Only One

Paul is someone who had found the best of the best in Jesus. He had devoted his whole life to telling others about him as well. And now he was amazed that the Galatians would want to settle for anything less, which is exactly what they were being tempted to do.

The gospel of Jesus is better than anything else ever, anything.

Body

Galatians 1:6–10 ESV

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.

I am astonished

Shock bordering on disgust

Luke 11:38 (ESV) — 38 The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner.

Ceremonial defilement

No self-respecting Rabbi would neglect to make sure he was clean before eating.

John 4:27

Culturally women and men didn’t speak to one another one-on-one

This woman was immoral

This woman was a Samaritan

that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ

deserting

Changing allegiance

Used to describe apostasy in 2 Macc 7:24

Quickly: Exodus 32:8 (ESV) — 8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’ ”

Him who called you

The Father or the Son? — YES

Does it matter to Paul’s argument?

Looking back at Galatians 1:4-5 we see both in view.

called you in the grace of Christ

I fear we are too familiar with concept of this grace of Christ

Grace:

Romans 3:23–24 (ESV) — 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

Romans 5:17 (ESV) — 17 For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 1:7–8 (ESV) — 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight

Ephesians 2:8–9 (ESV) — 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.

This is just a small sample of all of the amazing verses about grace.

Grace saves us (Ephesians 2:8)

Grace frees us (Romans 6:7)

Grace redeems us (Ephesians 1:7)

Grace provides an inheritance for us (Acts 20:32)

Grace provides for us to be adopted by the Father (Romans 8:15)

Grace opens the door for us to pray (Hebrews 4:16)

Grace equips us to serve the church (1 Peter 4:10)

Grace means a Rev 21 future

But there were some Paul was addressing who were cheapening grace by acting like it wasn’t enough. They were drifting into a works-based view of their relationship with God. And Paul was shocked!

Realize All that You have in the Grace of Christ (v. 6)

The Lucida Star Necklace is one of the most expensive necklaces sold by Tiffany and Co. It is valued at $10,000,000. Anne Hathaway wore this necklace at the 2011 Academy Awards. It has 94cts of diamonds that are set in platinum. Imagine your dad, or boyfriend gave this to you, but you just decide to keep it in your attic. Instead, when you want to look nice, to go out for a nice date, you put on a necklace you bought from Costco that has cheap cubic zirconia stones instead of diamonds.

There is nothing more valuable in our lives than the grace of Jesus Christ [BECAUSE OF SALVATION]. It is more precious than anything else.

Think ahead to the day you die, stand before Christ, is there anything that will be more valuable than the grace of God?

As it is we treat it like that Christmas present you got last year: That one that you were super stoked about initially, but now you can’t even remember where it is.

Y’all we never graduate from the grace of Jesus! It does so much more than save us!

Your testimony doesn’t stop at “by grace I have been saved.”

Right now God is adding layers to your testimony by that same grace as He continues to make you more like Jesus!

Philippians 3:7–14 (ESV) — 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

2 Corinthians 12:9 (ESV) — 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Why would we ever want to be done with this grace!? Why would we ever want to move-on from this grace!? Why would we ever want to rely on anything other than this grace!?

Like that necklace from Tiffany, if we had that it would make every other piece of jewelry we owned look worthless by comparison.

2 Corinthians 8:9 (ESV) — 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

Galatians 1:6–9 ESV

turning to a different gospel

Judaizers

Salvation by grace plus

Jesus +

not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.

Paul uses “gospel” loosely in that this is another message that promised deliverance but not through salvation by grace.

This was deliverance by works which is no deliverance at all.

Galatians 2:16 (ESV) — 16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

Romans 3:20 (ESV) — 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Romans 11:6 (ESV) — 6 But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

Acts 15:1–2, 24 (ESV) — 1 But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question...24 Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions,

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.

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.

The other day I left J at home and told him to watch his brothers. But he was playing Minecraft, so I stopped and made him pause the game, look me in the eyes, and acknowledge what I was saying as I repeated myself.

Tampering with the gospel carries deadly consequences because the gospel is an all-or-nothing proposition.

It’s either salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, or it isn’t salvation at all.

Guard Yourself from Buying-in to Counterfeit Gospels (vv. 7-9)

Do you know how they train agents to recognize counterfeit money? They have them become so familiar with the real bill that they can spot the fake one at a simple glance. They know the feel, the colors, the watermark, the grain, the weight, the font, the numbers, etc.

The most effective way for you to make sure you don’t fall prey to a counterfeit gospel is to know the real gospel through and through.

Gospel:

God

Man

Christ

Response

Umbrella Analogy

There are 2 main “different” gospels out there:

Works = tells you that you can contribute, promises a security that we want in being able to “do” something to know we are saved

This gospel is busy with a lot of disciplines, a lot of religious things but not out of a devotion to Jesus, not because you love Jesus!

Words = tells you that all you have to do is say you believe. Jesus can be your Savior without having to be your Lord

But these different “gospels” each have massive shortcomings:

Works = holds security out for you like the carrot on the end of the stick, you can never get it, it’s always out of reach

Words = makes the cross a “get out of hell free card” and divorces salvation from relationship with the Savior

Those that teach these gospels and unfortunately, those who fall for these teachings face the same outcome, they are “accursed.”

Daily majoring on the gospel will be the best safeguard against drifting toward either one of these dangerous ditches.

Galatians 1:10 ESV

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.

It appears that one of the things Paul’s opponents were accusing him of was soft-pedaling the gospel in order to gain more followers.

He was leaving out the law requirements like circumcision in order not to offend anyone and gain a wider acceptance.

He was short-changing the full gospel.

Remember back last week to Paul’s opening in his letter:

Galatians 1:1–2 (ESV) — 1 Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 2 and all the brothers who are with me, To the churches of Galatia:

And here he says: Look, you think I’m trying to please man with my message. I’m not. What you’re accusing me of is of being an unbeliever. If I were more concerned with pleasing man than pleasing God, I wouldn’t have any part in Christ.

2 Corinthians 11:21-30 TURN AND READ

Philippians 3:3-11 TURN AND READ

Paul wasn’t concerned about earthly fame. He wasn’t out to make a name for himself but for Christ. And rather than preach a gospel robbed of any power to save, Paul was going to remain true to the Biblical gospel NO MATTER WHAT. Why? Because that’s what would please God.

Stay Faithful to the Gospel No Matter the Pressure to Compromise (v. 10)

I wish it was harder to come up with an illustration for this point, but it’s not. The pressure all around us to compromise the gospel to win approval from the world is growing with every day it seems.

Inclusivity

Tolerance

Racial justice

The world wants us to sprinkle a little of this and a little of that into our gospel message in order to please the masses. But God hasn’t called us to please the masses, He has made it abundantly clear that we are to please Him.

2 Corinthians 5:9 (ESV) — 9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.

The only seasoning the gospel message needs is a godly life to back it up.

The argument of Paul’s opponents is self-defeating, because if Paul really cared about the approval of man more than God, he would cave to their demands and compromise his message!

Instead, he didn’t. He held fast, and he wouldn’t budge.

Conclusion

Again, no other message will place you into the grace of Christ. JESUS is only found in the true gospel revealed in the Bible. The stakes are high because compromise will undermine the power of the message. Any addition or subtraction we make to the simple message of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone will cause the whole thing to collapse.

Getting the gospel right is most important. It is the most important thing you will ever do.

Application Questions:

What does this passage imply about the need for us to be ready to defend and preserve the integrity of the gospel? What are some of the threats or additions to the gospel that the Church faces today?

What word does Paul use twice to describe people who preach a false gospel? What impact should this knowing what’s at state for them have on the way we think about people we know who believe in a false gospel or who may even be promoting a false gospel? Do you know anyone who would fall into either of those categories? What would it look like for you to start making a plan to talk to them about the danger they are facing?

Read 1 Corinthians 9:19-22. How does this line up with what Paul wrote in Galatians 1:10?