Origins

Reading:  Galatians 1:10-17

Paul has challenged the Galatians not to accept anything other than the gospel he originally preached to them (Gal 1:8).  But how can he be so confident that what he already taught them is right?  “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”(Gal 1:11-12).  Paul insists that he didn’t make up his gospel and he didn’t learn it from anyone.  He received it directly from Jesus.  So if anyone wants to change or tweak or distort or “improve on” this message, Paul is certain that the Galatians should reject them.  It comes from Jesus.  

This is all the more amazing when we consider Paul’s past as a persecutor of the church, devoted to traditional Judaism (Gal 1:13-14).  He was not a student of Jesus or a part of the Christian movement.  How did he so quickly become educated in the faith?  “But when he who had set me apart before I was born and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus”(Gal 1:15-17).  This is not how we would encourage a new convert to learn the gospel.  Paul—almost immediately after his conversion—had a full understanding of Jesus and went to parts unknown preaching a gospel entirely consistent with the apostles’.  

Origins matter.  Where did a teaching originate?  Jesus challenges the chief priests to answer whether John’s baptism came from heaven or from man (Matt 21:25).  Our confidence in any teaching is always based on its source—not on whether it pleases us.  

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One Thing to Think About:  Am I more interested in the words of God’s messengers or my contemporaries?
 
One Thing to Pray For:  Passion for the authentic message about Jesus

Deserting Jesus

Reading: Galatians 1:1-9

Paul writes to the churches of Galatia because they are being influenced by teachers who want them to keep the Law of Moses along with Jesus’ teachings.  In essence, Gentiles must become Jews to be right with God.  Galatians is Paul’s fierce rejection of this idea.  His greeting here is cut short by his desire to get to the matter at hand.  “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”(Gal 1:6).  These are sharp words.  By accepting this teaching—and its hope of salvation through law-keeping and personal perfection—the Galatians are “deserting” Jesus.  They have deserted him not by rejecting his morality or disavowing faith in him, but by turning to a different gospel. 

Realizing that his language could be subject to misunderstanding, he quickly adds, “not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ”(Gal 1:7).  There are not multiple gospels, each as good as the next, for us to choose from.  These teachers are distorting the true gospel.  “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”(Gal 1:8).  No matter who preaches it (even if an angel or apostle), we must not listen to those who would contradict or add to the message the apostles preached. If we want to be saved by Jesus, we must be saved his way.

What we teach matters, particularly because teaching leads to action.  If these Galatians accept this teaching and start keeping the Law of Moses, they are deserting Jesus.  This text impresses us with our deep need to evaluate modern teaching by comparing it against the original teaching of the apostles.  The stakes could not be higher.

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One Thing to Think About:  Am I as serious about the purity of the message as Paul is?

One Thing to Pray For:  Teachers who will help me remain true to the apostolic message