Galatians 1:6-10 DEFECTION It is a terrible, unhappy surprise when we learn that those who seemed so glad that God in His grace saved them; turn away from the truth they once held. Even worse is when they reject not only the message but the messenger who first brought the Gospel to them. But even more disturbing is when not only the message and the messenger are rejected, but preachers say the sacrifice of Christ on the cross is not sufficient to pay the price of our sins. That would mean we sinners are able to meet the requirements of divine justice ourselves; Christ was not able. The foolish, senseless Galatians had listened to those who did not know the Gospel and were seeking to add their own "two cents worth" of law-keeping to the infinitely great price the Lord Jesus Christ paid with His life.
Paul was astounded that so soon after the Galatian believers had received him, the message he preached, and the Lord Jesus Christ as their own Savior; they had listened to, and turned to "another gospel." Not everything that is called "the gospel," is good news. "The Gospel of the Glory of the Blessed God," is very different from the false messages that teaching circumcision and law-keeping are needed to be saved. Others have a "gospel" of good works that says being sincere and doing the best you can will take you to heaven. And then there are some who have a counterfeit gospel that teaches baptism, communion, the mass, or other religious acts that make one accepted by God. None of these is good news and none is right.
The Galatians were not addressed as saints, nor faithful or holy. They were called "brethren," but that is all he could say about them. They had deserted the Lord Himself. Judaizers were trying to pervert, to change, the fundamental essence of the Gospel into something else. They were trying to turn light into darkness with another gospel. That does not mean they were taking another approach to the same message. They were preaching a message of another kind - a false message; a false gospel. Those whom the brethren in the assemblies in Galatia were paying heed to were those who were changing the whole character of the Gospel. They were removing the foundation of salvation by the grace of Christ alone. These religious practitioners are still preaching this kind of counterfeit "Christianity" today. These are not true men. They are religious professionals who make their "statements of faith" based on the vote of the majority of the people. Usually, there has been in the past some person of a dogmatic nature, who reads the Bible and puts a private interpretation on a series of verses taken out of context. They then write down their unusual thoughts and teach them to others with the same authority as the scriptures. As far as they are concerned, they are right, and a new "denomination" is formed. The commitment of those who gather under the authority of the name of the Lord Jesus Christ alone to His Person, have the scriptures of truth only as our source of information for our doctrine and conduct. What we believe and practice has the word of God to support it.
The people of Lystra had one time looked at Paul as the god, Mercury, because he was the one who preached there at the first; and Barnabas was looked at as Jupiter, both pagan gods of the Romans. Now Paul uses this as a reference to condemn any, including himself, who preach "another gospel," even angels. If he or the angels didn't preach salvation by grace alone, there was a curse on them instead of a blessing. Those who preach another gospel are really emissaries of the devil. God has saved us from this present evil world by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have been rescued from Satan's domain. Our loyalty should be to Christ and we owe our allegiance to Him. Salvation is a gift from God, not a reward for our works. Any additional requirements would deny the power of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
No wonder Paul was troubled about the effect false brethren were having on real believers. His stern words were to wake them up to the fact of the danger they were in. The truth of God was being undermined, and those assemblies were endangered by the teaching of those who were turning the saints away from sound doctrine. Salvation by the blood of Christ plus the works of men is a cheap ineffective message. Twisting the truth is harder to deal with than deliberate lies. The same biblical words are used but the meanings are different. Similar hymns are sung but the message received is very different from what the hymn-writer years before intended.
Christianity cannot be integrated into man-made religions. Open-mindedness and tolerance for everyone's opinion are deceptive and evil when it comes to adapting to the message of salvation. Religion is not a substitute for saving faith in Christ. The Old Testament has marvelous truths to be applied to us today. One has well said, "In the Old Testament the New Testament is concealed. In the New Testament, the Old Testament is revealed." We do not reject the Old Testament as of no value to us in these New Testament times. We learn through types, shadows, and illustrations what Christ is like. Judaism rejects Jesus as the Christ. Jesus is revealed as the Christ in the New Testament. The Old Testament is an inspired album of truth given to us like real photographs. Those two attitudes toward Jesus cannot be integrated in any way.
Salvation by grace alone is the foundational doctrine of the Christian Gospel. This cannot be added to or taken from the Gospel. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as one's own personal Savior cannot be compromised. We must do what God wants and take the consequences. Deceptive teachers and preachers must be rejected along with what they preach. We cannot please everybody but we must please God. It is a terrible thing to allow those who are trying to pervert the people of God to disturb and destroy the flock of God. No wonder Paul was astounded and disturbed by what was going on in the assemblies in Galatia. The gospel they heard was no Gospel at all. A so-called Christianity with something added to it is cursed.
The backslidden condition of the assemblies in Galatia made the matter of corrections so urgent, that Paul wrote the whole letter himself. He was not going to wait for a scribe to come and take his dictation. The Holy Spirit moved him as a servant of Christ to deal immediately and strongly with this false teaching. He was definitely not a servant of man.