Acts  Sermon Series

Wheelersburg Baptist Church 8/25/2002 Brad Brandt

Galatians 1:6-9 "The Battle for the Faith"**

During the Battle of the Wilderness in the Civil War, Union general John Sedgwick was inspecting his troops. At one point he came to a parapet, over which he gazed out in the direction of the enemy. His officers suggested that this was unwise and perhaps he ought to duck while passing the parapet. "Nonsense," snapped the general. "They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist--." A moment later Sedgwick fell to the ground, fatally wounded.

My friend, we are in a battle today, and we’re in trouble if we act like we’re not. The gospel is under attack on two fronts, both from outside the church and from inside it.

It's been this way from the very beginning.

It was this very problem that prompted Paul to write a letter which we call the book of Galatians, where we'll find the text of today's study.

You might ask, "What does Galatians have to do with our study in Acts?" Plenty. In our last few weeks we’ve been tracing Paul’s steps during his first missionary journey. God used him and Barnabas to lead people to Christ in several cities, including Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. A few months later the missionaries returned to these same locations, strengthened these young believers through more teaching, made sure they were plugged into the local church, and then left again. The trip ended when they arrived back in Antioch of Syria, where they began their mission.

You say, "I still don’t get it. What do the cities of Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe have to do with Galatians?" If you’ll look at Galatians 1:2 you’ll discover who received this letter: "To the churches in Galatia." Galatia was not a town, but a region. Galatia was a Roman province in modern day Turkey. The regional name included the aforementioned cities: Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. When Paul wrote "Galatians," he had in mind the new believers in these very cities.

Some dates are important. Paul probably led the people in these cities to Christ around A.D. 46. He then made his return trip to ground them further in A.D. 47. Many scholars feel he wrote the letter of Galatians around A.D. 48 or 49, just a year or two after his departure.

Why did Paul send a letter so soon after leaving these churches? It wasn’t to find out about the weather. Even a casual glance will reveal something striking about this letter. There is no warm greeting in it, and certainly no chit-chat. "I am astonished!" Paul declares right off the bat (1:6), and his intensity continues to the end.

Something terrible had happened. Paul had caught wind of an emergency situation in Galatia. In the battle for the faith, the churches were losing.

It wasn’t as if Paul hadn’t warned them. According to Acts 14:22, prior to leaving the cities Paul encouraged the believers "to remain true to the faith." Sadly, less than two years later they seemed to have forgotten those words. They weren’t remaining true to the faith.

Is that a serious problem? It was so grave that Paul penned one of the most intense letters he ever wrote. We would do well to pay attention to it.

We’re breaking this week from our journey through Acts to see a potential hazard facing those we reach with the gospel. We also want to see what we can do about it.

According to Galatians 1:6-9, a battle is raging. It’s a battle for the faith, and we cannot afford to be passive. From Paul’s example we learn that we have two responsibilities in this conflict.

Notice verse 6 again, "I am astonished." Let those words sink in. Unlike all the other letters Paul wrote, there's no warm introduction here, no words of thanksgiving or commendation like we usually find. He gets right to the punchline, "I am astonished."

Why was Paul so blunt when he penned Galatians? It’s because he was concerned to the core for his spiritual children. They were facing danger, a twofold danger in fact. We’re facing the same dangers today, as are the people to whom we minister. If we’re going to help our spiritual children, we must beware of these two great dangers.

A. Beware of a lack of discernment (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." Paul knew his readers well. Not only had he led them to Christ, but he continued to pray for them after he left. Then he received some heart-wrenching news. Some teachers in Galatia were undermining his work. They were teaching heresy. What's worse, the church members were falling for it. Their lack of discernment surfaced in two ways.

1. The Galatians were turning from God. "I marvel that you are so soon removed from Him that called you (KJV)." The verb "removed" ("deserting" in the NIV) should be active, not passive (it's in the middle voice), and it should be present, not past tense. At that very moment, the Galatians were in the process of deserting.

The Greek word metatithemi is quite illustrative. It means "to transfer one's allegiance." It was used to describe a soldier who deserted his post, or of a man who changed sides in politics. For instance, when Dionysius left the Stoics to become a member of the rival Epicurean school, he was labeled with this word: a "turncoat."

That was the crime of which Paul accused the Galatians. They were religious turncoats. They were spiritual deserters.

What had they done? They were deserting the One who had called them by His grace. They were turning from God. But there was more. Their lack of discernment surfaced in a second way.

2. The Galatians were turning to a different gospel. That's what the end of verse 6 states. A different gospel. That's a strong charge.

In our day, one church uses written prayers and another extemporaneous. One church uses contemporary Bible translations, while another uses only the AV. One church uses elders, while another has deacons. One church a variety of music styles, while another uses only the Psalter for worship. Churches are different. That's fine.

But to say a church is preaching a different gospel--now we've moved from preferences to fundamentals. The gospel is a non-negotiable. An essential. Without it, a church ceases to be a Christian church. We may doubt that in our day of, "It doesn't matter what you believe as long as you believe in God, the particulars don't matter."

But it does. Paul's charge is clear. To turn to another gospel is to turn from God! The particulars do matter. Faith is only as good as its object.

The faithful missionary to India, William Carey, became deeply concerned about the attitude of his son Felix. The young man, a professing Christian, had promised to become a missionary. But he broke his vow when he was appointed ambassador to Burma.

Carey requested prayer for him: "Pray for Felix. He has degenerated into an ambassador of the British government when he should be serving the King of kings." 

No, there’s nothing wrong with being an ambassador for a government. There is something very wrong, however, with being a government ambassador or anything else if it’s not what God wants for your life.

The Galatians were turning from God. They didn’t stop being religious. They just decided to experiment with a different gospel. They demonstrated a lack of discernment.

My friends, all religions are not the same. For that matter, all churches are not the same. There is a different gospel all around. It may look similar upon a casual glance, but that’s why we can’t be casual about doctrine. Discernment is vital.

You may be wondering, "What was this different gospel that mesmerized the Galatians?" Paul hints at it in verse 7. There he reveals the other side of the danger that's facing the church in both his day and ours. If we’re going to protect our spiritual children we must, first of all, beware of a lack of discernment. Secondly…

B. Beware of the lure of deception (7). That's a dangerous combination, to put a person with a lack of discernment and a person skilled at the lure of deception in the same room.

Listen to verses 6-7, "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--which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ." What were the false teachers doing in Galatia? Notice two deceptive activities...

1. False teachers were disturbing the church. Paul says, "There are some that trouble you." The teachers were confusing the Christians.

How were they doing it? And who were they? Acts 15:1 paints the scenario of a similar threat encountered by the church at Antioch, "Some men came down from Judea to Antioch, and were teaching the brothers: Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved."

Talk about causing an uproar! How would you respond if some teachers came to town and said, "Greetings, friends. We're from Church Headquarters. We heard you've asked Jesus to be your Savior. That's fine, but if you want to be saved, you need to do something else. You need to keep the Mosaic Law. If you don't, you cannot be saved..."?

Using tactics of intimidation, similar heretics were disturbing the Galatian church. They also committed a second deceptive activity.

2. False teachers were distorting the gospel. In verse 7, Paul says the opponents were "trying to pervert the gospel of Christ." The false teachers were Judaizers, Jews that preached a gospel of works. How were they distorting the gospel? By telling the Christians, "Unless you are circumcised, you cannot be saved."

Their approach was very subtle. If you had lived in Galatia and had opportunity to dialogue with the Judaizers, you might have been surprised. The average American Christian probably would have fallen for their line just like the Galatians did.

Suppose you asked a Judaizer these questions: Do you believe in Jesus? His response, "Oh, yes." Well, do you believe that Jesus lived a perfect life and died on a cross? "Certainly." Do you believe that Jesus rose from the dead, and is in heaven today? "Yes, I do." Do you believe that Jesus shed His blood for our sins? Again, his answer, "Yes." Well, how about this--do you believe that Jesus is coming again? And he looks at you and replies, "Yes, yes, yes!"

Now, tell me. Is your Judaizer-friend a Christian? The answer is no. "But," you say, "he believes in Jesus! He believes in the blood! He believes in the resurrection! He believes what we believe, doesn't he?"

No, he doesn't. Just ask him one more question, and you'll see. "Mr. Judaizer, do you believe that faith in Christ alone is sufficient to save?" And he will answer, "No, believing in Jesus isn't enough. He started the work. You need to finish what Christ began. You need to add your works to the work of Christ. You must finish Christ's unfinished work."

So now what do you think of our friend's spiritual condition? Paul would say our friend believes in a different gospel, a perverted gospel. That's serious business.

"Are you saying, Pastor, that it's possible to claim to be a Christian, and not be one?" Yes, it is. "Are you saying that a person can believe in Jesus, and not be a Christian?" Yes, he or she can. The demons believe in Jesus, but they're not saved. Many of the cults believe in Jesus. The issue is this. What Jesus do you believe in? Do you believe in the Jesus of the Bible? Do you believe in the gospel of the Bible?

Herein lies the danger that the church is facing. That’s why we must fight to protect our spiritual children. We must beware of a lack of discernment and the constant lure of deception.

Cable television mogul Ted Turner criticized fundamentalist Christianity and said Jesus probably would "be sick at his stomach" over the way his ideas have been "twisted," the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Turner made his remarks at a banquet in Orlando, Fla., where he was given an award by the American Humanist Association for his work on behalf of the environment and world peace. Turner said he had a strict Christian upbringing and at one time considered becoming a missionary. "I was saved seven or eight times," the newspaper quoted him as saying. But he said he became disenchanted with Christianity after his sister died, despite his prayers. Turner said the more he strayed from his faith, "the better I felt." 

My friend, a fast start means nothing in a distance race. Nor in the Christian life. No amount of tears at an altar, nor enthusiastic church attendance in the first few months or even years after a faith-profession guarantee a person’s spiritual condition. Listen to the warning Jesus gave in Matthew 24:9-14:

"Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. ¹⁰ At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, ¹¹ and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. ¹² Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, ¹³ but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. ¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

So here’s responsibility #1. In the battle for the faith, we must protect our spiritual children. As we continue to examine the situation that faced the Galatian church, we discover a second responsibility.

Yes, our concern is twofold. First, we want to protect the wellbeing of our people. But secondly, we’re concerned about the wellbeing of our message. Paul told Timothy, "Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in you (2 Tim 1:14)."

Our message is the gospel. What must we do to protect it? When the gospel is being undermined, we've got a decision to make. It's a twofold assignment.

A. Reject a different gospel. Verses 8-9, "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! 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!"

Wow! To change the gospel is grounds for condemnation. Now do you see why Paul didn't begin his letter with his customary greeting? When eternal life and eternal death are hanging in the balance, it's no time for small-talk. When a person in ICU is coded, it's no time to chat about fly-fishing. When a church is coded--and that's what was happening in Galatia--what's needed is drastic action.

That's exactly what Paul calls us to do here. Reject anyone--whether it's angel from heaven or the apostle himself--anyone who preaches a different gospel!

This is no trivial matter to me. In my early childhood years, I attended a large, mainline, denominational church. But I never heard the gospel. I heard a different gospel. True, they were nice people, many of them upstanding citizens in the community. But week after week, I went to "church" and never the gospel. Oh, I heard about Jesus. I learned that He was to be my example. But I didn't hear that I needed Him as my Savior. I am eternally grateful that God in His providence moved my family to a Bible-teaching church.

We must reject the different gospel. That's what God's Word says. British theologian and author, John R.W. Stott offers this counsel (27-8), "We are not to be dazzled, as many people are, by the person, gifts or office of teachers in the church. They may come to us with great dignity, authority and scholarship. They may be bishops or archbishops, university professors or even the pope himself. But if they bring a gospel other than the gospel preached by the apostles and recorded in the New Testament, they are to be rejected. We judge them by the gospel; we do not judge the gospel by them."

There's more. We have a twofold assignment. First, we must reject the different gospel. Then we must…

B. Affirm the delivered gospel. Just what is the gospel? It's one thing to critique what we don't believe, but what do we believe? What must we believe? What are the ingredients of the true gospel? That's what Paul explains in the rest of the this letter. There are five key characteristics of the gospel, five non-negotiables.

1. It's Scripture alone (not human opinion). In verse 8, Paul says the true gospel is "the one we preached to you," and according to verse 9, it's the one "you accepted." It's the delivered gospel. In his letter Jude urges us to "contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints (Jude 3)."

We can't emphasize this enough in this most-modern culture that places more stock in experience than in truth. Christianity is rooted in a historical, objective, revealed account. God recorded that account in Scripture. The gospel isn't based on human opinion.

Paul explains in verses 11-12, "I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ." And what Paul and the apostles received from Christ, they recorded in what we call the New Testament. The first characteristic of the gospel is sola Scriptura. Our authority is Scripture alone.

2. It's grace alone (not human merit). Galatians is packed with grace. Just listen: Verse 3, "Grace and peace to you." Verse 6, "I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ." In verse 15, Paul shares his testimony: "God...called me by his grace."

We don't initiate salvation. God does. And we don't finish salvation. God does. We don't meet God half-way. God calls us. God keeps us. God finishes what He starts with us, on the basis of His grace, His unmerited favor. The last verse of chapter two (2:21) reveals that if that's not true, then Christ died for nothing. Indeed, the final verse of the book speaks of grace (6:18). We end where we begin, with an utter dependence upon the grace of God. Now a third characteristic of the delivered gospel...

3. Its Christ alone (not human contribution). Paul calls it the "gospel of Christ" in 1:7. We are made right with God by the atoning work of Christ alone.

It's ironic that this very morning in various "churches" across our land, people will sing hymns that proclaim salvation by grace, yet hear sermons that present salvation by works. They'll sing the words of Isaac Watts, "When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of glory died, my richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride." And then they'll hear a man of the cloth tell them, "God loves you. Do you best, and some day you'll go to heaven."

My friend, God says "our best" is like filthy rags to Him (Isa. 64:6)! It's Christ alone who can rescue us. That's the note on which Paul begins this letter (1:3-4), "Grace and peace to you from...the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age..."

That's why the gospel cuts across all barriers (acc. to 3:26-29). Race doesn't matter, nor economic status, nor gender. All people fall short of God’s standard. And all people may and must come to God the same way--through Christ alone. There's a fourth characteristic of the delivered gospel...

4. It's faith alone (not human effort). Here's the crux of the gospel. Sola fide. It's what set Martin Luther free.

Luther was a Roman Catholic monk in his early years, and more than anything, he wanted to be right with God. He spent sleepless nights in prayer and fasting. He confessed his sins everyday because he was told this would insure a right standing with God. One day, his monastic superior, Father Johann Staupitz told Luther to leave the confessional and not return until he had something really sinful to confess! But all Luther desired was to get rid of his horrible burden of guilt and shame. As he put it, "I...was perpetually in torment."

Luther knew that God demands righteousness from us. But try as we might, we can't achieve righteousness. We can't attain God's standard. For Luther, the light dawned one day when reading Romans 1:16-17, "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes...For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is through faith..."

That's it! The solution is the gospel! We are rescued sola fide. We are saved by faith, but it's not really faith that saves us. Faith just plugs us into Christ who saves us (Eph. 2:8-9). It's no wonder that Paul uses the word "faith" 22 times in Galatians (esp. in ch 3).

"But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe (3:22)." "So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith (3:24)." "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus (3:26)."

It's faith alone. We are made right with God (that's justification) based on what Christ did for us, not what we did (or didn't do) for God. There’s a fifth key characteristic of this delivered faith that Paul stresses in Galatians.

5. It’s the Spirit alone (not human production). You need to know something about the Judaizers. They didn’t oppose Christianity. They just tried to supplement it. How? By adding some laws to the message of grace. Their message, simply stated, was Jesus plus Moses, Jesus plus Law, Jesus plus human production.

Is there anything wrong with adding to Jesus? Listen to Paul in Galatians 3:3 "After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?" The fact is, we become a Christian by depending on Christ alone. We live the Christian life the same way, by depending on the One Christ sent, the Holy Spirit.

It’s the Spirit alone that enables us to please God in this life. Paul has much to say about the Holy Spirit in this letter as he combats the legalism of the Judaizer, especially in chapter 5:

Verse 16 "So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature."

Verse 18 "But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law."

Verses 22-23 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."

Verse 25 "Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit."

What’s true of the message we preach? A life that pleases God is made possible by the Spirit alone, not human production. This is the message we must protect.

Now, it’s one thing to talk about what Paul did. It’s another to apply it to our lives.

1. It does matter what you believe. You will not be saved by believing just anything. Nor will your family members and friends. It must be the gospel. We must discern the gospel. Indeed, we must defend the gospel (Jude 3). It is a fundamental, an essential.

Do you understand the gospel? Do you grasp the severity of your condition, that you are a sinner who cannot reach God? Do you realize that Jesus Christ lived a perfect life, died as a ransom payment for sin, and rose again, and that He alone can save us? No one has ever become a Christian without first understanding the gospel. On the other hand, no person has ever become a Christian merely by understanding the gospel. To be saved a person must accept the gospel.

Notice how personal 1 Corinthians 15:3 is, "Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures." To be right with God, you must accept the gospel. You must accept Christ, and place your trust in Him once and for all. Have you ever done that?

2. The enemy may change tactics, but he doesn’t leave. Satan did all he could to keep Paul from taking the gospel to Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe because he didn’t want people hearing the message of Christ. But once they heard it, and beyond that, once they accepted it, he took a different strategy. If he can keep an unsaved person from hearing God’s Word, he will. If he can’t, he’ll do all he can to infiltrate that message with static. And so he invades the church, seeking to alter the gospel by addition or subtraction.

Know this. He doesn’t give up. That being the case, neither must we. We must always be on guard. We must do all we can to protect our spiritual children and our message.

3. Winning the lost is only the beginning. Just think of all that Paul did with the folks in Galatia. He took the gospel to them around A.D. 46. He went back to nurture them in A.D. 47. He wrote them the letter of Galatians around A.D. 48 or 49. He returned again on his second missionary journey, around A.D. 49, this time to "strenthen the churches (15:41)." During that visit he also recruited Timothy, a native of Lystra, to join his team (16:1). Four years later on his third missionary journey (around A.D. 53), he came back again, traveled throughout the region of Galatia to "strengthen all the disciples (18:23)."

The point? There’s more to ministry than just winning the lost. If we’re going to do ministry God’s way we must nurture our spiritual babes, do damage control at times, and motivate them to get involved in the church’s mission. When we lead a person in praying the "sinner’s prayer," it’s only the beginning.

4. The fight isn’t over until it’s over. As a church and as individuals, our assignments are clear. We must protect our spiritual children and our message.

Acts  Sermon Series