I’m currently leading a Bible-study on the book of Galatians.  Galatians is one of my favorite books in the Bible, because it teaches us what it means to find freedom in Christ. Ultimately, our freedom is anchored in the gospel, and so Paul begins Galatians with a passionate plea to never twist the gospel or “good news” of Jesus.

Christ has rescued us from the world by giving Himself for our sins according to the will of God. Those who repent of sin and believe in Christ, receive the grace and peace of God and live for His glory forever and ever. This is the heart of the true gospel that Paul describes in Galatians 1:3-5:

3 Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father. 5 To whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

The gospel of Christ is the most uniting force on earth because it answers our universal problem of sin and our most basic need of forgiveness. The gospel empowers me to live a life of true significance where success is measured by eternal rather than earthly means. The gospel causes me to lose control and discover the joy of life beyond the box. It demands that I take the risk of faith and get beyond my sanitized world of control and power. The gospel frees me from the prison of self. To be God’s means that I no longer have to spend all of my energies trying to be God. “I do because I am not in order to be.” I pursue holiness because I am God’s child rather than attempting to be God’s child through my holiness.  Talk about good news!

In Galatians 1:6-7, Paul dropped his jaw in amazement that those who have experienced the liberating power of the gospel, abandon freedom in favor of enslavement to selfishness and pride. Paul wrote:

I am amazed that you are so quickly turning away from Him who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel — 7 not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are troubling you and want to change the good news about the Messiah.

False gospels are subtle, because they wear Christ’s robes while stripping His message, they speak Christ’s language without God’s dictionary, embrace Christ’s love while ignoring His holiness, and desire the benefits of the cross but not the savior.

In Paul’s day, the Judaizers were luring the young, Gentile Christians of Galatia to a false gospel that taught Jesus + Judaism = Salvation. Today, the equations of apostasy may read like this:

Gospel of Friendship--Church Activities + Friends = Community
Gospel of Accommodation--Your goodness + Jesus’ love = Success
Gospel of Legalism–Jesus + Rules = Control
Gospel of Self–Jesus + Opportunity = Admiration
Gospel of Exhaustion–Pleasing People + Doing Good = God’s Love

Paul’s response to the false gospel was, to say the least, rather firm in Galatians 1:8 he wrote:

But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel other than what we have preached to you, a curse be on him!

Now, just in case you missed it or thought maybe Paul was just blowing off some steam. Paul and, if you have a high view of Scripture, the Holy Spirit say it again in verse 9: As we have said before, I now say again: If anyone preaches to you a gospel contrary to what you received, a curse be on him!

False Gospels are such a BIG deal that they make Paul curse! In Greek, the word translated “curse” is anathema. The root idea is that false gospels should be banned, excommunicated, shunned to extinction. What gets really scary is that if we plunge into our souls there are times when all of us are tempted to settle for a message that only resembles the true gospel. It is often comfortable, encouraging, self-empowering, containable, and rewarding to listen to or communicate. False gospels can win friends, draw crowds, increase budgets, provide comfort, build careers, and elicit cheers. But, in the end, they fail to satisfy, fall short of grace, and enslave you into a prison of works producing a heritage of pride of selfishness.

So Paul brings us to the eternal conclusion in verse 10:

For am I now trying to win the favor of people, or God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ.

Christ has rescued us from the world by giving Himself for our sins according to the will of God. Those who repent of sin and believe in Christ receive the grace and peace of God and live for His glory forever and ever.

Let us shun to extinction any other gospel.