Galatians 1:1-24
The Gospel has constantly come under attack throughout the history of the Church. Some of these attacks seek to add to the Gospel while others seeks to take from the Gospel. Paul stands up to this trend and gives a brilliant defense of the message of Christ.
THE GOSPEL RESCUES FROM SIN AND MUST NOT BE CHANGED: Paul had preached to the church in Galatia the pure Gospel of Christ that rescues men from their sin. Faith in the death and resurrection of Christ is the only means by which man can be rescued from the penalty, power and, eventually, the very presence of sin. Man apart from Christ is lost and dead in his sin. He is desperately in need of rescue. The Gospel is what he needs. Paul had preached this message while he was with them and he continued to preach it wherever he went. The problem was that there were false teachers who would follow Paul and attempt to add on to the message that Paul had preached and were teaching that in order to please God and be rescued from sin the Galatian believers also had to practice the teachings of the Law. Paul stands up to refute this heretical teaching. He goes so far as to pronounce a curse on any man, angel or even himself who would make any changes to the Gospel of God's grace that he had proclaimed. It seems that men desire to earn their own way and will quickly follow the teachings of human effort. We must never fall into that trap. Our only hope of salvation is through what Christ has done for us not what we might be able to accomplish or become. He is our only hope of rescue from sin and we must never turn from that hope or change that message.
THE GOSPEL TRANSFORMS MEN AND MUST NOT BE DOUBTED: Perhaps the greatest proof of the power of the Gospel is the lives it has changed. Paul had been a persecutor of the church and was consumed by hatred. However, he was completely transformed by the power of the Gospel. The Law has no ability to make this kind of transformation, it only brings greater condemnation. Paul defends the Gospel that he preached based on the fact that it was not a message that had been made up by men, but it was a message that had been given to him by God. Paul's life had been transformed when God himself spoke to him from on high when he was walking to Damascus to persecute the church. Then after his conversion, he did not receive instruction from other men, rather he had gone to Arabia where God taught him for three years and prepared him for the ministry that he was now exercising. He was not preaching a man-made or man-centered religion. He was proclaiming the Christ-centered and God-glorifying message of the Gospel. Satan will constantly seek to cast doubt upon the authority and the authenticity of the message of Christ. However, there is no way that he can refute the clear evidence that the Gospel is a supernatural message that constantly transforms the lives of men. We can rest assured in the accuracy of the Gospel and we have been called to allow this glorious truth to transform our lives for the glory of God.
THE GOSPEL RESCUES FROM SIN AND MUST NOT BE CHANGED: Paul had preached to the church in Galatia the pure Gospel of Christ that rescues men from their sin. Faith in the death and resurrection of Christ is the only means by which man can be rescued from the penalty, power and, eventually, the very presence of sin. Man apart from Christ is lost and dead in his sin. He is desperately in need of rescue. The Gospel is what he needs. Paul had preached this message while he was with them and he continued to preach it wherever he went. The problem was that there were false teachers who would follow Paul and attempt to add on to the message that Paul had preached and were teaching that in order to please God and be rescued from sin the Galatian believers also had to practice the teachings of the Law. Paul stands up to refute this heretical teaching. He goes so far as to pronounce a curse on any man, angel or even himself who would make any changes to the Gospel of God's grace that he had proclaimed. It seems that men desire to earn their own way and will quickly follow the teachings of human effort. We must never fall into that trap. Our only hope of salvation is through what Christ has done for us not what we might be able to accomplish or become. He is our only hope of rescue from sin and we must never turn from that hope or change that message.
THE GOSPEL TRANSFORMS MEN AND MUST NOT BE DOUBTED: Perhaps the greatest proof of the power of the Gospel is the lives it has changed. Paul had been a persecutor of the church and was consumed by hatred. However, he was completely transformed by the power of the Gospel. The Law has no ability to make this kind of transformation, it only brings greater condemnation. Paul defends the Gospel that he preached based on the fact that it was not a message that had been made up by men, but it was a message that had been given to him by God. Paul's life had been transformed when God himself spoke to him from on high when he was walking to Damascus to persecute the church. Then after his conversion, he did not receive instruction from other men, rather he had gone to Arabia where God taught him for three years and prepared him for the ministry that he was now exercising. He was not preaching a man-made or man-centered religion. He was proclaiming the Christ-centered and God-glorifying message of the Gospel. Satan will constantly seek to cast doubt upon the authority and the authenticity of the message of Christ. However, there is no way that he can refute the clear evidence that the Gospel is a supernatural message that constantly transforms the lives of men. We can rest assured in the accuracy of the Gospel and we have been called to allow this glorious truth to transform our lives for the glory of God.
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