Children Of Light: Created To Be Like God (Part One)

(Audio version; Music--"Sovereign Over Us" by: Aaron Keyes--WorshipMob Intimate Sessions--Real. Live. Worship. and "Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)" by: Hillsong United--WorshipMob RE-MASTERED)

Introduction

            I’m sure you’ve all started something new in your life. A new job; a new school; a new relationship, etc. It can be hard knowing exactly what we should be doing when we start something new. However, with good teaching and diligent commitment we can thrive and even become an example for others to follow. While my oldest daughter, Meagan, was studying nursing, she worked as a Patient Care Service Aide (PCSA) at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. I remember when she started the job, she was terrified that she didn’t know what she was doing. Gradually, however, the nurses taught and trained her and by the time she graduated from college, the nurses told her that she set the bar to a level they wanted all PCSA’s to reach and they begged her to stay on as a nurse. However, when she graduated college, she was hired by the same hospital as a licensed Cardio-Thoracic Intensive Care Unit (CTICU) nurse and the cycle of being overwhelmed and not knowing what to do started all over again. She is currently about half way through her residency and is just now beginning to feel like what she learned in school and what she is experiencing in the real world are finally intersecting. One of the big challenges with her current position is that there is very little room for error. The way she did things before; the nursing protocols and procedures are no longer appropriate for her new nursing duties. When your patient is just a few days old and has already endured open-heart surgery, there are no trivial protocols or minor procedures—every protocol and procedure, no matter how trivial or minor, is a matter of life and death. Her duties are very serious, doctors depend on her, other nurses on her nursing team depend on her, family and friends of the patient depend on her and the patient certainly depends on her. Nevertheless, with adequate time and field training, I’m confident she will once again thrive and maybe even be an example that new nurses will be able to follow.

            This is similar to the way our lives can be as believers. We acted in a certain way before becoming believers but once we accepted Christ, everything should have changed. This is usually where the problems come in for many believers. They accept Christ yet continue living their lives as they did before accepting Christ. It can prove to be a difficult transition. Before becoming Christians, we lived in the dark never knowing that we were in the dark. However, once we accepted Jesus, the Light of the world, into our lives, we became Children Of Light. And that light began to shine into the dark places of our lives and exposed the things in our lives that needed to change. Like a CTICU nurse, there’s little room for error. People are depending on us and many of them don’t even know it. As Children Of Light, our lives are supposed to light a path so that others can see the way to Jesus or to make it easier to follow us until they get close enough to Jesus so they can take the last few steps on their own to enter into relationship with Him. Nevertheless, we can no longer live in the darkness we lived in before we became believers. Christians are not slaves to sin and prisoners of darkness. Followers of Christ are Children Of Light.

Subject Text

Ephesians 4:17-28

            ¹⁷So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. ¹⁸They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. ¹⁹Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more. ²⁰You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. ²¹Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. ²²You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; ²³to be made new in the attitude of your minds; ²⁴and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. ²⁵Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. ²⁶“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, ²⁷and do not give the devil a foothold. ²⁸He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.

Context

            Unlike many of Paul’s letters to the various churches he founded, Paul’s letter to the Ephesians wasn’t for the purpose of correcting any specific false teaching or problem in the young church. In fact, in some of the early Greek transcripts, the words “at Ephesus” are not found in the letter. Consequently, it is believed that this letter was intended to be circulated to all the churches. This makes sense since the teaching in the letter is applicable to all Christians everywhere in all ages. It would seem that Paul had a special affinity for the Ephesians after having spent more than three years with them. This letter was written by Paul as he sat in a Roman prison around 60 A.D. Although he would be released from prison in 62 A.D. He’d be back in a Roman prison and martyred around 66 A.D. I think Paul always knew how his ministry would end but it never changed his mission. Paul did everything he could to encourage and edify the churches he founded to be faithful followers of Jesus to the very end and to live lives worthy of the salvation they received at such tremendous cost.

Text Analysis

            ¹⁷So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. ¹⁸They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. ¹⁹Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.

            Normally the reference to “Gentile” in vv. 17-19 is intended to be an ethnic distinction but here Paul is using “Gentile” as a spiritual distinction. The context of the verses that follow make it clear that the malady of unbelief is not reserved for Gentiles only. Although the text does not specifically say, there had to have been some ethnic Gentiles among the believers in Ephesus. It was in a predominantly Gentile province of the Roman Empire so it is unreasonable to insist that Paul was referring exclusively to ethnic Gentiles. Futility of thought is not the exclusive domain of Gentiles considering how often Paul had to battle the false teachings of Judaizers who taught that believers must add the keeping of the Law to their faith in order to be saved. This too was a kind of futility in thought. Instead, the futility that Paul references is humanity’s tendency to “think” they know better than God. It is humanity’s tendency to “think” that God is a silly superstition. It is humanity’s tendency to “think” they don’t need God to get through life. Intellectual pride, rationalization, justification, and excuses all take the place of humble surrender to a life of faith. The people Paul is referring to rely on their own worldly wisdom and worldly understanding and see the Gospel to be a compilation of ancient fairytales reserved for the ignorant and feeble-minded.

            Paul insists that the life of the believer should present a stark contrast to the life of an unbeliever. Their profession of faith should provide a clear demarcation that separates life before belief versus life after belief. It sounds easier than it is in reality but that doesn’t mean our lives shouldn’t be on an intentional trajectory toward fundamental transformation away from who we were as unbelievers and toward who we are called to be as believers. “The [Greek text] associates the walk which they are charged to continue no longer with that of the Gentiles generally, and with their own former walk in their non-Christian days. ‘In the vanity [or futility] of their mind [or thinking]’ is not merely the intellectual faculty or understanding, but also the faculty for recognizing moral good and spiritual truth…Vanity in the sense of purposelessness, uselessness. There is nothing in the clause to restrict it to the case of idol-worshippers or to that of the heathen philosophers. It is a description of the walk of the heathen [unbelieving] world generally—a walk moving within the limits of intellectual and moral resultlessness, given over to things devoid of worth or reality…[The Greek word for ‘understanding’] is not to be taken as if this clause referred only to the intellectual condition. [The word] covers the ideas not only of understanding, but also of feeling and desiring. It is the faculty or seat of thinking and feeling. [Unbelievers,] being in a state of moral darkness, also become alienated from the true life…[They] have estranged themselves from God…‘because of the ignorance that is in them’ [is an] explicit statement of the cause of their estrangement…It denotes an ignorance of Divine things, a want of knowledge that is inexcusable and involves moral blindness.”[1]

At some point, unbelievers become so hardened and entrenched in their sinful lives that their sins spawn even greater and more heinous sins. “Having lost all sensitivity” refers to the searing of the conscience to the extent that morality becomes merely relative—good becomes evil; right becomes wrong; truth becomes a lie. Sin is like an addiction to narcotics. The longer a narcotic is used the more it is constantly needed to maintain the same level of euphoria. Sin works the same way. A little sin leads to more sin until a person’s life is driven and defined by sin.

²⁰You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. ²¹Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. ²²You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; ²³to be made new in the attitude of your minds; ²⁴and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

            Paul reminds the Ephesians in vv. 20-24 that they are supposed to be different as believers. The Ephesians didn’t become believers by indulging in their sinful desires that can deceive us into believing we are masters of our lives, but by turning away from their sins and instead turning to the truth that can only be found in Jesus because Jesus is the real Truth of life. Paul taught them that once they became believers, there was no going back to the old ways of living. Salvation begins the process of sanctifying the sinner. It does not sanctify sin. Sin is still sin even if it committed by a believer. The difference is that it is, or should be, out of character for believers to continue to sin. When we accepted Christ, we were renewed. We have become a new creation. That is the principle behind the idea of being “born-again” Christians. When we are born-again, we aren’t born to be the same old person, we are new creations in every way—in our actions and in our attitudes. We have been created anew to take on the characteristics of the One who is supremely righteous and holy. Believers are therefore called to be righteous and holy as well. The old way of living, thinking and believing led to a life of ever-growing and insatiable desire for sin. The new way rejects this old way of living and embraces a new way of life.

            It’s easy to say and talk about in theory but I know from personal experience that it is excruciatingly difficult to practice in reality. Being renewed is not some kind of magic that transforms us in an instance. Sin, for me and for some of you as well, has been deeply ingrained from years of disobedience. However, unlike unbelievers, I know sin is present in my life and I know it doesn’t belong there. There was a time when I didn’t care and even tried to excuse it but no longer. I have committed my life to living into the new creation that I am. It may take me the rest of my life but my life and every true believers life must reflect the intentionality to be holy and righteous just like the One we claim to believe in and follow. “Ephesians places[s] great emphasis on living in accordance with the ‘new nature,’ which reflects God’s likeness in righteousness and holiness. Indeed, imitation of God and Christ become ethical touchstones, another way that Christians make God’s character known. (The church collectively is the vehicle for making God’s wisdom known.) Ephesians offers guidelines about behaviors that reflect the ‘old nature’ that is ‘corrupted by deceitful lusts’ and therefore not a reliable guide to be followed, and about the behaviors that proceed from the ‘new nature.’ Because of their general nature, they cannot be mistaken for a new law but rather offer a resource that will help the self-examining disciple perceive which nature he or she is nurturing/cultivating. The guidelines help us discern what behaviors proceed from our new nature:

·      Not doing what fosters enmity and rifts in relationships but what fosters unity, harmony, solidarity.

·      Not predatorial grasping but beneficence.

·      Not harboring grudges but seeking reconciliation.

·      Not lying, treating others as outsiders and nonfamily but speaking the truth.

·      Not indulging in distractions but focusing on the work of building up the church, fulfilling the obligation of thanksgiving and searching out God’s direction.

[Paul’s words] help keep before our eyes, and the eyes of those we serve, the truth that the gospel is transformative and that Christianity that does not change a person’s heart, mind and life is empty. They call for fortitude as we face the truth about the passions and values that drive us when Christ’s model and God’s desire are not in view, but they also encourage us with words about the light God shines on us so that at each step we may walk in his ways and delight in his will.”[2]

²⁵Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.

            I’ve asked this before but I’ll do so again here: What would the world look like if all Christians were honest all the time and in every way? Think about it. I know it is a popular belief and immortalized in song that “love is all we need,” and it is absolutely true that love has power that hate and anger can never possess. However, can true love exist where there is no truth? Notice that Jesus did not say the He was the Way, the Love, and the Life. He said He was the Way, the Truth, and the Life. I contend, where there is deceit, there is no real or lasting love. That’s what Paul is angling at in v. 25. Lying, cheating, and stealing were characteristics of their old self. Their new self was to be characterized by honesty and trustworthiness. We often read Paul’s words and take them for granted as though we have fully incorporated them into our lives as believers. I’d like you to take a moment and honestly examine your life. Are you truthful in all things in your life? I don’t have to dig very deeply into my life to realize that I am not always truthful in my words or in my actions. Does that mean I’m not really a new creation? No, it means that we are new in some ways and being renewed in others. Believers understand that dishonesty dishonors God and wounds those around us. Unbelievers understand that dishonesty is a tool to be used to get ahead in life and get what they want. Unbelievers have no concern for God’s honor and seemingly little regard for the wounds they inflict on others as long as they get what they want. “Because we are all members of Christ’s body, our words and actions must not be destructive to the body. Lying to each other disrupts unity by creating conflicts and destroying trust. It tears down relationships and leads to open warfare in a church. Truthfulness, however, opens the door to understanding. To maintain unity, the believers must be completely truthful with one another.”[3] To put it more graphically, “A lie is a stab into the very vitals of the body of Christ”[4]

²⁶“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, ²⁷and do not give the devil a foothold.

            I’ll be honest with you, Paul’s teaching in vv. 26-27, derived in part directly from Psalm 4:4, speaks directly to me. Perhaps not so much now as it once did but there was a time in my life when I was an angry man—all the time. And I carried my anger with me day and night like a badge of honor. Unfortunately, the anger in my life gave birth to much sin and Satan used it to wedge his way into my life to wound others and to distort or hide the reflection of God’s character in my life. Paul isn’t saying that we shouldn’t be angry. There are times when righteous anger is called for—when those who can’t defend themselves are attacked, when the helpless are oppressed, when the ignorant or naïve are deceived by religious charlatans, when Christians are persecuted for their faith. It is not unreasonable to be angry at the things that anger God. However, we are not God so we must be careful that our actions while defending the helpless or our actions in the face of, oppression, deception, and persecution don’t assume God’s responsibility for judgment and punishment. Even anger that is justified can devolve into sinful behavior and can be used by Satan to destroy lives.

            There are times when we are angry because we ourselves have been offended in some way and we, ok I, can hold a grudge with an iron fist. This is the type of anger that is dangerous and what Paul is also warning against. Believers are a people who have been renewed because we are reconciled to God through Jesus. We are a people characterized by reconciliation. We still live in a world of sin, so it is inevitable that we will be hurt by Christians and non-Christians alike. The old self would seek revenge and look to pay back hurt with hurt while the new self seeks reconciliation and offers forgiveness in exchange for hurt. The longer we hold on to anger withhold forgiveness, the stronger Satan’s influence becomes in our lives.

            Did Paul really mean that we must resolve the reason behind our anger before the sun goes down? Maybe. But I suspect Paul was being less literal with respect to adherence and instead expected them to resolve the issues surrounding their anger quickly, not allowing anger to linger for long in their hearts and minds. “‘Hostile Christian’ is an oxymoron. We must replace hostility with helpfulness. The primary place hostility and cynicism appear is in our families, the assumption being that those closest to us are responsible for the problem, have failed to solve it, or are easy targets for revenge…Where families are marked by bitterness, anger, shouting, or worse, violence, no one may speak of Christian faith. Usually our anger is in response to small things that do not really matter. And since anger is a choice to express our displeasure where no fear is present, anger is most often directed at the wrong people. The victims of anger are usually not its cause; they are merely people who are present and pose no threat—such as women, children, or people without power, the very people to who we should guarantee safety.”[5]

²⁸He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.

            One of the things that distinguishes humanity as created in the image of God is that we are co-creators with God. We are, by design, consumers and producers. We are not designed to be only producers as in the case of slaves or only consumers as in the case of social leeches. We are designed to produce goods and services for the benefit of one another. It works beautifully if everyone contributes to the extent they are able to do so according to their God given gifts and abilities. It is particularly harmful if either extreme is exploited.

It is rather obvious that we shouldn’t steal. I’m unaware of any civilized society, where theft is or was considered or condoned as an acceptable behavior. The command, “you shall not steal” is one of the Ten Commandments so it’s been around for quite a while. I’m pretty sure Paul wasn’t reiterating something that was somewhat universally understood and relatively obvious in v. 28. Instead, I think Paul was aiming at a different practice, the practice of some who were unproductive members of society who consciously took advantage of those who were productive members of society.

This should sound very familiar in our society here in the west where those who are productive members of society regularly support successive generations of individuals and families who live exclusively off the hard work of others. Some of these people call themselves Christians. These are some of the people Paul is speaking to. All people, but especially those who call themselves Christians, must do something useful so that they have something to give back to society. Christians cannot call themselves Christians who refuse to care for those in need—those people are hypocrites. Christians cannot call themselves Christians who refuse to be productive members of society but instead live exclusively off the fruits of someone else’s hard work—those people are thieves. The ideal is life lived in community where all contribute to one another’s physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual needs generously and sacrificially. “Paul regarded idleness, which was endemic in Greco-Roman society, as inappropriate for the Christian believer. So he deliberately set the example of hard work to support himself and called upon his converts to imitate him. The practical values of life in Christ were concretely exemplified in his own consciously executed lifestyle in which he supported himself by work.”[6]

Application

            I think I’ve told you that I’ve believed in God for as long as I can remember. However, I haven’t always been a faithful follower of Jesus Christ. In fact, there was a time in my life when the imprint of God’s image on my life was buried under several layers of manure. However, when I finally got around to listening to God’s voice in my life, that imprint of God’s image on my life was unearthed. It smelled awful and it was impossible to discern God’s image at first but at least it was ready for God to work His wonders. Now, on good days, you can get a glimpse of God’s character in my life. In any event, I knew intuitively that the minute I said ‘yes’ to following Jesus, my life had to be different. No matter how much I liked certain parts of my old self, I knew I had to give them up because they were inconsistent with my new self—drinking excessively, a vocabulary laced with profanity, anger, and a spirit of unforgiveness to name but a few. I knew something changed. My mind and attitude had changed and it was time for my actions to follow

            As Christians, we are new creations made to be holy and righteous in the same way that God is holy and righteous. The old us is gone and the new us has arrived—we are born again. When the text says that we are a new creation, it means that every part of us is new—our mind, our attitude, and our actions. It means our lives should become a reflection of Jesus so people who encounter us will get a very real and tangible sense of who Jesus is. What does your life say about what you believe? Does your life attract people to Jesus? Does your life point people to Jesus? Does your life shine a light on the path to Jesus? Jesus is the Light of the world. If we call ourselves followers of Jesus then our lives must also reflect that light because followers of the Light of the world are new creations and born again with the distinction of being know as Children Of Light.

            Be sure to come back next week for Part Two of Children Of Light where I’ll go into greater detail of what it means to be “imitators of God.”

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[1] W. Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor’s Greek Testament, vol. 3, (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1983), pp. 338-339.

[2] David A. deSilva, An Introduction to the New Testament: Contexts, Methods & Ministry Formation, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2004), pp. 731-732.

[3] Bruce Barton, Philip Comfort, Grant Osborne, Linda K. Taylor, and Dave Veerman, Life Application New Testament Commentary, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001), p. 823.

[4] John Mackay, God’s Order: The Ephesian Letter and This Present Time, (New York, NY: Macmillan Publishers, 1953), p. 185.

[5] Klyne Snodgrass, Ephesians—The NIV Application Commentary, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1996), p. 263.

[6] Gerald F. Hawthorne, Ralph P. Martin, Daniel G. Reid, eds., Dictionary of Paul and his Letters, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), p. 927.

No Other Gospel

(Audio version; Music--"This I Believe" by: Hillsong and "Creed" by: Third Day and Brandon Heath)

Introduction

            I came across a new survey this week that highlighted the decline of Christianity here in America over the last ten years. It wasn’t terribly surprising if you’ve been paying attention. The report said that there was a marked decline in mainline churches like the Catholic church, and a number of Protestant denominations. Counteracting that decline has been a sharp increase in atheism. In large part I attribute the decline in mainline denominations to their continuing compromise with clear and sound biblical teaching and normalization of sinful, worldly practices. The only other Christian group that held fast during that period was evangelicals. But that’s not the part of the report that lit my fuse this week. The part that lit my fuse was that the report identified another Christian group that did not decline over the same period—Mormons. Seriously? Mormons (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) are now being considered Christians? That’s what lit my fuse! Nothing get’s me burning hotter than religious charlatans. These deceivers, like Mormanism’s Joseph Smith or Jehovah’s Witness’ (JW’s for short) Charles Taze Russell or Christian Science’s Mary Baker Eddy, deceived thousands by adding to God’s inspired word or by twisting the Scriptures into something they never were. They figured out that leveraging Christianity would bring them immeasurable fame and wealth—and in that respect they were right. Like any good scam, they each needed to add a twist to make their claims unique. Each of these people claimed that they were modern day prophets who received a special revelation from God—a new and improved Gospel message. And they proceeded to deceive countless people during their day and their demonic practices continue even to this day. What do Smith, Russell, and Eddy have in common? Smith established Mormonism in 1830, Russell established JW’s in 1879, Eddy established Christian Science in 1879. I may have been born at night but it wasn’t last night! These cults have deception written all over them yet they continue to deceive millions of people everyday. Maybe I’m missing something. Maybe God was confused during the 1800’s and couldn’t decide how he wanted to change what Christians believed for the 1800 years before that time (longer if you include the changes these cults made to the Old Testament interpretation). And aren’t you thankful that God chose Americans in America to revise biblical teaching and interpretation—especially Americans who were not formally trained in the original languages of the Biblical text? Besides, it’s not like the land of Israel from Genesis to Revelation is at the epicenter of the Christian faith or anything {read: heavy sarcasm}.

Just because something has “Jesus,” “Jehovah,” or “Christian” in its name or title doesn’t make it Christian. Of course these religious hucksters started there deception 1800 years after Jesus Christ lived so as distasteful as it is, its understandable that the truth is easier to twist with the passage of time. So how frustrating do you think Paul must have been when first generation Christians quickly turned from the gospel he preached and followed other teachings; false teachings, within three short years of having first heard the gospel message from Paul? Paul’s message to the church in Galatia is the same message for us today—there is No Other Gospel.

Subject Text

Galatians 1:6-10

⁶I 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—⁷which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. ⁸But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! ⁹As 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 eternally condemned! ¹⁰Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Context

            Paul’s letter to the Galatians was written around 49 A.D. The church in Galatia was founded during Paul’s first missionary journey through the region around 46 A.D. It seems clear from the context that Paul left them with a clear understanding of the gospel. However, some deceivers wormed their way into their community and began to twist the gospel Paul preached to them initially. These deceivers were known as Judaizers who insisted that believers needed to also keep the Law in order to be saved. I can assure you that this was not part of the gospel that Paul preached to them. If anyone would have been tempted to harmonize salvation by grace and the meticulous keeping of the Law, it would have been Paul the once zealous Pharisee. But that wasn’t the gospel that Paul preached once he encountered the risen Christ and was transformed. So for Paul, and the Galatians, and for us as well, who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ, there can be No Other Gospel.

Text Analysis

            ⁶I 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—⁷which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.

            It is one thing to be deceived by lies in the first place. That, of course, happens all the time. It is another altogether, to accept the truth, and then at some point turn away from the truth. We must be careful not to be too harsh on the believers in Galatia. These were first generation Christians who didn’t have the benefit of hundreds of years of theological development to inform their beliefs. Christianity was still in its infancy so Paul understood how important its foundation was. Paul knew that false teaching in the young Church was like a slow acting poison that would kill the truth of the gospel he preached. In vv. 6-7 we learn that deceivers have infiltrated the Galatian church and are confusing the people with teachings that were inconsistent with Paul’s teachings.

“The course of action they are contemplating is not a complement to their faith in Jesus but an act of desertion and repudiation of their divine Benefactor. The message of the rival teachers is not a second installment of the gospel but a different gospel, which was not truly another gospel at all but a perversion of the true gospel…Paul underscores the complete incompatibility of the message they are hearing with the gospel they had received…But why should Paul consider these so fundamentally at odds? The answer seems to lie in Paul’s understanding of the universal scope of God’s new outpouring of favor. God was at last bringing Jew and Gentile into one, united people—the oneness of the God who is God both of Jew and Gentile being reflected in not only the new people being formed in the name of Jesus but also the single basis on which both Jew and Gentile were brought into that united people. That basis is not Torah [the Law], the observance of which had functioned to keep Jew separate from Gentile for a limited amount of time, for ‘all flesh shall not be justified by works of law’ (Gal 2:16), which pertains only to Israel. Rather, that basis is God’s generosity towards all as expressed in Jesus’ death on behalf of humanity, and that death fulfills the promise made to Abraham at last by making him the spiritual ancestor of many nations.

Paul consistently sets ‘grace’ in opposition to ‘works of Torah’ at key junctures throughout Galatians (2:21; 5:4), in part because Torah was a necessary trapping of human ‘immaturity,’ and in part because what God has graciously done in Jesus for all now makes possible what Torah had not made possible, namely, a life lived truly to God, for God and in the power of God. Paul’s own story is a living example of this premise, for it is precisely when he was most fully engaged in the works of Torah that he was God’s enemy, and it was precisely then that God graciously transformed Paul into an apostle of God’s righteousness in Christ. After Jesus’ death a return to works of Torah as if they could add to what Jesus had done would amount to a repudiation of Jesus’ ability to connect us to God and an insultingly low evaluation of the potential of the Spirit, the promised gift won for us at such cost, to transform our lives.”[1]

⁸But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! ⁹As 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 eternally condemned!

            If you wonder if false teaching is really such a big deal, Paul’s clear and harsh condemnation in vv. 8-9 should answer that question for you. There is but one gospel and Paul tells them that even if he himself should preach a different gospel from the one they accepted from him at the start, then even he should be condemned. It is no mistake that Paul references the possibility of an “angel” preaching a false gospel. Remember that Satan was once an angel who was cast out of heaven along with a third of the angels for their rebellion against God. Remember that it was Satan who twisted God’s commands to Adam and Eve in the Garden. You see, the most evil deception is not that which is obviously a lie. The most evil deception is that which incorporates some of the truth but not all of the truth. Just as Satan twisted God’s words to deceive Adam and Eve, false teachers in Galatia and today twist, revise, or add to God’s inspired word in order to deceive—a practice handed down by the one who perfected it—Satan. And for that, they will take their place as being eternally condemned with Satan at the final judgment by Christ. What did this practice look like in Galatia? The false teachers didn’t reject Paul’s teaching; that would have been an obvious lie. Instead, they conceded to Paul’s teaching and then attempted to amend it or supplement it with their own. You must realize that once you mix a lie with the truth, it all becomes a lie. The two are mutually exclusive. How does this work in our own day? No matter how many overtly Christian references are applied to a lie as in Mormanism, Jehovah’s Witness, or Christian Science, it is still a lie and those who perpetuate that lie are rightly destined for eternal condemnation.

I realize that some of you cringe at what Paul says and by extension what I have said because it seems so “unloving.” But I contend that it is precisely out of love that Paul and I too make the claim that those who preach a different gospel from that which Paul first proclaimed and which has been handed down to us in the Bible, should be eternally condemned. “When the grace of the gospel is jeopardized, theological concerns clearly take precedence in [Paul’s] thinking over considerations of politeness and etiquette. For Paul, the basic tenets of the gospel simply cannot be compromised; and if a church’s grasp of those is weakened, tough words and actions may be required for the sake of his readers’ salvation. In other words, Paul does not conceive of love as gentleness at any price. Indeed, he insists that it is precisely out of genuine concern for their welfare that such harsh words and confrontive actions arise…When the doctrine of God’s grace is at stake, love does not seem to be of greater importance than faith. In Paul’s own life, then, the expression of love is clearly conditioned on certain theological and moral considerations of critical importance; and when these are threatened, harsh words may be the truest form of love and not a violation of it.”[2]

¹⁰Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.

            Religious con-artists aren’t in the business of winning points with God. They are interested in advancing a lie in order to advance themselves socially or enrich themselves financially. And usually the former leads directly to the latter. I have always said, if you want to know someone’s true motivations, follow the money. Religious charlatans are like every other charlatan. They aren’t motivated by the desire to be faithful to God. Instead, they are motivated by their insatiable desire for money, sex, and/or power. Paul’s rhetorical question to seeking the approval of men in v. 10 is intended to convey the idea that seeking the approval of people who are all sinful instead of the approval of God who is perfect, is reserved for those with ulterior motives. The outrageous and exclusive claims of the gospel very often put us at odds with those who insist that Christians must be more enlightened, inclusive, open-minded, and accepting of other beliefs if they want people to like them. Well Paul makes it clear that he doesn’t care if people like him or approve of him. All he cares about is whether or not God approves of him because he is a servant of Christ and the gospel that proclaims the truth of Christ. “The human obligation to honor God and serve Christ is at the heart of the issue of authority and is reminiscent of Jesus words in Matt. 20:25-28 [²⁵Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. ²⁶Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, ²⁷and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—²⁸just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”]. All positions of leadership are in danger of becoming power bases where people satisfy their own needs, manipulate and even oppress others, and make certain that decisions turn out ‘our’ way (never mind about God’s way). In ecclesiastical (church leadership) circles the gospel may even be cleverly or unconsciously used to keep recalcitrants in line. Thus the simple question about service and accountability to God is always an appropriate question to ask oneself. Faced honestly, it will painfully expose human pretense, but at the same time will point toward true freedom.”[3]

Application

            When Johannes Guttenberg invented the printing press in 1440, the first book that came of his press was a Bible. Until then only about 30 percent of European adults were literate. That number climbed to 62 percent in England by 1800. Naturally, literacy rates in America mirrored those in England. By the signing of the United States Constitution in 1776, 60 percent of adults in America were literate. By 1870, 80 percent of the adult population was literate and by 1940, 95 percent of the adult population was literate. Today, 98 percent of adults in America are literate.[4] Why are these statistics important? Because the Bible, first printed 575 years ago, is still the most purchased yet least read book in all of history. And the result is that people are easily deceived. In today’s churches characterized by “worshiptainment” and “ritualization,” many Christians don’t know the difference between the true gospel and a counterfeit gospel. In our inclusive and pluralistic culture, how many Christians to you think have the courage to say that there is No Other Gospel?

            You have often heard me say and I will repeat it once again here: I want you to know why you believe what you believe. Is your belief received by faith yet rooted in truth or is your belief a manufactured product that is a conglomeration of truth and lies handed down by those in the service of the chief liar himself—Satan? If I were to ask you, could you recite a short yet comprehensive statement of the Christian faith? Some would say that Christian faith can be completely summarized as, “Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead after three days and if we believe that we are saved.” That statement is certainly true but what if I told you that Smith, Russell, and Eddy were all raised in a theological environment that taught that and look at the abomination they each managed to produce and perpetuate!

Being satisfied with a simplistic understanding of your faith is like trying to live on a diet of bread. You may not die of starvation but you may very well die of malnutrition. In the same way, faith that is limited to a simplistic understanding stands a very real risk of dying or becoming distorted. A great step in the process of nurturing a vibrant faith is to establish a clear and concise understanding of what you believe. For Christians, this is really easy because it was put into words for us at the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. and is an essential component in the foundation of the superstructure that is Christian belief. That statement of faith is known as the Nicene Creed and is included as the statement of faith for this ministry. It is a statement of faith that is adopted only by the Protestant Church, the Catholic Church (Catholics, however, us the Apostle’s Creed which is largely identical except for the reference to the catholic church which Catholics understand to be the Roman Catholic Church but which Protestants understand to be the universal (aka “catholic”) church.), and the Orthodox Church. Mormons, JW’s, and Christian Scientists cannot and will not agree to the statement of faith that has defined the foundational beliefs of the authentic Christian Church for nearly 1,700 years.

Nicene Creed

We believe in one God,

the Father, the Almighty,

maker of heaven and earth,

of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,

the only Son of God,

eternally begotten of the Father,

God from God, light from light,

true God from true God,

begotten, not made,

of one Being with the Father;

through him all things were made.

For us and for our salvation

he came down from heaven,

was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary

and became truly human.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;

he suffered death and was buried.

On the third day he rose again

in accordance with the Scriptures;

he ascended into heaven

and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,

and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,

who proceeds from the Father and the Son,

who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified,

who has spoken through the prophets.

We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.

We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

We look for the resurrection of the dead,

and the life of the world to come. Amen.

I think there’s beauty in its comprehensive simplicity. I memorized it as a child in the Catholic church. The problem is that the Catholic church treated it as words inspired by God. And in a very narrow sense that’s true. However, in a much broader sense it is a compilation of theological understanding by a group of men who diligently studied the Scriptures and consequently produced a statement of faith that reflected what the Scriptures taught. With this statement, we can clarify in our own minds exactly what we believe so that we can communicate that clearly to others. But that is only part of our duty. We must seek to understand why we believe it. And that can only be accomplished through the relentless and diligent study of the Scriptures. It’s time-consuming and hard work that few people are willing to undertake. But that’s because people see it primarily as an academic or theological exercise. I want you to try and see it in terms of relationship. God is not an object to be dissected and studied. God is a person who revealed Himself in the person of Jesus and made it possible for us to be reconciled to Him in order to be in relationship with Him.

Think about the most important human relationships in your life. Consider the diligent effort you put into those relationships so that you can understand the other person in order to nurture a growing and vibrant relationship with that person. It is the same way with God. By diligently studying the Scriptures, we begin to understand why we are in relationship with God not just that we are in relationship with God. When we are in a deep and committed relationship with God; a relationship rooted in the gospel that has been handed down to us in our Scriptures, the god of a counterfeit gospel will be a stranger to us. I have been married for a little more than thirty years now and I can guarantee you that if another woman walked into my home and claimed to be my wife, I would know with certainty that she is lying, even if I were deaf and blind. I have no other wife than the one I first married. You wouldn’t be able to fool me because I know my wife! In the same way, when we are in an abiding relationship with God through Jesus, rooted in the gospel message as originally handed down to us, we will immediately recognize any other gospel as a lie. We will be able to confidently proclaim what we believe and why we believe it and that all other teachings, even those who incorporate a few morsels of truth or traditionally Christian terminology, as a gospel of lies because we will know that there is No Other Gospel.

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[1] David A. deSilva, An Introduction to the New Testament: Contexts, Methods & Ministry Formation, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2004), p. 505.

[2] Gerald F. Hawthorne, Ralph P. Martin, and Daniel G. Reid, eds., Dictionary of Paul and his Letters, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), p. 578.

[3] Charles B. Cousar, Galatians—Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, (Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 1982), p. 24.

[4] Tatiana Schlossberg, “Literacy Rates,” Timothy McSweeney’s The State of Publishing, Accessed May 17, 2015, http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/literacy-rates.