Galatians 1:6-8
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.
What’s going on here? Something was amiss in Galatia and instead of his customary inclusion of a poetic list of thanksgivings and praises at the beginning of his letters—Romans, 1 Corinthians, Philippians, Colossians, and 1 Thessalonians—he gets right to the problem at hand. The briefness of his introduction indicates the severity of the problem in the Galatians churches. Sometimes it’s best to skip the pleasantries and get right to the point, and Paul did just that.
“I am astonished…”
Paul does not appear to be shocked that these Believers were struggling—that’s to be expected—but that they were struggling so soon. And their turning away wasn’t from “church” but from the person of Jesus Christ (“him who called you”). When you stray from the Lord, you do it on a personal level. It’s between you and Him. In David’s great confession and psalm of repentance he singles out God as the one he sinned against (Ps. 51:4) and Paul was doing the same in this opening salvo against the Galatians.
“…in the grace of Christ…”
Not only were the Galatians turning away from Jesus Christ, but they were turning away from the principle of grace. This is the core of the gospel itself and we should always remember the great contrast that exists in our salvation. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Rom 5:8). We could never earn our salvation, so He purchased it for us. We tend to mess up and stray, yet He never leaves us nor forsakes us (Deut 31:6). The grace that is ours in Christ is truly an Amazing Grace and should be more than enough to keep us on the narrow path and especially sensitive to false doctrines about salvation.
“…not that there is another one…”
Scripture makes it abundantly clear that there is only one Gospel. There are not multiple roads into Heaven, nor are there multiple understandings of what it takes to be reconciled to God. Some false religions incorporate parts of the one true Gospel (like Islam does with Jesus), while others choose to distort who Jesus actually is (like Mormonism). Other religions are not merely other ideas…they are lies…distortions…and tools of the Devil himself. They offer life but provide death. They try to make sense but only create confusion.
Sadly, but not surprisingly, this can happen inside Christian denominations as well, and so we must constantly be on guard against any and all false gospels. Someone brought a false gospel to the Galatians and someone will try to bring one to you, your church, or your denomination. It could be a guest speaker or an established preacher, but it can also start behind closed doors in leadership meetings or even at home when people are lured away by online deceptions. Paul does not take this casually, nor should we. He didn’t just say, “Don’t listen to these people.” He said they should be cursed. False teaching is deadly and should be reacted to appropriately.
