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Well, good morning, everyone. It is a blessing to be here. I'd like to first thank all those who Have been praying for me, and I'm pleased to report that I've been in my bed now for six nights sleeping in my own bed.
And I'm pretty excited about that. It's a small things in life that you that you miss until you don't have them. In the event, thank you very much, I appreciate it, and I'm so thankful to the Lord for really a pretty rapid recovery.
Would you please join me in opening your Bibles to Galatians 1. Galatians chapter 1? You know it's remarkable. This morning's message is there can be only one gospel. And it is remarkable when you interact with people.
How much? Controversy. A simple statement like that Can engender the idea that there is one? Transcendent truth is an offense. Here are some of the reactions you might get and I get them. You are so arrogant.
Interesting response considering I say that I am a sinner. Maybe the chief of all sinners saved by the grace of God alone. That makes me arrogant. You are so unlike Jesus. He was loving. Why can't you Christians be more like that.
Who gives you the right to judge? Pretty harsh responses. And to what. To the Word of God to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Try telling people that there is a heaven and a hell. Try telling them that Jesus spoke more of hell than he did of heaven.
These are facts. Tell them that Jesus said he was the only way to be right with God. Shouldn't be controversial. It's right out of the Bible. But try telling them that the Bible is the only revelation About God that we can rely on.
What do you hear? You're so intolerant. I'm glad God is not like you. You know, we live in a time of unparalleled access to information. We're bombarded by information on top of 375 channels on the TV.
We have telephones with us constantly. Constantly with us even in church. Thank you. We Have access to the internet. We have access to information in an unparalleled way in our society. And this has led society as a whole to conclude that we are smarter.
We have more insights. We are more enlightened and As a result, we must be more open-minded and more tolerant of other ideas. Recently a celebrity who appears every morning on television nationally said that fundamentalist Christians pose just as great a threat to our country as fundamentalist Muslims, I Don't know about you, but I don't consider that very tolerance and this is not a typical thinking.
This is not unusual. It has become fashionable to accept anything as truth as long as it doesn't claim to be the only truth and There's the rub. There's the problem. Because Jesus said that he was the way not a way.
He said he was the truth not a truth. He said he was the life not a life and he said that no one comes to the Father not some might. But through him salvation in Christ alone. And the truth this truth the truth of the gospel is under constant attack.
And we all know the reason Satan can get people to follow a lie. Those people are damned. They're going to hell. This morning. I want you to see both that this assault on the gospel that we're undergoing right now is not new and That you have a responsibility in this struggle for the truth.
There can be only one gospel. There can be only one truth about God. There can be only one truth about man about Christ about the Bible about sin about heaven and hell and it is contained in the Bible.
If you haven't already done so again Galatians chapter 1 verses 6 through 9. I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting him who called you by the grace of Christ for a different gospel. Which is really not another.
Only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach you a gospel Contrary to what we have preached to you. He is to be accursed as We have said before so I say again now if any man is Preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received He is to be accursed.
Galatia is an area of modern-day Turkey. Interestingly the Christian Church flourished in Turkey for a number of centuries. Throughout Galatia areas like Cappadocia. But this book of the Galatians is unusual among the epistles of Paul listen to how Paul addressed Some other recipients of his letters to the Romans.
He wrote to all who are beloved of God in Rome called the Saints. To the Corinthians and you have to know the Corinthian Church had a myriad of problems. I mean he spends Two letters just addressing issue after issue after issue with them.
But to them he writes to the Church of God which is at Corinth to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus saints by calling. To Ephesus he wrote to the Saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus.
To Timothy he wrote to Timothy my true child in the faith. Even the Thessalonians. This is a little bit plain. But he wrote to the Church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, so there's always some appellation there.
The Galatians in verse 2 of chapter 1 to the churches of Galatia. This is like a memo. This is not a an endearing letter. There are no qualifiers or no qualifiers. No praise just identification. Yes, they are churches and yes, they are in Galatia.
But that's it. No warm greeting commentator. Lightfoot says. The opening here is an indignant expression of surprise. That takes the place of the usual thanksgiving for the faith of his converts. This is the only instance where st. Paul does not express his thankfulness in addressing any church.
Why what's wrong with the church at Galatia? Well, they had been infiltrated by a movement that we call the Judaizers and The church had accepted teaching that justification that is being declared righteous by God.
Was not a matter of faith alone for males circumcision was a requirement for being right with God and This is an assault on the sufficiency of the death of Christ to justify believers. It is an assault on the gospel.
It had to be dealt with in a most severe manner and Paul was just the man for the job. He was God's man for the job. Paul Dealt severely with this error with this sin and this morning as we go through this passage I want you first to be shocked.
You should be shocked by false teaching. Looking again at verse 6 Paul says I am amazed. To admit to be amazed the Greek is to wonder to marvel. To be astonished to be surprised. Paul was amazed shocked surprised because he had good reason to think the Galatians should know better.
Look at Galatians 3 verse 1 perhaps the one of the most harsh verses in all of the Bible. Paul says you foolish Galatians who has bewitched you before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as Crucified.
The word foolish there means pertaining to an unwillingness to use one's mental faculties. So what does he say Paul says? Galatians you guys are unplugged. You are not thinking you have completely abandoned Reason you are intellectually lazy.
You have shut off your critical thinking mode. The word bewitched. It means to cause harm with unfavorable words in other words someone. It's as if somebody had cast a spell on the Galatians. They had been deceived.
They had listened to the lies that were presented to them. Paul asked them who pulled the wool over your eyes. It's as if he said this you stop being discerning and. So when these false teachers came along and preached to you a different gospel.
Even though it was well packaged. Maybe they had a great presentation. You actually fell for it. You bought it. You were taught the truth and this false doctrine comes along and you swallow it whole. You have acted foolishly.
He was shocked that they could know the truth and that they would abandon the truth for a lie. We should be shocked. Every one of us should be shocked when we see people Abandon the truth for a lie or reject the truth for a lie.
He goes on. He says I'm amazed that you are so quickly Deserting him now this Greek word for a deserting. It's a military term as we think of deserters. And it means to change allegiance. The Galatians had not simply been fooled.
They had willfully abandoned the truth for a lie. They had switched sides in a conflict. John Stott says. The word deserting is used of soldiers in the army who revolt or desert and of men who change sides in politics or philosophy in effect.
Paul tells the Galatians you are traitors. You are Benedict Arnold. You are Judas. You have betrayed the truth. You have quit the army of light and joined the army of darkness and. The verb the construction here in the Greek is such that it indicates they did this to themselves.
Yes, they were taught falsehoods. They heard this false teaching but they themselves were responsible for believing this lie. They could not blame shift. They could not make excuses. They had separated themselves from the truth deserted Christ for a false gospel and they had done so he tells us so quickly.
Well, how quickly had they done this. Does this mean they ran. Does this mean that they heard it and five minutes later? They were off to the races in a false gospel. The wording here is not so much time-dependent as It is.
It indicates that their defection their desertion from the truth was done without due consideration. Well, this makes sense if they were foolish if they had unplugged their thinking if they had not been critical while they were listening.
They had not taken due consideration when they heard this they had not thought about it. Let me think about it. Somebody offers to buy you or sell you a $200 ,000 home for a million dollars. You just go.
Where do I sign. And This is what they had done. They'd traded. They'd they'd traded something that they knew was true for something that was false. They hadn't thought about it. They hadn't consistently considered it and this Idea to me.
It just brings up acts 17. You don't have to turn there but acts 17 11 and 12 talking about the residents of Berea. Luke writes this. Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica. For they received the word with great eagerness.
Examining the scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. Therefore many of them believed along with a number of prominent Greek women and men. What are the brilliance do they were taught? The scriptures were proclaimed to them and they Eagerly received it.
What do they do? They just didn't uncritically accept it. They examined it. They compared what they were taught with the Word of God and they judged that what they heard was true. And the result was that many of the Bereans the scripture tells us believed.
The Galatians did not do this. They did not compare what they were taught by these Judaizers With the teachings of the Apostles. They did not compare what they were being taught with the scriptures first.
Thessalonians 521. Paul writes. But examine everything carefully. Hold fast to that which is good. The I the idea there of examining things critically is the Greek word document. So to make a critical examination of something to determine its genuineness to put something to the test.
Again the Galatians did not do that. They did not test the old doctrines that were wrapped in pretty packaging With the things that they had learned of Christ. The result is that they fell under the spell of this false teaching.
Again back to Galatians. Deserting him who called you by the grace of Christ. They hadn't deserted just anyone. They had deserted the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Whatever it was that they now believed it was not of Christ.
Significance of that is that he had called them. He was the one who Christ himself had called them unto himself and that word They're called it is not the typical one for elect it means to summon or invite and there is a special extended sense here of Choosing for receipt of a special benefit or experience a call.
What's a special benefit? The best special benefit anyone can have is what? Salvation. Forgiveness of sin. And What greater benefit could there be than to be called by the Lord himself? This was Paul's way when he says called by Christ.
It's Paul's way of emphasizing the divine initiative in salvation. God goes first when people get saved it is God who acts in this case. It is Christ who acts. Paul never tells them. Well, let's let's think for a moment about what this tells us about eternal security.
Because the Galatian Church as bad as they were and they get blasted in this letter. There's no doubt about that. But as bad as they were in terms of being undiscerning Paul never says one thing to him.
He never says you have lost your salvation. He never tells him that. They had traded the truth for a lie. But they could not trade their salvation for damnation. Those who were saved did not lose their salvation.
Why. Because from first to last salvation is of the Lord. What they had done is they had Implemented the teaching they had absorbed this teaching so that this church these churches in Galatia were no longer Emphasizing salvation by grace alone or sola gratia.
They were called by the grace of Christ. Grace a Greek word that should be very familiar to you for many months. Pastor Mike used to put Carice At the end of his notes, and I that is the name of our Newsletter in case you wonder what that is Karis Divine favor that cannot be earned not by circumcision.
Not by baptism. Not by going to church not by evangelizing not by any good work. There is nothing a person can do to earn grace. If you can earn grace, then what is it? It's not grace. Whatever it is.
It's not grace whether you call it merit. Whatever you call it if you can do something to get grace. It's not grace and that's Paul's main point. You have been saved by grace you churches in Galatia and Now you are teaching and believing That there is an act on your part that merited that grace or that can merit grace.
You have strayed from the truth. The Galatians were given a position of favor because of the finished work of Christ period and now. After the fact they're trying to add on to it. It was the grace of Christ extended to them that they were in fact denying deserting him.
Who called you by the grace of Christ for a different gospel? It means another sorts a different kind of gospel. The Galatians has exchanged the true gospel for something that seemed similar, but wasn't really the gospel.
You know it very well might have been intellectually appealing. When I interact with people I find that they think that Christianity is just so. Intellectually stunting. You can't in fact if you want to take the The label fundamentalist there's something wrong with you and to me.
Fundamentalist if you understand it historically just means that you believe in the fundamentals the of the faith. It means that you believe the Bible is the Word of God that there are no mistakes in the Bible you believe.
That you believe the gospel you believe that Jesus Christ came to save sinners. That's what a fundamentalist is and yet if you do that you're somehow a Moron. If you believe the Bible there's something wrong with you because you know we know that there are all kinds of Issues with the Bible, and it's always fun to say well.
What are the issues with the Bible. Because they don't know any. I I once said I? Want somebody had had somebody post an entire list of alleged contradictions in the Bible on a web page they they? Had it like maybe 40 or 50 issues, and I thought man.
He sure came up with those fast. Google you know the the internet can be our friend too. I googled those 40 or 50 questions. And I found a website that had all those questions and all the answers for them.
So I just cut and paste the whole thing put it there, and he says hey, that's not fair. You just cut and paste that whole thing. I said oh yeah. Imagine that fancy that you know Cut and paste goes both ways.
But this lie was intellectually appealing. Why. Because it's great to think it's comforting. Especially for unbelievers to think that they can contribute something that they could be right with God. It seemed better.
Certainly more comforting more satisfying to think that you know God, and I. We're partners in this. Or I have something to offer him. I am good enough to rate heaven. There is Newsflash. There is no new and improved Christianity.
You either have the truth or you have a lie. There is no 99 truth with 1 error. A little bit of error. Taints the whole gospel. There is no compromise. It's not salvation by grace alone and by the way.
Some Buddhists are going to heaven too because they're sincere in what they believe. Oh and by the way. Some other people who think that they can contribute to their own salvation. They're also going to heaven.
There is truth and error and there is no in-between. There's darkness and light. Men either love the light. They love Jesus Christ, or they love darkness. They love their sin. All of the Bible Holds up great contrasts.
There are two messages out there. God saves sinners and sinners save themselves. One is true, and one is a lie. The Bible proclaims that it is God who saves sinners. Now they had exchanged The truth for a different gospel.
He notes there in verse 7 which is really not another. Why isn't it another gospel? Because there is only one gospel. John Brown a great Scottish preacher put it this way. It may be called it is called gospel.
But it is misnamed. There is no gospel, but one and that ye have abandoned. They had thrown off the easy yoke of Christ right. He said my yoke is easy my burden is light. For the burdens of Judaism they'd gone back to the Old Covenant.
They'd gone back to thinking Salvation was by works. It never was by works, but by the first century. The religion of Judaism had developed into one of works and That's what these false teachers had proclaimed to them and what the Galatians had adopted.
They had been adding the tenets of Judaism Onto Christianity. In other words you were saved by grace, but you also needed to obey the Old Testament requirements. Now what about you as? You sit here this morning.
Are you resting entirely completely on the finished work of Jesus Christ? You know sometimes this even bleeds into our sanctification that is Conforming being conformed into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Having been saved by grace are we now? Sanctifying ourselves. Are we now in the habit of as one? Theologian has called it sola bootstrappa where we're going to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. A Gospel that is predicated on you being good or Doing something anything to please God to curry favor with him is not a gospel.
You can tell People that are trapped in sin to be good all you want they might modify their behavior. But they're not going to heaven on the basis of being good. You should be shocked by false teaching.
You can get it 24 -7 you can get it you can turn on TV. You can go to churches that will not proclaim the truth. But it should shock you when the truth is so clear in the pages of Scripture that people would cling so tightly To a false gospel you should be shocked by false teaching.
Secondly you should be watchful for false teachers. Watchful for false teachers. Looking again at verse 7 Only there are some who are disturbing you now. This idea of them disturbing you it is an article.
Definite article with a participle, which is my wife learned a lot of us have learned. It's a verbal noun. It simply means if you have work. That's the verb if you have working that's a verbal noun because it can be either a verb or a verbal noun.
When you put the definite article V with a participle, I'm getting very grammatical with you. It means that this is the characteristic of their lives so these people were disturbers. They were literally the Troublers.
They were the people causing trouble and they were trouble in the sense that they were disturbing the faith and unsettling they were overthrowing the truth. They had come into the church, and they were propagating this false gospel.
They were disturbing they were overthrowing the truth. They want to distort the gospel of Christ. That is an amazing idea. Why would people want to do that. I? could go into a dissertation on why people do things in terms of false teachers.
The Bible would tell us tell us that false teachers have Two basic motivations neither one of them are good money and Immorality, but in between there there is pride some combination thereof. That's what motivates these people and these teachers distorted or turned the gospel upside down.
That's the idea of distorted. They had turned it upside down. They had turned the good news into bad news. In fact if they could by the proclamation of this false gospel if they could tell you that. It was dark outside when it was sunny.
That's essentially what they were doing. They were in effect looking at the darkness and calling it light. They were looking at the lie they were presenting the lie and calling it truth. Again you cannot add to the gospel without subtracting its ability to save.
You can't add to it without subtracting and. This is the issue with every single other religion in the world even those that profess to be Christian. And there are a growing number of churches that want to be known as Christians.
I Listened to on a fairly regular basis a radio show where a man is a Mormon and he regularly identifies himself as a Christian and for Mormons grace Takes up our slack it picks up after all we could do.
That's where grace fills in. For Muslims there really is no grace. Their God Allah is entirely arbitrary. But your chances your chances of getting to heaven increase as you are faithful to the myriad of rules and regulations for those in the Watchtower Jehovah Witnesses God has set a population cap on heaven and Even those who are very faithful will not get there.
I mentioned this in Sunday school a few weeks ago had a man come to my door. Said that he was going around the neighborhood giving people hope. So I asked him okay, you're giving people hope. Do you have hope.
He said what do you mean I? Said do you know that you're gonna go to heaven. He goes. Oh, no no nobody can know that. You know I I Just you know I. I believe though that when God creates a new heaven and a new earth.
I'm going to be on this earth. I Started going through the scriptures, and I said friend. That's not what the Bible teaches. He said he'd come back, and I'm still waiting. We'll see how that goes. But we can know but all these religions.
They give us things to do things to make ourselves right with God and that is not the gospel in Roman Catholicism. There are essential sacraments that infuse grace into you and Even so even if you do everything right.
You may have to spend Years weeks eons who knows in purgatory. Paying for sins that were not confessed to a priest or dealt with in some way. Now what does that say about the sufficiency of Christ's death.
Christ death covers it all. Except for the punishment that you have to suffer in purgatory. That's not all as our pastor said Jesus did not say on the cross. I am finished. He said it is finished. My work Redeeming my people dying for the sins of my people is finished.
All these religions have one thing in common. They say that God will be pleased with you if you do XY or Z. The gospel is God is pleased with you. Because of the finished work of his son Jesus Christ and the gift of faith that he has given you by which you believe in him.
That's the gospel. Thirdly going to verse 8 you should condemn false teachers. That's a tough one condemn false teachers. But that's what the Word of God says again verse 8, but even if we were an angel from heaven Paul is just trying to figure out.
What is the maximum way I can get this across to you people. If I could be so bold to say you thick-headed Galatians, I'm gonna lay this out for you. Even if I Paul lose my mind and teach a false gospel.
Don't believe me. Don't fall for it. Not even an apostle. Even if the source is an angel don't fall for it. Now I find that I always find that verse intriguing because my background but an angel from heaven what's the source of the Book of Mormon an Angel the source of the Quran an angel.
There is so much Talk about angel of angels out there. I've said before a friend of mine was Murdered a number of years ago. He was not a believer and Yet subsequent to that he was a deputy sheriff and all we heard was how he was now an angel.
But Paul tells us that even if the source of this Alleged new gospel is an angel don't fall for it. Paul takes the argument to an extreme to make his points and His point is simply this no matter what the source is for this new gospel if it Contradicts what you've already been taught and saved by don't believe it.
Don't accept it. Don't fall for it. He goes on in verse 8 should if This new source should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you. It is the message. Not the messenger that ultimately matters.
The gospel preached by Paul is not the true gospel because it is Paul who preaches it. It is the true gospel because the risen Christ gave it to Paul to preach. It is the truth because it is the truth not because of who proclaims it.
And may I submit to you that you don't have to be a great theologian to identify false teachers. You don't have to go to three years of seminary or even squeeze three years of seminary and seminary into four or five or six years as some of us did.
Paul tells us how to unmask false teachers how to recognize them. They teach a gospel that is contrary to biblical teaching. It might appeal to us. It might appeal to our pride for our need to feel as though we have a hand in our salvation.
It might appeal to our son or our sense of self-worth. It might appeal to our pocketbook if we believe that God wants us to be wealthy, but note what he says here. If someone comes to you whoever they are and they preach to you a gospel Contrary to what we have preached to you.
He is to be Hugged. He is to be shepherded. He is to be accursed. Anyone who preaches a gospel contradictory to the revealed truth of God as Recorded by his Apostles is to be rejected in the most strong way.
His message is to be rejected and he is to be rejected. Paul commands and it is a command. That false teachers are to be accursed considered anathema. As one dictionary says delivered over to divine wrath.
The sense here is that may the divine curse the curse of God rest on him. We're not to be charitable. We're not to give them the benefit of the doubt. We are to consider them cursed by God. Why so strong?
Why can't we be more accepting more loving more broad-minded? Whenever I think of broad-minded, I'm reminded of Matthew 7 there's a broad road that leads to destruction and Many are on it and There's a narrow way and few will find it.
Our job is not to proclaim the Broadway. Our job is not to say well, he's on the Broadway, but he has a good heart. Our job is to shun those people to point them out the preaching of salvation by law-keeping is damning.
It will lead it will lead and has led billions of people to hell. We cannot abide it. Now, what does it say? About the efficacy of the death of Christ if there is this new gospel in other words, what has Christ done on our behalf if we must live in accordance with a Bunch of loss a bunch of rules and that's what all these other churches are.
I mean, I've said this before if you want a religion that tells you what to do 24 7 become a Muslim. If you want a religion that tells you how to be right with God you become a Christian you get saved.
You live according to his word. Did Jesus Christ make salvation possible if we are good enough? May it never be. Nothing could be further from the truth and someone who preaches that gospel is to be shunned.
His word is to be shunned. Paul tells us that he is to be a curse that he is me. Excuse me needs to be considered anathema and good teachers repeat themselves and Paul does it. He repeats himself in verse 9.
Let me just read the the net Translation of that. I'm not one for using a lot of translations. But I think this gets to the heart of it if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received.
Let him be condemned to hell. Would you call him to repentance? Absolutely, but the key is that we need to understand that that is a damning message that someone who proclaims that needs to be condemned.
That they need to be called to account that they need to be shown their teaching needs to be ignored and condemned. And it's ironic to even call it preaching because the Greek verb Indicates a teaching of the good news and they are not teaching the good news.
They're teaching the bad news. You should be shocked by false teaching. You should be watchful for false teachers and you should condemn false teachers. Now, how about you? Can you should you identify false teaching and false teachers?
Well, the answer here is yes, you have an obligation. You have a responsibility to do that. How can you do that? First you need to study the truth. You need to be like the Bereans. You need to listen to what it's taught even from this pulpit.
Compare it to the Bible. Where it agrees. You say yes and amen. Where it does not it needs to be confronted. Secondly, you need to know the truth. So well study the truth so thoroughly that a counterfeit will not pass muster.
It won't slip through the cracks. Thirdly, you need to be critical. Carefully examine that which is taught and let nothing move you away from the gospel of grace. Fourthly be discerning there is so much junk out there so many fads this last Saturday when we were at the CBD warehouse sale.
Just looking at the books on some of those bargain tables. Just reminded me of all the fads that have come and gone in the church. There is a lot of stuff out there. In fact, I Every once in a while when I go through there I have to say now.
Did you guys know that you're selling this book because it'll be. You know published by a publishing house in Salt Lake City, you know, basically from the Mormon Church or something like that. I mean this last trip.
I Was joking earlier. I'm going. I had no idea that Frank and Jesse James were Christians because you have several copies of Their biographies here and I have to presume that they were robbing for the Lord or something.
I don't understand what they're doing here. But there's so much junk masquerading and many of you know that. Many of you have been out there and have seen churches go from proclaiming the truth to slipping into one of these fads.
These are sad times for the church generally. In fact Christianity today is Known in many circles as Christianity astray if you look at the ads that are run there. Many of them are by false teachers. Is there no discernment?
Is there no Understanding of what the truth is. Why are these things not shunned? Again, we live in an era of unparalleled opportunities to send and receive information and that's not always good. Much is taught and called Christianity.
But it is shocking to see what passes for the gospel. The message in so many churches has changed. Skits and plays have replaced the divine drama of the Word of God. A Holy all-powerful God has been replaced by a God who is rooting for you but understands when you make unfortunate decisions.
You don't sin. Some places you don't even make mistakes just unfortunate decisions. But they have good news. And that God that good news is that God will wait until you get it, right and he's rooting for you.
He's in your corner. It's not the good news. God saves sinners. He doesn't make it possible for them to be saved. He inclines men to the truth. He doesn't somehow just kind of hope that they'll wander to it.
We are to condemn those who teach such things. Now does that seem harsh? Unloving. Well, let me ask you this is obedience to the Word of God optional. Did Paul live this out? Did he? Anathematized people.
Quick and not comprehensive survey. First Timothy 1 18 to 20. You don't have to turn to all these because I'm gonna go through them pretty quickly. First Timothy 1 18 to 20. This command. I entrust to you Timothy my son in accordance with the prophecies Previously made concerning you that by them you fight the good fight.
Keeping faith in a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander whom I have handed over to Satan. So that they will be taught not to blaspheme.
2nd Timothy 4 14 and 15. Alexander the coppersmith did much did me much harm. The Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Galatians 2 verses 3 to 5. But not even Titus who was with me though. He was Greek was compelled to be circumcised.
But it was because of the false brethren secretly brought in who had sneaked in to spy out our Liberty. Which we have in Christ Jesus in order to bring us into bondage. But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.
Paul tells us here. He tells the Galatians that there were false teachers who had snuck in. And They wanted to they they saw the Liberty that was going on there. They wanted to put these people under the conviction that they had to be circumcised.
But he says we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour. Paul never gave up the truth and neither should we Galatians 2 11 of 14, but when Cephas or Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned.
Why? Because of the same thing. Because of the same thing he had fallen. Prayed to this hypocrisy of adding to the gospel. He says in verse 14, but when I saw they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel.
I said to Cephas in the presence of all if you being a Jew live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews. How is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like the Jews? How Would you then Peter put the strictures of the Old Testament on New Testament Saints?
First Timothy 4 1 he warns us but the Spirit explicitly says. Then in later times some will fall away from the faith paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons. And what we have when we have a distortion of the gospel is Nothing less than a doctrine of demons.
Satan is out to undermine the truth. There is no greater victory Than to see the truth subverted for a lie. You as Christians as part of the body of Christ have an obligation to fight against that to be watchful for it to steer those Who are in churches where the truth is not proclaimed away from that lie?
Let's pray our great God and Savior Lord as we look at the strong words of Paul with regard to false teaching false teachers a Gospel that is not really a gospel at all Lord. Would you keep us free from such things?
Would you let us rejoice in the grace that is? Freely given by your hand through your son Jesus Christ. Lord would you cause us to live in awe of that grace? Never taking it for granted. But knowing that it is grace alone and nothing good in us nothing that we can do.
To add to the perfect work of Jesus Christ. We stand before you sinners. Not saved on the basis of our own Merit our own works. But on the finished work of Jesus Christ. From which we cannot be moved.
Lord for it is you who saves it. Is you that draws us to yourself. It is you who convicts of sin. It is you who justifies and Because you have declared us righteous. There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus and father.
We give you all the praise for that. Let us live in light of that. I pray in Christ's name. Amen.