Contending For The Gospel
Galatians: Freedom Through Christ • Sermon • Submitted
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Contending For The Gospel
Contending For The Gospel
INTRODUCTION
last week be started our journey through the book of Galatians.
I love the book of Galatians because it’s all about the free gospel. The grace that God gives sinners like me and like you through Jesus Christ.
That’s why we’ve titled this series, Freedom Through Christ.
You see, the freedom we have through Christ, from sin and death, is a story that will never get old! It changes everything!
The main point from last week’s sermon was: We cannot earn God’s favor through legalism, for the Gospel is free and freeing.
if you missed last week i would encourage you to watch that sermon online at our website: www.heritagecommunity.org so you can get caught up.
we talked about legalism because
there were these Judaizers (Jews who had believed in the message of Jesus but were still holding on to the traditions of Judaism) who had come into the churches in Galatia and were putting pressure on the new christians to basically become Jews, specifically they wanted them to be circumcised and follow the Jewish calendar with all its festivals.
They believed you HAD to do these things in order to really be saved… in order to make God happy…
Paul is writing to say, “I don’t think so!! That’s not what I taught you guys. That is legalism because it’s works righteousness. The gospel is free!”
Today we will continue in chapter 1 and focus on verses 6-10. The title for today’s message is: Contending For The Gospel
Paul is now going to address the problem, namely these false teachers and their false gospel… and worse, the fact that the Galatians are listening to them!
The Bible also talks about false teacher and false gospels in the book of Jude.
3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.
this word CONTEND is also in our passage today - it’s an athletic term, means “agonize greatly” or “to struggle”
with this michael jordan documentary going on on sunday nights (which i’m loving) contending, agonize greatly, to struggle.... makes you think of the “flu game” doesn’t it? he willed his team to victory through such sickness that he couldn’t even walk off the court at the end of the game without help
the game was too important to lose
contending for the gospel is like participating in an agonizing contest… a contest that’s too important to lose...
but this is what we’re called to do. ALL OF US! Not just the pastors. Not just the leaders. ALL OF US!
15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,
it’s so important for us to know what we believe… i think of youth ministry.
we know the extravagant numbers of teenagers who leave the faith once they leave high school. whether it’s a skeptic professor, a new unbelieving boyfriend or girlfriend, co-worker of a different religion, whoever, those kids weren’t prepared to contend for their faith. and when questioned, they didn’t have an answer.
i remember walking through the student center at the university of north texas where i finished college. they had tables lined up down the hall,
“join this group”
“vote for this or that”
“sign up for a credit card”
one guy behind a table started talking to me. he mentioned Jesus and i could tell he was trying to evangelize me. by that time i was already a christian but i thought i’d let him practice on me.
everything he was saying sounded pretty good to me... until it didn’t.
now i grew up going to church. my dad is a pastor and has been a pastor my entire life. i’ve definitely grown in my knowledge of the bible over the last 20 years but on that day, i was at least very familiar with christianity, the church and stories in the bible.
but i had never heard about the stuff he started talking about. i didn’t know what religion this guy was a part of but i knew that he did not know the truth about God
apparently i have a face i make when someone starts saying things i don’t like.
i guess i can’t hide it. and i’m not known for being quiet or gentle when i think something wrong is going on,
now, the way i remember it, i said, “what??? who told you these things? these things are not true!”
unfortunately, that’s about as far as it went. see, in my heart, i knew this guy had been tricked, but i really wasn’t prepared to take him from where he was to where i knew he needed to be.
turns out the guy was a mormon and morally speaking was probably an unbelievable guy. spiritually speaking, he said he loved the bible and Jesus. but truthfully, he was following a religion that had been started by a man who made a god out of his own ideas. his religion started in the 1800’s when Joseph Smith claimed God gave him a new bible. and that jesus had visited america after his resurrection, loved it here and when he comes back is going to jerusalem first and then will head to missouri.
now, that might sound funny because of how i said it, but i was hurting for this guy. he believed what he was saying. he had been tricked and i think he thought he was trying to help me. i wanted to help him but i didn’t really know how.
all that to say we’ve got to prepare every Christian, every kid, teenager and adult for this struggle. for this battle of contending for the gospel.
So please read with me from the Word of God
6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 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. 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.
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.
Let us pray.
at this point, after his greeting in most of his letters, Paul would give a word of thanksgiving for the recipients, or a word of praise about their faithfulness. that was standard letter writing etiquette.
In fact, a man named Quintilian lived in the 1st century, during the time of Paul and the other apostles’ ministry and the beginning of the Christian Church.
Quintilian was the literary teacher, if you will, of that day. In one of his works on writing letters he said, “A man should not open in such a wild and exclamatory nature; instead, a sane man would employ a courteous and natural opening.”
Paul says, “AIN’T NOBODY GOT TIME FOR THAT!
PEOPLE ARE TURNING AWAY FROM THE GOSPEL UP IN HERE!”
Paul is like a parent who sees imminent danger coming.... they just yell STOP!!
this is a passionate warning!
and notice, Paul’s not astonished about the fact that there are false teachers with false gospels, he’s astonished that his friends are listening to them!
6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—
first thing we’re going to look at today is this:
The Galatians Were Turning From The Gospel
Their turning from the gospel was serious.
the word for “turning” here means to “transfer one’s allegiance”
this word was used for soldiers who literally started fighting for the other side
in my family, this would be like Braxton coming home and announcing that he is now a Washington Redskins fan. I’m not buying a Redskins jersey!
The Galatians, who had heard the truth of the free gospel of God were now putting on the jersey of works-based righteousness!
Turning away from the Gospel is serious and when someone you know is doing that it should grieve you like it did Paul.
On the flip side of that, when someone begins walking in grace, it should excite you to no end! That’s what John was saying in his 3rd letter: 3 John 1:4 - “I have no greater joy than this: to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”
Their turning from the gospel happened quickly.
in vs. 6 Paul says, “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel
reminds me of the israelites after God rescued them from slavery in Egypt.
He marched them across the Red Sea on dry land,
gave them the Law,
made a covenant with them
and while Moses is up on the mountain talking to God, they make a golden cow and start worshipping it. what is going on???
just like that (snap), it happened with the Galatians, too! this turning happened quickly.
however....
Their turning from the gospel was not hopeless.
the word here for “turning” is a present tense verb. It was an action that was in the process of taking place, not one that had been completed. So the Galatians had not gone so far that they couldn’t come back. \
through faithful CONTENDING for the Gospel, Paul could correct the situation
when someone you know begins to turn toward another gospel or just walk away from their faith altogether, you fight for them! Pastor Sid says, “never close the door on a relationship.”
we have to fight for the gospel. the true gospel!
the next thing we’ll look at today are three important truths that tragically come with turning from the Gospel
#1 is …
When You Turn From The Gospel...
You turn from God Himself
Paul said, “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting HIM
the galatians weren’t just turning away from a set of rules, morals or principles. NO! when you turn away from the Gospel of grace, you turn away from the God of grace.
grace is God’s idea! grace is how He wants people to come to know Him. You can’t have God without grace.
secondly, when you turn from the gospel, You turn from the grace of Christ
the grace of christ is synonomous with the gospel
the judaizers were teaching that salvation was Jesus plus circumcision. Jesus plus the OT Law.
but salvation isn’t Jesus plus anything! Why? because salvation is by grace alone through faith in christ alone!
if you turn away from the gospel, you cannot have salvation. Jesus is the WAY, the Truth and the Life!
finally, when you turn from the gospel, You have nowhere else to go
look at what Paul says,
6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one,
Paul says the message of the Judaizers is not a gospel at all
look at the words Paul chooses to use here:
in vs. 6 he says “a DIFFERENT gospel” - the greek word here for different is “heteros.” it means “another of a different nature.” this is where we get our word heterosexual.
in the bible, it’s also used in Hebrews 7 where the writer is explaining that we need a different kind of priest. not one like aaron and the old testament priests. but one of a “different nature”… namely Christ!
in vs. 7, Paul says “not that there is another one” the greek word translated “another” is “allos”. it means “another of the same nature.”
this word is used in John chapter 14 when Jesus tells his followers that when he leaves “another of the same kind” will come talking about the Holy Spirit… letting us know that the Holy Spirit is divine like Jesus is.
Paul says that there is NOT an “allos” gospel. any other gospel than the free gospel of God is a gospel of “a different nature” and it will NOT save you from your sins.
These false teachers were teaching a false gospel and bringing all kinds of confusion into the church. False teachers reverse the gospel. What do I mean by that? Ephesians 2:8-10 says:
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
notice the order? we are: (first) saved by grace alone and then (second) for good works.
we don’t (first) do good works so that we are (second) saved.
but that’s what these Judaizers were teaching. and Paul was ready to CONTEND for the true gospel because it is essential!
there’s been a lot of talk lately about what is essential and what is not, and if you asked 10 people to list 10 things that are essential you’d probably get 10 different answers.
but let me be as clear as I can be. The gospel… the true gospel… the free gospel of grace IS ESSENTIAL!
The Gospel Is Essential Because...
Christ’s glory is at stake
false gospels glorify man and his good works, not Jesus and his ultimate work
spurgeon once said, “if you meet with a system of theology which magnifies man, flee from it as far as you can.”
if you can be good enough, if you can earn eternal life by following the right set of rules, then Jesus died for no reason. and when we make the song list for sundays we should sing about you. but that’s not the case.
The gospel is essential because People’s souls are at stake
when we speak about salvation, we have to get it right lest we keep someone from hearing the truth about God’s free grace
lIn Matthew 18 Jesus said it would be better for you to have a stone tied around your neck and by thrown into the sea than for you to cause someone to stumble and not believe the truth of the gospel
and finally...
The gospel is essential because The health of the church is at stake
i’ve always loved the church. not just the idea of the church. and not just my favorite churches. but the church. that group of people on earth and those who are already with Jesus who have received salvation by grace through faith.
Paul loved the church. he felt like it was his job to protect the church. he knows if they miss the gospel, they miss everything. if the Galatians don’t get this one thing right, it doesn’t matter what else they do.
it’s the same today. i don’t care if a church has a 10 million dollar budget, the best online stream, professional musicians and the most famous preacher.
if they don’t preach the true gospel of the grace of God, they will lead all of their people into an eternity apart Him.
CLOSING
vs 10 is a kind of transition verse between this passage and the next where Paul explains that he is not seeking the approval of man but of God.
some of the Judaizers might have been saying that Paul was not willing to preach circumcision and the law as a requirement because he wanted to please the gentiles he was preaching to. he wanted them to like him.
but he says “if I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.”
you see, when Paul was a Pharisee, he had the approval of man. he was revered for his zeal. that’s what the Pharisees did, they gave glory to each other based on how well they followed the law and all the traditions they had added to the law.
jesus even told the pharisees in John 5:44
44 How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?
Paul was not seeking the glory of man anymore. his life had been radically changed and the only thing he was concerned with now was the glory of Christ!
that’s how it has to be for every christian.
if you are seeking the approval of the people around you, if your goal is to be liked by someone or to be included in a certain group, you will not be a faithful follower of Jesus.
Proverbs says, “the fear of man is a snare”
seeking the approval of people is idolatry because you worship them and what they think of you.
i think the old hymn “I’d rather have jesus” says it right:
I’d rather have Jesus than men’s applause;
I’d rather be faithful to His dear cause;
I’d rather have Jesus than worldwide fame,
I’d rather be true to His holy name
church,
contend for the Gospel and live for the glory of Jesus
let’s pray