ONLY ONE GOSPEL (GAL 1:6-10)

SERIES: FREE AT LAST, PART 2

GCEFC: OCTOBER 4, 2009

INTRODUCTION

1. We’ve begun a new sermon series that will take us through the Book of Galatians. Galatians is sometimes called the Charter of Christian Liberty.

2. It was the battle cry of the Protestant Reformation and nearly everything Martin Luther stood for in the Reformation was rooted in this letter.

3. The book has also been called the Christian Declaration of Independence.

4. And the great Bible scholar of the 20^th century, Merrill Tenney said of Galatians: Christianity might have been just one more Jewish sect, and the thought of the Western world might have been entirely pagan had it never been written. It was the cornerstone of the Reformation, because its teaching of salvation by grace alone became the dominant theme of the preaching of the Reformers.

5. Every book of the Bible is worthy of study. But some are especially worthy. Paul’s letter to the Galatians is one of those.

6. There are 4 main purposes for this letter:

a. To counter the threat to the Galatian churches from false teachers.

b. To defend Paul’s apostleship and spiritual authority.

c. To set forth the gospel of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

d. To clarify the means and process of sanctification for the true believer.

7. We noted last Sunday that Galatians is the only letter in which Paul does not begin with a commendation or affirmation of the recipients of his letter.

8. We may wonder why he doesn’t commend the Galatians when he commends all other churches—though they were involved in some sinful behavior that prompted his letter. And why was Paul so direct so quickly in the Galatian letter?

9. I think the reason is that the problem in Galatia was doctrinal, not relational. Doctrinal error is the worst kind of error because its effects are farther reaching.

10. Worship style, relational squabbles, and gossip is bad and needs addressing. But when you get the gospel wrong—the effects are devastating and they’re devastating for eternity!

A. IT’S A DIFFERENT GOSPEL

1. With minimal formalities out of the way Paul gets down to business. 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—which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.

2. Paul is astonished. He’s shocked. He can hardly believe what he’s heard. The Galatians had heard the true gospel of God’s forgiveness in Christ.

3. This is certain because Paul was the one who had preached it to them. They had believed. They had trusted Christ as Savior. They were on their spiritual journey. All was well.

4. But now that are apparently moving away from the true gospel toward a false gospel that was being preached by false apostles.

5. Quickly doesn’t necessary mean quickly in time. It may actually mean so easily after they heard the false gospel. In other words, they had no sooner heard the lie than they had believed the lie.

6. And it’s interesting to see that by turning to a different gospel, they are actually turning from God himself! He says that they are deserting the one who called them.

7. There’s an interesting word play here that is pretty much missed in the English translation.

a. Paul says the Galatians are turning to a different or another gospel. Then he says in V7 that it’s really no gospel at all.

b. In the Greek language he’s using 2 different words for “another.” He’s saying literally that the Galatians are turning to another gospel, which is really not another gospel. Which may sound like he’s contradicted himself. Is it another gospel or not?

c. In V6 he uses a form of the word heteros, the Greek word for another of a different kind. It shows up in English as “heterogeneous,” meaning: different in kind, unlike. Or in “heterosexual,” meaning having desire for someone of a different kind. I think you know what I mean.

d. But in V7 he uses a different word for “another.” He uses a form of the word allos, which means another of the same kind.

e. For example, suppose I was writing a letter to a friend and I run out of paper. And I call out to you and say: I’m out of paper—I need paper.

f. And you bring me this (newspaper). This would be hetero-paper. Paper of a different kind. Or you might bring me this (toilet paper). This would also be hetero-paper—a paper of a different kind.

g. But if you brought me this (stationery) or this (note pad), these would be allos-paper. Paper of the same kind.

8. Paul is saying that the Galatians are turning to a gospel of a different kind. A hetero-gospel. Which is not a another gospel of the same kind.

9. In other words they’re abandoning the true gospel for a false gospel. Which is not really the gospel at all!

10. He goes on to say in V7 that the Galatians are being thrown into confusion by people who are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.

11. As you know, the word gospel in the Bible is a translation of the Greek word meaning: good news, or good tidings.

12. The reason it’s called the good news is because it’s NEWS and it’s GOOD. It’s news because Christ had died and rose again to pay the penalty for the sins of the world. This was a new thing that had never happened before.

13. It’s good because this gift was bought and paid for by God himself. And a positive response to the gift brings reconciliation with God and forgiveness of sins.

14. So it’s both news and it’s good. So it’s good news—the gospel.

15. But this other gospel is not really the gospel because it’s BAD NEWS. Technically it’s not really news as it’s been around for all of human history. But it IS BAD.

16. It’s bad because it DOESN’T result in forgiveness and redemption and reconciliation. It only results in condemnation.

B. PROCLAIMING A FALSE GOSPEL IS A SERIOUS MISTAKE

1. But proclaiming a false gospel is not just proclamation of bad news that saves no one. It’s a very serious spiritual mistake that has very serious spiritual consequences when done.

2. Look at V8: 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.

3. It’s actually the Greek word anathema. We use the word in English to refer to someone who’s excommunicated by ecclesiastical authority. It can also be used to refer to someone who’s intensely disliked. We might say that Osama Bin Laden is anathema.

4. But here Paul makes a very sober statement. He says that if anyone preaches or declares a gospel other than the one that was already proclaimed by the apostles and confirmed by God himself—let such a person be anathema. Let him be eternally condemned.

5. And then, just so nobody misses it or misunderstands, he repeats it in V9: 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. Let him be anathema.

6. So why the harsh statement of condemnation? Two primary reasons.

a. First—declaring a false gospel denies the finished work of Christ on our behalf and diminishes his glory.

b. Second—the eternal destiny of human beings is at stake. If a person is saved by believing the good news. If the news is wrong, then the belief will be wrong.

c. And if believing the good news is required for salvation, then salvation cannot be won if the good news is perverted.

7. Notice that Paul includes himself in the condemning curse. He says IF WE or an angel from heaven preach a false gospel. And if ANYBODY is preaching a false gospel. ANYBODY would include Paul himself.

8. And of course, the gospel the Galatians had accepted was the very gospel that Paul had preached.

9. No one could accuse Paul of some special animosity toward these false teachers in Galatia. NO ONE should be exempt from the curse—it’s that serious.

10. V10 is essentially a hypothetical question. Paul had been accused by the false teachers in Galatia of adjusting the gospel message for his own benefit.

a. They claimed that when he was around Jews, he made keeping the law integral to the gospel. This appealed to Jews—so they claim Paul tailored the gospel for them.

b. And they claimed that when Paul was around Gentiles, that he watered down the gospel to appeal to them. So for Gentiles he didn’t make keeping the Law of Moses part of the gospel.

c. Of course, such an accusation was absurd. And Paul points out in V10 that he would hardly have written such a scathing letter to people he was trying to curry favor with.

d. And Paul’s ministry and record clearly reveals that he never compromised on the gospel for either Jew or Gentile. It was always the same for everyone.

e. In fact—Paul was the one confronting people for compromise. Just as he was doing with these false teachers. They were the ones compromising the truth of the gospel.

C. THE HEART OF THE ISSUE

1. As I mentioned last week, there are 3 main theological issues in the Book of Galatians.

2. The first is the issue of how a person comes to saving faith in Christ. What is required for salvation? Is a person saved by grace or by works?

3. The second issue is whether a person is saved by grace AND WORKS. The false teachers were not denying that Christ died for sin. Or faith wasn’t required for salvation.

4. They were teaching that salvation came through faith in Christ AND faithfully keeping the Law of Moses. Faithfully doing good works contributed to salvation.

5. Of course, this is still widely taught and widely believed today. In fact, the most commonly held belief is that salvation either comes through good works. Or it comes through faith and good works.

6. The true gospel of grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone is not the majority opinion. It’s what the Bible clearly teaches—but it’s not so commonly believed.

7. There are reasons for this and we will address them as we come to them in the book. There will be many opportunities to do so.

8. The third issue is how we grow once believers? Do we grow by keeping the law and doing good works? Or do we grow by some other means? This will come up in the book.

9. Before we close, I’d like to take a moment and try to illustrate the main truth of the book. That our salvation is by grace alone apart from any works we may do.

10. Hopefully this will give us a good foundation from which to examine the theological arguments throughout Paul’s letter.

11. Illustration: Possible $20 bill in one of my closed hands.

a. #1: Did this person do anything to earn this $20 other than coming and retrieving it? NO—no work was required—only faith. Only believing was required.

b. #2: So in a sense, the $20 they received was a gift of pure grace, wasn’t it? They did no work, the money was not a reward, it was simply an unmerited act of grace.

c. #3: But didn’t they have to actually come forward to receive the gift? So in a way, wasn’t their coming forward a good work that was rewarded? NO IT WASN’T.

d. Coming forward was not a good work. Coming forward was a visible demonstration of the person’s faith.

e. Many of you claimed to believe. But it was by acting on his faith that faith was demonstrated as real.

f. This is the connection between faith and works. Faith alone saves. But faith that saves is not alone. Genuine faith is evidenced by good works. Not received by good works, but evidenced through good works.

g. Good works don’t save anyone. But for a genuine believer, good works not only demonstrate saving faith—good works should always follow saving faith.

h. This is what the Bible teaches from beginning to end. We should see this more clearly with each passing week.