Troy a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul's Wisdom Regarding The False Teachers Deception
Galatians 1:7 which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you, and want to distort the gospel of Christ.
*The distorted teachings of the Judaizers presumed to be a form of the gospel, but call declares that their "different gospel" (V6) was really not another gospel at all. There is only one message of good news, the gospel of salvation by God's sovereign grace working through man's faith. Any message that is either more or less than that is not the good news in any sense.
*Another translate [allos], which refers to something of exact same kind. As already noted, much that the Judaizers taught corresponded to the true gospel. They no doubt affirmed that Jesus was the Son of God, the Messiah predicted by the Old Testament prophets, and a great miracle worker. They likely believed that he was crucified and resurrected and that salvation demanded belief in Him. But they also taught that to be right with God and to maintain that righteous salvation a person must conform to all the laws of the Old Covenant. In doing so, they undercut the power of the true gospel. God's sovereign, saving, and enabling grace. By adding works to salvation they had subtly but completely undermined the gospel of God's grace, of which there IS REALLY NOT ANOTHER. This was bad news, since man cannot maintain his right relationship to God by self effort and good works. He will produce good works as a result of God's saving grace and power working in him ( Eph 2:10;James 2:14-26 ), but he dose not do good works to earn or keep salvation.
*Because of their deception, false teachers such as the Judaizers are even more dangerous than those who openly deny "that jesus is Christ" and thereby clearly participate in the work of the antichrist (1 John 2:22 ). False systems labeled as Christaninty always distort the nature and work of Jesus Christ. Those who deny Christ altogether are easily seen as the unbelievers they are; but those who claim to teach and follow Christ while undermining the gospel of His grace are immeasurablly more dangerous- because they give the appearance of leading people to Christ while they are actually erecting barriers to salvation by grace.
*ARE DISTURBING is from [tarasso], which literally means to shake back and forth and therefore to agitate and stir up. Figuratively, it connotes deep emotional disturbance and refers to an unsettled mind. It is the word used of Herod when he heard about the birth of the King of the Jews ( Matt 2:3 ), of the disciples when they saw Jesus walking on the water (14:26 ), and Zacharias when he sa the angel of the Lord (Luke 1:12 ). It was also used by Jesus in His Commamnd,"Let not your heart be troubled" (John 14:1 ).
*Although they were oblivious to it, the church of Galatia were being shaken to their very foundations by the false teaching of the unregenerate Judaizers, who were acquiescing to the basic truths of Jesus Christ but who were spiritually DISTURBING and subverting the believers by adding works to grace, which is to utterly DISTOERT THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. [Metastrepho],(TO DISTORT ) carries the idea of turning something into its opposite, of reversing and thereby perverting it. The least bit of law that is added to the GOSPEL OF CHRIST reverses its character and turns it into that which is contrary to God's gracious provision of salvation and sanctification based entirely on the merits of His sinless, sin- bearing Son.
*Law dose not moderately pollute grace but reverses and destroys it. As a means of salvation, th two are diametrically opposite and cannot coexist. Grace can be destroyed, but it cannot be modified. It can be rejected, but it cannot be changed. As Paul declares later in the epistle,"If you receive circumcision, that he is under ogligation to keep the whole Law. You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law" (Gal 5:2-4 ).
*Whenever the gospel is perverted the church is unsettled. To the message of grace is to stifle and eventually asphyxiate the church. Paul wrote to Titus, "For there are many rebelliuos men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach" ( Titus 1:10-11 ). The greatest enemies of the church are not those who openly contradict the Bible and denounce Christ but those children of hell who, proposing to speak in His name, subtly undermine and distort His true gospel with a system of works righte
ousness.
May our Lord Jesus bless all your days.
Yort (TROY):shade:
