No Other Gospel

What is at stake is in Paul’s letter to the Galatians is the good news—and not simply the “good news” but the “best news”—the most important news in all the world.

And that news is that Jesus has done everything necessary to deliver us from our sin, from judgement, and from death and to re-write our lives and our destinies, forever. In Christ, rebellious sinners like us have been invited into communion with the God by whom and for whom we were made.

The good news is that this new life is all of grace. For anyone who will simply receive it by trusting in the sufficiency of Jesus, salvation, forgiveness, righteousness is yours as a gift. You don’t have to earn it. Paul tells the Ephesians,

For by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not your own doing it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast (Eph 2.8).

That is the best news in all the world. No matter what you’ve thought or done, no matter how wretched or wicked you feel this morning, no matter how far away you’ve wandered, this invitation is for you. Jesus will not turn anyone away.

This is the good news of the gospel. Every week, as pastors, we want to make the good news of rescue in Jesus Christ clear in our preaching. We want you to be presented with the problem of your lostness and the remedy of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone. We want you to see the realness of Jesus. We want to point you to his moral beauty. We want you to find strength in his perfect righteousness. We want you to delight in his redeeming love. We want you to be strengthened by his promise to never leave you or forsake you. We want you to experience the outpouring of his generous heart. We want you to hear the good news of Jesus because it is the best news in all the world.

And it is this gospel that the Galatians are in danger of leaving for something else. Perhaps, then, we can understand Paul’s astonishment in the passage that Pastor Jonathan just read! Paul’s aim in this letter (and, particularly, in our text this morning) is to remind the believers in the churches of Galatia of one simple thing: there is no other gospel.

Let’s pray and we’ll dive in:

[PRAY] We confess this morning, Lord Jesus, that there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Come now we ask, by your Spirit to help us see the good news that is ours only in you. Father, give us more of Jesus we ask, for our good and his glory, because we ask in his matchless name, Amen.

Sometimes it helps to have a structure to hang things on, so if you are the kind of person who likes that or wants to take notes, here are four words to listen for:

• Danger

• Troublers

• Anti-gospel

• Thunderbolt

 The Danger

First, let’s look at Paul’s warning of danger. Verse 6: I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ (and are turning [added for clarity in the text]) to a different gospel.

I am dumbstruck that you are so quickly leaving the One who called you in the grace of Christ for <<another gospel>>.

Luke tells us in Acts 14 that Paul and Barnabas traveled through the towns of Iconium, Lystra, Antioch, and Derbe in southern Galatia, preaching the gospel from synagogue to synagogue. Despite severe opposition from the Jews, many men and women believed the gospel message, often at great personal cost (14:21). Luke writes that Paul and Barnabas went from city to city, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God (14.22)

But, it seems that after Paul and Barnabas left, the Jewish zealots who opposed him at Lystra returned to the newly planted churches in Galatia and assaulted the gospel message and these new believers. Despite his warning that “through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God,” the Galatian believers seem to be waffling. And notice here in 1.6 who Paul says they are in danger of deserting.

While it was Paul and Barnabas who boldly preached the gospel to the Galatians, it was God who called them in the grace of Christ. It was God who softened their hearts unto repentance and faith. It was God who sealed them with the promised Holy Spirit. The Galatians aren’t in danger of defecting from Paul, they are in danger of turning away from the gracious gift of God.

If we consider the preciousness of the gospel message and the dramatic nature in which these Galatian believers were saved, we can understand Paul’s astonishment. He is deeply concerned that the Galatians are in danger of walking away from the best news in the world. Paul wants them to see how surprising and serious this could turn out to be, so he hints at another shocking defection that ought to warn them of danger.

In verse 6, Paul says that the Galatians are “so quickly turning aside” from the one who called them— precisely the same words God uses to describe to Moses the defection of the Israelites in Exodus 32. The people of Israel have witnessed Egypt’s destruction by plague, have carried away Egypt’s wealth, have walked across the Red Sea on dry ground, have been fed with manna from the clear blue sky—and yet, when Moses goes up on the mountain, they turn away from all that God has done for them by making a golden calf and sacrificing to it. In Exodus 32.8, God says, they have turned quickly aside of the way that I have commanded them and made for themselves a golden calf and worshipped it (32.8).

What ought to be even more astonishing is that the Galatians would turn away from the grace of Christ! To them, “the mystery hidden for ages and generations” has now been “revealed to his saints” which is “Christ in you, the hope of glory”! (Col 1.24, 27).

But as shocked as he is by the Galatians’ wandering, he does not respond in anger or despondency. Paul says in chapter 3 that they have been “bewitched” (3.1); they have been “fooled” (3.2); having been freed from the curse, by listening to the anti-gospel, they’ve put themselves back under it (4:9). While they “are quickly deserting,” the verb tense Paul uses makes clear that the Galatians have not yet abandoned the truth of the gospel.

Paul’s not addressing apostates, he is addressing wandering sheep. He’s not shaming them or manipulating them. As a gentle shepherd, he warning of danger and calling them back to their senses.

I love how Martin Luther captures this: Paul could have treated the Galatians with less courtesy and denounced them more roughly, something like this: “A plague on your apostasy! I am ashamed of you. Your ingratitude wounds me. I am angry with you.” Or he could have exclaimed against them tragically: “O what an age! What habits!”

But since it is his aim to raise up the fallen and, with fatherly care, to recall them from their error to the Gospel, he refrains from these harsh words, especially at the beginning, and addresses them with great gentleness and mildness. Seeking as he was to heal the wounded, it would not have been right for him to make their wound worse by applying a sharp and painful plaster to it and thus to hurt the wounded instead of healing them. Therefore he could not have found sweeter or gentler words than these: “I am astonished,” by which he made clear both that it saddened him and that it displeased him that they had fallen away from him.[1]

Paul saves his fury, instead, for those who (v.7) are troubling the Galatians by distorting the good news of Christ.

Troublers

This isn’t Paul’s first run-in with these particular “troublers.” He recounts in chapter 2.1-10 how these same devious men spied on him and tried to end his ministry by creating a rift between Paul and the Jerusalem apostles. These same troublers, whom he calls the “circumcision party” in chapter 2 verse 12, were blasting the church in Jerusalem with such anger and opposition that, out of fear of greater persecution for the church, Peter and Barnabas drew back from fellowshipping with Gentile believers in Antioch so as to not give the zealots any more ammo.

Having been unsuccessful in their attempts to derail Paul, apparently now these “troublers” have turned to discrediting him among the Galatians as a “second-hander” who simply got his gospel from the apostles (1.1)  or as a “man-pleaser” (1.8) who is preaching Christ in hopes of being approved by the Jerusalem apostles.

But, as Pastor Kenny pointed out last week in vv1-2, Paul reminds the Galatians that he didn’t get his message from anyone but the risen Christ. In fact, before Jesus knocked him off his feet on the Damascus road, Paul actually persecuted the apostles because of his opposition to their gospel message (as we’ll see next week in 2:11–24).

And in the last verse of our text this morning, Paul also reminds the Galatians that preaching the gospel of Jesus is a heck of a way to try to please man! Look at 1:10.

Gal. 1.10   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 of Christ.

Luke tells us in Acts 14 that when Paul first preached the gospel in the city of Iconium in Galatia, he and Barnabas had to flee because of a plot by their opponents to stone them to death. And then in Lystra, Jewish zealots not only succeeded in stoning Paul, they dragged him out of the city dead. The disciples stood around Paul and prayed that he would live, and God mercifully answered by raising him up. And the very next day Paul and Barnabas went on to preach the gospel in Derbe.

Even those we see troubling the Galatians in our letter were offended by Paul’s message. The gospel brings Paul opposition wherever he goes! To say that he does it to win friends and influence people is simply beyond belief. “If I were still trying to please man,” Paul says, “I would not continue to be a bond-servant of Christ.”

The Anti-Gospel

That’s why, in verses 7–9, Paul does not pull any punches. Look at vv 6–7: Gal. 1.6   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.

In verse six, Paul says the Galatians are being drawn away from the grace of Christ by a “different gospel.” And in verse 7, Paul says that this different gospel is not a gospel at all. It is an anti-gospel.

The troublers in Galatia preach fake news from perverted motives. They say that the death of Jesus for sin is not sufficient by itself. If the Galatians want to be approved by God, they must keep the Mosaic law. If you are Jewish, that means observing the purity laws of the Old Covenant. If you are a Gentile God-fearer, that means circumcision as a convert to Judaism. The only hope for salvation, they say, is by obedience to the Law of Moses.

This distortion is anti-gospel both in an obvious and a subtle way. The obvious way is that it denies that the death and resurrection of Jesus has changed anything. To them, the death of Jesus means nothing. The Mosaic law remains in place. Jesus’s death for sin is not enough to remove the requirement of obedience to the Mosaic law. Instead, their anti-gospel says that salvation rests on Jesus’s death plus faithful obedience to the law: Jesus plus circumcision for Gentile Christians. Jesus plus eating only clean animals and observing Levitical purity laws for Jewish Christians.

This “Jesus plus” formula is the anti-gospel. It doesn't simply alter the good news, it destroys it. It moves the basis of our approval from the perfect righteousness of Christ to our perfect obedience of the law. And if one thing is sure about our lives—we can’t keep God’s law and certainly not perfectly. If our approval before God rests on our record of obedience, then we are still under God’s wrath. If our imperfect law-keeping wasn’t addressed by Jesus’s substitutionary sacrifice, then there is nothing that can remove our guilt. Jesus has delivered us from slavery to self, but these anti-gospels would put us back under the bondage of proud self-righteousness.

And this “Jesus plus” formula is everywhere. The prosperity gospel says the reason you are not wealthy is that you need to “claim” that wealth in Jesus’ name. You need Jesus plus extraordinary faith to prove to God that you are worthy of riches. The reason your cancer has not been healed is that you have not shown enough faith. You need Jesus plus extraordinary faith to prove that you are worthy of his healing. The austerity gospel says that accepting Jesus plus committing to a life of forced poverty will prove to God that I am worthy of his love. The self-help gospel says that if I have Jesus plus more spirituality and self-improvement, then I will be worthy of God’s acceptance.

But these are anti-gospels. By requiring something additional, they deny the sufficient grace of Christ. They bring their hearers into the slavery of unachievable self-made righteousness.

That’s why, in chapter 5, Paul writes: For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery…You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law. You have fallen away from grace. This persuasion is not from him who calls you! (Gal 5.1,4,8).

Friends, if you are here this morning and you’ve living under any of those distorted anti-gospels, can the Lord Jesus is calling you to freedom. See that he loves you apart from anything you have ever done or anything that you could ever do. See that his love is so deep and so real and so full that he has done everything necessary for you to belong to him. See that he, alone, is your savior. Lay down your attempts to prove yourself to him and simply receive his grace.

There is only one formula that matters: Jesus plus nothing. His perfect obedience for our unrighteousness, his substitutionary death for the wrath our sins deserved, his unalloyed approval for our crushing shame. His grace for our sin. Paul proclaims, For by grace we are saved, through faith, and this is not your own doing, it is a gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one can boast (Eph 2.8).

And not only does anti-gospel of the Judaizers deny the sufficiency of Jesus, it also subtly overturns the whole teaching of Scripture. The Scriptures comprehensively reject our works as any part of the basis of our acceptance before God. Throughout all of redemptive history, from Genesis to John the Baptist, there has only been one way to be approved God—and that is by grace, through faith, alone.

Paul also puts his finger on the troublers’ perverted motive: (v6) they want to distort the gospel of Christ. Near the end of the letter in chapter 6, Paul sees right to the bottom of their ugly desire:

It is those [i.e. the Judaizers] who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the Cross of Christ [in other words, that they not be rebuked for crucifying Jesus]. For even those who circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh (6:12).

The Judaizers do not actually care about the Galatians at all. They don’t even care about law keeping. They care about one thing: winning the Galatians to their side. Their motivation is really Jewish nationalism. If the Galatians care more about the global glory of Christ, they’ll care less about the political power of national Israel. And the Judaizers fear that the Galatians’ primary identity in Christ will lessen their concern about the ethnic distinctiveness that fed Jewish hatred of Roman rule.

Ultimately, the Judaizers reject the gospel message for the same reason many do today. We simply can’t handle the free grace of God in Christ.

We don’t like to hear that God doesn't help those who help themselves. It threatens our pride. We don’t like to hear that we are incapable of saving ourselves from our sin. We don’t like to hear that our righteousness is as filthy rags. We don’t like to hear that to inherit eternal life, we must just accept it as a gift. We don’t like to hear that God is God and we are not.

So we construct other gospels that are not gospels at all.

Thunderbolt

And Paul refutes them in vv8-9 in the strongest terms. As Luther says, Paul hits them “with a clear text and a thunderbolt.” Look at v8–9. 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.

With repetition for emphasis, Paul underscores that there is only one gospel. And this gospel is not from man. It is the story of redemption spelled out in Law and the Prophets and the Writings. Paul and the apostles simply teach what the Scriptures reveal about the promised Messiah. Their message is God’s message. And any message that does not match up to the gospel is not from God.  

Martin Luther, again, explains this so well he is worth quoting at length: Paul subordinates himself, an angel from heaven, teachers on earth, and any other masters at all to Sacred Scripture. This queen must rule, and everyone must obey and be subject to her. The pope, Luther, Augustine, Paul, an angel from heaven—these should not be masters, judges, or arbiters but only witnesses, disciples, and confessors of Scripture. Nor should any doctrine be taught or heard in the church except the pure Word of God. Otherwise, let the teachers and the hearers be accursed along with their doctrine.[2]

Our message comes from Scripture, alone. And that message is that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone. There is no other gospel.

And Paul’s thunderbolt is this. If anyone preaches a gospel contrary to the apostolic message, it does not come from God. It comes from the pit of hell. Not only are false gospels to be condemned, so are their preachers. The gravest possible consequences are reserved for those who lead people to any other so-called salvation. Preachers of the anti-gospel are leading people into slavery and death.

Conclusion

The way we identify anti-gospels is by constantly rehearsing the good news. And this news is the best news in all the world: Now, in Christ, you can find peace with God—because Jesus has laid down his life for your sin. Jesus lived a life that we couldn't live and died the death that we deserved in order that, through his substitutionary death, we might belong to God forever. We don’t earn his righteousness by obedience to the law, we receive it as a gift through faith. “For our sake,” Paul says, “he made him to be sin who knew no sin in order that we might become the righteousness of God” (2Cor 5:20).

So, to those who are here this morning and have not trusted in Jesus, let me speak to you for a moment. If you are sitting here this morning thinking, “You have no idea what I have done. I’ve done unspeakable things. There’s no way that God can accept me” or “I’ve walked away from Christ, I’m too far gone.”

If that is you, friend, listen closely. The moment we are at our worst, when we could not be more detestable, more distant, more dirty, or more damnable, that is the very moment when Jesus’s love is the greatest. It is the moment when his power to save is the strongest.

The Lord Jesus himself says to you:

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light (Matt 11:28).

You don’t need to clean yourself up. If you are a sinner, you are qualified for grace! All you need to do is to go to him, because he says in John 6.37, “whoever comes to me, I will never cast out.” Friend, do not wait. Today is the day of salvation.

If you are here this morning and you don’t really care about the gospel message, let me speak to you. The righteousness of God has appeared in Christ Jesus. Every impediment to faith has been removed. Therefore, there is a binding moral obligation on all mankind to submit to his Lordship. Humble yourself to own him as savior by faith. Because those who foolishly reject him in rebellion will meet him as Judge on the day of his return. It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Today is the day of salvation.

If you are a struggling sinner who feels discouraged by your slow progress in the battle against sin, don’t be tempted by the anti-gospel to thing that God’s approval rests on your obedience. Remember this morning that the LORD God, the creator of heaven and earth, is on your side. He has called you before the foundation of the earth to be his son or daughter. He loves you with an enduring and immeasurable love.

And, at the Cross, he secured you forever by the blood of Christ Jesus. His righteousness is yours. His victory over sin and death is yours. His sanctifying, comforting, empowering Spirit is yours. Friend, remember that your adoption and your justification are the cause, not the effect of your sanctification. Press on in putting sin to death knowing that Christ Jesus has made you his own.

The Table

For all of us who sin and need mercy, Jesus, alone, is enough. There is salvation in no other name.

And that is what we remember at this table. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 3:18, “Christ suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.” When we celebrate the Lord’s supper, we remember what Paul tells us that “in him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according the riches of his grace” (Eph 1.7).

And so this moment is holy and sobering, because it is only for those who have, indeed, trusted in Christ for righteousness. If you have put your faith in the Lord Jesus this morning, you are invited to this table. But if you haven’t, let the bread and cup pass, but don’t let this moment pass. There is salvation in no other name.

His body is true bread. His blood is true drink. Let us serve you.

Communion

The Lord Jesus, on the night when he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as we eat this bread and drink the cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

———

[1] Luther, Martin. Luther’s Works, Vol. 26: Lectures on Galatians, 1535, Chapters 1-4. Edited by Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald, and Helmut T. Lehmann. Vol. 26. (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999), 4.

[2] Luther, Works, 26:57.