There is one true Jesus Christ, and so there is one true Gospel. There are true churches where there are true believers who sit under true preachers and teachers of that Gospel, just as there were true prophets and Apostles of God of old.
Then, the NT says there are false teachers, false prophets, false Christs, false churches, false believers. And there are going to be false gospels.
Paul wrote to the Galatians to take on a false gospel that was gaining traction in their church. Other Gospels present a different Jesus. Other gospels will say that Jesus did and said different things than he actually did and said. Other gospels will add things to the message Jesus and the Apostles gave us, thus adding to the requirements a person must meet to be saved. The one true Gospel is about the one true Jesus, and the true work He did, and the one true message He gave us for salvation. The true Jesus came in the flesh, born a man, died on the cross, was buried and 3 days later he rose up, and then he left the earth and returned to his divine glory in heaven at the Father’s right hand. The true Gospel says that you can be saved only by believing that Jesus’ death was real and it really was for you. The true Gospel says that Jesus was God’s sacrifice for your sins, and that if you believe on His name then your sins will be wiped out and you will receive eternal life. That’s the true Gospel.
This section is important for several reasons: 1) warn against false gospels, 2) establish the one true gospel, 3) establish Paul’s authority as an apostle, 4) those preaching different gospels do not have any authority and are not sent by God, but rather are condemned by God
QUITTING CHRIST (6)
The first point to see is Quitting Christ, follow verse 6 with me…READ.
First, they quit God by quitting the Gospel. Notice carefully Paul’s words. He does not say that they were quitting a doctrine or a certain theology, although they were. He says they quit SOMEONE: God. “You are so quickly deserting THE ONE who called you…” That is God the Father. God the Father called them to Himself But not only God the Father, as Paul says in chapter 5 too, “You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ…” It is not a mere point of doctrine they were changing, but their relationship with the triune God was directly related to the Gospel.
Second, they quit quickly. Apparently this was not a long process, but a fast and short one. Paul says, “I am astonished that you are SO QUICKLY deserting…” Apparently, not long after Paul had returned home from his very first mission trip, which took him through Galatia, he was receiving word that those Galatian believers he just converted, were already turning away from the Gospel he preached to them. He had not even unpacked his bags yet and he had to sit down and fire off an urgent letter to turn them around back to the Gospel.
Time plus false teaching leads you to bad places. You see in Scripture how God’s people can get to bad places over time and not being vigilant in different ways. For instance:
- Jesus told the Ephesian church in Revelation 2 that they needed to return to their first love. Somehow, over time, while they remained doctrinally sound, they left their first love.
- In the OT, God told King Saul, “You were once small in your own eyes.” Somehow, over some time, Saul lost his humility towards God
- The Corinthians began accepting false apostles who taught about false Christs and
You are deserting Him who CALLED you by His grace. God calls people to Himself. “And you also are among those Gentiles who are CALLED to belong to Jesus Christ” (Romans 1:6). “How does He do that? Through the Gospel. He calls people through the preaching of the Gospel. “How can they believe in the one whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” (Rom 10:14). The Gospel call is the call to believe the message about Jesus, the grace of God offered to you through Jesus, and when you believe that message you are believing God. You are stepping towards God, and beginning a personal relationship with God. So when the Galatians began to turn away from the Gospel, they were quitting the Gospel message, but in so doing they were quitting their relationship with God that had begun. The point is this: the Gospel is the ONLY way God enters into a relationship with us. Quitting the Gospel is to quit God.
Notice he says we were called to live in the grace of Jesus Christ. God called us to a new life that is lived in the grace of Jesus Christ. This is a very critical line from Paul that is the basis for the whole letter, and the whole Christian life. We are called to live in the grace of Jesus Christ – not the law of Moses. We are saved BY grace. But we also LIVE in that grace. Grace and law do not mix. What that means, and what Paul will explain in Galatians and every other letter is two things: the Christian life is not entered into by law. Nor is the Christian life lived out by following the law. This is a non-negotiable. There are “Torah-Keepers” out there, Christians who insist that as Christians we have to live the Christian life by following the law of Moses. They do not know what they are talking about. Let me point out quickly just for reference 3 points on this very issue from Galatians alone, which we’ll dive deep into in this series:
- Right here in verse 6 it says we are called to LIVE IN THE GRACE of Jesus Christ. This means the active living of a new life, the day-to-day Christian life. It is not lived “under the law” but in God’s grace. There is no place in the entire NT where law and grace are combined for either salvation or Christian living
- Turn to 3:1-5, READ…The notion that once you receive salvation by faith, but then you have to go and follow the law is sternly condemned right here by Paul. “But now that we have the Spirit we have the power to live out the law,” the Torah keepers say. Wrong. Paul says right here that once you receive the Spirit by faith in Jesus that very same Spirit does NOT lead you back to following the law.
- Then finally, chapter 5 is entirely devoted to living by the Spirit. Paul explains that living by the Spirit is how we live as Christians. We receive the Spirit through grace, and we live life in step with the Spirit by grace – not law. Grace is never combined with law, nor is the Spirit ever combined with the law.
APPLICATION: Do not quit. Do not quit the Gospel, do not quit Jesus Christ, do not quit God’s grace, do not quit God. Stay with the Gospel and do not allow anyone to seduce you away from its purity and truth.
APPLICATION TO THE APPLICATION: Ensure you are established. (Col 2:6-7; 2 Pet 3:17-19; Thessalonians…)
I cannot stress how important it is for you to get established in grace. Its why we preach how we do, why we teach 10am class, why we do one on one discipleships, and small group discipleships, why we do pastoral counseling, and so much more. We are trying in everything we say to establish each of you firmly in God’s grace by the preaching of His word. Do your part by submitting your whole life to God’s word and being established in your faith.