I marvel that you are
turning away so soon
from Him who called
you in the grace of Christ,
to a different
gospel, which is not another;
but there are some
who trouble you and want
to pervert the gospel
of Christ.
But even if we, or an
angel from heaven,
preach any other
gospel to you than
what we have preached
to you,
let him be accursed.
Galatians 1:6–8
The
readiness to believe preaching, or teaching, that which on the face of their
suppositions to leave what was formerly taught by the apostles was a “marvel’
to the apostle Paul. The Jews who became believers in Jesus Christ still held
on to a salvation of works. A person must do the former things of the law, not
just the ten commandments, but the works of the law, those ceremonial acts God
in His dispensation commanded under the Old Testament covenant; i.e.,
circumcision, which was a major point to the uncircumcised that unless they
were circumcised they did not have merit before God. These Christian Jews
believed that the Gospel was a grant to them as reward for doing the works of
the law. They looked down upon and even condemned the uncircumcised and those
who allow murderers, and adulterous ones, the divorced, etc., to be admitted
into the church of God. Those dissenters left behind the preaching of the
apostle Paul and devised another gospel.
This gospel was not saying that Jesus did not come and die for sins, “which
was not another”, rather it was a gospel that was not preached by Paul and
was an addition adding works for a person to obtain favor and merit with God.
They preached works; they preached that without these works, doing these
things, that their salvation was not complete.
It was a perversion of the gospel. Paul was in this letter calling them
back to what they were taught by him from the beginning and to return to that
gospel. If a person was preaching or teaching another form of gospel, they were
to be “accursed.”
Fast
forward into out time, a time after the Reformation, a time when the Bible, its
truth was reforming what was taught by the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman
Catholic Church added works, a system of indulgences whereby money paid to the
church would ensure them a path into heaven, a going off the fight in the
crusades and having their past sins absolved. The Reformation was a return to
the gospel, to Sola Scriptura, the Reformation changed the way people thought
and believed, and God worshipped in truth and not by doing some act. Some
Christians even taught and do in this day, teach that to be saved you must be
baptized; baptismal regeneration. Martin Luther has been so misunderstood yet
as one who led the Reformation never claimed that salvation came to one apart
from faith in Jesus Christ: “to seek the efficacy of the sacrament apart
form the promise and apart from faith [in Christ], is to labor in vain and to
find damnation” (Luther’s essay, “THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY OF CHURCH”).
Jonathan Edwards an important person of the first Great Revival, led this
nation to return to God as many, as happened in the Church from the beginning
of the church, to put God first, to hold fast to the Gospel as revealed in
Scripture. Many were following men; “as we have said before, so no I say
again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received,
let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:9). We have even today, many churches and Christians who are following
another gospel, a gospel of works, not of faith alone, not Sola Scriptura,
rather a system of works. Some teach
that you must have a “second baptism” demonstrated as being done, by speaking
in tongues, or doing some other supernatural miraculous act. Some teach that to
be a “true” Christian there must be supernatural signs. They speak of raising
the dead (which they do not have any proof), that they must hear God in their minds,
a special revelation, (I suppose the God did not give us all we need in His
word), and all this without even mentioning the name of Jesus Christ, His
gospel. My one recent experience will give some evidence. There are those who
believe that the school of Supernatural that they attend, believe that they
have the “gospel, ”and are doing the work of God One day while walking my
German Shepherd dog along the river trail.
Speaking to my dog to move to the right from the bridge wall, was heard
me saying “right”, and this young man stopped his bike and asked, “Do you have
pain in your right foot?” He wanted to pray for my foot. He believed that God
directed him to hear me and to pray for my hurting foot, for this is what a
Christian was to do. God would speak in words into his thought process and this
special, supernatural revelation is what the Bible teaches. Is it? No! When
speaking to him about Jesus Christ and the Bible I asked: “If God gave partial
revelation, an incomplete revelation, a gospel that we were to be healers, or
to have God speak to us in ways that are not in His word?” He answered back:
“Jesus said, “we would do greater things than He had done.” I asked, “What is
greater than raising the dead?” What more I ask can we do that is greater? Is it
not to take the gospel, not some man’s presupposition based upon this world,
upon men who do not believe in God, i.e., Charles Darwin, John Dewey, etc, who
pervert the gospel. Teaching that which
is not recorded for us, not allowing Scripture to speak. We are not to add anything to it, we then
preach and teach the truth, the Gospel as handed down to us from the Apostles
and other men God used to transmit the truth about what God had and has done
through the death of His Son Jesus Christ.
Don’t be
misled, don’t just tacitly acquiesce. As one man has said: Trust, but verify.
Do this with what I write, comment to me when you think that I am speaking in a
false way, or you don’t fully understand. Iron sharpens iron. Paul continues: “For
do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men. I would not be a
bondservant of Christ. But I make know to you, brethren, that the gospel which
was preached be me is not according to man. for I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came
through the revelation of Jesus Christ” (Galatians 1:10–12.
Oh, bless our God, you peoples!
And make
the voice of
His praise to be heard.
Who keeps
our soul
Among the living. And does
Not allow
our feet
To be moved.
Psalms 66: 8–9
Make God the center of your life
Richard L. Crumb
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