No Other Gospel

May 29, 2016

SECOND LESSON: Galatians 1:1–12 [Paul’s preaching of the one true Gospel]
Paul, an apostle— not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— and all the brothers who are with me, To the churches of Galatia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
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— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 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. 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. For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

There is no other Gospel than the Christian Gospel. It is a waste of time, but people have always looking for another one, but there is none. St. Paul preached the true, saving Gospel of Jesus Christ, and so he was surprised when Christian believers in the City of Galatia distorted the message. Paul said, “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— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 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.” These words were first written for the Galatian Church, but they are also for us, so that we may know the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ.

First, let’s define the word “gospel.” The Bible word is “eu-angelium” which means “good message.” From the Greek word we get the English word “evangelism” and “evangelical.” In classical Greek, it is any message that is good or congratulations. When a child is born or when runner returns to the city to report that the enemy is defeated and the battle won, it is euangelium-good news-gospel. This is the word that the Christmas Angels spoke to the shepherds. Luke 2:10, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.”

The English word for “good news” was first “good spell” [maybe like “good schpeel”]. Then because it is the Lord’s message, it was “godspel,” and then the pronunciation was softened to “gospel.” In modern English the word “gospel” usually refers only to the Christian message in word or song, but sometimes it means something that is absolutely true, as true as the message of God.

Next, let’s define “Christian” gospel. In this letter, St. Paul first states the Gospel message this way in Galatians 1:3-4, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”

Later in 2:15-16, “We who are Jews by birth and not ‘Gentile sinners’ know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.”

Gal. 3:11, “Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, ‘The righteous will live by faith.’”

Gal. 5:1, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

In other words, the Gospel is the wonderful message of God’s grace and peace when our sins are forgiven only through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. The Gospel has nothing to do with what we do. It is only what Christ has done. The result of that is grace, peace, justification, freedom, and salvation. What makes St. Paul angry is when people add something beside Christ for salvation. For example, Christ plus my good works. Christ plus my keeping of the Ten Commandments. Christ plus keeping the rituals of the Old Testament. Christ plus tithing. Christ plus doing church work or mission work. Christ plus a certain understanding or interpretation of Scripture. Christ plus anything else takes away from the work of Christ on the Cross, and makes the work on the cross as incomplete and ineffective. And that is not Gospel for poor, weak sinners as us who need relief and comfort.

In the world around us there are many things that say that they are the good message of a new sort of salvation. It is not about forgiveness and eternal life, but rather how to live in sin for temporary, worldly pleasure. It does not forgive sin, but gives permission to sin. And that sounds like gospel. It sounds like freedom. But it is a snare of the devil. Sin and temptation ultimately lead to slavery and death. That is because they lead us away from faith in Christ to trusting ourselves or something else. That is why some behavior is labeled as “sin.” Abusive behavior, abusing people, abusing drugs and alcohol, theft and murder, greed, and all the rest. Yes, it is hard to resist temptation, but the Holy Spirit gives us the gifts of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Gal. 5:22-23.)

St. Paul shows us the pure Gospel. He shows us Christ. Christ is the only thing he shows us. Now the church has a lot of teachings. We learn them in Bible study, in sermons, and in catechism class. They shine a light on Christ because the darkness of this world, the clutter of sin, and our own rebellious hearts do not want to rely on Christ alone. Bible study, sermons, catechism class, and Sunday school are to teach us about Christ and to train us to live in the pure Gospel.

The Gospel is the wonderful message of God’s grace and peace when our sins are forgiven only through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church


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