Controversy of the Gospel

  • David Fairchild
  • Apr 23, 2006
  • Series: Galatians

INTRODUCTION 

It’s important when we take a break, as we did last week, to return together again to the context of the letter we’re studying.  It’s important that we don’t forget the intention of the writer and the setting of its context when we read any passage of it.  It’s quite easy to gather and pick five verses and teach a great exposition of the passage itself—dealing with the Greek, and breaking it down into its main thoughts, etc., while forgetting the purpose of the letter itself.  I can teach an entire message on one particular doctrine contained in this letter while never discussing the actual importance of this doctrine as it relates to the people it was written to.   

So, let me give a quick recap of the context so that we don’t miss the forest for the trees.  The forest in this book is easy to forget since it seems so obvious, but we must remind ourselves of the very fact this letter is to the churches at Galatia.  The book of Galatians is a book about the gospel.  Paul speaks of the gospel 4 times from verses 6-9.  This letter is about the truth of the gospel.  But it is not written to non-believers.  It is written to churches who consider themselves the church of Christ, and who profess Christ as Lord and Savior.  Now this might seem fairly obvious, but it’s important to think about.  We often think of the gospel as that truth that non-believers need to hear in order to become believers.  We might even think that it is for new Christians, to remind them about what they just began to believe.  We then don’t see much need for the gospel beyond those two purposes.  What ends up happening is that we begin to think, very subtly and perhaps slowly, that the gospel is what saves us as brings us into relationship with God and into the Kingdom, but in order to grow we need to learn more important doctrine.  In other words, we think of the gospel as milk and God’s sovereignty as meat.  The problem with this type of thinking is that it guts any power or motivation to change beyond what we can muster in our own strength or intellect.  We see the gospel as the ABC’s of our faith, and in fact, the gospel is the A-Z’s of our faith.  It is not just that we are saved and then grow through our effort, but that we are saved and being saved; that we are saved by the gospel and only grow as we learn how to apply the gospel to every area of our lives.  It is good news that we are saved, and it is also the good news of how we are going to grow in our life in Christ.  When Paul deals with the problems of the church in Corinth, he doesn’t write them a letter to tell them how to improve their willpower, and he doesn’t work on their emotions.  Paul handles all 11 of the main problems in Corinth by reminding them and teaching them about the gospel.   

Whether you have been a Christian two days, two years, or two decades, what you need is the gospel.  If you are struggling with suffering, you need the gospel.  If you are despondent, you need the gospel.  If you are slipping into old patterns and habits, you need the gospel.  Whatever your issue is, you need the gospel.  The book of Galatians is about understanding the gospel, applying the gospel, and pounding the gospel into the heads of believers.  

Since we have to deal with false gospels or gospel plus tendencies, we are going to be looking at a few examples that might feel a bit controversial.  But, since this entire letter was controversial, and since our history is filled with controversy over the gospel, I feel like I’m in good company.  The gospel is controversial, and I hope by the end of this message you’ll begin to see why.    

STUDY 

Verse 6-7- “I am astonished (shock and wonder) that you are so quickly deserting (defection as a traitor, deserter as in treason, shift in allegiance) him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different (something altered and different) gospel-- 7- not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert (turn inside out/upside down) the gospel of Christ.” 

Paul says simply that they are turning to a different gospel, then he immediately qualifies this statement by saying that there is no other gospel.  In the Greek he literally says they were “turning to a different gospel, which is not another.”  It’s that simple—there is “not another.”   

What this tells us is that to change the gospel a little is to lose the whole thing.  Now, this is significant since there are many controversies that happen in church.  If you are a new Christian, at some point you will encounter controversy.  However, we can have a spectrum of views on issues like tongues and the gifts, on church government, on end times issues, and even on baptism, alcohol, Christian conduct, and so on, yet we should still be able to fellowship because we’re pretty close even though we’re disagreeing on some secondary issues.  When it comes to the gospel, though, we can’t have a spectrum of beliefs or differences.  Paul says when it comes to the gospel you can’t have a different view that’s close.  To have a different gospel is to have no gospel at all.  When it comes to messing with this true doctrine, you can’t deviate even a little bit.  To do so, is to move light years away.  There is no middle ground between Christian righteousness and works righteousness because the only alternative to Christian righteousness is works righteousness.   

Does God love you and pour out His grace on us, then we live a life satisfying to God?  Or, do we live a good life to satisfy God, then He will love us?  Did He first love us, or did we first love Him?  It sounds like a semantics issue, but it’s not.  The order is absolutely important.  To attempt to reverse the order or add to the order, is to completely lose the gospel.  The systems of this world say that the good people are in and the bad people are out.  But, when Jesus tells the story of the wedding banquet in Matthew 22, He speaks of a father giving his son a wedding feast, and when the people won’t come in, he sends out servants to gather people for the wedding feast, and guess who is invited in?  The people that come to the feast come both good and bad, as long as they have a wedding garment.  We think the good people make it and the bad don’t, but this is not the scriptural teaching.  Those who think they are good are the most wicked, and those who think they are wicked are given grace.   

When someone says, “the good will make it to heaven,” your response should be “well that leaves me out!”  That person may say, “how can you say you’re a bad person?” You need to respond by telling them what they usually tell us, “you don’t know my heart, and if what you’re saying is true, then I am utterly without hope.”  They are actually throwing us in despair when they believe that good people only will make it.  That isn’t good news!!  That is a total reversal of the news of Christ.  The heart of the gospel is the order of the news.  Cause and effect is everything!

Because we are justified, we are being sanctified.  Justification is the basis for your sanctification.   

In day to day Christianity, most evangelical churches rely upon their sanctification to give them confidence that God loves and accepts them in Jesus.  But this again is a total reversal of the “good news!”  These individuals become desperately hypocritical and judgmental because they have no other alternative.   

In conservative churches, you have lives that by sheer willpower have been changed—“I don’t cuss anymore,” or “I don’t sleep around,” or “I don’t look at porn anymore.”  “I read my bible,” “I go to church,” “I fast and have spiritual quiet time,” etc.  But they really haven’t changed because they have reversed the gospel! 

What is the motivation behind this kind of thinking?  Fear!  If you don’t do these things, then the fear of not being saved, or of being rejected and unloved by God, creeps in and your entire spiritual life rides a rollercoaster up and down depending upon your actions.   

If you are accepted no matter what, by faith in Christ, then your actions in response are not driven by a fear of rejection, but are genuine and driven by an awareness of your acceptance in Christ.  One may think, “If I am accepted no matter what, through Jesus, then what motivation is there for me to live a good life?”  Look carefully at such a question because what is at work is fear, and if the fear of losing your salvation is gone, and you are no longer motivated to follow Christ, then what was your ultimate motivation?  Fear, not love!   

This leaves you constantly looking at yourself to see if you’re submitting enough, have enough faith, doing enough good things, acting the right way, staying way from things you shouldn’t do, etc…  You never know because you might have a few good days and then one bad day and you’re back in the tank in despair again.  You can never live up, you can never reach the spiritual high that will sustain you, and if you think you have or can, then you don’t understand how Holy God is or you don’t understand have sinful you are—and either way you become extremely judgmental and unhappy, because you have to constantly look to yourself to give yourself security and you have to criticize other people to make yourself feel good about your own righteousness.  When this obsessive fear is gone, you are free.  When you become aware of the love of the Father for you in Christ, only given by grace and only received by faith, you become a totally new person.  Your worldview changes, the way you treat people changes, the way you think of God changes, the way you live your life changes because you become a person of joy who lives out of loving gratitude rather than to procure favor from God or man.     

To lose the gospel a little bit is to lose the gospel entirely.  Any change is a total reversal.   

Tongues, baptism, end times, etc… are great to discuss and come to better understandings about, but when it comes to the gospel, we are not allowed to bend even a little; we have to create controversy when we see this chief article of the church reversed or diminished.  We can agree to disagree on a multitude of issues, but not the gospel.  It is the heart of our faith.  If you lose a hand, or a finger, that hurts, but to lose the heart, you’re dead.  A misunderstanding of this doctrine will kill the church if we allow it to be attacked while never responding.   

Modern Gospels 

Can we distinguish between the true gospel and all the false gospels in the contemporary church?  We worship in a time of many gospels.  There is the gospel of prosperity, where Jesus becomes our personal EF Hutton.  There is the gospel of family values, which teaches that Jesus in the way to a happy home.  There is the gospel of self, which teaches that Jesus is the way to personal fulfillment.  There is the gospel of religious tradition, which teaches that Jesus is the way to respectability.  There is the gospel of morality, which teaches that Jesus is the way to be a good person.   

What makes these so dangerous is that the things they offer are all beneficial and seem to be true scripturally.  It is good to be prosperous, to have a happy home, and to be morally sound.  Yet, as good as all these things are, they are not the good news.  When they become the gospel for us, then we are in danger of turning away from the only gospel there is.   

Ways we add to the gospel in our time: 

  •   Second Baptism of the Spirit- Adding a spiritual experience to the gospel
  •   Spiritual Gifts- Adding a spiritual action to the gospel
  •   Sinners Prayer- Assuming we are saved by a formulaic prayer
  •   Altar Calls- Assuming we are saved by a public action
  •   Spiritual Disciplines- Assuming we are saved by spiritual determination
  •   Teaching that we are saved through our “surrender” to Christ- Action
  •   Teaching that we are saved by being a loving and good person- Works
  •   Churches that are intolerant of small differences in dress or custom-    Tradition
  •   Churches that stress truth over grace- Intellect
  •   Churches that stress grace over truth- Feelings

Think about what our church would look like without the gospel.  What would we have to replace the centrality of the gospel with?  What might take the place of the gospel in our sermons and children’s curriculum, and our home studies and small group meetings, and above all, in our hearts?  Here are some possibilities:  

Ways we substitute the gospel in our time: Can we tell the difference? 

  •   A passionate devotion to the pro-life cause
  •   A passionate devotion to the heterosexual traditional family
  •   A drive toward church growth
  •   A clever appeal to consumerism by offering a Christianity Lite
  •   A sympathetic, empathetic, focus on interpersonal relationships
  •   A determination to take America back to its Christian roots by politics
  •   A warm affirmation of self-esteem

In other words, the church without the gospel would look very much the way the evangelical church looks at this very moment.  We cannot assume that we have the gospel unless we keep it at the center.   

It is extremely important that the good news of the cross and resurrection is preached and demonstrated to be the very power of God unto salvation and for our growth as God’s children.   

The church’s greatest danger is not the anti-gospel outside the church; it is the multitude of false and counterfeit gospels inside the church.  The Judaizers didn’t walk around the churches in Galatia wearing T-shirts that said, “Wanna be a heretic?  Ask me how.”  What made them so dangerous was that they knew how to talk about how they “got saved.”  They told people to “trust in Christ.”  They “presented the gospel.”  Only they did not have the gospel at all.  We should expect, therefore, that the most serious threat to the one true gospel is something that is also called the gospel and is pretty close.  The most dangerous teachers are the ones who preach a different Christ but still call him “Jesus.” 

For example, if a preacher in a church always talks about the gospel, but never gets around to confronting our sin, he isn’t really preaching the full story.  Or a Mormon who uses the exact same terminology (Jesus, grace, heaven, God, Lord, Christ, Messiah, salvation), but means something entirely different.  Not everything called the gospel is the gospel.  It isn’t mere words that save; it is the realities of the one true gospel that save—Jesus Christ in His death and resurrection for sinners.   

The Only Gospel 

Because the gospel is God’s gospel, there will never be another.  Yet, the gospel still has its rivals.  There are religions such as Islam that claim to be based on the revelation of angels.  There are cults that claim to have a special message about how to be saved from the coming judgment.  But to these challengers we give the same answer as Paul: “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed” (Gal. 1:8). 

Verse 8- “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.” 

This is perhaps the harshest statement from any of the New Testament writers.  This is not a slap on the wrist; it is a statement that would invoke great distress from those to whom it applied.  He’s not saying we should remove them from the pulpit, or not allow them to teach a Bible study.  He’s not even saying that we should disfellowship them and send them out. He’s saying that if they hold to this false gospel, they are damned!  This literally means that the person would be utterly destroyed (left in rubbles).  The most severe punishment for those in the Bible is reserved for the false prophet.  Paul essentially equates those who teach another gospel as false prophets who deserve God’s eternal punishment.  This is such a hard word that we might think Paul is losing his cool, but verse 9 proves otherwise as he tells us, “As we have said before, so now I say again.”  He is letting us know that this isn’t just an angry convulsion, but it is thought out and meditated upon and driven by righteous conviction that is grounded in Christ’s own revelation.   

This is driven from a deep desire to see God’s people come to a fullness of understanding God and His nature and work.  Paul wants those who call Christ their Savior to be gripped by what that really means.  This is no mere intellectual argument or exercise for Him.  He sees this as a matter of life and death.  You get somewhat of a feel for Paul’s love for people when you read Romans 9 and hear him say, “For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.” (Romans 9:3).  This is not Paul’s normal tact with people.  Why is he so fired up?  What is agitating him and causing him to react so strongly to the news he received about these churches that he loved?  It is the gospel!   In order for us to have an appreciation for Paul’s harsh words, we have to be just as astonished at anyone who would choose a false gospel over the true gospel.  Paul is horrifically shocked by such a notion and this response is in keeping with his reaction to this news.   

In our day, we have become more tolerant and loving.  We have focused on the call for us to love, and this is not a bad thing in and of itself.  But we are called also to truth, and therefore, in order for us to really love someone, we must maintain our fidelity to truth, without which, we have no basis for love.  Paul is absolutely committed to the truth of the gospel, and His commitment to this gospel of grace compels him to write this letter.  For Paul, were he not to write this letter he would be demonstrating hatred to the churches in Galatia, because it is the gospel that brings us into relationship with God and changes us.  Without the true gospel, we have not power unto salvation!   

Now, as I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, Paul submits himself to the gospel and allows himself to be tested by it to determine if he falls into that same camp of the “accursed.”  Imagine this, if we were to travel back into time to meet Paul and hear the gospel from him in a language we understood, and spend years with him developing a close and bonding relationship, then, right before he died, he pulled you aside and told you that he received an additional revelation from Jesus, and what he said earlier was only part of the story and what you really needed was to perform a specified ceremony to soundly save you.  What would you say?  How would you handle this?  Paul tells us that if he ever did that, you should cast him away and consider him damned.   

What would you do, if while I was preaching to you this morning an angel descended from the top of this room and stood next to me, glowing with radiance and demonstrating his power by healing some of your ailments, and proved that he was truly an angel, then rose up from the ground 10 feet and shouted with a loud voice that what I was preaching was false and that God will only accept you into heaven if you say this prayer or perform an act?  Some of you might be inclined to believe such a being who displays such great power.  For Paul, as well as for me, I would boot him in his ethereal pants and chuck him outside and call him accursed.  Why?  Because, “if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.”  Don’t you see that the litmus test is not your feelings, your experience, or even what you see, hear, feel, taste, or touch; it is the truth of the gospel.  This is the one place in all of scripture that clearly declares that what you feel is not important compared to the truth of the gospel.  No matter how sure you are, no matter how much you feel, no matter how great your argument, if it doesn’t line up with the gospel Paul is preaching, it is not the gospel.  Mormons say they have a burning in their bosom to prove their faith is true, but Paul says, “so what!” I have the gospel that critiques your feelings and mine!  It is the plumb line and standard, not any other authority.   

Verse 9- “As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.” 

Paul’s condemnation towards those who preach a false gospel is directed not to those who are outside the church, but to those who are inside the church and are corrupting it from within.  Much the same way in the New Testament, when Christ went on an offensive attack towards individuals, it wasn’t towards the Greeks or Romans. He was incredibly patient and merciful to the prostitute, the adulteress, the publicans, and all forms of sinners from the people of the land.  Additionally, He didn’t enter into heated disputes with the pagans.  However, His venom was very active towards those who considered themselves the chosen of God, the religious, the very ones who assumed they had a privileged position in the covenant.  Jesus saw that the greatest threat to the people was from the inside, and not the outside. Likewise, the reformers, in their hot pursuit of a fight, were not going after the unbelieving world, they were attacking those that were within the church who had a false gospel and who had and were corrupting the church from the inside.  Their attack (Calvin calling some dogs and Luther calling them devils) didn’t seem very pleasant or in line with Christian charity, but remember, it was an attack of those who were not simply mistaken, but actively opposed to the gospel of grace.  They were attempting to subvert the gospel by bringing those within the church into conformity with their gospel of works rather than grace.  Paul, Jesus, and the reformers were submerged in controversy over the gospel.  When the gospel is preached boldly, controversy always follows because man’s security and system of salvation is under direct assault every time the gospel of grace is thundered.   

Consider the history of God’s people, Israel.  Think of all of the military threats from enemy nations, and the havoc wreaked upon her by those hostile to her existence or land.  From the very inception of this people of God through the New Testament there have been repeated attempts to destroy her.  However, when you read the Old Testament and all the battles and conflict, what you find is that though these conflicts did exist outside of Israel, the most devastating of Israel’s struggles were from within.  Her greatest threat came from inside her walls as false prophets gave her false news and called to have peace in Zion when there was no peace.  The very ones that were to lead her in a holy and loving relationship with her God led her to constant spiritual adultery and destruction.  She was most vulnerable from the lies within.  And those that were the true prophets who spoke the word of the Lord in courage and truth, were the first to be executed.  The history of Israel and the history of the church are not all that different.  The news of God is constantly being redefined to suit the feelings of the people, and the itching ears of the people produce prophets and preachers who care more about peace at any cost than the news and way to true and lasting peace, which is only found in the gospel.    

Verse 10- “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” 

This question is so alarming to me.  It causes great concern as I think of how much I seek the approval of man.  I have a tendency to people-please, even when I’m being tough or strong, since I’m pleasing a particular type of person who applauds such strength.  This is particularly difficult in the context of ministry since the human fear is such that if I don’t please you, you won’t come back and be part of what we’re doing.  This then threatens my security and my livelihood since I make my living off of the preaching of the gospel.   

Paul obviously knows something of this tendency.  He says, “For am I now seeking the approval of man…”  That he says “now” is an indication that it is part of his past or present attitude or action.  He knows what it’s like to want the approval of man.  He knows what it is like to seek your identity from what others think of you.  In Pharisaism, he lived a life attempting to please his contemporaries and demonstrate his righteousness.   

The Apostle Paul faced the scorn of men because of his life commitment to the gospel.  He eventually lost his life for it.  He was willing to face death because he knew whose approval really mattered.   

Paul’s opponents mocked Paul by telling him he was a people-pleaser, that when he didn’t require circumcision and the keeping of the ceremonial laws for the gentiles, he was soft and not keeping God’s word.  They assumed that all he cared about was his reputation among the gentiles.  After all, he did say that “I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some” (1 Cor. 9:22).   

Paul was a rare individual who did not live to please anyone except God.  His awareness of his approval before God in Christ, allowed him to stand with courage and humility before his accusers and friends.  Before coming to Christ, Paul did everything to keep up appearances.  He put his confidence in his circumcision, his ethnicity, his family connections, his cultural background, and especially the way he kept the law.  Back then, he was living by another gospel, which was no gospel at all.  

Then Paul met Christ, and left Pharisaism behind and came to Christ on Christ’s terms.  He stopped trying to please everyone and placed all his confidence in Jesus Christ.  He no longer cared about what other people thought of him.  He stopped living for his own publicity and started living for God’s pleasure.   

The question each of us must ask ourselves is this: Whose pleasure do I seek? 

1 Comments | Login to Post Comments

Theodore A. Jones on Jun 10, 2010 2:33pm

"It is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous." Rom. 2:13 A law has been added after Jesus' crucifixion. The gospel Paul taught along with all the other apostles is the Way this law must be obeyed to save one's self.