Slow Walk thru Galatians April 21

General Faith
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Galatians 1:6-9

“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— which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 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! 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!”

Day 2 of Galatians:

Paul talks about those who are trying to pervert the gospel- to turn it into something it was never meant to be. It’s not a completely different gospel because Christ is still at the center of it. It’s not about some other god or some other belief system. It is still Jesus, but it is a Jesus plus. It’s still grace, but it’s grace plus. And once you add anything to grace it’s no longer grace. Once you add to the salvation received through faith, it is no longer through faith. This is what the Galatians have been told and I can see how that would be appealing.

Grace through faith strikes the ego. We would like to have earned our redemption, or to think there’s something worthwhile or good in us that grace should come our way. How many of us would be joyful to know that in the end Hitler came into salvation? Take the worst dictator you can think of and imagine them standing in heaven beside you. This is where the Jews struggled. The idea that the grace of God could be received solely on believing in Jesus.

The Bible does go on to teach the do’s and don’ts’ once you believe, but once you have Jesus in your heart, those rules don’t seem like rules. They are a part of the relationship we have with Jesus as our Lord and Savior. They don’t define salvation or how we receive it. This is where the trouble begins in most people’s minds. How we behave is the outflow or our walk with Him. Our walk isn’t the way to truth. Jesus is the way to truth.

So the Galatians have bought into a tempting error that many today have also bought into. Works are the outflow and not the inflow. Grace exits even in the face of no works and yet, works are the evidence of grace received. Paul is astonished that they would turn from this truth so quickly. I, on the other hand, still see it today.

Your turn. What thoughts does this passage bring to you? Does it remind you of something you’d like to share?

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It brings to mind once I accepted Christ, I started to see things differently, in the path I walked before, weakness was shunned and ridiculed. I wanted to help the “weak” and understand them, once changed. To walk around showing pride and being the example of a warrior willing to fight at all times was the normal accepted and praised behavior. In Christ, I was humbled, I was not proud of who I was or had been. Fighting? I didn’t want that life anymore and realized how tired I was.
The fact that through Christ I was saved and brought to Him out of death, I would have done anything. The fact all I had to do was love Him and accept, and he did the hard work of changing my hardened heart, enabling me to obey just by living, and loving makes His way all the more easier to follow.

That is what I have for today, again, thank you :grin:

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Beautifully said. Thank you

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You can feel the weight in Paul’s words here, because Paul wasn’t playing games with the gospel. This isn’t a trivial matter, this is life and death truth. He says: “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel” ~Galatians 1:6. That word, “so soon” should convict your soul. It wasn’t a slow fade, it was a fast turn! That’s what deception does! It doesn’t always come crashing in with a fanfare! Sometimes it slides in, and says, “just add one thing.”

Paul didn’t water it down here. He said it flat out: “which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ” ~Galatians 1:7. The word, “pervert” means to twist, distort and deform! The gospel is simple: Christ died for sins, was buried and rose again, and it all rests on faith alone! Anything you add to it, you’re not perfecting, you’re poisoning.

And you can see it happening today, too! Same poison, new wrapper! You can take “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” ~Acts 16:31, and add something to it. Jesus plus your performance, Jesus plus your rules, Jesus plus your rule sheet! The Word just says: “A man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ” ~Galatians 2:16! Not with works! Not blended! Not changed! Faith alone in Jesus Christ!

Paul doesn’t stop there, either. He says this: “Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you… Let him be accursed” ~Galatians 1:8. Those are strong words, not an opinion, a command from God! No matter who is saying it, no matter what package it is wrapped in, if it’s not the true gospel of Christ, it’s a curse.

So, when churches start to tone down the sin, or add their own rules to God’s amazing grace, or modify the message to make people feel more comfortable in their sin; they aren’t helping those souls, they’re leading them away from the one truth that will save them! The Scripture says: “there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” ~Acts 4:12! There’s no back-up!

And if we’re going to be honest, you don’t have to look far to see it. It shows up anywhere you take the finished work of Christ and say, “now you need to add to it to be accepted!” That’s the battle Paul fought, and that battle is not over!

So, what’s the real question isn’t what are other people doing! It’s this. Are you holding fast to the true gospel, or are you accepting traditions that look spiritual but aren’t scriptural? Because, the moment you start adding to grace, you’re not protecting the gospel anymore, you’re losing it.

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