Man’s gospel.

Galatians 1:11. For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel.

Galatians 1:11 begins what we call the autobiographical section of the letter. Paul tells his story in order to show that the gospel he is preaching is not something he made up or got from anyone else.

Basically, Paul is saying, “The gospel I’m preaching is not something a person would ever come up with on their own. It is different from any man-made gospel.” And we know that Paul is right because every other religion is so different from Paul’s gospel, including the religion of the Judaizers.

So what is man’s gospel?

Man’s gospel is any attempt at self-salvation that we come up with. Essentially, every religion that teaches salvation through good works is man’s gospel (which is every other religion). Whether through confession, penance, alms giving, prayers, morality, law-keeping, karma, human rights, or even trying to “be like Jesus,” any attempt of ours to receive pardon, escape death, and enter into bliss on our own merits is a version of man’s gospel.

The most dangerous forms of man’s gospel aren’t the atheistic ones, it’s the ones that mix Jesus in with these “laws” that are the most dangerous. That’s what the Judaizers were doing: mixing Jesus with the Law of Moses. They said, “Yes, Jesus brings the Gentiles into the Sinai Covenant, so obviously the Gentiles need to start keeping the Old Testament Law in order to be justified. Goodbye bacon and shell fish. Hello circumcision.

What’s the lesson for us today? Man’s gospels are alive and well. They are all over Christian radio, TV, and bookstores. They are being preached in churches and taught in Bible colleges. From the prosperity gospel to the therapy gospel, from the social justice gospel to the self-help gospel, every false gospel that relies on us to change without the saving power of Jesus is just another form of bondage.

Man-made gospels always rely on partial truth, and partial truth will never set you free. It can only ever drive you further away from the center – God himself.   

You: What ma-made gospels or partial truths are you susceptible to?

You in Christ: How does being in Christ free us up completely from self-salvation?   

Christ in you: How would your perceptions change if you totally trusted in Jesus alone for God’s love and not your own performance?

Pray: Father, I don’t want to live by man’s gospel, Jesus + law keeping. I want to live free from performancism and self-effort. Free to live and love like Jesus. Amen.