Message

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NO OTHER GOSPEL BUT THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST

Galatians 1:1-24

Key Verse:1:6,7 “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called 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.”

  Galatians is the Apostle Paul’s letter to the saints in the churches in Galatia, the central Asia Minor. In this letter Paul admonishes the saints to keep the gospel of Christ from false teachings and to live godly lives according to the Holy Spirit. The main message of Paul is that we can be justified through faith in Jesus Christ not observing the law, and can be saved only by God’s grace. (2:16) In chapters 1and 2 Paul defends his apostleship, warns them about the false gospel, and testifies how the grace of God was upon him. May God teach us Paul’s gospel faith so that we also may live with gospel faith in this perverse and corrupted generation.

First, Paul’s apostleship.  Look at verse 1. “Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead…” Paul identified himself as an apostle who was not sent from men but by Jesus Christ and God the Father. At that time there were some who challenged Paul’s apostleship even though the churches in Galatia were established by Paul during his first missionary journey (Ac 13:13-14:23). They thought that Paul did not meet the requirements of being an apostle, which was to be an eyewitness of Christ’s ministry from the time of the baptism by John to the resurrection and to be chosen for that office by the Risen Christ. (Ac 1:22) They did not know how Paul had met the Risen Christ on the way to Damascus and how he was chosen to be an apostle for the Gentiles. (Ac 9:15,16)  Paul defended his apostleship by saying that his apostleship came directly from Jesus Christ and God the Father, not from any man. In verse 12 he said, “I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.” Paul received the gospel of Christ from Jesus Christ directly as well as his apostleship.

  Once Jesus entered the temple courts, and while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people challenged Jesus saying, “By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority?” (Mt 21:23) Jesus answered them, “John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or from men?” The religious leaders became silent because they knew that John’s baptism and his authority came from God not from men. Martin Luther proclaimed the universal priesthood, which means that every believer becomes a priest based on 1 Peter 2:9. Every believer who has been baptized in the name of Jesus Christ can preach and teach the word without permission from any clergy or church authority.

  These days some of us experience the same challenges as Paul did when we preach and teach the word. “With what authority do you teach the Bible?” “Do you have a license of teaching issued by a seminary?” “Where does your pastorship come from?” Of course we don’t deny the authority and the order of God’s church, but we believe that the gospel of Christ can be preached and taught by all believers. Anyone who is saved through faith in Jesus Christ can preach the gospel of Christ Jesus. Personally before I was anointed as a UBF pastor 10 years ago, I had been preaching and teaching the Bible to young college students for 20 years. God has worked mightily through my ministry by bringing many lost souls to Christ Jesus. I believe that my pastorship and authority as a Bible teacher came from my Lord Jesus Christ who died for me and set me apart for the gospel since I was born again. As Paul’s apostleship came from Christ Jesus and God the Father directly, so our spiritual authority and identity as Bible teachers and missionaries comes from our Lord Jesus Christ and our Father God who raised him from the dead.  Amen.

Second, the gospel of Christ Jesus vs. another gospel.  Paul wrote this letter to the saints in the churches in Galatia, probably the four churches in Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. (2) These church members were mainly Jewish immigrants and local Gentiles. Some legalistic Jews called ‘Judaizers’ came to the church and challenged the Gentile believers that they must be circumcised in order to be justified. They asked the gentiles to observe Moses’ law in order to be saved. What they meant was that the Gentiles should be Jews first and then become Christians. In verse 6 Paul expressed that he was astonished when they quickly deserted the gospel which Paul preached and turned to a different gospel, which is really no gospel at all. Evidently the Judaizers threw the gentile believers into confusion and tried to pervert the gospel of Christ.(7) So, Paul strongly warned those who preached a different gospel, or any other gospel than what Paul had preached, that they would be eternally condemned (8,9)

  What is the gospel of Christ Jesus and what is a different or other gospel about which Paul warned? The word ‘gospel’ means ‘good news’. The gospel of Christ Jesus is the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ and by God’s grace alone. The core (content) of the gospel is Jesus’ death and resurrection. Paul emphasized the importance of this gospel by putting it at the very beginning of his letter in verses 1 and 4. “…by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead…the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age…” All men, both Jews and gentiles, were under God’s wrath and punishment because of their sins. There is no one righteous, not even one, because we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Ro 3:11, 23) The penalty of our sins is death and eternal punishment. (Ro 6:23a) But God loves the world and gave his One and Only Son Jesus that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (Jn 3:16) This is the gospel, the good news of salvation which came from Jesus Christ. Whoever believes in Jesus can be justified and be saved by God’s grace. No one can be justified by observing the law because we all are lawbreakers and cannot meet God’s standard. In Gal 2:15-16, Paul said, “We who are Jews by birth and not ‘Gentile sinners’ know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.” The gospel of Christ is that we are justified through faith in Jesus Christ, who loved us, died for us on the cross, and rose again from the dead, and that we are saved only by God’s grace, not by our good deeds, achievements, or willpower.

  Nevertheless, the legalistic Jews challenged the Gentile believers to observe the law to be saved. They meant that believing in Jesus Christ is not enough for their salvation, but they must do something else in addition. These days we face and meet these kinds of people who preach the different gospel such as Jehovah’s witnesses, Mormons, some Seventh day Adventists, and so on. Their common message is the same; Faith in Jesus is not enough for salvation and we must do some righteous acts to merit salvation. Of course as Christians we must live holy and godly lives different from unbelievers in the world. We must keep the Sabbath holy, observe the Ten Commandments, and obey Jesus’ teachings. We must be salt and light to the world. However, our good deeds and works cannot be a condition or requirement for our salvation. We already failed to be righteous by our deeds. Only by God’s grace can we be saved. God requires our faith in Jesus Christ for our salvation rather than our good deeds. Sinners can be justified only through faith in Jesus Christ. When we believe God’s great love and mercy on sinners through Jesus Christ, our sins are forgiven and we are justified. Good deeds and godly lives are fruits of our faith. When we live by faith in Jesus under God’s grace, we live good and godly lives. We are free in Christ Jesus. We can eat and drink all things God created and pronounced ‘good.’ But we should not eat poisonous food, drink fermented alcohol, and smoke marihuana because they damage our body, which is the holy temple of God. What we eat and how we dress cannot be a condition for our salvation. God removed all these when he sent his Only Son Jesus Christ to this world. Sinners can be justified only through faith in Jesus and  saved only by God’s grace. Amen! This is the gospel. This is the good news which we received and on which we have taken our stand. (1 Co 15:1,2)

  These days we are also challenged and confused by another gospel, the so-called, ‘prosperity gospel.’  The prosperity gospel says that when we believe in Jesus we become healthy and wealthy. Of course God blesses us in every way when we trust in him and believe in him. 3John 2 says, “Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.” However, because the prosperity gospel emphasizes material blessings and prosperity, it misleads people into the idolatry of money and to a misunderstanding of Jesus’ messianic work. The central message of the gospel should be Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Jesus taught his disciples humility, sacrifice, obedience, devotion, self-denial, and the cross. None of these can be accomplished without taking cross of Jesus and following him daily. These elements of the gospel are often found apart from an easy and comfortable life. The prosperity gospel has become popular in America and attracts many people leading to some mega churches. However, we should preach the gospel stained by the blood of Jesus as of first importance. As we studied last week through 2 Timothy, the gospel message should make us wise for salvation and be used for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. (2 Tim 3:15,16) Those who mislead people into the idolatry of money and prosperity without the gospel message will be eternally condemned!

Third, Paul’s personal testimony. In verses 11-24 Paul shares his personal testimony, how he was converted and how he was called by Christ Jesus, for two main reasons; first for vindication of his apostleship, second for confirmation that he has the gospel of Christ Jesus. In verse 12 Paul said that he received the gospel of Christ not from any man but from Christ Jesus directly by revelation. What Paul meant was his encounter with the Risen Jesus on the way to Damascus. Look at verses 13,14. “For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.”  Before Paul was converted to Christianity, he was a persecutor and murderer of the church of Christ. He thought that he was serving God by persecuting Christians. But on the way to Damascus Paul met the Risen Christ, who appeared as great light. Paul’s eyes became blind but he heard Jesus’ voice, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting…” (Ac 9:4-6) The Lord Jesus told Paul to meet Ananias, a disciple who was in Damascus. When Ananias was afraid of Paul, hesitating to meet him, the Lord Jesus said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles…I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” (Ac 9:15,16) In this way Paul met the Risen Jesus personally and was called to be an apostle. Look at verses 15-17. “But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus.” After his conversion, Paul did not go to Jerusalem in order to receive recognition or instruction from other apostles, but went to Arabia instead. He probably stayed in Arabia for personal time with Christ and for deep Bible study. Then, he came back to Damascus.

  After three years, Paul went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with some of the other disciples. He met Peter and stayed with him fifteen days. He also met James, the brother of Jesus. (19) Later he went to Syria and Cilicia. Paul was personally unknown to the churches of Judea. The believers in Judea only heard the report: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” And they praised God because of Paul. (21-24) Paul knew that he was saved only by God’s grace. He confessed in 1 Corinthians 15:9,10, “…But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them-yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.” God did not remember what Paul did wrong. God forgave him by his grace when Paul accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. Paul said in Romans 10:9,10, “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.”

  Once I thought that sexual immorality was obeying human instinctive desires. By such ignorance and selfishness I damaged others’ hearts and souls. The penalty of my sin was death and the destination of my life was the fiery lake of burning sulfur. (Rev 21:8) But only by God’s grace I was saved. When I confessed all my sins and asked forgiveness of sin, God forgave me and credited me as righteous through faith in Jesus Christ, who died for my sins. Since then, God set me apart for the gospel of Christ and was pleased to reveal his son through my life. Amen!

  Paul described his days as “the present evil age” (4). The age we live in now is an evil age, too. False prophets and false gospels are prevailing. I pray that God may grant us discerning hearts to tell false teaching from the gospel of Christ and encourage us to live by gospel faith. The righteous will live by faith. (Ro 1:17) I also pray that we may preach the word in season and out of season as our new year resolution. May God help us to see his salvation in every aspect of our lives. Amen.

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• Galatians-1-message_edited.doc

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