gospel. Christ himself said,
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto
the Father but by me. Our Master said that. And here
we see Paul pens these words that are before us, but remember
under inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God. It's God the Holy
Spirit who's moved him to pen these words. So the true author
of these verses is God the Holy Spirit. He brings forth in verse
6 That the Galatians, in following the Judaizers' words about works
of man and the work of Christ, added together being mixed. In
following these false teachers, they had removed themselves from
the one true gospel of salvation in and through Christ alone.
Now we're gonna see later on in this verse that the tenses
that Paul uses in the Greek, when he says removed, it doesn't
mean they're totally gone, doesn't mean that. There's still hope
for them. They haven't totally apostatized. They're listening to these false
teachers. They're tickling their ears. They're listening to them.
But they haven't totally given themselves over to the false
gospel. And Paul brings forth in verse 7 that that which the
Judaizers are teaching is not the one true gospel. It's a perversion. And again, remember who the author
of this book is, it's God, the Holy Spirit. So the Holy Spirit's
setting before us in this letter from Paul to the Galatians, a
teaching for us about the gospel. And we see this church being
corrected, right? Paul doesn't say you're not believers. No, he's writing to the Galatians
and says, you're my brothers and sisters in Christ, but I'm
afraid. I'm afraid for what's happened.
And we know that the Lord Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, saved
his people from their sins 2,000-plus years ago, and he did it by his
perfect, complete, sin-atoning work, because look at verse 4,
who gave himself for our sins. So, before any correction is
done, the gospel is proclaimed, that he might deliver us from
this present evil world according to the will of God and our Father.
The Lord Jesus Christ saved his people. He saved us 2,000 years
ago. He saved his people from their sins. Now there's a lot
of sheep out there who don't know that yet, but God, Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, saved them 2,000 years ago. They have
no idea, just like we didn't have any idea. We had no idea
that we were God's elect. We had no idea that we were his
people. My, oh, my. And with that in our minds, now
let's look at verse 7 of Galatians chapter 1, which is the verse
that we'll be looking at today. Paul, speaking about this other
gospel, corrects himself and says here, which is not another. It's not a gospel. It's not good
news. Anytime man's works are added
with the finished work of Christ, it's another gospel. I don't
care how small or how sincere the person is, or how small the
act that they're supposed to do. I like what Spurgeon said,
if there's a stitch of our righteousness, which we have no righteousness,
but if there's a stitch of our works in the robe that we're
clothed in, righteousness of Christ, then it's not the righteousness
of Christ. Because the righteousness of
Christ is a robe that he stitched together by his perfect life
and by his perfect death on Calvary's cross in our place. He saved
his people from their sins. So Paul writes here, which is
not another, let's read verse 6 and 7 together, I marvel that
you are so soon removed from him that called you into the
grace of Christ unto another gospel, which is not another.
But there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel
of Christ. Think of the abundance of his
heart and his hands. His mercy and his grace is on
full display, isn't it? As he gives us salvation, grants
us salvation. Christ has the power to give
salvation to whom he wills, right? He gives it to all whom he died
for on Calvary's cross. And we're going to spend the
rest of our lives afterwards rejoicing then. that he did that. Think of this, if salvation is
clogged with our doings and our works and mixed with the merits
and the bloodshedding of the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
then that would be a mingling of our labors and the merits
of a sinner, but that's nothing but false gospel, is it? You
can't add the merit, because we have no merit, you can't add
our works with the perfect finished work of Christ, as Brother Travis
said, if you add to that which is perfect, it's no longer perfect. It's been marred, isn't it? It's
been marred. So it's a perversion of the gospel.
And think of this, too. Some people say, well, you know,
Christ did everything he can to make us savable. I've heard
people say that before. Now the rest is up to you. Well, if Christ died and we're
only saved in part, and we make up the deficiency in ourselves,
if Christ has only brought my poor soul into a savable state
by obtaining favor from me by my endeavors, and God will accept
me through that, and it'll depend upon my tears and my repentance,
this isn't good news, is it? Because I'm a sinner from the
top of my head to the bottom of my feet. That's not good news
at all. I can't save myself. It's nothing
but a false gospel. There's no glad tidings in that,
is there? If there's something I have to
do to be saved, if Christ has done everything he can and now
the rest is up to me, then I'm in a miserable state. My oh my. Nothing but a false
gospel. One who tells you, I mean anyone,
anyone who tells you there's something you have to do, anything,
I mean anything, praying a prayer, bowing your head, doing this
and that, walking an aisle, anything that you have to do to be saved,
it's a false gospel. I'll tell you what. Brother,
God saved you driving down the road after you heard that message,
right? Just like that, didn't he? Just like that. It's a heart work. You were born
again. Sister, you told me that one
minute you felt the sorrow of your sins, and the next second,
the balm of Christ. This is wonderful. It's wonderful. One minute we're lost, the next
second we're saved, and we're rejoicing! We're rejoicing! Because it's a heart work, beloved. God does a heart work in us,
doesn't he? He does. He makes us new creatures in
Christ. We're born again by his Holy Spirit. My. And think of this, too. Think
of this. If salvation's dependent upon
something I do, then when's it enough? When's it enough? How many works
do I have to do to be saved, and then how many works do I
have to do to keep being saved? Well, I can't do any works that
are good before God, so I'm doomed. But in Christ, all praise God.
I'm saved, so God sees no more, doesn't look upon my sin anymore.
Washed in the precious blood of Christ. And we rejoice in
that. We rejoice in that truth. Let's
look at verse seven again. And remember again, these words
are inspired by the Holy Spirit of God. Paul is penning these
words, but the true author of the scriptures is God the Holy
Spirit. And there's much here for our learning within this,
even this first chapter. This whole book we're gonna see
is wonderful. But look what he pens here, again, by inspiration
of the Holy Spirit, speaking of the false gospel that the
Judaizers are proclaiming, that you have to be circumcised to
be saved, along with the finished work of Christ. He says, that
gospel is not another, but there be some that trouble you, and
will pervert the gospel of Christ. So God himself is here telling
us. God himself, the true author
of the scriptures, the Holy Spirit, is here telling us. there's only
one true gospel. In these two verses, that's what
he's bringing forth before us. And see, all these things fell
out. Think of this too. Think of how God in his wisdom
and in his providence allowed these things to fall out, to
fall the way they did. Why? I like what Brother Norm
always reminds me, for the furtherance of the gospel. So here we are,
2,000 years later, reading these truths and going, wow, if you
mix works with grace, it's no longer grace. So we can now,
by studying the scriptures, right? Study to show thyself approved
to God, right? To a workman that needeth not
be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. So now we
can rightly divide the word of truth. So someone comes to you
and says, well, salvation's this way, by baptism. We can say,
no, that's wrong, salvation's in Christ alone. Baptism is just
a outward profession of Christ and shows an inward conversion
within us. But there's groups out there
who believe you must be baptized to be saved. The big one is the
Church of Christ. And that's nothing what's called
baptismal regeneration. The Catholics believe that too.
Because they believe that once a baby is baptized, then they're
part of the church. Well, that's called baptismal
regeneration. This is just an outright lie,
just an outright lie. So any preaching other than that
which is the true gospel of God's sovereign grace is electing,
redeeming, sanctifying grace for a particular people, right?
He didn't die for everyone. He died for his people, though,
didn't he? And we rejoice that we're his people. Now, we don't
know who the lost sheep are, so therefore the gospel goes
to everyone. We say, flee to Christ. And God makes it effectual. He makes the preaching effectual.
But anything that, any preaching other than the
one true gospel is a perversion of the gospel. Any preaching,
I don't care again how sincere a person is, that adds a pinprick,
even a pinprick of our works, is a perversion of the gospel.
So studying these scriptures, we can rightly divide the truth,
can't we? And remember who the teacher
is, too. This is amazing. Remember who
our teacher is, the same one who Paul authored this. And what does the Holy Spirit
do? He guides us into all truth, doesn't he? He guides us into
all truth. And let me not be misunderstood.
Any preaching that promotes anything that man does, anything that
man does to merit God's salvation is another gospel. Flat out. And I try to be as clear as I
can when I'm preaching. I came out of workspace salvation.
It's miserable. It's absolutely miserable. My,
you go in here in the preaching and it's all about what you gotta
do and about all this stuff and you come out going, oh my gosh,
I'm such a terrible, I'm gonna have a shock in heaven, I'm just
so terrible. Oh my, aren't you thankful that
salvation's in Christ and Him alone, and that we're saved based
upon His merits, based upon His grace, based upon His mercy,
that it's not dependent upon you and I, beloved? This is the
true gospel. Christ saves His people. Some
believe that baptism saves them. That's another gospel. Flat out,
it's another gospel. Some believe that their free
will saves them. Well, that's another gospel,
too. Do we flee to Christ? Absolutely. Thy people shall
be made willing in the day of thy power. Our will is bound
to our nature, and when we're dead in trespasses and sins,
all we can do is choose sin. My oh my. Some believe that meeting
on Saturday saves them. Seventh-day Adventists are big
on that. That's another gospel. That's another gospel, beloved.
Some believe church affiliation saves them. When I was a Catholic,
I thought, well, I'm a Catholic, I'm good. Thought the church
affiliation was what got me in. Boy, oh boy, did my world ever
get shook up. My, oh my, when God showed me
that salvation's in Christ alone. Some believe that they're saved
by keeping the law and trust in Christ. That's another gospel. Christ is at the end of the law
for righteousness, isn't he? He fulfilled the law in our place.
Now, do we look at the law of God and see a holy God? Absolutely. The law is perfect, but it can't
save. It comes from a holy God, but
it can never save. And that which the law couldn't
do, Christ did. He came in the flesh fulfilling
the law in our room and place, beloved. Therefore, again, the
scripture says Christ is the end of the law for righteousness.
A righteousness we can't produce on our own, but a righteousness
that makes us fit to be in the presence of God. My, oh my, some believe that
they become more holy and sanctified by keeping the law. That's another
gospel too. And I don't want to be misunderstood
again. Most of what you hear on the
radio and on the TV, just shut it off. I can't even watch it,
I get so upset. I'll be honest with you. I can't
even watch the stuff on TV anymore. And I hear something on the radio,
I gotta turn it off. Vicki and I like listening to the radio
when we're driving around the car. And sometimes, well, when it's
on a certain station, sometimes something will come on and you
just, I've turned that thing off faster than you can blink.
My, put on a sermon by Donny or by somebody else and listen
to that on the way down the road. So most of what's taught on the
radio and on television by those who claim to be representatives
of a God is nothing but a false gospel. Think of this, think
of this, give a dollar, Give a dollar, and the Lord will take
that dollar and seed money it, and it'll become $10,000. Where's
Christ? Where's what he did on the cross?
It's not there. Those guys' pockets are just
getting lined, aren't they? And it's awful. It's awful what
some of the televangelists do and all that. Oh, my. Let's pray for him, eh? Pray
the Lord will save him. Pray the Lord will show him the
truth. So anything that mixes man's works with the perfect
finished work of Christ is another gospel. And works being anything
you can think in your mind, right? I haven't read my Bible enough.
I need to read my Bible more, and God will show favor to me.
You ever thought like that? used to think like that in religion.
I did. Maybe if I pray more, God will
show favor to me. Now is it good to read the Bible?
Absolutely. Read it, read it, but pray that
God will give you understanding. I like what Henry said, better
a few verses read with understanding than chapters with no understanding
at all. My, should we pray to God? Absolutely. We plead the We find
ourselves praising his name, as I said last week, all the
time, don't we? You pull in a parking lot. Lord, thank you for that
parking spot, right? I've done that many times. Vicki
did it this week. We were driving around, and she's like, praise
God, and there's a parking spot right up front. It was wonderful. You just thank him, don't you?
You're so thankful for the little lives. So what is the gospel? Well, the gospel is a declaration
of what God has done. When I get up and preach the
gospel, I'm just declaring what God's done for sinners. It's
a work that's already done. It's already finished. And I
tell people, look to Christ and live. Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, as Paul said, and thou shalt be saved. Paul didn't say,
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be baptized. Did he? If ever there was a time when
When it could be said of something that man did, merited salvation,
Paul would have said it there with that Philippian jailer.
But he didn't say it, did he? He said, believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Do you believe on Christ?
That's the question, isn't it? Are you born again by the Holy
Spirit of God? Has he regenerated you and shown you your desperate
need for Christ? And you flee to him? You look
to him and live? Oh my, it's wonderful. It's absolutely wonderful, and
we pray that God would do that. If you haven't looked to him,
if you're looking to yourself or your religion, we pray that
God would give you eyes to look to Christ. So the gospel is a
declaration of redemption accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation
accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ. 2,000 years ago, Tim
James used to say, and I love this, he just says, we're just
telling people what's already done. already been done for them. And
God's elect are born again and granted faith to believe on Christ,
and we rejoice, don't we? We spend the rest of our life
rejoicing. And think of this again, mixing
something imperfect, our works, with that which is perfect, the
finished work of Christ, thereby perverts that work. It's a perversion. And it's not good news, it's
damning to the soul. It's damning to the soul. It's another gospel. Any works-based
salvation is damning to the soul. You can say, but Wayne, all those
people are so sincere. Yeah, I know they are. But you
know what they're doing, really, in their hearts? They're shaking
their fists at God, saying, we'll not have this man rule over us. That's what I was doing by trying
to gain merit and favor with God by what I did. And you know what? I was ignorant
of God. I didn't know who He was. I thought
I knew who He was, but I found out I didn't know who He was. Now let's break down this. Let's
break down this verse in the Greek. We're going to look at
some sections here in the Greek. This verse says, which is not
another, but there'll be some that trouble you and would pervert
the gospel of Christ. See the words here, which is
not another. The word not in the Greek is
in the absolute negative. It's in the absolute negative.
It's like when the Lord's, in Hebrews, when Paul wrote and
he said, writing about the Lord not leaving us nor forsaking
us, he said, he'll never leave us nor forsake us. And that's
in the negative, where not ever, never, never. Well, this is in
the negative, the double negative of being, it is not a gospel. So there's emphasis, there's
an absolute negative, no, not so in the Greek. No, not so. Bringing forth that that which
the Judaizers are teaching is absolutely not the gospel. Not
the gospel. Anything man adds to the finished
work of Christ is absolutely not the gospel. This is how serious
this is. And the salvation by works message
is no good news to a lost sinner, is it? Can't help him. Can't
help him. Catholicism had no help for my
soul. None. When I found out what the
Bible really said, I saw myself as absolutely lost. And then
I saw that verse that I've told you many times. There's one mediator
between God and man, the man Christ Jesus who gave himself
a ransom for all. One mediator. Not no priest.
One mediator. The Lord Jesus Christ. Oh my. Oh my, beautiful. And the Bible
clearly says, not by works of righteousness which we have done,
but according to his mercy he saved us, right? So clear, isn't
it? So clear. So we see here, we
see here then that Paul is emphasizing in the Greek that this is not
the gospel. No, not so. Not so. And listen to Turn if you would,
let's read again, Galatians 1.6 again, same. And I'm gonna read
this from the literal Bible, the Greek literal Bible that
I have, and I put this in here. And you can follow along in the
King James there, it says, in the Greek literal, it says, I
am amazed that you, or I am amazed that so quickly you are deserting
from the one who hath called you in the grace of Christ to
another gospel. So it's being brought forth here
in desertion. from the gospel. And then in
the Greek literal it says, which is not another, very similar
to what the King James says here, which is not another except there
are some who are troubling you in our desiring to pervert the
gospel of Christ. So they desire by their teaching
of adding man's works by getting circumcised and trusting Christ,
they perverted the gospel by adding man's works. Now we see the word pervert there
in verse 7. I found this very interesting.
I found this very interesting because Paul again is bringing
forth by inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God that the Judaizers were by their
teachings perverting the gospel of Christ. Now this word is used
in the present tense. Remember I mentioned that being
used in the present tense according to Weiss, which indicates that
the troubling was a present fact. The perversion was yet only a
wish of the Judaizers. Judaizers were seeking to turn
them away from the true gospel. So with this being written in
the perfect tense, the word pervert is from a Greek word which means
to reverse, to change, the opposite, to turn them about. So the Judaizers
wanted to turn them from the true gospel, but hadn't yet. The Galatians hadn't totally
succumbed to their influence yet. And then see where it says troubling,
where it says they're troubling you in desiring to pervert the
gospel of Christ. Well, the ones who are causing
division, which is what the word troubling brings forth, they're
causing division within the body. Paul's taught that the gospels
by salvation alone in Christ, and these Judaizers have come
in, perverted the gospel of God's free grace by adding man's works
and are now troubling or dividing the people of God. And these false teachers had
persuaded the Galatians to leave Paul's message and receive theirs,
but they hadn't totally succumbed to that, like I said earlier.
They haven't totally succumbed to that, so Paul's writing this
letter. Paul's writing this letter to the Galatians. And the false
teachers, they want the Galatians to be removed from that sound
gospel, the one true gospel, to that which is a perversion
of the gospel. And they added circumcision,
ceremonies, holy days, human works to the work of Christ. Again, thereby perverting it
so that it wasn't the gospel that was being preached. So we
see here then that the purpose of the Judaizers was to change
the gospel of grace, which Paul preached, just to change it just
a little bit. They knew they flat out couldn't
change the whole thing, but just a little bit of human works,
just a sprinkle of human works added in there. See, Satan, he's
crafty, isn't he? He knows that we're wired for
works. In our natural state, we're wired to do things, beloved.
That's why it's so hard for us just to rest in Christ, because
we're wired to do something. when we're dead in trespasses
and sins. And the Judaizers' message was a message of salvation
by good works instead of a message of salvation offered free, freely
from God. And it was not merely to derange
it or to turn it aside from its true meaning. No, by perverting
the gospel, they were actually transforming it into something
that was diametrically opposed to the original. The false gospels out there are
diametrically opposed to the one true gospel. They are in
total opposition. It makes us grateful that God's
showing us the truth, doesn't it? Oh my. Oh my. And I mean, they are so
opposed, they're like oil and water, like I mentioned earlier.
And therefore, the action of the Judaizers themselves testify
to the mutual incompatibility of law and grace. They don't
mix. They can't mix. If you mix works
into grace of God, it's no longer the grace of God. My, so this
is serious, isn't it? And these two systems have nothing
in common. Paul wrote this in Romans 11.6,
if by grace, then it is no more of works. So if salvation's by
grace, it's no more works, because Christ has done all the work.
Then he goes on to write, otherwise, grace is no more grace. You add
a pinprick of man's works, it's no longer grace. But if it be
of works, then it is no more grace. Otherwise, work is no
more work." My, what a verse. So the Judaizers' message, again,
was diametrically opposed to salvation in Christ alone. They
proclaimed that there was something you had to do to be saved. Now bring that home today. Any
man preaching something you have to do, no matter how small it
is, no matter how big it is, order for you to gain merit and
favor with God, is diametrically opposed to the gospel of God's
free and sovereign grace. Brother Charlie, think of what
the Lord took you out of, man. Saved you by his grace, you and
Sister Denise. Took you all out of that something you had to
do to rest now in Christ. Absolutely amazing. And we didn't
know. We didn't know at that time that
what we were hearing was diametrically opposed to the true gospel of
salvation through Christ. I didn't know that until God
revealed himself to me. And oh my. And showed me the
truth and the gospel. Oh my. My oh my. And then you rejoice because
there's nothing we have to do. You mean salvation's free? Yes.
You mean it's all by what Christ did? Yes. Absolutely. So it's a hazardous thing, isn't
it, to tamper with the gospel? It is a hazardous thing. It cannot
be abridged or enlarged. Any gospel that makes righteousness
before God dependent upon the sinner is a false gospel. I don't care if it's the works
or will of man. It's no gospel. It's not good
news. It's not good news. Praise be to God. Again, Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believe it.
He's all our righteousness. He's everything. He's all we
need. He's all we need. My, look at
this again in verse 7, which is not another but there be some
that trouble you and will pervert the gospel of Christ. Beloved,
salvation is from beginning to end of the Lord. It's all of
Him. Turn with me real quick to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2,
and I want to finish this. Do you know God chose us in Christ
from the beginning in eternity? This shows divine electing love,
doesn't it? God's ordained, appointed, decreed,
and elected a people, and he predestinated them from the beginning
of the world to be his church. We don't know who they are, so
the gospel, we preach the gospel, send it out all over the world,
eh? And God does whatever he's pleased to do. And then look
at salvation comes to them through the sanctification of the spirit,
which means setting apart. We're set apart, beloved, from
the world. Look what it says again. But we are bound to give
thanks always to God for you. So we praise our God for what
he praised Jehovah for what he's done for us. Brother and beloved
of the Lord, look at that. You're loved of the Lord. You're
divinely loved. We don't always feel that, do
we? Because we're sinners. But that's what that means. You're
divinely loved. Look at that. Because God hath
from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth. Belief of the one true
gospel. That's what that is. Belief of
the one true gospel. Belief that salvation's in Christ
and him alone. And the only way we believe that
is we're born again by the Holy Spirit of God, set apart, sanctified
by the Holy Spirit of God. And so notice the sequence here
of our Lord's salvation. First, we are blessed to be chosen
to such an end. chosen to such an end, then regenerated,
and then granted faith to believe the gospel of God's grace. What
a blessing. What a blessing. Let's go to
the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your
mercy and your goodness and your grace. Oh, thank you, Lord, for
saving our