The True Gospel: Galatians 1:6-10
Salvation is something to be received as a gift from God who loves us. As Martin Luther taught hundreds of years ago, salvation is by grace through the faithfulness of Christ. Salvation is by grace alone. It is through Christ’s faithfulness alone. I cannot save you (or me). You cannot save you. Only God can save you, and He does so happily.
Ultimately, the book of Galatians is a discussion on how we get salvation. Is it earned? Is it a gift? Is salvation free for everyone? Is there a cost? These are the fundamental themes of Paul’s letter, and it is fitting for one of his first letters to early Gentile communities to focus on such a fundamental topic.
To set up the argument, Paul tells the Galatians he is surprised to hear they have turned to a different Gospel. A little backstory is deserved. Paul was truly an evangelist. He went to places that had never heard of Jesus and taught them about Jesus. Frequently, when Paul moved on other preachers would come behind Paul and modify his teaching. Rather than go to new places and do the hard work of explaining the faith for themselves, they’d follow behind Paul, find people who are already receptive, and attempt to change what Paul taught them. Since Jesus’ ways were so new to the scene and these follow-up preachers presented themselves as experts like Paul, they often succeeded in their mission. This is why Paul writes the letter. The Galatian people were doing well following Christ until these new preachers came along and side-tracked them with new ideas.
As we progress through Paul’s letter, we’ll get into the specific ideas these preachers were changing from what Paul taught. For today, though, it is enough to keep the conversation general. There are always people who want to come and speak into our life. As a mentor, I do this frequently in the lives of others. To make sure we are not being led astray, though, it is important to test what people say against the truth of the Gospel. Every time someone comes to us – even myself through this blog – and shares something they assert as truth, we should be in the habit of testing it.
As Paul says here, there is only one message of salvation. People in the world – with all their tweaks and changes – would have us believe there are many variations on salvation. Paul is bold here. He says it is not the case that we have many variations of the same gospel. We either have the true gospel or not. People are either preaching the true message of salvation or they are preaching a different message entirely.
What is the true message of salvation? Paul says it here. Salvation is through the grace of Christ. Salvation is purely a gift. Salvation is not something to be bought, sold, or earned. Salvation is something to be received as a gift from God who loves us.
