DON’T FUMBLE THE GOSPEL!Galatians 1:6-9

“All around us we see Christians and churches relaxing their grasp on the gospel, fumbling it, and in danger of letting it drop from their hands altogether.” John Stott

This letter embodies the main theme of the Reformation, which is salvation by grace alone through faith alone, in Christ alone. Paul here emphasized the Christian’s deliverance by Christ from the bondage of sin and obtaining righteousness by human effort.

CONTEXT

The issue that Paul was quick to detect was the issue of undermining the very heart of the gospel:

(1)not only as a distortion of God’s truth but also (2)as an offense to the very being and character of God and therefore incurs God’s judgment and damnation of those who teach and follow a different gospel.

Paul made a definite pronouncement against:

1. LEGALISM - that Gentiles must become Jews by circumcision before they could become Christians and that all Christians, Jewish and Gentile alike, were righteous before God only if they remained bound under the Mosaic laws, regulations and ceremonies.

2. LIBERTINISM or Antinomianism – under the guise of freedom in Christ, they remove all standards of righteousness and morality.

But the true heart of the matter is this:

Do we trust Jesus or not?

Are we saved by His own merits or by our own goodness?

DANGER: OF CHRISTIANS LOSING THE GOSPEL!?

“The gospel is accepted The gospel is assumed

The gospel is confused The gospel is lost.”

J. Mack Stiles, Marks of A Messenger

“…the clearest indication of an assumed gospel is that you don’t hear it anymore… Was the gospel in the sermon Sunday morning? Could the uninitiated hear that sermon and come to a real faith in Christ? … Do you hear the gospel in people’s prayers? Does your fellowship encourage you to say the gospel?” J. Mack Stiles, Marks of A Messenger

Galatians 3:1,3 2 Timothy 1:8; 13-14

THE ERRORS OF OUR TIME (FALSE NOTIONS ON THE GOSPEL):

# 1: “LEARNING TO LOVE MYSELF” - Self-love/Self-Righteousness Vs. Righteousness by Grace Through Faith in Christ

2 Timothy 3:1-2:

Worldly Solution:Focus on Selfhood – “we are fragile, innocent, frequently victimized creatures who need to continually cultivate love of self.”

Heard Something Like:“My goal is to “know my self”, to “make peace with myself”, to “like myself”.

“My future selfhood depends on how well I protect myself from those who harm me. Self-love is the cornerstone of a “healthy” and “well-adjusted” sense of personhood.”

The Bible’s Answer:Romans 3:10-12; (23)

Matthew 22:37-38 1) Love God 2) Love Others 3) Self?!

Revelation 3:17-18; Luke 16:15

True Righteousness: Rom 1:16-17, 3:20-22; 2 Cor 5:21

FALSE NOTION # 2: “100 WAYS TO HEAVEN” – Religiosity Vs. Christ

- 2 Timothy 3:5 - “a form of godliness”

- Where is the practice and the power of true religion in Christ? - Where is the Christ-like life of those who profess to believe? - Where are those who consider Christ as precious and a living reality?

Proverbs 16:25 Isaiah 64:6

Salvation in God’s work, not man’s!

Christ, the Only Way!Matthew 7:13, 14 John 14:6

“Good deeds do attest genuine faith but they are not faith itself. Good deeds (from personal piety to social action) without going through the door of the gospel are bad deeds… Good deeds without the gospel can fool us, in our pride, to think that our condition is acceptable to God…

…If people think that their own goodness gets them to God, they are rejecting the core message of the gospel of grace…The challenge for healthy evangelism is to stop trying to clean people up through rules rather than bring them to the cross.”

J. Mack Stiles

FALSE NOTION # 3: “IF IT FEELS GOOD, DO IT!” – Sensuality/Carnality Vs Gospel Fruit/ Work of the Holy Spirit

2 Timothy 3:2-4a

The false gospel of today allows man to go on leading the same old Christless and godless life, while he professes to be a Christian

“Sensual Pleasures”

- The word sensual means “fleshly, carnal, self-indulgent, worldly, lewd, sexual, promiscuous in sin, glutton, lustful, immoral, and unrestrained lust”; in other words, everything that appeals to the fallen nature of man that would satisfy his depraved heart.

“Covetous,” or “Lovers of Money” - I Timothy 6:9-10; Luke 12:15Ephesians 5:5; I Corinthians 6:10

- It is the uncontrolled yearning to have, to have more, more and still more, until covetousness kills the soul of man as he abides under the curse of God for ever.

Covetousness is actually the worship of self, which is the embodiment of all evil. Because self is upon the throne of the heart, everything of this life becomes servant to the gratification of all fleshly and selfish desires.

True Gospel Fruit:

1.Likeness of Christ - 2 Cor 3:17,18 2. Love for God and the brethren -

1 John 4:7, 20-21 3.Life of Repentance “Repentance is to leave the sins we loved before, And show that we in earnest grieve, by doing so no more.”

FALSE NOTION # 4: “NO FEAR, GOD LOVES ME ANYWAY” – Slavery to Sin Vs. Holiness/Godly Fear

2 Corinthians 7:1 Acts 9:31

Who’s doing this today?

Who knows what it means and gives it a thought?

Hebrews 12:141 Thess 4:7Eph 1:4I Peter 1:14-16

Followers of Christ are called to:1.Take up their cross

- Luke 14:26 – 272. Run the race

- Hebrews 12:1-33. Offer themselves as living

sacrifices- Romans 12:1-2

ESSENTIAL ASPECTS OF A SOLID LIFE AND MINISTRY:

1. STRENGTHEN OUR GRASP ON THE TRUE GOSPEL (Gal. 1:8 -“preach a gospel…one we preached to you)

Galatians 1 speaks of the following:

1. Gospel of grace and peace (v.3, 6) – The grace of God in Christ (Titus 2:14) as the source and peace (Romans 5:1) as the result.

2. Gospel of Christ’s atoning death and resurrection (v.7) – “who gave Himself for our sins”(4)

3. Gospel that is authentic and truly delivers/saves (v.4b,8) – John 17:11, 14-18; 1 John 2:15-17; 5:5; Phil 3:20-21)

4. Gospel that springs from the will of God and is received through Christ (v.4c, 5, 9-12) – John 1:12-13

2. SECURE OUR GROUNDS AGAINST THE PROLIFIRATION OF COUNTERFEITS (v. 8- “a gospel other than the one we preach to you”)

3. STATE THE GRAVITY OF PENALTY AGAINST FAKE MESSENGERS (8-9- “eternally condemned (NIV)…eternally accursed (NAS))

Focus on the Cross. Contend Earnestly For the Faith. Have Nothing to Do with a False Gospel!

Jude 20-25