Summertime in Galatia
Sunday morning, June 30, 2024, Pastor Dan began a series on Galatians. This series will continue throughout the rest of the summer.
Pastor Dan began by stating: “I believe that the Word of God should transform your life. Do you believe that? Because if it is not changing the way we think, the way we act, the way we see other people, the way we serve God, and the way we see Him, then we have to ask, ‘has the Bible just become a textbook to us’?”
The first message in this series is from Galations 1:6-9, which is Paul speaking to the church in Galatia:
“6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel–7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be accursed! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: if anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be accursed!”
THE FACTS:
- Ungrounded people drift. (v. 6)
- Deceivers will find the vulnerable. (v. 7)
- Counterfeit beliefs are cursed. (v. 8-9)
If you are putting hope in being a good person — by not swearing or hanging out with bad people, by giving at church and showing up and sitting in a pew once a week, and even serving in middle school — that will not save you. If you’re putting your hope in that, there’s a problem because you can’t do enough good works to get to heaven. If we know the real Gospel — the cross, what Christ did on it, how we can be forgiven of our sins and have a relationship with God, then we’re going to know a counterfeit when we see or hear it.
If you are following another Gospel — a law based gospel or are adding anything to the Bible and to what Christ did for you, it is a counterfeit. Sadly, that is what many churches today are doing. They are “adding to the gospel” — things like Baptismal Regeneration, which teaches that your salvation is not complete without baptism; the Prosperity Gospel, which teaches that if you just have enough faith and fund our ministry, you’ll be healthy, wealthy, and wise; the Social Gospel, which emphasizes that good works are a part of salvation; Baptism of the Holy Spirit, which teaches that in addition to praying to receive Jesus, you need to pray for a second blessing — for the Holy Spirit to come upon you. (We believe that when we receive Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes to live and dwell within us. We don’t believe it’s a separate act that we need to seek.) Works-based religion teaches that faith in Christ may not be enough, maybe there are added works you have to do to make sure you get to heaven.
Paul says, Faith in Christ is it — that’s all you need.
Verse 8 says, “If we or an angel from heaven should preach another gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be accursed! And verse 9 repeats, “As we have already said, so now I say again: if anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be accursed!”
This is not simply repeating, this is making a point.
Pastor Dan said, “It is interesting, reading this verse, that there are two main religious or cultic groups in the world that talk about receiving a different relevation from an angel — Mormonism and Islam. Mormonism says that an angel, Moroni, came out of the sky and told Joseph Smith about all this great truth that wasn’t covered in the Bible. In the case of Islam, one of the largest world religions, you have Gabriel, who reveals the Koran to Mohammed. It’s interesting, especially with the Mormons because they’ll say ‘I believe in the Bible’. If they believe in the Bible, this verse should be a real concerning verse for them.”
Let’s look at the word “accursed”. What does it mean? Pastor Dan said, “Accursed is an anathema, which is a Greek word which means “to be set apart for destruction. It also gives the impression that you better not mess around with these that ‘add to salvation’ because they’re gonna sink you.”
So, what this passage is saying, is that if we add something to faith in Jesus, it is wrong, and anyone who does this is “accursed”.
1 Peter 2:24 says: He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”
THE POINT: The cross doesn’t need supplements.
CHALLENGE: Identify what you REALLY base salvation on.
In addition to the above message, Pastor Dan gave the congregation a Galations Reading Plan (40 Days Through Galations. Take time to read, reflect, and reread! Days are suggested. If this is too slow for you, read one chapter 3 times a week for six weeks. We would love to have you join us at Grace Fellowship Church in Ephrata for this Summer series on Galatians.
Week 1:
Day 1 (Monday): Galatians 1:1-5
Day 2 (Tuesday): Galatians 1:6-9
Day 3 (Wednesday): Galatians 1:10-12
Day 4 (Thursday): Galatians 1:13-17
Day 5 (Friday): Galatians 1:18-24
Week 2:
Day 6 (Monday): Galatians 2:1-5
Day 7 (Tuesday): Galatians 2: 6-10
Day 8 (Wednesday): Galatians 2: 11-14
Day 9 (Thursday): Galatians 2:15-16
Day109 (Friday): Galatians 2: 17-21
Week 3:
Day 11 (Monday): Galatians 3: 1-5
Day 12 (Tuesday): Galatians 3:6-9
Day 13 (Wednesday): Galatians 3:10-14
Day 14 (Thursday): Galatians 3:15-18
Day 15 (Friday): Galatians 3:19-22
Week 4:
Day 16 (Monday): Galatians 3:23-25
Day 17 (Tuesday): Galatians 3:26-29
Day 18 (Wednesday): Galatians 4:1-3
Day 19 (Thursday): Galatians 4:4-7
Day 20 (Friday): Galatians 4:8-11
Week 5:
Day 21 (Monday): Galatians 4:12-16
Day 22 (Tuesday): Galatians 4:17-20
Day 23 (Wednesday): Galatians 4:21-23
Day 24 (Thursday): Galatians 4:24-27
Day 25 (Friday): Galatians 4:28-31
Week 6:
Day 26 (Monday): Galatians 5:1-4
Day 27 (Tuesday): Galatians 5:5-6
Day 28 (Wednesday): Galatians 5:7-10
Day 29 (Thursday): Galatians 5:11-12
Day 30 (Friday): Galatians 5:13-15
Week 7:
Day 31 (Monday): Galatians 5:16-18
Day 32 (Tuesday): Galatians 5:19-21
Day 33 (Wednesday): Galatians 5:22-23
Day 34 (Thursday): Galatians 5:24-26
Day 35 (Friday): Galatians 6:1-2
Week 8:
Day 36 (Monday): Galatians 6:3-5
Day 37 (Tuesday): Galatians 6:6-8
Day 38 (Wednesday): Galatians 6:9-10
Day 39 (Thursday): Galatians 6:11-13
Day 40 (Friday): Galatians 6:14-18