Galatians 1:6-7. 6I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.
We live in “the present evil age” that preaches tolerance and tolerates all sorts of beliefs. Back in 2009, Lisa Miller wrote a telling article for Newsweek called, “We’re All Hindus Now.” In it she argued that most Americans practice some form of religious pluralism – the combining of many different beliefs into one new religious system that suits them. Yes, I believe that Jesus died for mankind, but I also believe there are many paths to God. I do church, and prayer, and meditation (not the biblical kind), and yoga, and crystals; I’ve got all my bases covered.
In his letter to the Galatians, Paul refuses to tolerate tolerism, especially when it comes to the gospel. Maybe you’re not slowly becoming a Christian Hindu, but what about your trust in the one true gospel of Jesus Christ. Make no mistake, Paul is angry (astonished) at the Galatians, and it is all because they have rejected the one and only gospel of grace and replaced it with a different gospel. You see to get the gospel wrong is to get God wrong. A different gospel is a lie about God.
The truth is that most of us are just as guilty as the Galatians. We take a fraction of the gospel and make it the whole thing. We pick and choose the parts we like. The prosperity gospel highlights only the glorious blessings of the gospel without its suffering. The therapy gospel grabs hold of Christ’s love without ever addressing sin. Justice without mercy. Mercy without justice.
Then, of course, there is the legalist’s gospel. This is the one Paul is so incensed about. This different gospel added law to grace. It merged the Old Covenant with the New. It sold these precious saints in Galatia a gospel that said Jesus + law keeping is what sanctifies your soul and preserves you until the end. Not Christ alone. Not his death and resurrection. Not your union with Christ.
To live is Christ is Jesus + nothing = everything. That’s the truth and every other gospel is a lie about God. A lie that will keep you imprisoned in guilt, shame, and fear. Only the true gospel of grace can free your heart to soar.
You: Do you think you’ve been adding anything to the gospel of grace? What? Would Paul be astonished at us today?
You in Christ: How does “Jesus + nothing = everything” set our hearts free?
Christ in you: How have you seen the gospel producing “Christ in you” lately?
Pray: Father, “I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died and that he died for me.” Amen.
To Live is Christ 