1 Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 2 and all the brothers who are with me, To the churches of Galatia: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. 6 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— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 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. 9 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. (Galatians 1:1–9, ESV)
The next book we’ll dive into, beginning today, is Galatians. The theme word for our study of Galatians is "fly." The end of Paul's letter to the Galatians describes a life in flight — a life that has taken off and is soaring in God's best, God's grace.
It’s a life that is free, a life in flight. If we cling to the true gospel and accept it for what it is, we can fly. But Paul wrote Galatians because the Galatian believers—and all future believers—were in danger. If we adulterate the gospel or add to it in any way, we will not fly. Like a bird chained in a birdcage, we will (at best) hinder ourselves from flying into God's ideal for our lives or (at worst) hinder ourselves and others from true salvation.
This was the danger the Galatians were in. Paul had passed through their region with Barnabas on his first missionary journey (Acts 13-14). City after city in Galatia—places like Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch—were rocked by the gospel Paul preached. Churches were started. And these new non-Jewish believers rejoiced that God loved them and sent his Son to rescue them. But after Paul's departure, men came in to add to the gospel message in various ways, troubling the infant churches in that area with false doctrine (Gal. 1:6).
So, Paul started his letter with a firm tone. He needed them to know—right away—that he was a divinely appointed apostle, qualified to instruct them in matters of the faith. As an apostle, Paul fulfilled a special and authoritative office for the church. The original twelve were made apostles by Jesus, walking with him even before his death. He called them to be his disciples so that he might make them into apostles. At the beginning of this letter, Paul makes it clear that he is not the type of apostle people send out as a missionary but the kind that Jesus himself commissioned. He even alludes to the resurrection as a way to indicate it was the risen Christ who chose him for this special role.
And Paul needed them to know he came with a divinely appointed message. Because the false teachers were diluting and perverting the very message of the gospel, Paul alludes to the message of the gospel right away in his introduction.
He told them that grace and peace from God are possible because Jesus gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age (3-4). Paul used the same word to describe Christ's deliverance of us that the Bible used to describe God's rescue of the Israelites in Egypt, God's rescue of Peter in prison, or the rescue of Paul from an angry mob (Acts 7:34, 12:11, 23:27). In other words, Christianity is a rescue mission.[^1]
Jesus did not come primarily to exemplify love or provoke thought—he came to save! The cross is God's rescue mission to save people who are otherwise lost and doomed without him. This is why Paul said that God should receive glory forever and ever (4-5).
The gospel is God's doing—his idea, his action, and his work. From beginning to end, God should get the glory (the credit), yet the false teachers in Galatia were saying the cross was good but needed additional activity to be legitimate. Because this gospel message is God's precious creation, we have no business adding to it in any way.
Paul will show us that adding to the gospel is dangerous for three reasons.
Adding Is Abandoning (6)
First, adding to the gospel is dangerous because adding is abandoning. Paul was astonished that these Galatians embraced gospel additions that meant they were deserting Jesus! To add to the gospel is to abandon Jesus. Paul wrote:
6 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— (Galatians 1:6, ESV)
This statement from Paul is full of force. In many of his letters—even his letter to the rebellious Corinthian church—Paul used his opening paragraphs to thank and pray for the church he wrote to. Not so here. This shows us the seriousness of the Galatian crime. To say right standing with God comes by Jesus plus anything is to distance yourself from Jesus. The word Paul used—deserting—is the word they would have used to describe military desertion, a transfer of allegiance, treason!
This means adding to the gospel isn't only an abandonment of a theological, doctrinal belief but a person. It's personal!
Again, Christ plus anything else as a requirement for full acceptance by God is an abomination because you are abandoning Jesus! It is to take his rescue mission and refuse to acknowledge its efficacy. It is saying to Jesus, Thank you for doing your part. Now, I will add mine. And, together, we will have achieved my right standing before God—salvation.
But the person brought back from the dead by a team of emergency medical personnel does not proceed to act as if they have attained life for themselves. I credit the embarrassing medical gown I'm wearing. I credit my willingness to eat ice chips and hospital jello. I credit these slippers. We would never!
So we have no business saying that we are approved by God through Christ's work plus anything! I vote right. I have biblical concepts down. I am environmentally conscious. I give to the poor. I serve a lot at church. I pray. These aren't the things that win us righteousness before God—the righteousness of the Son is given to us through his cross. To add to his gospel is to abandon him!
We love to be our own saviors. We love to think we can save ourselves if our surrender to Jesus is complete enough. We love to think we can save ourselves if we hold the correct views. We love to think we can save ourselves through good works. Or we love to think we can save ourselves through religious regulations and ceremonies.[^2] But none of that works—and it all detracts from the radical saving power of Jesus.
If someone is drowning at a public pool, the lifeguard does not walk over and toss them a handbook on swimming. He does not start reading the How-to-Swim Wiki page. No, the drowning person does not need a swim lesson but a savior!
We might like feeling that we are performing well enough to earn God's favor. But though legalism might be humanity's tendency, we cannot add to the good news of the gospel because it distances us from the very God who wants to save us!
And even when we are at our absolute best, there is plenty to remind us that we are still sinners in need of a savior, which is one reason why adding to the gospel is so foolish—to add to the gospel is to distance ourselves from the One who came to save us. To add is to abandon him!
Next week, we’ll learn two more reasons it is dangerous to add to the gospel.
[^1]: Stott, John R. W. The Message of Galatians: Only One Way. The Bible Speaks Today. Leicester, England; Downer’s Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1986. [^2]: Keller, Timothy. Galatians for You. God’s Word for You. Purcellville, VA: The Good Book Company, 2013.