Twisting the Good News
Which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. (Galatians 1:7)
Paul planted several churches in the Roman province of Galatia on his first few missionary tours. Paul wrote to the Galatian Christians because he was concerned that they had embraced a false message, a different gospel.
Galatians 1:7 reveals three things about this different gospel. First, it was an illegitimate gospel (not another true message). Second, it was not good at all but trouble. Third, it was a distortion or perversion of the true gospel.
Paul recognized this different gospel was not really another gospel at all. Those who promoted this different gospel perhaps said, “We know our message is different than Paul’s message. He has his truth, and we have ours. He has his gospel, and we have ours.” Paul rejected the idea that their message was a legitimate alternative gospel in any way.
The word gospel literally means “good news.” Paul meant, “There is no ‘good news’ in this message. It is only bad news, so it really isn’t a ‘different good news.’ It is bad news. This is not another gospel at all.”
Those who brought this other gospel to the Galatians brought them trouble. They didn’t advertise their message as trouble, but that is what it was. False gospels don’t just happen. People bring them, and the people who bring them may be sincere and have a lot of charisma.
The message of these false teachers was to pervert the gospel of Christ. It was a distortion of the true gospel of Jesus Christ. It didn’t start from nothing and make up a new name for God and pretending to have a new Savior. It used the names and ideas familiar to the Galatian Christians, but it slightly twisted the ideas to make the message all the more deceptive.
Paul plainly wrote that these people want to distort the good news of Jesus. It is sometimes hard for us to understand why someone would want to pervert the gospel of Christ.
When we understand how offensive the true gospel is to human nature, we better understand why someone would want to pervert it.
– The gospel offends our pride. It tells us we need a savior, and that we cannot save ourselves. It gives no credit to us at all for our salvation; it is all the work of Jesus for us.
– The gospel offends our wisdom. It saves us by something many consider foolish – God becoming man and dying a humiliating, disgraceful death on our behalf.
– The gospel offends our knowledge. It tells us to believe something which goes against scientific knowledge and personal experience – that a dead man, Jesus Christ, rose from the dead in a glorious new body that would never die again.
The good news of Jesus Christ isn’t ours to edit, twist, or transform. That message is ours to believe and proclaim in all its life-changing power.
Click here for David’s commentary on Galatians 1
Self Examination
Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified. But I trust that you will know that we are not disqualified. (2 Corinthians 13:5-6)
Paul wanted the believers in Corinth to ask themselves a sobering question: “Is Jesus Christ really in me?” It’s a question that believers today should also ask.
We are rightly concerned that every believer has the assurance of salvation and knows how to endure the attacks that come in this area from Satan. At the same time, we also understand that there are some whoassume or presume they are Christians when they are not. It is a challenge to every believer: Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?
We are often very ready to examine and test others, but first – and always first – we must examine and test ourselves. The Corinthians were quick to examine and criticize Paul, but they were slow to examine themselves.
Paul thought there might be some among the Corinthian believers who were disqualified for eternal life and salvation. Their thinking was worldly because they were more of the world than of the Lord. This is a hard truth to confront, but it is better to know now than when it is too late. If we don’t examine ourselves and testourselves now, we may find that we ultimately don’t pass the test and are disqualified.
What should we look for when we examine and test ourselves? We should see if Jesus Christ is in you. We are not to look for perfection in ourselves or in others, but we should see real evidence that Jesus Christ is in us. The main point isn’t to look for sin, but to look for Jesus Christ, and to ask Him if there is anything in my life that grieves the Holy Spirit, then to ask for the grace that it may be accounted as cleansed by the sacrifice of Jesus and put away from the habits of my life.
In verse 6, Paul anticipated a counter-question. “Paul, you ask us to examine ourselves. Well, why don’t you examine yourself? Maybe you aren’t a Christian after all.” Paul dismissed this question out of hand. It was so apparent that we are not disqualified that he simply trusts that they recognize the truth of it.
There are some believers who torture themselves with excessive self-examination. They often doubt the many assurances God gives them regarding their salvation. Those believers exist, but they are far outnumbered by those who give little or no attention to self-examination. There are many more who assume they are right with God and destined for heaven, when they should examine themselves for real evidence of God’s work in their life.
Ask yourself: What evidence is there that Jesus Christ is in you?
Click here for David’s commentary on 2 Corinthians 13