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Galatians 1:6–10
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 (Gal. 1:8).
We saw in yesterday’s study that both sides in the Protestant Reformation—the Roman Catholic Church’s hierarchy and the Reformers, who included Martin Luther, John Calvin, Philip Melanchthon, and John Knox—were so committed to their positions on the doctrine of justification that no compromise was possible. Luther went so far as to say that the doctrine of justification was “the article on which the church stands or falls,” by which he meant that the doctrine was so pivotal it affected the church’s understanding of Christianity as a whole. Was he right? Were the Reformers justified in their unflinching commitment? The apostle Paul answers yes.
Paul ministered to and founded churches among the Galatian people on all three of his missionary journeys. He preached to them the Gospel of “the grace of Christ” (v. 6), the truth that salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus, not by any works that men can do. But when his work took him elsewhere, Judaizers came in teaching that the Gentile Christians must accept circumcision and observe other Jewish rituals in order to be saved. In other words, they taught the Galatians that faith in Christ alone was not enough; their works counted toward their salvation. Sadly, instead of rejecting this heretical twisting of the Gospel, the Galatians went along with it. When Paul heard of their drifting from the Biblical truth, he responded vehemently. He expressed his amazement that the Galatians were turning away so soon to what he called a perversion of the Gospel. And then he declared that whoever had preached such a thing to the Galatian believers deserved to be accursed, or damned. This apostle, who consistently extolled virtues such as patience, charity, and tolerance while rebuking sins such as belligerence and contentiousness, gave no ground on this issue. He saw that the Galatians were being taught untruth as to how a person is saved. The essence of the Gospel was at stake—and Paul would not compromise.
When the Reformers took their stand against the church’s faulty understanding of justification, they were taking a stand against a gospel that was different than the one preached by Paul and the other apostles. They were right to stand for justification by faith without compromise, for the essence of the Gospel was again on the line.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Paul’s curse against those who preach other than the Biblical Gospel is sobering. It should challenge us to make certain that what we believe is in line with Scripture, as much as our fallen understanding will allow. Pray that God will use these studies to help you grow in your Scriptural understanding of justification by faith alone.
For Further Study
- Ephesians 4:15
- Colossians 1:9
- 2 Timothy 2:7
- 2 Peter 3:17–18
- 1 John 5:20