A Different Gospel

A sermon preached on 1st May 2022 by Pastor Enoch Awuku Anti

This morning we begin a new series in Galatians. Galatians is an epistle or letter, so there is a writer and recipients. As we see from the opening words, it was was written by Paul: “Paul an Apostle…” (v.1). The recipients are “churches in Galatia” v.2 “To the churches in Galatia.” These churches it is believed were planted during Paul’s first missionary journeys (Acts 13—14). Galatians follows the pattern of Paul’s letters where he invokes the blessings of God to his recipients: v.3

Now if you will notice, there is something unique about Galatians compared to all the other letters of Paul. Galatians was not written to one church but many churches in the then world in a region called Galatia. We can trace Galatia to modern-day turkey. In fact many of the New Testament cities and Paul’s missionary journeys can be traced to modern day Turkey.

This morning, I want us to begin our series with an introductory message I have titled A Different Gospel. And this is from the last phrase of verse six: A Different Gospel. Other translations translate that phrase as another gospel. So make a choice. It’s either A Different Gospel (which I prefer because of my translation) or you title it Another Gospel. At the end of the sermon we will both arrive at the same understanding of the text.

Now I will address two things in this sermon. I will address a False Gospel and Dangers of A False Gospel.

False Gospel

When Paul spoke about a different gospel, he was addressing a false gospel. What is a false gospel you may ask? A false gospel is simply any message contrary to the true gospel. Paul makes this point in v.8. We pick from this reading then that Paul and his team preached the true gospel and others preached a different gospel from what they preached which is a false gospel.

Much of Paul’s letters or actually the New Testament letters were written to address problems that arose in churches. Galatians is no different. Paul wrote to address a problem of infiltration of the Galatian churches by a false gospel brought about by Jews who insist that Gentile Christians must keep the law of Moses to be justified before God.

In the New Testament, they are called Judaizers or circumcision party. Look at Chapter 2:12. What these Judaizers or circumcision party stands for primarily is the keeping of the law for justification. It’s a works righteousness. And this is what Paul refers to as a different gospel. Paul is astonished in verse 6 that the Galatians were quickly turning to a false gospel.

Paul is astonished because it has not been long since the Galatians have come to the truth of the gospel and are soon turning away. And I think everyone who has come to faith in Christ and have believed the gospel must be amazed, surprised and possibly angry about what is going on out there in our space in the name of Christianity.

So the whole of Galatians addresses the matter of keeping of the law for justification and faith for justification. It addresses the contrast between work’s righteousness, that is working to gain our righteousness and relying on God’s righteousness through provided already in Christ through faith. The Galatian error, as I call it does not differ from what goes on in many churches and amongst Christians today. Much of what passes for Christianity in our days is no Christianity at all. It is contrary to the gospel. We hear many things today from popular preachers today which is no gospel at all. Many Christian pulpits and preachers today are offering prosperity, positive thinking, decreeing and declaring, sowing seeds for breakthrough…all these are simply no gospel. They are a false gospel. And If you follow a preacher, if you listen to a preacher, if you yourself preach these things you are preaching another gospel and bringing upon yourself the judgement of God:

But then one may ask, What Is The True Gospel?

How can we identify if a message is a different gospel? Firstly, by knowing what the true gospel is. So I am at this point attempting to answer the question, What is the gospel?

Brothers and sisters, there is nothing new to say about the gospel which I believe we don’t already know. So what I will be doing at this point is a reminder.

See, we are humans and we do forget so constant reminders are in place. And Paul does reminders in this letter. In two verses, he has said the same things already: vv.8-9

Look closely at a phrase in verse 7: “not that there is another” This phrase shows the singularity of the gospel. There is only one gospel. Any other thing contrary to this one gospel is no gospel at all. The question still remains, what is the gospel?

The word gospel in the original language simply means good news or glad tidings. When the angels appeared to the shepherds, the message was, “Fear not, for I bring you glad tidings” The gospel then is God’s good news or glad tidings to humanity. You know if someone has a news for you, they will ask you which one do you want first? The good news or the bad news? I am saying this to point out the fact that the moment we say good news, then there is a bad news somewhere.

The bad news, upon which the message of the gospel becomes good news is that all human beings are sinners. The bad news is not poverty or disease which causes that we offer prosperity and health. The bad news of humanity is not wars so that we offer peace from war as good news. The bad news is that Scripture condemns every human being that walks the surface of this earth as a sinner. Sinners condemned to eternal damnation for breaking the law of God.

And this is where the gospel—the good news comes in. The gospel is that despite our sin, God has made a way for sinners to come to him. He sent Jesus Christ on earth to be a sacrifice and pay for our sins. Jesus died on the cross so that anyone who will believe in him will be reconciled and brought into a relationship with God: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

Dear friends this is the true gospel. The one and only gospel. The gospel that saves sinners. The death, burial, resurrection of Christ for the salvation of sinners. And Paul speaks clearly about this in his opening words.

1:1 Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead.
1:3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
1:4 who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father
1:5: to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen

In these verses, we clearly see Paul speaking of the gospel. These verses captures everything the gospel is.

v.1 The death and resurrection of Christ.
V 4 Substitutionary atonement, payment for our sins and the will of God. Jesus died in the place of sinners. He died to pay the penalty for our sins and deliver us from sin. Who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age. The death of Christ also is clearly according to the will of God. It is not according to what we do

Dear Friends, The central theme of the gospel is that sinners are saved by grace alone through faith alone. You will notice this in the verse we read: who called you in the grace of Christ. Do you see that? God calls sinners in the grace of Christ. Not because of any worth in them. We cannot do anything to earn justification from God. If ever we are faced with a temptation to think that what we do will make us more justified before God, then we have believed a false gospel. The whole of the letter to the Galatians hinges on this one fact that justification is by faith alone and not works.

We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners;
yet we know that a person is not justified[a] by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified (Galatians 2:15-16).

This is how sinners are saved. By faith in Christ Jesus.
Anything short of faith in Christ Jesus for salvation is a different gospel. A false gospel.
We can never overemphasise the gospel.
How much of the gospel is too much?
The gospel is our life
Our very soul hangs on the gospel
The gospel is that which will bring sinners to salvation and sustain believers.
Nothing else will will save sinners but the gospel.
And this gospel needs to be repeated to our hearing constantly.

Dear brethren, is this what you have believed? Is this how you were saved or became a Christian? By believing in Christ for your salvation? If this is not what you have believed but one way or the other are working your way to find favour with God, sowing seeds to find favour with God, then you have believed a false gospel.

Dangers of A Different Gospel

Puts Your Soul At Risk

When we are speaking about the gospel, your soul is at stake here. And those who preach a false gospel are putting your soul at risk. They are troubling you. That is what Paul says in v.7: there are some who trouble you. A false gospel has eternal consequence. It can land you in hell. So be careful what you have believed. In fact believing a false gospel could actually be a sign that God has let go of you to be rightly deceived because you don’t love sound teaching. And that’s scary. If God lets go of u, to follow your own passions and itching ear, who will deliver you?

Puts Aside God’s Way Of Salvation

The Jews who troubled the Galatians also distorted the gospel. The word distort in the original has a meaning of perversion or corruption. This could mean that, they set aside God’s established way of salvation to establish their own. Or they add to what God has established for their personal gain. Many preachers today distort the gospel to deceive. They distort the gospel to manipulate. They distort the gospel for self-gain. They are not interested in your soul. They are interested in the belly. When they deceive, they get rich and the people get impoverished. God has established that the only way of salvation.

Put God Aside

Not only do they put God’s way of salvation aside. They put God himself aside. A False and different gospel makes us turn away from God. In the verse 6 when Paul addresses the matter of deserting, he was not talking about they deserting him. He speaks of they deserting God. This is the danger you face if you believe a false gospel. You turn away from God. And you believe things that are injurious to your faith.