Holding to The Gospel - Galatians 1-2

I once heard a church leader say, “Today we’re going to talk about the gospel. If, when you hear that, something in you says, ‘This again?’ something’s not right.” His point was that our faith and hope and identity as followers of Christ is completely defined by the gospel. It’s not just the hope we first believe in to enter the door of the Christian faith, or something we learn first and then move on from in order to get to the deeper understanding of the Bible. Instead, the gospel is the whole point. It’s what sustains us and anchors us in our entire Christian walk. Not only that, but we’re told to continually know and uphold the gospel - that Jesus paid the price for our sin that we could not pay ourselves, and that we’re saved by grace through faith in His work on the cross, not by anything of our own doing.

In some sense the gospel sounds simple. As women of Christ we might even think, “What else would we believe?” However, the enemy is deceptive and works to distort the truth of the gospel. And a distorted belief about the gospel has a ripple effect on our lives and our faith. It may lead some of us to struggle to believe we’re actually fully forgiven or loved by God, and feel a deep insecurity as a result. Maybe this also makes it feel impossible for us to forgive someone who’s wronged us. Maybe others of us feel a need to work to earn part of our salvation or approval from God, and we struggle to feel true rest. Some of us may have even wondered if God’s word, including the gospel, is complete and true.

Paul exhorted the believers in Galatia to uphold the same gospel we hold to now, and also to renounce the same lies about the gospel. Paul tells the Galatians in chapter 1 of Galatians:

“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 - not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 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. 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.” - Galatians 1:6-9

The word “distort” stuck out to me here. A distortion is tricky - it’s not completely off, just a little different from what it actually is, and there are pieces of what is true in it. However, the consequences of a distortion are great, because it alters a path and eventually leads to a place that is far from where it began and far from what is true.

Paul continued in his letter to the Galatians with course-correcting words in hopes of leading them back to the truth:

“Yet we know that a person is not justified 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….For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” - Galatians 2:16-20

Paul brings the Galatians back to the gospel of truth. From it sprouts what we believe about who God is, and who we are in Christ. It shapes what we teach our children or how we minister to others. It impacts our relationships, including our relationship with God. And it influences what we believe about God’s word. Like I said, the gospel is foundational to who we are as women of God. 

Like Paul urged the Galatians, we are urged to uphold the gospel and to uphold what is true. How are we to know what is true? We go to God’s word. David tells us in Psalm 19 that God’s word is perfect in every way. Proverbs 30 tells us that every word of God proves true. Jesus tells us in John 17 that the word is truth. 2 Timothy tells us that scripture is breathed out by God himself. We submit to the bible as our authority in its entirety because it is God’s very word. So by submitting to God’s word, we submit to Him. And what leads us to gladly submit to God? It’s by knowing the character of God, which He shows us through the gospel. We know His character through His Son, who is the Word. God did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all. Through Jesus we are offered the free gift of salvation and adoption as daughters of the King, and fellow heirs with Christ. What more could He do to prove His overflowing goodness and love towards us? How else could He show that all authority and power is His than by conquering death for us? 

So when we have fears that maybe we’re not fully forgiven, we look to what God’s word says:

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our sins, according to the riches of his grace.” - Ephesians 1:7

Or when we feel the weight of the temptation to work to earn our righteousness:

“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.” - Ephesians 2:8-9.

We can trust in what God’s word tells us. And in doing so, we are sustained by the gospel. We can find true rest, feel truly secure, know God’s great love for us, and love others because we are so deeply loved. Let’s know God’s word and uphold the truth of His word. And in doing so, let’s receive all that God has for us in the wonderful truth of the gospel.