Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Galatians 1:
Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 2 and all the brothers with me,
To the churches in Galatia:
3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
No Other Gospel
6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!
10 Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Paul Called by God
11 I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. 12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ…
20 I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie.
My Understanding: As I read through this very familiar passage of scripture, there were four main aspects of this passage of scripture the Lord had stand out to me in relation to the words to this song that I believe he would have me examine and to share tonight.
Present Evil Age
The scripture says that God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ gave himself for our sins to rescue us from “the present evil age,” according to the will of our God and Father. Present means current and existing now, evil means wicked and sinful, and age means era or a period of time. So, even though Jesus Christ died on a cross for our sins over 2,000 years ago, he died to rescue us from our present evil age, too, because evil is always present with us, until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, when he comes to take us home to be with him forever.
Evil is always present with us: We are born into sin, the Bible says. We are born with a propensity (inclination; tendency; bent) toward sin. We are, in fact, sinners. And, we will be tempted to sin as long as we live in this present evil age and in these earthly bodies of ours. Sin means doing something against God’s laws, but it usually hurts the one sinning as well as it hurts the ones being sinned against, so sin brings harm to individuals. That is why the Ten Commandments could be summarized into two laws – Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no harm to its neighbor. Love is the opposite of sin. If we are loving God and others by our actions, we will not willfully commit sins against God and against people.
When Jesus died on the cross for our sins, he took upon himself all our sins, he buried them in the grave, and he rose again triumphant over death, hell, Satan and sin. He did this so we could go free from the penalty of sin, which is death in hell and eternal separation from God forever, but he also freed us from the ultimate control and bondage to sin in our lives on a day-to-day basis. So many people have the understanding that belief in Jesus is a “get out of jail free card,” i.e. that it keeps them from going to hell, but they miss entirely that Jesus died so we could no longer live in bondage to sin daily, and that he has already won this battle for us. To be free, all we have to do is to appropriate to our lives what Jesus already did for us in gaining the victory over sin through his death, burial and resurrection.
So, if Jesus Christ came to set us free from this present evil age, and if we say we believe in Jesus Christ to save us from our sins, then why would we continue as though he had not? Why would we continue to live according to the present evil age? Why would we love the world (of sin) and the things in the world, such as in taking pleasure and finding our entertainment in things that promote, glorify and applaud sin? We are supposed to come out from the world and be separate, i.e. separate from worldly and sinful passions and desires that stand in direct opposition to Christ and to God’s laws. Yet, so many who say they believe in Jesus Christ have bought into the lie that they can continue in their sin and live like the world and still have their “get out of jail free card.” Oh, how wrong!
So Quickly Deserting
Paul said that he was astonished that the Christians in Galatia were so quickly deserting God the Father and Jesus Christ, His Son and their Savior, and they were turning to a “different gospel,” which was really no gospel at all. The word gospel means “good news,” and the good news is the news of what Jesus Christ did for us in providing the way for us to be free from the penalty and control of sin over our lives. So, one way in which we desert Jesus Christ and turn to another “gospel,” which is really no gospel at all, is when we buy into the lie that we can continue in our sin because of God’s grace, yet this is not “good news!” It leaves us still in bondage to sin, feeling as though sin still has power over our lives, yet Jesus conquered the power of sin and death when he rose from the grave.
Paul said that the people who were preaching a different gospel were trying to pervert the true gospel message. To pervert something means to distort, misrepresent, change, twist or alter it in some way, usually in order to deceive, and generally for some kind of self-advantage or personal gain, whether financial gain, popularity, approval of man, or for political or social advancement of some kind. The message of repentance (turning from sin) and obedience to Christ, as well as messages of judgment and hell are not popular messages that gain friends and influence people. So, many ministers of the “gospel” have gone to messages that soft pedal the gospel so as to win over people to their churches. Paul said here that those who preach a gospel other than the one preached by the apostles should be eternally condemned for perverting the gospel message, especially if the false gospel is one which gives people false hope and leaves them in their sin.
Trying to Please
In contrast to these peddlers of this “other gospel,” who were people who changed the gospel message in order to please men, Paul said that he was not trying to win the approval of men nor was he trying to please men. He said that if he was trying to please men, he would not be a servant of Christ. This is so important here! We can be pleasers of God or pleasers of men, but rarely can we please both God and men, unless in pleasing God we also please those men and women of God who also desire to please God, or unless in pleasing God we are truly loving people and are pleasing them in that way. Yet, I believe this is speaking of pleasing mankind in the sense of pleasing the sinful nature of man, i.e. pleasing man’s flesh. So many of today’s churches make it their goal to please men and women more than to please God. They plan their church services and activities to be seeker-sensitive, i.e. to attract the people of the world, i.e. to attract sinners by offering them a cleaned up version of the same things the world is offering them.
“Stage presence” becomes a focal point in many church “worship” services in order to draw in large crowds of people. Yet, they have it backwards. We are not supposed to attract the world to more of the world. We are supposed to be lights for the gospel of Jesus Christ by leading the world to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. We are not to entertain the sinners. We are to teach them that coming to Christ means leaving their lives of sin behind them. We are to teach them that believing in Jesus Christ means coming to the cross, dying to our sins, burying our sins, and then being raised to new life in Jesus Christ, free from the control of sin, and free to walk in surrender and obedience to Jesus Christ because we love Him and because we are so thankful that he died to set us free! If we are preaching a gospel that is a gospel that pleases the flesh of men, then we are not servants of Christ.
Not a lie
Paul said that the gospel he preached was not a gospel of men. He did not receive it from any man, nor was it taught him, rather he received it by direct revelation from God. And, he said he wanted to assure his readers that what he was telling them was “no lie.” We have that divine revelation for us in the Bible. And, the Bible is to be our only source of truth for learning what the true gospel is, i.e. we need to be very discerning about any books or messages from men that might pervert the gospel message, by comparing the messages against God’s word. And, we need to make certain we are not buying into any lies that tell us we can continue in our sin and still have our ticket into heaven. Jesus paid much too high a price for our sin, so that we could go free, for us to not change. He deserves a fiery love that won’t ignore his sacrifice and that lives to please God and to be a true servant of Christ and a servant of the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus paid it all… all to HIM I owe!
Much Too High A Price / Jesus Paid It All / Phil McHugh and Greg Nelson
You paid much too high a price for me, Your tears, Your blood, the pain –
To have my soul just stirred at times yet never truly changed.
You deserve a fiery love that won’t ignore your sacrifice
Because You paid much too high a price.
Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe,
Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed me white as snow.
Full lyrics: http://www.music-lyrics-gospel.com/gospel_music_lyrics/much_too_high_a_price_9499.asp
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