Paul used the word gospel twice in this verse but both had very different meanings. The first meant the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ…that by way of His death, burial, and resurrection, we might have eternal life. The second gospel could not have been farther from that truth. It was distinctly different and deceptive and was leading the Church of Galatia astray. In II Corinthians 11:13-15, Paul called these teachers, “false apostles and servants of Satan masquerading as apostles of Christ.” They came proclaiming a ‘new and improved’ Gospel Message that was categorically incorrect and flawed, but the people were accepting it. Paul here was charging them to be vigilant and discerning…for if the message did not proclaim justification by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone…it was a false gospel.
Tag: reject the Gospel
Psalm 25: 7 ” Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to Your love remember me, for You are good, O Lord.”
It’s not God that loads us down with guilt and shame about our past. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. For it tells us in Psalm 103: 8-13, “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will He harbor His anger forever; He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” It’s only God’s merciful kindness towards us that takes our sins and throws them all into the Sea of Forgetfulness. It’s only us that dredge them back up and torture ourselves with them.
Hebrews 10:26-27 ” If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.”
We probably all know a person who has fallen away. Someone who consciously rejected the spiritual enlightenment they had once received…who had tasted of God’s goodness, but chose instead to abandon their faith. And when we intentionally reject Jesus Christ, we’re essentially saying that His sacrifice on the Cross meant nothing. For when anyone falls away, they have turned their back on God’s truth and can only then look forward to His final judgment.
II Timothy 4:3-4 ” For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”
There’s nothing more uncomfortable than the conviction of the Lord as He shines the light of truth onto our sinful lives. Conscience-stricken, we nervously look for a way to escape the situation and the guilty feelings that are overwhelming us. Humans don’t like feeling convicted…instead, we’d rather hear lovely, benign platitudes and feel-good stories that don’t offend. Over history, mankind has fabricated falsehoods in their minds…lying, deceiving fables and myths that go against the teachings of the Bible…but help to make them feel less guilty about their own forbidden and unrighteous desires. These fables and myths gloss-over doctrinal truth…rejecting the Gospel and deceiving the listener.
Safetypinlove 