Well, good morning. If you would,
please be turning in your Bibles to Galatians 1. This message
is going to come from verses 1 through 9. The title of today's
message is, Which Gospel Do You Believe? I know a lot of people
out there listening today and those who will listen to this
message later on, they'll think, what does he mean? Which gospel
do I believe? And by making that statement,
is he trying to say that there's more than one gospel? And what
I'm saying here when I ask that question, and I want to be perfectly
clear, I'm saying that there's a true gospel and there are many
false gospels. False gospels that are in direct
opposition to the true gospel. There is only one true gospel,
and anything, anything at all, to any degree, that is preached
other than that gospel, the gospel of Christ, paying the sin debt
in full with His offering, with His precious blood, is false. Now read with me in Galatians
1, 1 through 9. Paul, an apostle, not of men,
neither by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who
raised him from the dead, and all the brethren which are with
me unto the churches of Galatia. Grace be to you and peace from
God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself
for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world
according to the will of God and our Father. to whom be glory
forever and ever. Amen. I marvel that you were
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. But though we, or an angel from
heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have
preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before,
so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto
you than that you have received, let him be accursed. Now here
in Galatians, Paul refers to another gospel. You see that
in verse six. He tells us that if any man preaches
any other gospel than the true gospel, let him be accursed. To be accursed is to be ill-fated,
doomed, or condemned. So this right here in scripture,
this should be enough of a warning for everyone to have a desire
to look into this subject. Now in 2 Corinthians 11.4, it
says, For if he that cometh preacheth
another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if you receive another
spirit, which you have not received, or another gospel, which you
have not accepted, you might well bear with him. And later
on in chapter 11 of 2 Corinthians, verses 13 through 15, it says,
for such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming
themselves into the apostles of Christ, and no marvel, for
Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore,
it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers
of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works.
And if their end is according to anything other than the finished
work of Christ, if their end is based on anything based on
their own works, then they're in trouble. Now I want to ask
a question today. What would you say are some of
the identifying traits or characteristics of the false gospel? I think
by looking at these traits and characteristics, that exploring
this question, it will help us to better understand what the
true gospel is. I'm going to give you four points
today as we go through this message that'll kind of describe what
a false gospel is. The false gospel, honestly, is
really no gospel at all. It's not the truth, and it's
a perversion of the gospel of Christ. The crazy thing is that
those who preach the false gospel, they typically don't come preaching
some totally out-of-this-world strange doctrine. And some of
it has some truth in it. It's very deceptive and it has
just enough truth in it that it's a perversion of the gospel
of Christ. I was talking about this with
someone a few weeks ago. The false gospel can be so subtle
and it can sound so close to the true gospel, but it's not
the same. It's missing the truth. It has
lies in it. Listen, if salvation is not based
solely, 100% on the blood of Christ alone, then it's not the
truth. It's not the gospel. If it's
99% the truth and 1% a lie or untrue, then it's a perversion
of the gospel. And here's where most people
go with it. Christ has done the work, but you have to do your
part. You have to walk an aisle. You
have to believe. You have to reach your hand out.
Get baptized. You have to fill in the blank.
When I talk to people about it, and we'll usually agree, because
scripture says it, that God is sovereign. But listen, if God
is sovereign in all things, and we know that he is, then he has
to be sovereign in salvation too. If he's not sovereign in
salvation, then he's not sovereign. Think about it. He can't be.
The only way that God can be sovereign is if he's sovereign
in all things, and that includes salvation. People will stand
up and talk about the shedding of the blood. They talk about
the cross. They'll talk about Jesus, and
they'll talk about the birth of Christ. They'll talk about
the resurrection. They'll talk about heaven and
eternal death. but they deny Christ and his
finished work because they want to have a hand in making a decision
for their salvation. They deny Christ. Listen, Christ
came to finish the work. He came to fulfill the law. He
came to save his sheep that God the Father gave him. And when
somebody says, Christ, no need for you to save me. I just made
that decision on my own. then Christ is denied. Today
I'm going to go over four points that will help to show you what
this false gospel is based on. First of all, this false gospel,
this perversion of the gospel of Christ, the first thing it
does is it denies original sin. That's the first point. If anybody's
going to be right on their doctrine or be right on the gospel, then
they have to be right about original sin and what it is. If a person
gets this wrong, if they never understand original sin, then
they will never know the true gospel. Bill talked about that
a few weeks ago. A lot of people ask them, why
do you call it original sin? It's called original sin because
it was the first sin. It happened back in Genesis with
the fall of Adam. It's called original sin because
it was the sin that started all sin. It's called original sin
because it was the beginning. It was the beginning of sin and
because all of sin is the fruit of this sin. Now by nature, a
person will admit that they have sinned, but they won't admit
that they're sinners. And Romans 3.23 says, for all
have sinned and come short of the glory of God. In 1 John 1
10 it says, if we say that we have not sinned, we make him
a liar and the truth is not in us. It's really not that difficult
to get people to admit that they've sinned at one time or another
to some degree. But here's what the false gospel
fails to preach. It's why they sinned. Why did
you break God's law? Let's say someone steals $10
from somebody else, and we all know it's wrong to steal. Why
did they steal it? If you can figure out why they
stole it, then you'll know why you're under condemnation. The
argument between man and God is not the fact that the $10
was taken. It's actually why you took the
$10. That's original sin. A thief is not a sinner because
he steals. That's not why he's a sinner.
He steals because he's a sinner. Way before he ever stole anything,
he was a sinner. It's part of his nature. It goes
down far to your core. You cannot do anything about
it. You cannot get it out. There's nothing you can do about
that part of being a human being. It's kind of like animals migrating.
And this absolutely amazes me whenever I look into it. The
monarch butterfly can migrate 3,000 miles when it's time for
it to escape the cold winter. How in the world does a butterfly
know when it's time to start flying? And how do they know
which direction to fly in? How do they know where to go?
All of this is so deep down in the innermost workings of a butterfly. This is part of a butterfly's
nature. That's how original sin is. It's so deep within every
person that it cannot be removed. It's part of your nature. Now,
if the thief had not been a sinner before he stole the $10, then
he wouldn't have stolen it. That's original sin. And a lot
of people will talk out there and preach that if you do this,
then you're a sinner. No, you do that because you're
a sinner. That's why you do it. That's what motivated you. It's
original sin. Back when Christ was here, the
Pharisees, they didn't understand the doctrine of sin. That's the
reason they went out and taught that you shouldn't steal and
you shouldn't kill and you shouldn't commit adultery. The Pharisees
taught all of those things. And if you didn't do those things,
then you weren't a sinner. We should all strive to be moral,
but keeping the law doesn't earn salvation. Christ's blood does. Listen to Christ in Matthew 15,
verses 17 through 20. Do not you yet understand that
whatsoever entereth at the mouth goeth into the belly and is cast
out in the draught? But those things which proceed
out of the mouth come forth from the heart, and they defile the
man. For out of the heart proceed
evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness,
blasphemies. These are the things which defile
a man, but to eat with unwashing hands defileth not a man. The
adulterer is not a sinner because he commits adultery. That's not
when they become a sinner. In Matthew 5, 27 and 28, Christ
said, You have heard that it was said
by them of old time, thou shalt not commit adultery, but I say
unto you that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her
hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. A person
that commits adultery commits it because they're a sinner.
A liar doesn't lie. A liar doesn't become a sinner
when they lie. They're already a sinner. That's
why they lie. When Adam fell in the garden
of Eden, original sin, the first sin, was started. When Adam fell in the garden,
scripture says, in Romans 5, 12, wherefore, as by one man,
sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed
upon all men, for that all have sinned. Then down in verses 18 and 19,
it says, therefore, as by the offense of one judgment came
upon all men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness
of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of
life. For as by one man's disobedience,
many were made sinners. So by the obedience of one, shall
many be made righteous. When do we become sinners? Psalm
58.3 says, the wicked are estranged from the womb. They go astray
as soon as they be born, speaking lies. As soon as we're born,
we're sinners. The false gospel denies what
we are, and it denies original sin. Isaiah 1, verses five and
six gives us a description of man in his natural state. It
says, why should you be stricken anymore? You will revolt more
and more. The whole head is sick and the
whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even
into the head, there is no soundness in it. But wounds and bruises
and putrefying sores, they have not been closed, neither bound
neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. It says right
there that from our head to our toes, we are sick. Our trouble
is not what we've done. Our trouble is what we are. Our
trouble, as we stand before God, is not just the sins that we've
committed. It's that when we deny original sin, we deny the
need for a new birth. That's what it all leads to.
And the false gospel denies the need of the new birth. In man's
natural lost state, if there is a glimmer of light, or they
think that they can do something about their own salvation, then
there's no need to be born again. And there would be no need for
Christ. So that's the first thing about the false gospel. It denies
original sin. It denies the sinful nature.
It denies the fact that man, from the sole of his feet to
the top of his head, has nothing good in him, and that he's a
sinner that's gone astray. And the second thing that the
false gospel denies is that sinners deserve eternal condemnation. We don't want to believe that
our friends and family members deserve to suffer an eternal
death, do we? It's just something you really
don't even want to think about. Let me take it a little closer
to home. What about yourself? Do you think that you should
suffer an eternal death? Eternal separation from God?
And this right here is one of the most difficult areas for
the human mind to agree with. This right here. We can all rejoice
in God's love. You always hear everyone out
there talking about and rejoicing in God's love. Everybody turns
right to John 3, 16, for God so loved the world. And we all
love that kind of preaching. We love it. But I'm going to say something
here, and a lot of people don't like to hear this, but in case
everybody didn't know that's out there listening to this message,
all of us are not going to heaven. on this planet is not going to
heaven. And the Bible clearly tells us
that. Everybody's so quick to rejoice in God's love and God's
mercy and God's grace. But how many can rejoice in God's
justice and God's holiness and his righteousness? How many people
rejoice in the fact that not many, that many will not go to
heaven. Not many will rejoice in that.
but we have to rejoice in God's justice too. By nature, we don't
see sin as God sees sin. In the flesh, we cannot agree
that God ought to send a person to eternal death, can we? By
nature, we just cannot wrap our mind around that. We don't wanna
believe it. By nature, we cannot bring ourselves
to agree with the justice of God. I'm gonna ask a few questions
that'll kind of further lead us down this path is the President
of the United States obligated to pardon every federal prisoner
held in the United States federal prison system. He has the power
to do it. He can just sign a pardon and
they're free. And what do you think about that?
You'd probably say he should not free them. Is he unjust if
he doesn't pardon them? You'd probably answer no. He's
not unjust. They're guilty. They've broken
the law. They deserve to be punished.
They're getting what they deserve. Is God obligated then to take
sinners to heaven? Remember, we've broken the law
of God. And Romans 6.23 says, for the wages of sin is death.
We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. It's right
there in scripture and we all know that. And it says right
there that the wages of sin is death. So is God obligated to
take all of these criminals here on earth who've broken God's
law down here? Is he obligated to take them
to heaven? Let's be honest. We have all broken the law of
God. Is God unjust if he punishes our sins? No, he's not unjust. When God punishes sin, whatever
the punishment is, it's deserved, and that's the law. Now here's
what it comes down to. By nature, we don't believe that
sinners are criminals. At the end of the day, only sinners
need to be saved. People who are lost, people who
deserve eternal death, that's the people for whom Christ died.
In Luke 19.10, it says, for the son of man has come to seek and
to save that which was lost. And in Matthew 9.13, it says,
but go you and learn what that meaneth. I will have mercy and
not sacrifice for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners
to repentance. So we have agreed that the United
States president is not obligated to free federal prisoners. They're guilty. They deserve
to stay there. He's not unjust if he leaves
them there. That's right. So God is not obligated to save
you. And God is not unjust if he doesn't save anyone. We've
broken his law and the wages of sin is death. And the scripture
says, the soul that sinneth, it shall surely die. So God Almighty
will be perfectly just if he sends a sinner to eternal death.
And he could send me. and he'd still be just. Let me
ask this question. What if the president goes out
and pardons a couple of those prisoners? Suppose he believes
that he can make a good and useful citizen out of two of those prisoners. Would he be unjust to the others
that he left in prison? Would he be unjust if he goes
in there and takes out two people and says, I believe these two
right here will make good and useful citizens. I'm going to
let them out. I'm going to pardon them. To
those other prisoners that are still there, is the president
unjust? No, he's not. They're in prison
paying for their crimes. Those prisoners are getting what
they deserve. The pardon men aren't necessarily
getting what they deserve, but what they are getting is mercy.
They don't get what they deserve. The two that were released, they
didn't deserve to be sent home, but they got mercy. Listen to
what it says in Romans 9 11. For the children being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God according to election might stand, not of works, but
of him that calleth. It was said unto her, the elder
shall serve the younger, as it is written, Jacob have I loved,
but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses,
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. For the scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I
might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared
throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom
he will have mercy, and whom he will hardeneth. Noah and Moses
found grace in the Lord, and Pharaoh was destroyed. Did Pharaoh
get what he deserved? He certainly did. Did Moses get
what he deserved? No, he got mercy. Justice is
necessary, and mercy is optional. So the false gospel denies the
seed of sin, It denies the source of sin, it denies the nature
of sin, it denies what a man is by birth, and it denies the
new birth and the need for the new birth. The third point, this other gospel
teaches that salvation is quitting bad habits. And out here today,
90% or more of the people in these
churches People walk in the streets right here in Albany and everywhere
else think that if you don't quit drinking, if you don't quit
cussing, if you don't quit gambling, if you don't quit lying, then
you'll be eternally separated from God and you won't go to
heaven. This is the thing. You can quit every one of those
things and still suffer an eternal death. you can be the most respectable,
moral, dedicated, sincere, religious person in this town and still
be eternally separated from God. Because salvation is not just
quitting bad habits, it's trusting in Christ and his finished work
alone for all of salvation. Our Lord said in John 17 verse
two, and this is life eternal. that they might know thee the
only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. The program
that Satan has in this day is to make people religious without
Christ. His goal is to take your eyes
off of the prize, to distract, to sway you away from Christ. That's where the devil does his
best and most deceptive work. He's working in churches across
this world, taking the glory from God, reducing Christ to
a meaningless and worthless figure. In Genesis 3, verses 1 through
5, now listen to what this says. Now the serpent was more subtle
than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he
said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, you shall not eat out
of every tree of the garden. And the woman said unto the serpent,
we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the
fruit of the tree, which is in the midst of the garden, God
hath said, you shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch
it, lest you die. And the serpent said unto the
woman, you shall not surely die, for God doth know that in the
day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be open and you shall
be as gods, knowing good and evil." Satan's plan right there
is to make people religious without Christ, to make people moral
without Christ, and to give people a righteousness of their own,
to give them false hope. Paul said in Romans 10 verses
1 through 4, Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for
Israel is that they might be saved. For I bear them record
that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
For they being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about
to establish their own righteousness have not submitted themselves
unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. Now, I think
that when a person comes to know Christ and they're saved, they
will pursue a life of honesty and righteousness and truth and
morality, but that's not how they're saved. They do those
things because they now know the Lord and because they want
to please the Lord and because they want their life to be a
testimony for God the Father. The fourth characteristic of
the false gospel This other gospel, and you've heard it, you hear
it every day, they talk about the blood, they talk about the
cross, they say Jesus, they talk about the Holy Spirit, they use
heaven, but it's another gospel because they deny the condition
of man by birth, by nature, and by the fall, and they deny that
a sinner deserves the wrath of God, they deny the mercy of God,
being in the hands of God. The fourth thing that we're going
to see in the false gospel is that they'll preach death as
an example and not as a substitute, not as a true sacrifice and sin
offering. Have you ever heard this statement?
I think we all have. God's done all that he can do.
He's got his hand out. Now it's up to you. That is not
how it works. And I want to say one thing today,
and if you don't take anything away from this message, then
this next statement, please listen carefully. Do not trust a God
that has done all that He can do and still hasn't saved you. If you believe in a God that
has done all He can do to save you, and then it's up to you
to do something else to get saved, then look somewhere else. That
does not describe God, an ever powerful God. That does not describe
God at all. Listen, if God can't save me,
then I'm in bad shape. We all are. The true God can do anything.
Just think about that statement. God has done all that he can
do. What is the limit to God's ability? God created this world
out of nothing, but he can't save people? I wanna ask you a few questions
that I hope you'll listen to as I answer them from the word
of God. First of all, when Jesus Christ died on the cross, did
he die to make salvation possible or was it certain? And to answer
this question, I'll go to John 10, verses 27 through 29. It says, my sheep hear my voice,
and I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me,
is greater than all. and no man is able to pluck them
out of my father's hand. Now, which is it? When he died,
was salvation made possible or certain? I'll answer that, it
was sure and certain. Christ said that God the Father
gave him the sheep and no one can pluck them out of his hand
or God's hand, it is certain. Secondly, when Christ died, did
he actually redeem, or did he make it possible for me to come
to God and get redemption? When he died on the cross, did
he actually, literally, completely redeem me to God? Redeem my soul? Or did he just make it possible
that later on, when I do something, that I could be redeemed? Ephesians
1 7 says that in whom we have redemption through his blood
the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace Now here's the next question
when Christ died on the cross did he actually take our sins
in his body? 1st Peter 2 24 says who his own self bear our sins
in his own body on that tree, that we, being dead to sins,
should live unto righteousness by whose stripes you were healed. Now, are we healed by his stripes,
plus our church membership, plus our baptism, plus our good works,
or are we healed by his stripes? We're healed by his stripes alone,
by his blood alone, by his sacrifice alone, and nothing else. Here's
another question. When Christ died on the cross,
did he actually reconcile us unto God? Did he actually reconcile
us and redeem us to God, or did he just lay the groundwork for
our cooperation with God at a later date? Romans 5.10 says, for if
when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death
of his son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved
by his life. It just said when we were enemies,
we were reconciled to God. How were we reconciled? By the
death of his son. It says his death redeemed us.
His death reconciled us His death cleansed us, His death healed
us, by His stripes we are healed. Now here's the next question.
Does the blood of Jesus Christ actually cleanse us from sin,
or is it an offer to be cleansed? First John 1.7 says, but if we
walk in the light, As he is in the light, we have fellowship
with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his son, cleanseth
us from all sin. It says the blood of Jesus cleanses
us. Not water from a baptism, not
our works, not our keeping the law, only the blood of Jesus
can cleanse us. And I'll finish here. There are
many false gospels, perverted gospels, and false Christ. But there is only one true Christ,
one mediator, one master, one father, one redeemer, and one
savior. Remember that without the finished
work, without the blood of the lamb finishing the salvation
of his sheep, there is no righteousness. Be aware that Satan is out there
working to turn your eyes from Christ, to take your eyes off
of the prize. Don't fall for it. God is a just
God and a savior, and he will punish sin, and the wages of
sin is death. So be glad, be thankful if God
has opened your eyes to the true gospel, to have Christ as your
only, your mediator, your savior, and your redeemer. Amen.