Welcome back to our study of the book of Galatians, in our last study we looked at the salutation of Paul in Verses 1 through 5. In those first five verses, Paul first established his authority as an apostle, not sent by Man or from Man, but one sent by God Himself. God commissioned Paul as an apostle in the book of Acts, when he was on his way to Damascus, you can read about it in Acts 9. After establishing his authority, the apostle Paul briefly re-introduces the gospel he has been preaching and teaching in all the churches he has founded. In the next 4 verses ( 6-10), he is going to sharply rebuke those in the Galatian Church that are buying into the distorted gospel which has been introduced by some of the “Traditional “Judaizers. I’ll encourage you to watch the video below courtesy of John Gerstner
Galatians 1:6-10: Paul’s Rebuke Against The Distorted Gospel Followers
The Passage- Galatians 1:6-10
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.
10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant[b] of Christ.
Notes
- Verses 6-7
The Judaizers that infiltrated the church in Galatia were saying that to be truly saved, one must be circumcised. They had a wrong view of the Law of Moses and misinterpreted the Scriptures. This is why I referred to them as “traditional” Judaizers. True Judaism never espoused this type of teaching. Those who were promoting circumcision as necessary means for salvation were completely relying on tradition an not scripture. But because these “traditional” Judaizers were of Jewish descent , I believe the congregation in Galatia was intimidated by their Jewish heritage and folded under pressure. So Paul was deeply troubled by the rapidity and facility with which the Galatians quickly adopted the “traditional “Judaizers’ teaching about the Gospel and sharply rebuked them. He calls their teaching a perversion and distortion of the Gospel and that’s exactly what it is, a false gospel. It may have had a form of strictness and morality, and that was probably attractive to the Galatians but it was a serious distortion of the Truth found in Sacred Scripture.
- Verses 8-9
To make his point clear, Paul says that even if an angel or even him( Paul) or anyone deviates from the True Gospel- the one that clearly portrays Christ’s death on the Cross and His faithfulness to God alone as the atoning sacrifice for our sins- led that angel and that person be eternally cursed. This is the gravity of the matter, and we must stand with Paul when it comes to preserving the integrity of the Gospel found in Sacred Scripture. There can’t be compromise and the Gospel Truth should never be tainted, no one should add or take away anything from it, lest they be cursed.
- Verse 10
What Paul says in verse 10 should be the attitude we all adopt. This is the view of the truly mature Christian. We are no longer trying to be liked, and approved by the world, our allegiance is to God and Him alone. Jesus even warns His disciples and us about this in Matthew 10:33-34 and Luke 14:25-27
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PS: All the videos series from RC Sproul and Dr John Gerstner added to the website have been thoroughly listened to by myself. And I highly recommend them to anyone looking to deepen his/her faith in Christ. We live in the age of relativism and now more than ever understanding what we believe, and why believe what believe is not optional.
My name is Tayib Salami and I started Tayibs.com for the sole purpose of exploring difficult questions about the Christian faith that most of us shy away from. In 2017, I entered a very dark time in my life and it’s only by the grace of the Living God that I’m still alive today. It led me to really go deeper in my faith and consider a myriad of questions that I never thought about asking myself or others before. Welcome and enjoy the ride with me.