The Pure Gospel!

No Other Gospel

6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in 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 them be under God’s curse! 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 them be under God’s curse!

So begins Paul's letter to the Galatians.  Galatia was a city in Asia Minor, known as Turkey today.  There were several churches Paul started in that area, which is why the letter says, "To the churches of Galatia".  The key issue in this letter is Paul's concern that these churches came to faith through the "pure gospel" and now they were being a preached a "perverted" gospel, which was no gospel at all. There was no good news in it. What does the "pure gospel" mean?  

The pure gospel is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The pure gospel is God sent His only Son to the world to save it from its sin.  The pure gospel is salvation is a free gift and we can do nothing to earn it.  The pure gospel is if we could do something to earn our salvation, then Christ died for nothing.  Paul captures the pure gospel in his letter to the Ephesians by writing, "It is by grace you have been saved by faith not by works so that no one can boast!" Ephesians 2:8

So how were the Christians (most think they were Jewish Christians) perverting the pure gospel?  When male Gentiles came to faith in Christ, these Christians were insisting that they needed to be circumcised in order to be included in the covenant God made with Abraham.  In short, they were going back to observing the Mosaic law. They completely disregarded that Jesus fulfilled all the requirements of the Law.  They were taking a free gift and turning it back into a law to be obeyed. They were returning to slavery. We call this legalism.  

It must have been confusing for these new Christians to hear a gospel where they were saved by a free gift from God, and then told they had to go do something to prove they were truly Christian.  Paul shows how upset he is about this when he says, "If anyone preaches a gospel another gospel than the one we (Paul) preached to you let them be cursed." This serious stuff!

As you read through church history you will see that there were many times the church drifted toward legalism and the result was always bad.  The only message that can change a human life is the gospel.  The only power for a Christian to live a new life in Christ is the Holy Spirit, the free gift we are given when we come to faith.  Going back to the Law is bad, bad, bad.  When we come to faith in Christ, we are free to obey the spirit of the law.  We are not under the curse of the Law, but we obey the most important commandment which is, "To love God with all of our heart, soul, strength and mind and love our neighbors as ourselves."  Jesus said that if we obeyed these two we have obeyed the whole law.  

Watch out for legalism in the church. It is not the gospel.  It only kills, it does not give new life.  Our obedience to Christ comes from gratitude and joy for what God has done for us!  Out of the pure gospel comes pure obedience in the sense in that it is not manipulated, or borne out of a fear of punishment. It is or freedom that Christ set you free, don't go back to slavery!