Daily Bread 2011 - Galatians 1

No Other Gospel
6 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— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 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! 9 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!10 Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Paul Called by God
11 I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. 12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.

What Does This Mean?
We now move into Paul’s letter to the churches in Galatia (modern day Turkey). Though only 6 chapters, Galatians is a power packed letter, which focuses on the doctrine that we are saved by faith alone, through grace alone. This letter, along with Romans, were the two letters Luther relied on the most, as he set about to show that the Catholic Church (in his day) had moved from “grace alone” to “grace plus works” in their theology.

As we see in chapter 1, this was happening in the church at Galatia as well. Paul is astonished that the Christians there are so quickly deserting the gospel of grace and replacing it with a different one. Paul is quick to squash this as he realizes the doctrine of “grace alone” is the foundation to the Church, and that if there is anything we could do to earn God’s love, than Christ died for nothing. Yes, in this case it is that black and white. Though there is room for discussion and debate in other matters of doctrine, this one, like the resurrection Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians 15, is crucial for us to maintain in its purity. Why?

In Galatia, the Judaizers (Jewish believers in Christ) were saying that if someone came to Christ, as a Gentile believer, they needed to be circumcised (a Jewish rite from the Old Testament) in order to be truly saved. We will hear more about this later, but suffice it to say that Paul is very clear that any perversion from the gospel of grace to a gospel of works (any type of work) warrants eternal condemnation. Pretty strong words but ones we must listen to.

What Does This Mean For Us?
It means we need to be careful of the human tendency to start with the message of grace and then move to a message of works. As humans we love to have control, which is a form of pride. When we start to condition the message by saying someone has to do something in order to be accepted by God, even if that something is a good thing like praying or reading the bible, we are on the slippery slope of what Paul is talking about.

This is where we confuse justification with sanctification. Justification is how we become right with God based on what Jesus did for us and believing in it by faith, which is also a gift from God. Sanctification is the process of God’s setting us apart, once we come to faith, and using us to be a light in the world so more people will learn of God’s great love for them. As part of the process of sanctification, we start practicing things like reading the bible and praying, which are continually a means of grace that help us to live out our new calling.

As is the danger with Justification, as we teach about Sanctification we can make the same error. I.e. You need to do this or that to be truly Sanctified! Sanctification is God’s work in us as we stay connected to the Vine (John 15) and begin to bear the fruit of our connection with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit through good works that have eternal value. We will learn more from this great book tomorrow!

Heavenly Father, we thank you that you have called us and set us apart like the Apostle Paul. Continue to reveal Your purpose in and through us, so that we may pass along this same Gospel that has saved us by Your grace to others. Amen.