Galatians 1:6-7
I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.
In these last days, believers need to know and be established in the true gospel of Jesus Christ. A lot of deceivers have infiltrated the church to pervert the gospel of Christ with the objective of deceiving believers.
Like in the church at Galatia, some people came in with a twisted gospel. Many at this church began to believe this twisted gospel and started drifting from the true gospel of Christ. Even though they had heard and responded to the true gospel, they didn’t establish themselves in it. They started with the true gospel, but didn’t continue in it.
Jesus has commanded us to preach the gospel. You can’t live and preach what you don’t know. You must know the gospel for yourself and be established in it. The Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Galatia and rebuked them for entertaining another gospel. Look at these verses.
Galatians 1:8-9
But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.
There is not many gospels. There is just one Gospel. This true Gospel was revealed to the Apostle Paul by Jesus Himself.
Galatians 1:11-12
But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.
The Apostle Paul implied that his gospel was the only true one; the message he preaches is the yardstick by which all others are to be measured. The reason for this is that his gospel is human neither in nature nor in origin. The Apostle’s Gospel is genuine, because he received it directly from the risen Lord. The Apostle Paul is just a vessel to whom the true Gospel was revealed and through whom, the true Gospel would be preached so that many would know the true Gospel and spread it to the uttermost parts of the world.
So what’s the Gospel?
The word gospel means good news. Gospel is not bad news, it’s good news.
I Corinthians 15:1-5
Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.
Adam’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden made us sinners because all of us, we came out of Adam. Your disobedience didn’t make you a sinner. Adam’s disobedience made you a sinner. Because you are sinner by nature, by default you disobey. You can’t help but sin. You are trapped in it. This is why religion can’t help because it focuses on the body while the problem is in the spirit. You cannot solve a spiritual problem with fig leaves. You can’t solve a spiritual problem with physical solutions. The wages of sin is death. Every sinner is under God’s wrath and is damned to hell.
John 3:16
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Jesus Christ came in the flesh and took our sins on Himself and became sin on the cross. He died for our sins. He was buried and went to hell. On the third day, He rose again victorious defeating sin, satan and death.
The true gospel is focused and based on the person and the work of Jesus Christ.
When a person believes in Jesus and His finished works, He not only receives forgiveness of sins, but also eternal life – the life and the nature of God. This is why a believer is called a new creature because He receives a new nature. His sin, demonic nature is replaced with the righteous and holy nature of God.
Romans 5:19
For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.
Jesus didn’t come to make bad people good. He came to make dead people alive. Adam’s disobedience made us sinners. The obedience of Jesus makes us righteous. Your obedience doesn’t make you righteous. His obedience makes you righteous. This reality empowers you to live a righteous life. This is the Gospel! This is good news!
1. The Gospel is the Gospel of Grace, not of works.
Ephesians 2:8-9
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
The salvation that you have received – you didn’t earn neither did you achieve. It’s a gift. You cannot earn salvation – not by money, not by good works. No amount of charitable deeds, sacrifices, prayers or fastings can give you salvation. You can’t achieve salvation with your strength or your intellect. No man can save himself.
The only way you can receive salvation is through faith alone in Christ alone.
Jesus came for you. He took your place on the cross. He bore your sins and took your sin nature on Himself. He died for you and went to hell because that’s where sinners go. Having satisfied the claims of justice, He rose again on the third day for your justification. You and I, we didn’t deserve this, it’s God’s grace that gave us Jesus and gave us salvation.
The moment we realise our inability to save ourselves and turn our trust to Jesus and to what He has done, our sins are wiped out and we receive a new nature.
You see, there is nothing to boast. It’s all grace. If it were our works, we could boast about it all day long. But it’s not by works, it’s purely and totally by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Since salvation is by God’s grace alone therefore it can only be received through faith alone.
The twisted gospel presented at Galatia claimed, unless you are circumcised, you cannot be saved. A gospel that takes your focus away from Jesus and His finished works and puts it on yourself and your works is a false gospel. The true Gospel centres on Jesus and His finished works alone. What Jesus has done, is enough, complete and perfect for our eternal salvation. No additions needed.
The twisted gospel says,
Jesus + circumcision (your works) = salvation.
Your good works = salvation
The genuine gospel says,
Jesus = salvation.
2. The Gospel is the Gospel of freedom, not bondage.
Galatians 5:1
Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.
Wherever the true gospel is preached, there will be freedom. I have seen believers walking in bondage, which makes me wonder what gospel they have heard and believed.
No more slavery. No more bondage. Jesus Christ has set us free. Whom the Son sets free is freedom indeed.
Christ, by perfectly fulfilling the law, has set us free from the law, meaning we don’t have to keep the righteous requirements of the law to become right with God. Christ is the fulfilment of the law for those who believe in Him. Therefore we are no more under obligation to the law of Moses.
Sin shall not have dominion over us for we are not under law but under grace. Therefore we have freedom from sin. Sin has no mastery over you for Jesus bore our sins on himself and defeated it. You are no more a slave of sin. You are a slave of righteousness. Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its lusts and affections.
Satan, sickness, diseases, fear and curses have no power over us. God has delivered us from the power of darkness and has translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son. We are free people. We are free to love and serve our Lord Jesus and His people.
Satan attempts to drift your attention from Jesus and His finished works to yourself, to your works, to the power of the flesh, to the power of sin and to the power of Satan. When that happens, you will find yourself in bondage and in slavery. You may have seen a lot of believers who, instead of magnifying Jesus and what He has done, they just keep bragging about how strong the devil is, how dangerous sin is, how strong fleshly desires are and keep magnifying their weaknesses.
Keep your eyes on Jesus and on what He has done for you – you will enjoy and walk in freedom. Jesus is your freedom and the one who is in you is greater than sin, satan and your flesh. Hallelujah.
3. The Gospel is the Gospel of righteousness, not condemnation.
Romans 1:16-17
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”
It’s impossible to preach the gospel and not preach on righteousness because the gospel reveals the righteousness of God. Yet so many believers who have believed the gospel know nothing about righteousness.
Because of Adam’s disobedience, we were under God’s wrath and condemnation, but because of what Jesus has done (Jesus consumed the wrath of God for us), we are condemned no more but have been made the righteousness of God in Christ. The Gospel is not the gospel of condemnation, its the gospel of righteousness.
Romans 8:1
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.
In yourself, you are condemned. But in Christ, you have no condemnation. There is no guilt, no punishment, no accusations against you. Your sins have been wiped out. You have no past in the records of God, for you are a new creature in Christ, the old has passed away and all things have become new. Listen, the gospel is good news.
Christ is your righteousness. Christ has made you righteous before God. You are right in the eyes of God, therefore God accepts and approves you. You have peace with God. God is not mad or angry at you. Knowing that you have His acceptance and approval, you can enjoy your Bible reading, church attending and living your faith life.
Strengthen your understanding of righteousness and it will deepen your fellowship with God, embolden your faith and make your prayers effective. He made you righteous so you could live a righteous life. True Gospel will never promote or entertain sexual immorality.
4. The Gospel is the Gospel of relationship, not religion.
I Corinthians 1:9
God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Jesus didn’t come to establish a religion of dos and don’ts , He came to give us eternal life and make us right with the Father so we could have unlimited and unending fellowship with the Father.
Fellowship is the reason for creation.
Fellowship is the reason for redemption.
Fellowship is the reason for the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.
No other worldview offers fellowship with the Divine. God lives in us, God walks with us and God communes with us. Through the gospel, we have the privilege of being in oneness with the Father. This is the ultimate objective of the Gospel.
Beloved, the Gospel is good news. I have shared with you what the gospel is, so you can know and be established in it. In these last days, we have many twisted versions of the gospel coming up. Know what you have believed. Know what you have started with, so you can stay with it, continue with it and end with it. Like the Apostle Paul, I say, any one who preaches any other gospel than the true and genuine Gospel of Jesus Christ, let him be accursed.
Live the Gospel.
Preach the Gospel.
Your Victorious Life 