No Other Gospel

 

Freedom in Christ- 1

 

TITLE: No Other Gospel

TEXT: Galatians 1:1-10

TONE: Warning

TASK: To warn believers of tampering with the Gospel message.

TEACH: There is no other way to board a plane unless you do what the airline requires. You must have a real government issues ID. If it is an international flight, you must have a valid passport. You also must check the visa requirements for entering such country. You must have a ticket, a boarding pass. If you bag is too heavy, then you will need to check it. And then there are all the carry-on regulations. There is only one way to get on that plane and that is obey the rules.

 

TRUTH: Paul wrote the book of Galatians to the assemblies of Christians scattered around the southern portion of the Roman province of Galatia in order to warn them against the influence of false teachers in their communities. These troublemakers insisted that the Gentile Galatian Christians had to complete their Christian commitment and finalize their place in the people of God by becoming Jewish (3:3). Gentile men would need to accept circumcision (6:12) and everyone would need to follow the Jewish calendar (4:10). Presumably, everyone would also have to follow the Jewish dietary restrictions (2:12) … Paul’s replies with an emotional, sophisticated, and theologically rich letter. [1]

 

Luther, in his commentary wrote, “St. Paul wrote this epistle because, after his departure from the Galatian churches, Jewish-Christian fanatics moved in, who perverted Paul’s Gospel of man’s free justification by faith in Christ Jesus.

This is probably the very first of Paul’s letters that have survived to become part of the New Testament. It may have been written as early as ad 48.

 

Paul first stayed in Galatia because he was ill (4:13–15). The people were very kind to him, and received the gospel willingly. But now they have been visited by Jewish teachers with a different message. These teachers distort the gospel by insisting that Gentile Christians must be circumcised and keep the Jewish law.

 

Paul quickly sees the danger. If this teaching catches on, it will destroy the gospel. The Jews are adding an extra requirement to simple faith in Christ. They want the Galatians to show their Christian difference in the same ways that Jews have shown their Jewish difference—by circumcision, sabbath-keeping and food laws.

 

Paul argues that faith in Jesus and his death on the cross is all that is needed for salvation. It was faith, not circumcision, which put Abraham right with God. Being circumcised, keeping the sabbath and eating Jewish food can’t possibly add to what Jesus has already done!^[2]

 

The world bears the Gospel a grudge because the Gospel condemns the religious wisdom of the world. Jealous for its own religious views, the world in turn charges the Gospel with being a subversive and licentious doctrine, offensive to God and man, a doctrine to be persecuted as the worst plague on earth.

 

As a result we have this paradoxical situation: The Gospel supplies the world with the salvation of Jesus Christ, peace of conscience, and every blessing. Just for that the world abhors the Gospel. These Jewish-Christian fanatics who pushed themselves into the Galatian churches after Paul’s departure, boasted that they were the descendants of Abraham, true ministers of Christ, having been trained by the apostles themselves, that they were able to perform miracles.

 

In every way they sought to undermine the authority of St. Paul. They said to the Galatians: “You have no right to think highly of Paul. He was the last to turn to Christ. But we have seen Christ. We heard Him preach. Paul came later and is beneath us. It is possible for us to be in error—we who have received the Holy Ghost? Paul stands alone. He has not seen Christ, nor has

he had much contact with the other apostles. Indeed, he persecuted the Church of Christ for a long time.”[3]

 

Paul’s:

I.                            Authority was Anchored in the Almighty (1-5)

Explanation: Authentic authority arises from a divine appointment, not human affirmation. Paul stresses his apostleship is from God, assuring the Galatians of the gospel’s divine origin. The heart of the Gospel is the grace of God given through Christ’s sacrificial service. Even in his greeting Paul centers on salvation by grace through faith.

 

According to Douglas Moo, “The word apostle (apostolos) means “one who is sent,” an envoy as Origen puts it, “Everyone is sent by someone is an apostle of the who sent him.” Paul can use the word in a simple nontechnical sense and to denote Christians who have been sent as accredited missionaries. But when Paul uses it in describing himself, he uses Apostolos to claim equal status with the twelve.”[4] Agitators were seeking to undermine Paul’s authority. Paul’s point being that he does not owe his status to any man, but to the calling of God alone. Therefore, the book carries the full weight of apostolic authority.

 

No longer had Paul left when perverters of truth crept in and confused the people. Their goal was to undermine the truth of the gospel.

 

One of the ways to undermine the truthfulness of a letter is to cast doubt upon the one who wrote it. The Galatians had received the true gospel of grace, but they have allowed false teachers to pull them away. Judaizers had convinced the church that Paul was a self-appointed apostle, which cast doubt upon the truth he taught. However briefly, Paul defends his apostleship by affirming that it came directly from Jesus.

 

Luther wrote, “we exalt our calling, not to gain glory among men, or money, or

satisfaction, or favor, but because people need to be assured that the words we speak are the words of God. This is no sinful pride. It is holy pride.”

 

Application: Affirm Absolute Authority.

 

Paul’s aim:

II.                        Guarding the Gospel of Genuine Grace (6-7)

Explanation: Guard against gullibility; deviations demand discernment. Paul’s amazement at their quick turn implies the enduring temptation of alternative gospels. Manipulating the message transforms it into something entirely distant from divine grace.

 

Paul stated that he was (thaumazo, a strong word meaning “to be astounded”). He was not ‘amazed’ by the false teachers, they were expected, but he was amazed at how (tacheos, quickly) they had deserted the truth. The believers apparently offered little to no resistance to the false teachers. Deserting is a military expression (metatithemi) punishable by death. Literally, they were behaving as traitors. May we never forget how the enemy desires perversion, disruption, and deception.

 

I’m sure the amazement was the result of the fruitful ministry Paul had in Galatia. Timothy George wrote, “It is clear from Acts 13:14 that God had greatly blessed the missionary efforts of Paul and Barnabas in the cities of South Galatia despite the strong opposition they encountered there. Many new believers were won to Christ, churches were planted, elders appointed, and miracles displayed. Now, in the afterglow of this great awakening, the Galatians for whom Paul harbored great hope were at the very point of abandoning the gospel itself.” [5] We hear Paul’s dismay in these verses.

 

Luther wrote, “Sin is not canceled by lawful living, for no person is able to live up to the Law. The Law reveals guilt, fills the conscience with terror, and drives men to despair. Much less is sin taken away by man-invented endeavors. The fact is, the more a person seeks credit for himself by his own efforts, the deeper he goes into debt. Nothing can take away sin except the grace of God.” (pg. 14). Furthermore, our sins are great, so great, in fact, that the whole world could not make amends for a single sin. We are careless and foolish to think that our acts could atone for sin. Our sins are so vicious only Christ could pay the price. To think otherwise is to have a false understanding of sin, it nature and its consequences.

 

However, Paul did not give up on them. He wrote letters to win them back. Paul also reminds them that he is not their judge, but the one who “called them” is.

 

Application: Discern Distorted Doctrines.

 

Paul’s passion:

III.                   Tenacious for Truth’s Timelessness (8-9)

Explanation: Commitment calls for courage -compromise leads to corruption. Even if another angelic or apostolic figure preaches a differing gospel, they are to be rejected. By restating the warning, Paul stresses the indispensable need to keep the Gospel untouched.

 

According to William Hendrickson, “Paul is saying, if even we (I, or a fellow-worker) or a holy angel must be the object of God’s righteous curse, were any of us ever to preach a gospel contrary to the one we humans previously preached to you, then all the more the divine wrath must be poured out upon these self-appointed nobodies who are making themselves guilty of this crime.”[6]

 

Those trying to lead the Galatians astray, I’m sure had impressive credentials, but they were wrong -dead wrong. Paul wrote that not only should they not be believed, but “accursed.” The word used here is (anathema, which means ‘devoted to destruction’). Why? Because they carry the spirit of Anti-Christ. We are to have nothing to do with such false teachers. 

 

Application: Live Liberated Lives.

 

 

 

 

 

Paul’s end:

IV.                   Pleasing the Providential Provider (10)

Explanation: Prioritize pleasing the Provider over popular opinion or praise from people. Paul underscores that his ministry motives are aligned with divine desire, spotting a heart devoted to God’s pleasure above all.

 

Gar (for) has numerous meanings, but its use here adds weight to Paul’s previous statement in the preceding verse. It is Paul’s reasoning for giving the curse. There was a time when Paul did try to please men. In the past, he was a zealous persecutor of the church, but that time was long gone. Paul was transformed through the gospel of the resurrected Christ. He had surrendered his life entirely to Lordship of Jesus Christ.

 

For this reason, Paul saw himself as a “bondservant” of Christ.

 

Application: Give Glory to God.

 

 

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[1] Frank Thielman, Expository Commentary: Romans-Galatians (Wheaton: Crossway, 2020), 569.

^[2] Andrew Knowles, The Bible Guide, 1st Augsburg books ed. (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg, 2001), 604.

[3] Martin Luther, A Commentary on St Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians (Grand Rapids: Christan Classics, 1546), 5.

[4] Douglas Moo, Baker Exegetical Commentary: Galatians (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2013), 67.

[5] Timothy George, New American Commentary: Galatians (Nashville: B&H Publishing, 1994), 90.

[6] William Hendrickson, New Testament Commentary: Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1962), 41. 

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