begin to think that we have not done enough to earn God’s blessing and favor, then all kinds of warnings should go off in our heads.
Anyone who believes in Christ is blessed! That’s it! That’s the good news. That’s the Gospel. Please whatever you do, don’t believe in a different Gospel. Don’t believe in a distorted Gospel. And my friends, please…
DON’T BELIEVE IN A DAMNED GOSPEL.
Don’t depend on an idea that will only condemn you in the end. Don’t trust in a distorted truth that will destroy you in this life and the next.
You see, whenever we contaminate the gospel with anything other than simple faith, then we condemn people to hell. A distorted gospel poisons all who swallow it. I know that’s strong language, but that’s the language of the Bible.
Galatians 1:8 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. (ESV)
“Anathema” is the word. It means “devoted to destruction.” And just so we don’t miss it, Paul says it again.
Galatians 1:9 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. (ESV)
Let him be devoted to destruction.
Several years ago (2000), an Illinois scientist named William Walsh studied strands of hair from the body of famous classical composer Ludwig Van Beethoven. By studying those strands of hair, Dr. Walsh discovered that Beethoven's body had 100 times the normal amount of lead. He concluded that Beethoven's untimely death at the age of 57 was due to lead poisoning.
What's interesting is that Beethoven's lead poisoning can be traced to the mineral spa that he went to in order to relax. Think about that: the very thing he thought was bringing him relief and relaxation was actually slowly poisoning him to death. (Tim Peck, "Deepening Your Life with God," PreachingToday.com)
That’s exactly what a poisoned gospel does! It kills people even as it makes them feel good.
Please, whatever you do, don’t believe in a different gospel. Don’t believe in a distorted gospel, and don’t believe in a damned gospel. Instead…
BELIEVE IN THE DIVINE GOSPEL.
Depend on the Good News that comes from God himself. Trust in His word, and His word alone.
Galatians 1:10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. (ESV)
Like Paul, don’t live your life trying to please people. That only puts you in bondage. Instead, just believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Just trust Christ with your life. Just depend wholly and completely upon Him, because that IS the true Gospel of Christ, which sets you free!
Galatians 1:11-12 For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. (ESV)
Paul did not get his gospel from any man, no. He got his gospel directly from Jesus Christ Himself.
Now, what exactly is the Gospel that Paul preached? Well, we have the details of it in Acts 13, where Paul’s message to the Galatians is recorded. If you will, turn with me to Acts 13. I’ll pick it up at verse 26.
Acts 13:26-31 Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation. For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him nor understand the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him. And though they found in him no guilt worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have him executed. And when they had carried out all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead, and for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people. (ESV)
This is the Gospel that Paul preached. This is the Gospel that Paul got directly from Jesus Christ Himself. This is the Divine Gospel itself, and it is very simple: Christ died for our sins and rose again. Let me say it again. Christ died for our sins and rose again.
The next few verses talk more about the resurrection of Christ. Then we pick it up at verse 38, where it talks about how we are to respond to this Gospel, this Good News about Christ.
Acts 13:38-39 Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. (ESV)
The Law of Moses cannot free you from the guilt and power of your sin. It can only condemn you, because none of us can keep the Law. But Christ can set you free if you believe only in Him, if you simply trust Him with your life. Did you see it there in verse 39? “Everyone who believes is freed!”
Now, that’s the gospel that comes from God. And that’s the gospel we need to depend on every day. Depend on Christ, who died for you and rose again. Then you will experience forgiveness and freedom from your sin.
On top of that, you’ll also be free from the bondage of having to live up to other people’s standards. You’ll be released from having to please people, because you’ll discover that God is already pleased with you. As the Bible says, He “highly favors” you!
The actor Hugh Jackman, who has played lead roles in X-Men and Les Miserables, describes some of the deep wounds from his childhood that still drive his life even years later. When he was eight-years-old his mother abandoned him, his father, and Hugh's four elder siblings. When he finally realized that his mother was gone for good, Jackman was too frightened to enter his house alone. In a 2013 interview he said, “I was terrified because I was the first one home every day. I used to walk home from school and wait outside. I just wouldn't go in.”
His father, Christopher, seemed to compensate for the pain by working long hours as an accountant. Jackman said, “My father could only come to one [school sports] game a year because he had five kids, and on Saturday he had to shop. If my father was there, it would be 50 percent greater. Having his approval is something that still drives me.”
Jackman admits his ongoing struggles with fear, anxiety, and people-pleasing. Although his ambition to be a star has quieted, it hasn't entirely disappeared. He said:
I saw a play in Sydney, and in the notes they had this quote from Bono that said: “What kind of hole exists in the heart of a person when they need to have 70,000 people scream, ‘I love you,’ in order to feel fulfilled?” But there is a part of me that wants to please, to be all things to all people. (Stephen Galloway, “Hugh Jackman on His Surprising Hollywood BFFs and Mother's Abandonment,” The Hollywood Reporter, 2-13-13; www.PreachingToday.com)
What bondage! And I’m sure it’s not unique to Hugh Jackman. Many people are under similar bondage, driven by the need for approval, driven by the need to please. Perhaps, that describes some of you.
Please, don’t be in bondage any longer. Please, don’t depend on a different Gospel. Don’t depend on a distorted Gospel, and don’t depend on a damned Gospel. Instead, depend on the divine Gospel that Christ sets the believer free! My dear friends, Christ will set YOU free if you depend on Him.
Simply trusting every day;
Trusting thro’ a stormy way;
Even when my faith is small,
Trusting Jesus – that is all. (Edgar P. Stites)
