Friday, June 7, 2013

Bible Study 5-23-13 Galatians 1


Having finished up the New Covenant Bible Study put out by the ministry formerly known as People to People (Now called BasicGospel), G decided to take us back through the book of Galatians. We've all read it before. One thing we all agree on, is that no matter how many times we read certain scriptures in the Bible, God never fails to instill some little tidbit that we'd not seen before. 

One such incident was Paul saying that if we listen to some other gospel other than what he's preached, then it's no gospel at all. A passage we'd read many times before, but as I sat and contemplated this, I thought how subtle some of these "different gospels" are. Of course we can roll our eyes at the obviously false doctrines, but what about those who are "almost" right? Sadly, we have these in our denominations today when it comes to being made righteous, and a big one--that concerning forgiveness and eternal life. 
Salvation by reciting the sinner's prayer? Baptism? Eucharist? Good works? Speaking in tongues? Most every assembly will be quick to claim the verse, "By grace are you saved and not of yourselves" and nod with their competitors in agreement. Then the "but" comes in. 

  • "But you also have to pray and ask God..."
  • "But you also need to be baptized in order to..."
  • "But you actually receive Christ through the Eucharist..."
  • "If you don't speak in tongues, you're not really saved...."

On and on it goes. Not only does it cause strife among the people who call themselves Christians, it winds up being just a bit different than the gospel Paul and the other Apostles preached. Just a bit different, not too much. 
But what did Paul say?
 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in 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. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!   
Not even the least little bit would he allow the gospel to be changed.
What about us? Do we allow our ears to be tickled by the gospel + our denominational persuasion? 

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