Reformed Herald
"Heralding the Good News of Jesus Christ"
June 1998
THE ONLY GOSPEL
Galatians 1:1-12
By Rev. Vernon Pollema
"But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you that ye have received, let him be accursed " (Gal. 1:8,9).
To be quite honest, these verses really scare me, and they have done so ever since I entered the ministry. Obviously there are false or perverted gospels which, of course, are really no gospel at all. There is only one true gospel. That being the case, I would want to be absolutely certain as to what that gospel is. Wouldn't you? Preaching and believing something else has horrific eternal consequences. Well may we ask: Am I, as a minister in the RCUS, preaching the true gospel? Am I, as an elder, careful and vigilant to see that the true gospel is being preached? Am I, as a member of the church, hearing the true gospel?
The over-arching question that cries out for an answer is: What is the one and only true gospel? We've all heard and are familiar with the word gospel and its meaning: It is the God-spell, the spel or story that tells us that "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life" (Jn. 3:16). It is the evangel or message of glad tidings, the good news that Jesus saves. Is that the whole gospel? Is that all we need to preach and all you need to hear and know? John 3:16 has often been described as the "gospel in a nutshell." However, this is an oversimplification of the gospel, and an attempt by many to "water down" the gospel and make it appealing to a broader spectrum of people. It is quite revealing that the Belgic Confession, in setting forth the first mark of the true church, states, "If the pure doctrine of the gospel is preached therein." So, we must ask: What is the pure doctrine of the gospel?
But before we answer that question, we must know about this other so-called gospel that was being preached to the Galatians. In order to find that out, we must go back a number of years to the church of Syrian Antioch, the place where believers were first called Christians, to a dedicated congregation committed to the preaching of the gospel, who called and ordained Paul and Barnabas as missionaries to the Gentile world. We have all heard and learned about the missionary journeys of Paul and his helpers and how they returned to the sending church which had eagerly gathered and they "rehearsed all things that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles" (Acts 14:25-27). (Many of us remember the visits of Harvie Conn and Lendall Smith. This is something that our congregations have not experienced in recent years; nonetheless, we rejoice in the door that the Lord has opened in the Congo.) Well, Antioch's joy because of the return of the missionaries and the news which they brought about multitudes of people, especially Gentiles having been converted, did not remain a secret. It spread far and wide. The church in Jerusalem heard about it too, and also rejoiced. But not everyone. In this church there were nominal converts from the sect of the Pharisees (Acts 15:5). They, along with the disciples, believed in the resurrection from the dead. They had been impressed by the evidence of Christ's resurrection as well as by the miracles He performed, and so had joined the followers of Jesus, the Nazarene. But at heart they had remained Jewish legalists. They said it took more than faith in Jesus to be saved; and that strict observance of Jewish ceremonies, particularly circumcision, was also necessary. Centuries later, the Heidelberg Catechism, speaking out against a false gospel of works-righteousness would ask: Do those also believe in the only Savior Jesus, who seek their salvation and welfare of saints, of themselves, or anywhere else? No, although they make their boast of Him, yet in deed they deny the only Savior Jesus, for either Jesus is not a complete Savior, or they who by true faith received this Savior, must have in Him all that is necessary to their salvation (Q. 30).
So, when the news of the conversion of the Gentiles apart from the work of the law, and especially apart from the necessity of receiving circumcision, reached the ears of these men, off to Antioch they went. Arriving in Antioch, they lost no time in telling the startled, mostly Gentile, congregation, "Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved" (Acts 15:1). One can only imagine the consternation and alarm this pronouncement caused. Most of the congregation had just been told they were lost! Something had to be done about these trouble-makers. And so it was agreed to refer this matter to "the apostles and elders" at Jerusalem. It is this perverted gospel of these Judaizers that occasioned the Council or Synod meeting at Jerusalem which we read about in Acts 15. I believe we are all aware of the decision that the Council came to. There was complete agreement on every point and the Judaizers were totally discredited. Listen to Peter's speech before the Council: "Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe. And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; And put no d'fference between us and them, purifring their hearts by faith. Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they" (Acts 15:7-11). The Council, or Synod, decided to put the decision into writing and distribute it among all the churches where it was to be received as settled and binding. The decision was made known in Antioch where it was received with great rejoicing, then throughout Syria, and also in the cities of South Galatia (Acts 16:1-4). As a result we read: "And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily" (Acts 16:5). The Judaizers, however, were not about to give up. Within a short time the Galatians had allowed themselves to be brought around to their false gospel which was not gospel at all. Hence the surpnse expressed by Paul: "I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel" (Gal. 1:6). In order to bolster their cause these Judaizers cast suspicion on Paul and attempted to discredit him, claiming that his apostleship is not from God but from men, and that he is simply triying to win the favor of men. Thus we read: "Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;) For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ" (Gal. 1:1,10).
Paul knew that these trouble-makers were Christian in name only. Their aim was to boast, to glory in the flesh, i.e., to be able to point with pride to those Gentiles who, due to their teaching and urging, had received circumcision. Sad to say, many Galatians listened to this false teaching and were at the point of exchanging bread for a stone, a fish for a scorpion. And so, guided by the Holy Spirit, his heart filled with sadness, but also with righteous indignation, Paul writes a letter to these people so dear to his heart and among the first fruits of his labors as an ordained foreign missionary. They must be warned against this perversion of the gospel, which is no gospel, and brought again to the comfort and glory of the true gospel.
And so we have come again to that all important question: What is the true gospel? The gospel that Paul preached? First and foremost, the gospel that Paul preached was not his own: "But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which we preached is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ" (Gal. 1:11,12). The gospel Paul preached was not the result of human ingenuity or devising. Rather, Paul declares that he had received the gospel by direct revelation of Jesus Christ concerning Himself exactly as the other apostles had also received it. All of the apostles had been present with and taught by Christ both before and afier His resurrection. Such were the qualifications of an apostle. In defense and proof of his apostleship Paul says, "And last of all he was seen of me also, as one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church" (I Cor. 15:8,9).
Now we might be thinking, "Wait a minute. Were there not many human agents that, at one time or another, had supplied Paul with materials for his gospel? How can he insist so emphatically and repeatedly that he had received his gospel from Christ, from Him alone, and not at all from men?"
As Paul came to realize, and which we must not forget, God had chosen Paul to be an apostle "out of due time" and a missionary to the Gentiles from before the foundations of the world. For that task he was born of a Greek father and Jewish mother, "circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee" (Phil. 3:5). The preparation was there from birth. He was brought up as a pupil of Gamaliel, a celebrated doctor of the Jewish law and member of the Jewish Sanhedrin. (Acts 5:34; 22:3). Under Gamaliel Paul became very knowledgeable in the Old Testament, the law and the prophets. Before his conversion, Paul must have received a great deal of information about Jesus. If he had not known what believers were saying about Jesus, why would be have persecuted them so bitterly? As a persecutor he must have heard many a ringing testimony from the quivering lips of martyrs, uttered while, with his approval, they were being put in chains, dragged off to prison, and even put to death. It is safe to assume, therefore, that even before his conversion Paul must have been fairly well acquainted with many of the historical facts and happenings regarding Jesus. We have only to read Paul's epistles to see how vast an amount of knowledge he had gathered from studying the Old Testament and the prophecies of the coming Messiah, historical facts he knew before Christ met him as Saul the persecutor on the road to the ancient city of Damascus.
Now all of these historical facts are important. Apart from the facts of Christ's birth, suffering, death, resurrection, and much more, there is no basis for salvation. How is it then, that Paul can say he had received his gospel from Christ, and not from men? Beloved, no matter how detailed Paul's knowledge of these events may have been, it was not the gospel. Why not? Because Paul was "dead in trespasses and sins" (Eph. 2:1). He was spiritually blind. As a natural man he could not receive the things of the Spirit of God. They were foolishness to him. He couldn't know them because they are spiritually discerned (cp. I Cor. 2:14). Paul had not received the gifi of faith, and thus all the facts he knew were just "brute" facts without any true significance or meaning.
It was only when the blinding light from heaven had suddenly descended upon him, and when he heard the voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? . . . I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks" (Acts 9:3-5), it was then that everything changed. It was here, close to Damascus, that all the facts fell into place and Paul saw the truth, the gospel, for the first time, and it set him free. Now he saw the Christ for Who He truly was, the risen and exalted One, full of majesty and power, but also full of love and grace so marvelous and condescending, that it made this ruthless foe, this chief of sinners, into an ardent and fearless preacher of the gospel. And from where now did Paul have this knowledge of the gospel? Of Jesus, his Mediator, who in one person is true God and also a true and righteous man? Who is freely given him for complete redemption and righteousness? (See (Heidelberg Catechism Q.18) How accurately the Catechism sets forth what Paul now knew: "From the Holy Gospel, which God Himself revealed first in Paradise, afterwards proclaimed by the holy Patriarchs and Prophets, and foreshadowed by the sacrifices and other ceremonies of the law; and finally fulfilled by His well- beloved Son" (Heidelberg Catechism Q. 19). The whole Old Testament now became the gospel for Paul. That becomes so evident when you read from his epistles:
"But now the righteousness of God without the law is maniftsted, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God which is by faith in Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God: beingjustified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God" (Rom 3:21-25).
"Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified" (Gal. 2:16).
"For by grace are ye saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God: - not of works, lest any man should boast" (Eph. 2:8,9).
"And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith" (Phil. 3:9).
"For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (II Cor. 5:21).
All of Paul's letters, and especially his letter to the Galatians, were written to counteract this dangerous error, this gospel plus kind of gospel, of the Judaizers by re-emphasizing the glorious gospel of free grace in Christ Jesus, of justification by faith alone, apart from the works of the law. How are we justified or righteous before God? Only by true faith; that is, although my conscience accuse me, that I have grievously sinned against all the commandments of God, and have never kept any of them, and am still prone always to all evil; yet God without any merit of mine, of mere grace, grants and imputes to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ, as if I had never committed nor had any sin, and had myself accomplished all the obedience which Christ has fulfilled for me; if only I accept such benefit with a believing heart (Heidelberg Catechism Q. 60).
The gospel, the only gospel is that you and I can do nothing to pay for our own sins, but Jesus paid it all, and now those who believe in Him through the power of God's Spirit are saved, not through works, lest any man should boast. Salvation is by grace alone.
The Galatians, like so many people today, were being turned aside from the truth that salvation is by grace alone to a false gospel that was no gospel at all: that man has a free will and the ability to choose for himself for or against Christ; that believing or not believing is his work; that he is acceptable to God on account of the worthiness of his faith, i.e., on account of what he does! Paul says, "But though we, or an angel from heaven preach an,v other gospel than that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed" (Gal. 1:8,9). Paul says that even if he himself should come back with a change in the original gospel he brought them, they should reject it. He calls the damnation of heaven upon himself if he would be the guilty one. Don't listen to anyone, done even listen to me, if I tell you something that contradicts the original gospel I brought, the gospel that says that there is no plus, that there is only one gospel, the gospel that salvation is by grace alone.
Beloved, this is just as important and necessary for us today, when there are so many false preachers and religious prophets of one kind or another. One has this idea; some one else a different idea. Another was specifically told by God to say this or that. One has this experience, and another, another. Some succeed in getting large followings and the press gets into the picture and they become public figures. Some gain prestigious positions in higher institutions of religious training. In this kind of situation, isn't what Paul [is] saying here exceptionally important? He says, "Look, even if I should come with another gospel, reject me, have nothing to do with me, may I be damned." That is exceptionally strong, and it is something we must think about today. No preacher or teacher may ever get so impressed with himself that just because he happens to think one way or another, that is the true way. Every preacher, every teacher must keep going back to the one message in the Bible and make sure that he speaks that message alone. To be Reformed means always conforming to the Word of God.
And it's something for you elders to think about, too. Don't just think, for example, that because a man has been such a fine man for years, therefore everything he says is all right. Maybe he comes with the denominational stamp that says he is 99/100% pure. That's fine, but that is not the final standard, you see. The question is whether the gospel he brings is the gospel that is found in the Scriptures.
The teachers who came to the Galatians had very impressive credentials. They were very religious people and when they spoke, the people listened. When they said, "Surely, Paul's message is a very good one and the cross is important, but God is pleased by a few added things, too, like circumcision and the other works of the law," it sounded so very religious and pious, no wonder the people were taken in by it.
But it was the old heresy that has led people astray for centuries. It is the heresy that says that Jesus' cross was and is important. He paid for your sins, making salvation possible, but now God wants you to cooperate with Him in a way that will insure that your place in heaven will be greater. It is the heresy that denies that Jesus paid it all, though it admits that He paid most of it. It is the damnable heresy that we know today as Arminianism. The trouble with this false gospel is that it detracts from the finished work of Christ on the cross and substitutes the works of men for the work of God. It detracts from the fact that man cannot save himself and that only God can save him. This is why this false gospel, which is no gospel at all because it cannot save, is such an insult to God. And this is why Paul can go so far as to say, "Let me be damned if I bring you another gospel."
For this gospel Paul would endure all things. He would lay down his life. He was a workman that rightly divided the word of truth and didn't have to be ashamed (II Tim. 2:15). He had not "shunned to declare the whole counsel of God" (Acts 20:27). In the face of sophisticated Greek philosophy and Roman culture, he boldly stood up and said, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first, but also to the Greek" (Rom. 1:16). Paul was proud of the gospel and proud to preach it. He wrote to the Galatians: "God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and lunto the world" (Gal. 6:14).
So too, when he was at Corinth, one of the most cultured and sophisticated cities of that day, he preached nothing but the gospel of the cross. Later he wrote to the church at Corinth: "And I brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified" (I Cor.2:12).
Why are we so afraid today? So apologetic? There is only one gospel for the world and lost sinners. This is no time for Christians to be apologetic about the gospel of God's sovereign grace and the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ. This is not a time to question the relevance of the gospel or overhaul it to make it more appealing or acceptable. The everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ needs no adjustments!
There is one gospel. Only one. If anyone tries to tell you something else, let him be accursed. That's what the Bible says. That still scares me so that I wouldn't dare! AMEN.