- Ezra Institute - https://www.ezrainstitute.com -

No Other Gospel

Paul calls on God to destroy those who pervert the gospel because the glory of God and the salvation of people are at stake.

Scripture:  Galatians 1:6-24

Sermon Notes:

  1. The grace of God delivers us from the power of this age that we might serve Him.
  2. If salvation is from God, then there is no other Gospel.
  3. Pluralists must deny Christ’s divinity for if Jesus is God the Son, then He is the only way to God.
  4. Gnostic cults teach that man may be saved by secret knowledge. But knowledge does not make one wise.
  5. Only God’s grace opens our eyes to see the world as it is and to see the folly of all man’s self-righteous attempts to save himself.
  6. Since salvation is in Christ alone, Paul pronounces a curse upon all false gospels.
  7. Zeal for God consumes Paul, and so without his customary niceties he directly expresses his dismay that the Galatians are turning to another gospel.
  8. The Galatian question was one of Jewish initiation rites as a requirement of Christian faith.
  9. All commandments that typified removal of guilt and sin were made redundant in Christ, but the moral law remains as a standard for right conduct.
  10. Those who pervert the gospel are replacing it with a caricature. 
  11. Paul was not diplomatic. He directly confronts the Galatian error in order to please God (Galatians 1:10).
  12. Today the church is culpable for tolerating heterodoxy.
  13. We need to contend earnestly for the gospel, confronting errors that pervert the church from within and without.
  14. Paul calls on God to destroy those who pervert the gospel because the glory of God and the salvation of people are at stake.
  15. Whether it be an angel or a polished preacher who introduces another gospel, they are cursed.
  16. Satan is able to disguise himself as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14-15).
  17. Liberal churches have abandoned the gospel and they are empty because they’re under the curse of God.
  18. All self-help and pluralistic gospels are under God’s curse.
  19. The gospel becomes a pharisaic system where man is justified in his sins rather than being delivered from them.
  20. In Romans 1 Paul says homosexuality is a curse for abandoning the gospel.
  21. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 just how inclusive the gospel is: all who repent of their sins are cleansed.
  22. Grace is preaching the fact that you’re a sinner and you cannot save yourself.  We’re corrupt and helpless, so we must depend on God in Christ.
  23. Though Paul was a violent opponent of Jesus, he was set apart from birth to preach the gospel; Paul’s life is a prime demonstration of God’s grace.
  24. Would that God would save zealous Muslims today to become preachers of the cross rather than persecutors.
  25. The Church today must contend for the faith seeking the approval of God and not men.

Application Questions:

  1. What are some modern perversions of the gospel within and without the church?
  2. Why does the cross never feature in man-made religion?
  3. Why does Paul pronounce a curse on those who would pervert the gospel?
  4. In our expression of the gospel, are we seeking God’s approval or man’s?