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The Unforgivable Error (Galatians 1:6-10)
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The Unforgivable Error (Galatians 1:6-10)
Galatians: The Truth of the Gospel :: A Study of Galatians
Sunday Message recorded 08 August 2021
by Pastor Victor Morrison
First Baptist Church
1700 Milam
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
http://fbccolumbustx.org/
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Transcript
Introduction to Galatians
00:00:00
Speaker
Good morning. It's good to see you this morning. I would like to invite you to open God's word to Galatians. Galatians chapter 1, verses 1 through 5 is what we looked at last week. Remember, we were saying last week that Galatians was written to give us the truth of the gospel, to help us understand the truth of the gospel. There were false teachers who were trying to upset and unsettle the confidence and the assurance
00:00:29
Speaker
that some of the churches in Galatia had.
Basics of the Gospel
00:00:32
Speaker
And so the apostle Paul was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write each word of this. And this morning we're gonna drop down to verse six and look from verse six down through verse 10.
00:00:44
Speaker
You know, you'll recall last week that Paul introduced us to the basics, the basics of the gospel. We heard a term called grace, how wonderful that is. We also learned that Jesus gave himself for our sins.
00:01:02
Speaker
You see, every sin can be forgiven through the finished work of Christ if repentance and faith are placed in Jesus Christ. If the gospel is presented and the Holy Spirit convicts and the Holy Spirit says, you really are a sinner. You need what Jesus did for you on the cross. Jesus' death on the cross, his burial, his resurrection. This is true. This will change your life.
00:01:32
Speaker
If you and I reject that and say to the Holy Spirit, no, that's not right. I'm okay the way I am. I think I'll be fine. Then we're gonna learn that there's a sin that is unpardonable. I would like for you to stand in honor of God's word and let's read this passage. You're gonna hear the apostle Paul say twice something about being a curse. And I just want you to understand what he's talking about.
00:02:00
Speaker
You can follow along in your copy of God's
Deserting the Gospel
00:02:02
Speaker
word. Galatians 1 verse six, I'm astonished that you're 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's some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.
00:02:27
Speaker
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preach to you, let him be accursed. That's a serious thing. Verse nine, 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.
00:02:54
Speaker
For am I now seeking the approval of man or of God, or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. Let's go to the Father in prayer.
00:03:11
Speaker
Oh Lord, I thank you so much for your great love for us. And you have placed within my heart a great love for my church family. I thank you so much for them. I thank you for our community, those beyond our church family. And so Lord, it is with love in my heart that I want to give them the truth from the scriptures. I know that the very purpose that you inspired Galatians to be written was so that we would know the truth of the gospel.
00:03:41
Speaker
And part of the truth of the gospel is that if we walk away from Jesus Christ, if we say to the Holy Spirit when He's convicting us of our need for Christ and of the sufficiency of Christ, if we say no to Him, it's not right, then we're not going to be forgiven if we go through all our life that way and die.
00:04:06
Speaker
And so, Father, my burden is that this would be a day of salvation. This would be a day when forgiveness would come like a river. We need the Holy Spirit to flow through this place and open up the word of God so that we can understand it. Lord, show us fresh and new things that perhaps we've not considered before. And so speak to us this day afresh, the truth.
00:04:32
Speaker
the truth of the gospel. It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Thank you, you may be seated.
00:04:39
Speaker
Look with me, if you will, at verse 6 of Galatians chapter 1.
False Doctrines Warning
00:04:44
Speaker
Galatians chapter 1 verse 6, as we begin with what I'm going to call a desertion from the gospel, a desertion from the gospel. Isn't that what he says? I'm astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ.
00:05:03
Speaker
and are turning to a different gospel. You know, it was another man. Do you remember in Matthew 19 verses 16 through 30? The scriptures tell us he was a rich man. He was wealthy. He was also young, but he was also a good man. Perhaps there are good men. There are good women, good boys, good girls.
00:05:24
Speaker
Will being good, will being moral, trying your best to keep all of the commandments of scripture, is that going to ever get you into God's family? Will that cause God to overlook all of your sins? I want us to see what God's word says about it.
00:05:44
Speaker
Just to remind you, whenever Jesus spoke to that young man, he said, you know what? I've kept all those things from my childhood. Basically what he's saying is, I've been a good boy. Just call my mom and see if I was a good boy. No one second thought, don't call my mom and ask if I was a good boy. I'm a sinner saved by grace.
00:06:04
Speaker
But you know, these false teachers here now at this time in Paul's life, they were upsetting these new churches in Galatia by demanding that they not only place their faith in Christ, they were saying, oh no, that's not enough. No, just faith in Christ isn't enough. You need to also be circumcised. As a matter of fact, you need to keep all those commandments and rules and rituals that were written in the Old Testament. And so notice three things.
00:06:33
Speaker
Paul says about their desertion. The first thing is this, shock. Shock. Have you ever been shocked by something? Shock over their desertion. It uses the word astonished here in the ESV. I am astonished that you're so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel.
00:06:59
Speaker
You see, I think Paul had, he wasn't like, you know, so naive about all of this. No, he was not surprised that the legalists would be pumping out this kind of false teaching. What he was surprised was that those that he had shared the gospel with, they heard how sweet, they heard how God's love is unconditional through Christ, that God's offering them the opportunity, have all their sins forgiven.
00:07:28
Speaker
He can't believe that they are turning away from that gospel. So there's shock, but he's also surprised at the speed of their desertion, the speed of their desertion. He said, I'm astonished that you're so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel.
00:07:50
Speaker
The word there so quickly means so soon, so quickly, so easily. Do you know that some Bible scholars believe that Acts chapter 14 verses 26 through 28, you know, Paul planted all those churches on his first missionary journey.
00:08:08
Speaker
So that's found in Acts 13 and 14, but in Acts 14, when you drop down there to verses 26, 27, and 28, what he does, he goes back to his sponsoring church, the sending church, the one that prayed for him when he went out on that first missionary journey. He goes back and it says he was there for a long time. And so a lot of Bible scholars believe while he was back in Antioch, he gets word. You know those new disciples you just made?
00:08:36
Speaker
They're already being confused over there. And he's saying, what? How can they be confused this quickly? How can this happen so soon? But also, it was such a serious thing. Notice not only the shock over their desertion and the speed of it, but the seriousness of their desertion. Why was it so serious? Because they're walking away from liberty. They're walking away from freedom. He says in verse 6, what you're doing is you're
00:09:06
Speaker
walking away from grace, the grace of Christ.
Legalism vs. Relationship
00:09:12
Speaker
You're walking away from grace and you're walking toward legalism. And what he was saying is that makes no sense whatsoever. As a matter of fact, jot down if you're a note taker, Acts 15, because they had to have a big conference, a council. The Jerusalem Council got together and they said, what's going on out there?
00:09:32
Speaker
Gentiles are beginning to be saved, but these Gentiles, they're not living by the Old Testament law. They're not being circumcised. They're not keeping all the rituals. And so that some were really upset about it. And so they had to have this council, a Jerusalem council. You can read about in Acts 15 all the way down through well past verse 11, but certainly that'll give you a good taste of what it was about.
00:09:58
Speaker
But I think that there was something underneath even that, that Paul was so shocked. He was horrified. The seriousness of it was, you're not just leaving the grace. You're leaving him. You're leaving Christ. I'm astonished that you're so quickly deserting him.
00:10:21
Speaker
It's like Christianity is about a relationship with God, with the Father, through His Son, Jesus Christ. And so to turn your back on that is like, why are you going from a personal relationship back into some kind of religious experience and where you're trying to keep these laws?
00:10:42
Speaker
So they definitely were turning toward a different gospel. So next, if you drop down to verse seven, you're gonna see that the apostle Paul is going to address the distortion of the gospel.
Inverted Gospel Danger
00:10:56
Speaker
He's gonna confront this. The reason they were walking away from the authentic gospel was because somebody is giving them an artificial gospel. Look at verse seven, not that there's another one,
00:11:09
Speaker
but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. That's why I want you to understand what is a distortion of the gospel of Christ. Why do people give into them? What happens? The apostle Paul is going to explain some truths here that I think we can even see today. The first truth is this, it's the inverse of the gospel.
00:11:35
Speaker
You know, the gospel is saying, you don't deserve it. I don't deserve it. None of us deserve it. No one in the whole world deserves it. And yet by grace, through faith, we're saved, right?
00:11:49
Speaker
But what's happening is now it's the inverse. Now they're going to switch it. And they're going to say, no, you have to earn your way. You're going to have to work your way. And so what he's saying is this other gospel, it's not really a gospel. You know, remember what gospel means?
00:12:05
Speaker
It means good news. It's good news that God already loves you so much. He provided a way for me and you to enter his family, to have our sins forgiven, to go to heaven when we die. That's good news, the gospel. But this isn't the gospel. You know what it is? It's bad news. It's bad news whenever we invert the gospel and go back into something else. You know why the gospel is such good news?
00:12:35
Speaker
Because Romans 10 verses one through four tells us if we're going to go and be with God in heaven, then we're gonna need something in order to be there with him. You know what it is? Righteousness, righteousness. And Paul says to the people, the very ones who were doing this kind of thing, he said, look, you were so zealous for God, and that's a good thing. But he said, the problem is,
00:13:02
Speaker
You are ignorant of God's righteousness provided through Christ. And so what you're trying to do is you're trying to create your own righteousness. And the Bible says our righteousness is like filthy rags.
00:13:16
Speaker
See, all of us have fallen short of the glory of God. That's why we needed a Savior. That's why we need the gospel. But we're talking about somebody who has inversed the gospel and saying, no, I think you can be good enough. I think if you're a really good person, you try really hard. I think you're going to be able to be forgiven and get into heaven. And Paul's saying that's not right.
00:13:39
Speaker
It's an inverse of the gospel, but also notice not only the inversion of it, the coercion behind it, the coercion away from the gospel. He says, some trouble you. You know that word troubles mentioned 15 times in the New Testament.
00:13:56
Speaker
But what was happening, it means to shake. It means to agitate. It means to create confusion and division. And so that's what these false teachers were doing. They were putting pressure on them. And they were saying, don't you understand? You're going to have to go back to Old Testament. You've got to become like a Jew if you're going to become a Christian. And so it was a hybrid version.
00:14:20
Speaker
of the gospel message. But he says they were troubling them. If you want another reference here, go back to the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 and write down Acts 15, 24. Acts 15, 24, because Acts 15, 24, they had to write a letter. And they said, we don't know who it was that is supposed to have sent them out, but it wasn't us.
00:14:44
Speaker
But I understand that they've been going to all you Gentile churches and they've been troubling you. They've been troubling you. Is someone putting pressure on you?
00:14:56
Speaker
family member, someone else perhaps at work, and they're trying, someone at school, they're trying so hard to help your faith become unhinged where you are not connected to the Lord Jesus Christ. Just know others before you have gone through that kind of pressure. And right now these Galatian churches are going through that kind of pressure.
00:15:20
Speaker
But notice that it is the absolute reverse of the gospel when he says, their son would trouble you and they want to distort. Distort the gospel of Christ. The word distort there means to pervert. It means to change. It actually means to reverse. It's the idea that you would have two armies fighting one another and suddenly, for
00:15:45
Speaker
No known reason, some that's fighting on one army, they say, you know what, I'm done here. I'm gonna put on the uniform of the other army and they desert and they are traitors and they go over to the other side and begin to fight for the other side.
00:16:04
Speaker
Sometime if you're facing pressure and people are reversing the gospel, they're inverting the gospel, all of these kind of things, Ephesians 2, 8 through 10 will clarify. It says that we are not saved by works that we have done. We're saved by grace through faith. And then I thought it was really interesting how verse 10
00:16:27
Speaker
says that we are saved for good works. We're not saved by good works. No, he just said in Ephesians 2, hey, we're not saved by good works. We're saved by faith, by putting our faith and trust in Jesus Christ.
Consequences of Rejection
00:16:44
Speaker
But he does say, once we are saved, then there are good works that God wants us to live out. There are good works he's planned from all eternity, from before. And so we're saved for good works. We're not saved by good works. You understand the difference? See, that was the distortion of the gospel. Well, let's drop down to the third reason why I think rejecting the gospel of Christ is an unforgivable era.
00:17:13
Speaker
Because of this destruction that will come to any soul, anywhere, anywhere around the world, it doesn't matter who we're talking about, anybody will face destruction without Jesus Christ, without the gospel.
00:17:31
Speaker
Paul says two times, let him be accursed. That word accursed is the word anathema, anathema. It was a scary word. It would bring chills down your spine. It meant devoted to destruction. A Bible scholar named Herman Kramer said it means divine condemnation. And so let's look at this so we don't go in that direction. He says it's like a hypothetical situation, but he says, but even if
00:18:01
Speaker
And I like the fact that he includes himself. So some people may say, well, you know, the apostle Paul is just sort of talking about his own personal preference. No, that's not right. Because he says, even if we, and then he goes to this remote contingency that is a hypothetical situation. And he says, but even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preach to you, let him be accursed.
00:18:30
Speaker
You see, it's a universal warning. He's trying to warn all of us. Columbus, yes, we need to be warned. But all around the world, everyone needs to know, without Jesus Christ, without the gospel, you won't be going to heaven. We will be paying a price for our sins. Then there's this doctrinal violation.
00:18:53
Speaker
You see, some may think, well, Paul's understandably upset. He's just angry. So he's kind of blowing off steam here in these verses eight and nine. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to him, let him be accursed. As we've 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. Some say, well, he's just upset.
00:19:23
Speaker
No, no, this is a doctrinal violation. This is something that goes against the very nature of the gospel so that you and I understand we need to understand biblical truth. It's about something that's contrary to the gospel. He actually says a gospel contrary to the one that I gave you. And then there's the eternal destination, of course.
00:19:48
Speaker
You see, maybe you think, well, he's not being very, I don't know, politically correct. He's not really thinking of the feelings of the other people. How do you know he's not thinking about the feelings of the other people? When someone shares with you the truth, are they trying to be mean?
00:20:07
Speaker
Is it mean to tell somebody the truth of the gospel? I think it's loving. I think it's caring whenever someone will do that. No, this was not just, you know, him writing to make somebody feel good. Obviously, he wants them to know eternal truth. He wants them to be in heaven with him. And so that's why he's trying to make it clear.
00:20:33
Speaker
Isn't it amazing sometimes how one era, just one decision, can change everything? Don't you know that rejecting Jesus Christ, that's that one decision, it costs everything.
00:20:50
Speaker
It costs everything. That's why I'm trying to pour my heart out. Please don't walk away from Jesus Christ. Instead, let there be devotion to the gospel. Let there be devotion to the gospel. You know, you ought to do a U-turn. You know, if I were to get on ITN and my purpose was I want to go toward Houston.
00:21:14
Speaker
but I get on I-10 Westbound going towards San Antonio. Maybe I'm sincere. Maybe I feel good about it. I'm thinking, man, I got my tunes going. I feel good.
00:21:27
Speaker
But you know what? I can drive all day. I looked it up. I tensed 2,460 miles totally. Not from here to the end, but total if you go from Santa Monica to Jacksonville, Florida. I mean, just think about this.
00:21:46
Speaker
No wonder Chuck Swindoll, you know what he calls this verse right here? He calls it 110, Highway 110. Do you know Chuck Swindoll was born and raised at El Campo? He wasn't that far away. Maybe he thought about I-10. So he calls it Highway 110 instead of I-10. But he says, for am I now seeking the approval of man or of God? Which way are you going? Are you gonna try to please everybody?
00:22:15
Speaker
Good luck with that one. You know what, you're never gonna be able to please everybody. You might as well say, you know what, I can't please everybody, so I gotta decide who's the most important person in all of life, in all the universe to please. And my recommendation to you from the word of God is go down Highway 110. Say I'm sitting there on Highway 110 and I'm going to please God.
00:22:43
Speaker
He said, or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. Wow. You know, they were making some accusations against him. And that's why he wrote this. They were saying he's not preaching a biblical message. And so that's why he says, am I now seeking the approval of man or God?
00:23:09
Speaker
I think they were accusing him of, you know, we know what you want, Paul. You want to get a bunch of people following you. So you're accommodating to the audience so you can get more members in your churches that you started across Galatia. No wonder Paul's like, really? You think that's why I'm going through everything I'm going through about me?
00:23:33
Speaker
You see, he was adhering to the Almighty because the Almighty God had called him on a mission through his son, Jesus Christ. And that's why he said, look, if I was still trying to please man, I wouldn't be a servant of Christ, that's for sure. God's got something for me to do and God's got something for you to do. But we have to start by devoting ourselves to the gospel and devoting ourselves to Christ.
Illustrative Analogy
00:24:01
Speaker
Let me return for a moment in closing to that illustration that I gave at the beginning. You know, some in Boston believed that the Red Sox organization made a big mistake back in December of 1919. They traded Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees. Now before they did that in 1919,
00:24:24
Speaker
Before 1920, the Red Sox won five championships, three of which were with the one they called the Bambino Babe Ruth. But after they traded that one player, they couldn't seem to win. They came close to winning in 1946, again in 67, again in 75, and then again, they almost had it in 1986, if it just wasn't for old Bill Buckner, his mistake.
00:24:53
Speaker
But something happened 17 years ago. For the first time in 86 years, the Boston Red Sox won the 2004 World Series. And you know what the headline said? The headlines across the nation celebrated the breaking of the curse of the Bambino. It's over, it's been broken. I don't even think it was real, but it made headlines.
00:25:16
Speaker
I'll tell you what's real. What's real is the curse that comes upon people who say, I think I can be good enough. I'm a good person. I've never heard anybody. Look, I think I can be good enough. Here's what God's word says a little bit later. We're going to look at this in depth, but let me just read it to you now. Galatians three.
00:25:39
Speaker
Verse 10 through 14, for all who rely on works of the law are under a curse. For it is written, cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things. See, if you're gonna go that route, then you can't make any mistakes. All things written in the book of the law and do them. Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law
00:26:07
Speaker
For the righteous shall live by faith. Listen to verse 12. But the law is not of faith, rather the one who does them shall live by faith. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it's written, cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree, so that in Christ Jesus, the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised spirit through faith.
00:26:38
Speaker
That's real. That's real.
Faith and Encouragement
00:26:41
Speaker
What's real is God's trying to say, if you want to go that route and depend on your own goodness, depend on your own ability to keep all the good works, you got to do it perfectly.
00:26:52
Speaker
But you see the good news, that's the opposite of good news, right? Because man, imagine the pressure you got, imagine the pressure, not only you, but me, anybody that wants to say, I think I can be good enough. We got a lot of pressure to deal with. But imagine the opposite. Just one decision to say, I don't want Christ. I don't want what the gospel is telling me. I don't believe what the Holy Spirit is trying to convict me of. It's not right.
00:27:19
Speaker
You go that route, you got to keep it all, but imagine the one decision to reverse it all. And to say, you know what? I believe the Holy Spirit is right what he wrote in the word of God. I believe the gospel is right. I can be forgiven of my sins. I believe it's right that there's a headline all across heaven that says the curse has been broken through Christ. I believe it's true. If you believe it's true,
00:27:48
Speaker
then act on it, place your faith in Christ. The Bible says repent and believe, it's so easy, he made it easy. It's not that it's easy, it's that he made it easy for us. Wow, your sins will be forgiven, the righteousness of Christ will be credited to you, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within to guide you, to empower you, wow, man.
00:28:15
Speaker
I just thank the Lord so much for the forgiveness that's found in Christ.
Concluding Prayer
00:28:20
Speaker
We don't have to worry about the unforgivable era if we placed our trust in Jesus Christ. Let's pray together. Oh Lord, thank you so much for the sufficiency of the cross, the sufficiency of the Atonement of Christ.
00:28:38
Speaker
We don't have to spend our lives worrying, have I committed the unpardonable sin? Will the Lord forgive my sins? The truth is you will forgive our sins, but you only forgive sins in Christ. That's the only place. We'll never be able to counterbalance all those bad decisions that we've made in life. Oh Lord,
00:29:05
Speaker
As we go through life, there may be things that your Holy Spirit shows us we need to trade, but never, may we never say, I'm gonna trade Jesus, I'm gonna trade the gospel. What you have said to us is so real and so true, and we pray for anyone that's here this morning.
00:29:26
Speaker
And they do not have a personal relationship with the Father through Christ. I pray this would be the day. I pray they'd be done with it. They would say, if I don't make another decision in my whole life, I'm making this one. I'm gonna turn from sin and I'm gonna trust in what Jesus did for me. I know you'll bless him, Father. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.