Are You Turning to a Different Gospel?

Galatians 1:2-5 ESV

“To the churches of Galatia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”

So, this was a message to the church in Galatia at that time in history but it is also a letter to the church today wherever what is being taught here applies to us, as well. For Jesus Christ gave himself up for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father. So our salvation from sin is not just about being forgiven our sins so that when we die one day we get to go to heaven. Our salvation is about deliverance from enslavement to sin and deliverance from this present evil age.

In other words, Jesus Christ died on that cross that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, and so that we will live for him and no longer for ourselves. He died to free us from slavery to sin so we will now be slaves of God and of his righteousness, and so we will no longer walk in sin but in righteousness and in holiness and in obedience to our Lord. For he shed his blood for us on that cross to buy us back for God (to redeem us) out of our lives of sin so we will now honor him with our lives in service to him.

[1 Pet 2:24; 2 Co 5:15,21; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:19-20]

For, as followers of Jesus Christ we are called to be his holy people. And to be holy is to be set apart from the world and unto God and to be unlike (different) from the world because we are being conformed by God to the likeness of Jesus Christ. So it means we are no longer to be conformed to the ways of this sinful world. We are no longer to be those who make sin our practice and who take pleasure in the sinful pleasures this world has to offer. So lying, cheating, stealing, and sexual immorality, etc. are to be done with.

[Rom 1:6-7; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-29; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 1:9; 1 Co 3:17; 1 Co 6:19-20; 2 Co 5:15,21; Gal 5:13-21; Eph 1:3-4; Eph 2:10,21; Eph 5:27; Col 1:22; Col 3:12; 1 Thess 4:7; 2 Tim 1:8-9; 2 Tim 2:21; 1 Pet 1:13-16; 1 Pet 2:5-9,24; 2 Pet 1:3; Tit 2:11-14; Lu 9:23-26; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Jn 2:3-6]

And according to the will of God includes the teachings on salvation and what it means to be a true believer in Jesus Christ. For it isn’t just words that we repeat, but it is a life that we now live in the power of God which is surrendered to Christ as Lord. Now Jesus owns us and now we are his possession, his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared in advance that we should walk in them (see Ephesians 2:10; Titus 2:14; 1 Co 15:58; 2 Co 9:8; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:9-14; Tit 3:8).

Galatians 1:6-9 ESV

“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. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.”

So, even back then there were those who were distorting the gospel of Christ and were turning it into a different (altered) gospel. Today here in America a distorted and altered gospel message is what is primarily being taught to the church, the body of Christ. Very few, it seems, are teaching the gospel message which Jesus and his NT apostles taught. And very few probably even know the gospel that Jesus and his NT apostles taught because a diluted and altered gospel is what is widely accepted here.

“And he said to all, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.’” Luke 9:23-26 ESV

For Jesus Christ to be our Lord and Savior, we have to first deny self, then die daily to sin and to self and follow Jesus in obedience to his commands under the New Covenant. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for Jesus’ sake we die with him to sin and we now walk in obedience to his commands, then we have eternal life in him. But if we are ashamed of him and of his word, which is evident by how we live, then when he comes back he will deny us.

[Matthew 10:32-33; Matthew 15:7-9; Luke 9:26; 2 Timothy 2:11-13; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; Titus 1:15-16; 2 Peter 2:1-3; Jude 1:3-4]

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” Matthew 7:21-23 ESV

So, it is not enough to just make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ. It is not enough to just confess him as Lord with your lips. You have to be doing the will of God the Father. You have to be in the practice of obeying his commands (New Covenant), and you must not be in the practice of obeying and committing deliberate and habitual sin. For God’s grace teaches us to say “NO!” to ungodliness and fleshly lusts and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we await our Lord’s return (Titus 2:11-14).

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh… Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:16-21 ESV

So, if we are doing these kinds of things, in practice, in an active process of performing these actions so that this is our regular practice, and so righteousness, holiness, godliness, moral purity, honesty, faithfulness and obedience to our Lord are not what we are practicing, then it doesn’t matter what we profess with our lips. We will not inherit the kingdom of God. We will not enter into heaven. We will not have salvation from sin nor eternal life with God because sin was what we obeyed and not God. 

So, please take this to heart. The full gospel message is that Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. But if we continue living in deliberate and habitual sin and not in walks of holiness and righteousness, in obedience to our Lord, then we don’t know God, we are not born of God, we are of the devil, and we do not have eternal life in our Lord Jesus.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

Pray, Pray, Pray  

An Original Work / September 6, 2012

Based off Various Scriptures

Pray that eyes may enlightened be,

So they may know Christ.

Pray that they may Him better know,

Strengthened by His pow’r. 

Pray that they may grasp 

How wide and long

And high and deep

Is Christ’s love.

Pray that they may be filled

To the fullness of God’s love.

Pray with thanksgiving.

Pray for an open door for me,

So I may share Christ.

Pray when the gospel is proclaimed –

Shared with clarity.

Pray words are given me so

I declare the gospel fearlessly.

I pray for you to be active

Sharing your faith, too.

Pray continually.

We oft not know for what to pray,

So we ask for help.

The Spirit intercedes for us – 

Words cannot express.

Just keep on praying for the saints

With all kinds of requests to God.

Pray they may have faith to 

Please their God in ev’ry way.

Pray with joyfulness. 

https://vimeo.com/119259373