The Apostle's Astonishment At Us
Cindy and I are working our way through Galatians at home and in the first chapter we see Paul mention to his brothers and sisters in Galatia that he's astonished that they've begun deserting Christ and following a different gospel (Gal 1:6). There are two ways to approach Paul's astonishment in the text; you can, and should read it in context and only discuss what specifically astonished Paul about the Galatians, or you (we) could consider that we are "foolish Galatians" (Gal 3:1) and search our hearts for reasons why the Apostle Paul might be astonished at us for following a different Gospel. We did the latter and it served our time in the Scriptures well.
Here's the truth--all of us, everyday, are tempted to, wrestle with and sometimes obliviously believe a "different gospel". What I mean by this is that we fail to see the true Gospel's applicability to every single area of our lives and in that momentary blindness we trust in something else as our righteousness, justification, satisfaction, joy, contentment, fulfillment, affirmation, identity, etc. All of the things in that list are truly and wholly realized in the person and work of Jesus Christ, not in how disciplined we are, how entertaining the movie is, how many people "accept us", how much stuff we have, how nice we are, how we look or how long we've been a Christian.
Paul is preaching to us in his epistle. We would do well to listen because we are foolish Galatians who daily desert the true gospel and need the truth of the real Good News to remind us again of the infinite value and worth of the gift of Christ, and what His blood has truly purchased for those who believe and trust in Him (2 Cor 5:21).
Why Does This Matter?
My city is filled with millions of people who believe bad news is good news everyday. My neighborhood is filled with thousands if not millions who believe the gospel of saving money is better than the Gospel of saving grace. My street is filled with hundreds who believe in the waning satisfaction of religious duty over the increasing joy of justification apart from works of the law, and my building is filled with tens, who we know, are boxing and bandaging the ills and wounds of a fallen, broken world with coffee, sports and entertainment, sex and sleep. Oh that we might believe and proclaim with our lives, the true Gospel of King Jesus to those who cannot see it yet!
For Your Consideration
Here are some questions and thoughts that might help you look at Paul's first chapter of Galatians in a more applicable light. I pray they bless you and feel free to leave a response.
1) Don't all of us, so quickly turn to another gospel? What gospel have you been turning to lately? How do you "preach" this gospel to yourself and to others? (Gal 1:7,8)
2) Paul says that those who preach a false gospel are to "be accursed". Have you ever thought of the fact that Jesus, at the cross, was accused and punished by His Father as if He he were a false preacher of the Gospel, a Gospel that belonged to and is only realized in Him, and all so we could believe and preach the true Gospel to ourselves and others? Christ became and bore the damning sin of being a false preacher so that we could believe and profess the truth.
3) How do the false gospels we preach to ourselves seek the approval of man? (Gal 1:10)
4) What is your response when you consider the truth that it pleased God, in His sovereignty to reveal His Son to you? (Gal 1:15-16)
Books and Commentaries that I'm using in our family study of Galatians (click on the books for great deals):
