A DIFFERENT GOSPEL
Galatians 1:3-7 NKJV
3 Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. 6 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, 7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.
Paul is writing to the churches in Galatia. This was a region in what is now modern-day Turkey. It was an area settled by Celtic Gauls approximately 250 years before the birth of Christ. The overarching theme of the letter to the Galatians was Paul's concern for their spiritual lives. They had started their walk with Christ by faith but were turning to keeping the Jewish laws. And Paul was not happy.
In our verses for today, I do love what Paul declares in verse three. Jesus gave Himself for our sins in order to deliver us from this present evil age. All this was done according to the will of God. This verse is a great one to declare over our lives today. That Jesus has delivered us from this present evil age. Not that we are no longer living in this evil age, but that it has no power over us. By faith in this word, we can declare ourselves free.
Paul then expresses concern that the Galatians were turning away from the grace of Christ to a different gospel. The Galatians had received the message of the grace of Christ. These were people with no Jewish heritage whatsoever. Their salvation and deliverance were completely by grace with no works involved. This is the essence of the gospel. The grace of Christ - what Jesus did for us during His death, burial, and resurrection. This grace was a gift that we did not earn or deserve. The grace of Christ is a marvelous thing that we rejoice in.
However, the Galatians had been approached by people proclaiming what Paul called a different gospel, which, in actuality, was not a different gospel but rather a distortion of the grace of Christ's gospel. We will see this theme throughout Paul's letter. People had followed Paul into the region of Galatia and were teaching grace plus. Grace plus the keeping of Jewish laws and ceremonies. This grace plus was no bueno. Now, instead of enjoying the peace and freedom that the gospel presents, these Galatians were subjecting themselves to Jewish laws. The law does not bring freedom; it brings condemnation.
Paul said that those presenting this different gospel were troubling the Galatians. The grace of Christ is not a troubling message. But the idea that we need something else besides faith in Christ to be made right with God does not produce peace. We can never do enough.
Paul spends the rest of his letter spelling out the differences between the true gospel and the distorted one.
APPLICATION
We still have to beware of people who present a distorted gospel. When the emphasis shifts from grace to any kind of work, it's time to pump the brakes. It's not about diet, how someone was baptized or what church they belong to that produces salvation. It was grace in Paul's day and still grace today.
PRAYER
Thank You, Lord, for Your grace! You gave Yourself for my sins and have delivered me from this present evil age.