NO OTHER GOSPEL
Good news!
As an expression, “good news” has been overused. It is applied so broadly that “good news” can mean anything.
Recently, I was searching online for nightstands to match our bedframe. The virtual salesperson popped up and asked if “she” could help. Sure. I told “her” what I was looking for and she did her thing. “She” came back and texted, “Good news! It’s in stock right now! Earliest delivery date is looking at next Tuesday if ordered now.”
Good news, my materialistic desire to spend can be satisfied. Good news, I can have what I want. Good news, shopping is made easy online.
Is this good news? I was struck by the absurdity of this announcement in contrast to my study in Galatians. I was also convicted: What is good news? There are many variations of “good news” in our world; “good news” that offers relief from suffering; “good news” that promises an easier life, a prosperous life; “good news” that frees the self to enjoy life without the hang-ups of rules and the “shoulds” of religion.
Freedom is key. People want to be free. Free from what? Free from obligations. Free from rules. Free to live life as they choose. Is that real freedom?
Galatians is a letter that Paul wrote to a group of churches in the region of Galatia (South-central Turkey). It’s a letter about freedom. It answers the question, “How can I truly be free?” Free from guilt, free from fear, free from doubt, free from sin, free from always trying and never quite making it. The answer for these folks is to do good, try harder, go to church, get baptized, give your money, …The list is endless because the human mind is always trying to please a God we cannot see or understand. But rule-keeping fails in the end because you can never do enough.
Then there are those who believe that freedom comes from throwing the rules aside and living as they please. Follow your dreams, chase your passions, you only live once. It’s called “hedonism.” But for these folks seeking the next pleasure becomes another form of slavery.
Legalism doesn’t do enough, and hedonism enslaves. Where is true freedom? Paul writes to the churches saying true freedom is found in the good news of Jesus Christ. It’s simple; it’s compelling: it is the freedom that you are looking for.
The “Good News” is God’s Idea (1:1-2)
A man was working in his garage one day. He was the kind of person who did not like to be interrupted while engaged in a project. Knowing this, his wife walked into the garage and stood quietly at his side for several minutes, waiting for the proper time to speak. At last, her husband looked up, the signal that she was free to speak. Very calmly, without panic, she said, “The house is on fire.”
There is a time to set aside the pleasantries and social graces and just blurt out the problem. The churches in Galatia were abandoning the “good news” of Jesus. Paul needed to sound the alarm. He dropped the introductions and went for it.
You may not see it. “Paul, an apostle – not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead…” (1), sounds like a formal introduction to us. It’s not. He goes right after the issue. “You don’t think I am qualified to tell you this, but I am,” he says. I didn’t get this gospel from JK Rowling or Dan Brown. I didn’t make it up. This gospel comes from the person of Jesus.
Some among the Galatians were saying that Paul was not a real apostle. He wasn’t Peter, James, or John, or any of the Twelve. Where did he get his authority? God! He’ll tell the whole story later, but suffice to say, God in Christ called him.
In his very first statement, Paul touches on the gospel that is good news for everyone: God raised Jesus from the dead. That little phrase validates everything that we know about Jesus. It is the exclamation point on the life, teaching, death, and work of Christ on behalf of sinners. That’s the only reason we are here today. God raised Jesus from the dead. That alone gives credibility to this gathering of people we call church.
A Reminder of what makes “Good News” Good (1:3-5)
For Paul, this was no small issue. We cannot afford to take it lightly either. This is a “Jesus only” gospel.
We don’t see it immediately, but there was a problem in Galatia. Some dynamic teachers were trying to convince the churches that what Jesus did on the cross was good, but only a beginning. You see, Jesus was a Jew and a product of Jewish customs. So, they deduced, that to be a real Christ-follower, you had to adopt Jewish practices. You had to do works of the law to complete your faith. We would call this “Jesus plus.”
Again, it is not a courtesy for Paul to say, “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ…” (3). Ancient letters did have these niceties in them, like when we write “Dear John, how are you?” Paul isn’t doing that. He is directly pointing to the twin pillars of Christian faith: Grace and peace.
Grace is counter intuitive. It goes against our natural inclinations. Sharon and I made cinnamon buns years ago and decided to share them with neighbors in our new community. The next day we received a plate of cookies from one lady. We can’t seem to receive free gifts; we think we must pay people back. The grace of God in Christ is a gift that cannot be repaid. We can do nothing to earn God’s favor. The harder we try to do so, the more we realize our efforts are not enough. You have to just stop, give up the “try harder” attitude, and cry out for God’s mercy. That’s how the 12-Step program of AA works: you must admit that you are powerless to change and are in the grip of something that will destroy you. Now apply that to sin; sin has us in its grip and we are powerless to save ourselves and need Christ to rescue us.
That’s hard for many people to accept (even Christians). Grace is offensive because it reminds you of your sin and weakness. Grace is scandalous because it is free, and you cannot pay it back to God.
Peace is a perfect companion to grace. Through the grace of God in Christ, we have peace with God. Remember in Romans 5: While we were weak…while we were sinners…while we were enemies of God, Christ died for us? And through that death we are reconciled to God. We have peace with God and with each other because of the grace of Christ.
That’s how Paul begins this letter, pointing to Jesus “…who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,” (4). This is the main point of the letter. He has delivered us from the present evil age. Some translations say “world,” but Jesus did not die to take us out of the world, but to equip us with his grace to escape the “evil age.”
In response to this brief greeting, Paul breaks out in worship. He can’t help himself: “…to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen,” (5). Yep, he’s praising God for this bit of truth. These few words express Paul’s great joy – Jesus!!
It Only Sounds Like Good News… (6-10)
In Paul’s other letters to the Corinthians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians, Paul tells the churches each time “I thank God for you…” Not the Galatians!
He bursts out with, “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…” (6). How did this happen? Paul’s astonishment comes from the speed with which these churches decided that Jesus was not enough. Later he will ask, “Who bewitched you?” (3:1), as if someone had put a spell on them. They seemed to be in a trance. Someone offered them a more palatable gospel, something more comfortable, a gospel that gave them more control (law and tradition does that). That grabbed them.
If someone today would tell you that you needed to add Jewish rituals to your faith, you would guffaw. If we decided at RFC that all males should be circumcised, there’d be a lynching. Galatia’s problem is not ours.
“Good news” in the Canadian context comes in a strange form. There is a gospel being preached, not from pulpits, but from social platforms, that claims to offer society salvation, equality, freedom. This “good news” declares freedom from gender labels and freedom from social norms. It promises acceptance for those who don’t fit into the traditional stereotypes of maleness and femaleness. It saves them from being something they feel is not them. But freedom for some results in enslavement for others. If the price of freedom is the cost of someone else’s freedom, is it truly freedom? To ask for understanding while they sort out this confusion is reasonable. To demand conformity to a way of thinking is tyranny.
What would Jesus think? You will hear that Jesus loved people and didn’t judge. He ate with fringe people and outcasts. Jesus would not bruise the non-binary or shame the queer. True. But he still died for them.
There are many forms of good news being declared in our world. Paul says there is only one gospel, “…but there are some who trouble you and distort the gospel of Christ,” (7). Galatians were deserting the gospel of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Other Galatians were distorting the good news by adding to it that which God never intended. We see that where churches bend over backwards to appear non-judgmental, accommodating, tolerant. Grace welcomes the LGBTQ to worship Jesus. But grace does not change the work of Jesus on the cross to remove its offense or scandal.
Paul repeats himself to emphasize that changing the gospel to suit your culture or context is disastrous. (Read 8-9).
The word “accursed” is from the Greek “anathema.” It means devoted to destruction. Think of Achan (Joshua 7). His sin led to the defeat of Israel at Ai. He had taken some forbidden items and buried them under his tent. He, his family, and all the treasure he had taken were destroyed to remove sin from the camp. Changing the gospel to make it sound better is anathema, cursed.
Unapologetically, Paul stands his ground on the gospel. “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,” (10). I confess that my peacemaking nature tends to quiet my voice. It is too easy to sound angry and judgmental about the sins of our nation. I am slow to speak, then. I choose my words carefully that I will speak with grace. Yet the conviction of these words of Paul ring in my ears…who am I trying to please?
Paul’s introduction to the letter to the Galatians highlights the truth that is central to the epistle, the true gospel. Every one of us is challenged by this letter to guard the gospel from distortion. There are many “gospels” floating around for our ears to hear. How can we know what is really good news?
1. Consider the source. Does the message and the messenger line up with what the Word of God tells you about Jesus? It is easy for me to point out that Walt Disney was an outspoken humanist. All his movies, even the ones we see today, have absolutely nothing to do with Jesus. They proclaim the triumph of the human spirit in the face of impossible odds. They never point to Christ as the solution of life’s problems. That’s easy. On the other hand, there are Christian preachers who are very encouraging, but either provide steps to success (works), or soften the demands of the gospel.
2. Consider the Scriptures. We are beginning a year of “becoming a people of the Word.” There is a fallacy among Christians who profess to know the Bible so well that they don’t need to read it. They have heard its stories since Sunday School and there is nothing new. Love God, love your neighbor, maybe love your enemy. But I tell you the truth, the Spirit works with the Word to reveal the mystery of God – that’s why it’s called the Living Word. You don’t know it as well as you think you do. I don’t either. Let’s read it and let the Spirit work in us.
3. Consider the community of faith. When you don’t know if what you are hearing is the gospel, talk about it with other believers. Does the message you have heard jive with the Spirit of your faith circle?
I would like us to close with a verse from Galatians that is worth reciting together. We will read this verse for every message from Galatians over the next 8 Sundays.
“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,” (Gal. 2:20).
AMEN
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