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Soon after Paul's
first missionary journey was over he heard
that the churches he started in southern
Galatia had come under attack from the
Judaizers, men who preached strict adherence
to the laws of Moses and a false gospel of
works-righteousness. Paul, Christ’s chosen
apostle to the Gentiles, dealt with the
problems facing the Galatian church
forcefully proving that salvation is by
faith in Christ alone and that the law has
no power over those of us who are in Christ.
Galatians 1:6-9 says, “I am
astonished that you are so quickly deserting
him who called you in the grace of Christ
and are turning to a different gospel— not
that there is another one, but there are
some who trouble you and want to distort the
gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel
from heaven should preach to you a gospel
contrary to the one we preached to you, let
him be accursed. As we have said before, so
now I say again: If anyone is preaching to
you a gospel contrary to the one you
received, let him be accursed.”
The
false gospel of works-righteousness
Galatians 3:1-5 says, “You foolish
Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before
your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly
portrayed as crucified. I would like to
learn just one thing from you: Did you
receive the Spirit by observing the law, or
by believing what you heard? Are you so
foolish? After beginning with the Spirit,
are you now trying to attain your goal by
human effort? Have you suffered so much for
nothing — if it really was for nothing? Does
God give you his Spirit and work miracles
among you because you observe the law, or
because you believe what you heard?”
Did God give the Galatians the Spirit and
work miracles in their midst because they
observed the law, or was it the result of
their hearing the gospel and believing it?
The false gospel of legalism was a curse, it
was a bewitching lie that led the Galatian’s
away from living their lives through the
power of the Holy Spirit and instead,
trusting in the things they could do to
deserve salvation. The Galatians were
mistakenly trying to achieve perfection
through their own efforts.
Galatians 3:10-12 says, “For all who rely on works of
the law are under a curse; for it is
written, “Cursed be everyone who does not
abide by all things written in the Book of
the Law, and do them.” Now it is evident
that no one is justified before God by the
law, for “The righteous shall live by
faith.” But the law is not of faith, rather
“The one who does them shall live by them”
(cf. Deut. 27:26; 28:15; Rom. 2:23-25; 3:19; 10:5).
When someone is trapped in a
false gospel we have an obligation to warn
them about the danger they are in.
Second Peter 3:17 says, “You therefore,
beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your
guard so that you are not carried away by
the error of unprincipled men and fall from
your own steadfastness,” And Romans 16:17-18
says, “Now I urge you, brethren, keep your
eye on those who cause dissensions and
hindrances contrary to the teaching which
you learned, and turn away from them. For
such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ
but of their own appetites; and by their
smooth and flattering speech they deceive
the hearts of the unsuspecting.” People
trapped in a religion of works are living a
lie that cannot save them. They need to
believe the real gospel to be saved.
We need to understand the real gospel
before we can recognize a false gospel.
We need to believe in Jesus Christ for
our salvation. To accept Jesus as your Lord
and Savior is to acknowledge Him as the
leader of your life, and trust in Him
completely for the forgiveness of your sins.
John 1:12 says: "But to all who did
receive him, who believed in his name, he
gave the right to become children of God."
John 3:16 adds, "For God so loved the
world, that he gave his only Son, that
whoever believes in him should not perish
but have eternal life."
Keeping the
law won’t save you, only trusting in Jesus
Christ for your salvation can do that.
The Roman road is a good way to
understand the process of salvation and
eternal fellowship with God.
1. We
must realize that we are all sinners and in
need of forgiveness. Romans 3:23 says, “for
all have sinned and fall short of the glory
of God,”
Note: We have all sinned! No
one can live up to what God created us to
be. We cannot save ourselves because we can
never live up to God's requirements to be
saved. Our only hope is to put our faith in
Jesus Christ.
2. Jesus Christ died
for our sins. His death paid the full price
for our salvation. Romans 5:8 says, “but God
shows his love for us in that while we were
still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Note: God loved us so much He sent His Son
to die for us. God loves us just as we are,
but He loves us too much to leave us dead in
our sins (Phil. 1:6).
3. The
consequence of sin is death; thus the only
way to escape the eternal consequences of
our sin is to trust in Jesus Christ alone
for our salvation. Romans 6:23 says, “For
the wages of sin is death, but the free gift
of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord.”
Note: God wants us to have
eternal life even though we deserve death!
God wants to save us, but we have to trust
in His offer of salvation in His Son, Christ
Jesus (Gen. 2:17; 3:19; Rom. 5:12; 1 Pet. 1:4; 1 Jn. 2:25; 5:11-12).
4. To
receive the gift of eternal life we must
confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord of our
life and believe that God raised Him from
the dead. Romans 10:9-10 says, “because, if
you confess with your mouth that Jesus is
Lord and believe in your heart that God
raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
For with the heart one believes and is
justified, and with the mouth one confesses
and is saved.”
Note: This expression
involves a deep-seated personal belief that
Jesus is the leader of your life, turning
away from sin, putting your faith in Jesus
to save you, and submitting to Jesus Christ
as the Lord of your life.
5. Only
those who call upon the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ will be saved. Romans 10:13
says, “For “everyone who calls on the name
of the Lord will be saved.”
Note: To
“call on the name of the Lord” refers to the
one true God in recognition of both Jesus as
Lord and Savior and to the one who raised
Him from the dead.
Notice how simple
the Book of Romans tells us accepting the
gospel is:
1) confess with your mouth
that Jesus is Lord;
2) believe that God
raised him from the dead, and;
3) be
saved.
When we accept the salvation
offered to us through Jesus Christ we enter
into a new relationship of peace with God.
When we accept God's free gift, we have the
assurance of knowing we will never be
condemned for our sins and have eternal
life.
We have all sinned and deserve
death, but God the Father, sent His one and
only Son to satisfy the judgment we deserve.
Jesus lived a sinless life and died for our
sins, taking the punishment that we deserve
so we could be eternally saved. If you
receive Jesus Christ alone as your Lord and
Savior you can know with certainty that you
have eternal life (1 Jn. 5:13).
In
every age there have been those who trusted
in what they do to gain salvation. The Bible
tells us over and over again that there is
nothing we can do to earn our salvation. It
is a free gift purchased for us by the blood
of Jesus Christ on Calvary’s cross. The
false gospel of works that Paul warns us
about in his letter to the Galatians is
trusting in our own efforts to be saved
(Gal. 4:10-11). Anytime we take our focus
off of Christ and strive to keep certain
rituals we insult the Spirit of grace (Heb. 10:29), and fall under a curse that can only
lead to eternal death.
We all have a
responsibility to share the real gospel with
those who are lost.
Romans 10:14
says, “How then will they call on him in
whom they have not believed? And how are
they to believe in him of whom they have
never heard? And how are they to hear
without someone preaching?”
Salvation
is not earned by good works!
The
earliest Christian declaration of faith is
found in 1 Corinthians 15:1-8 which says,
“Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the
gospel I preached to you, which you received
and on which you have taken your stand. By
this gospel you are saved, if you hold
firmly to the word I preached to you.
Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For
what I received I passed on to you as of
first importance: that Christ died for our
sins according to the Scriptures, that he
was buried, that he was raised on the third
day according to the Scriptures, and that he
appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.
After that, he appeared to more than five
hundred of the brothers at the same time,
most of whom are still living, though some
have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to
James, then to all the apostles, and last of
all he appeared to me also, as to one
abnormally born.”
The first verses in
1 Corinthians 15 are the essence of the
gospel. They affirm that Christ died for our
sins; He was buried; He rose again on the
third day according to the Scriptures (Luke 24:44-46;
cf. Gen. 22; Ps. 16:8-11; 22; Isa. 53; Jonah 1:17; 2:10; Zech. 12:10), and then
He was seen by many eyewitnesses.
That is how simple the gospel really is!
We are saved when we put our trust in
what God has done for us through Jesus
Christ alone, nothing more, nothing less!
There is nothing said about keeping one day
above another, not eating certain foods, or
offering animal sacrifices for our sins. We
are saved by trusting in Jesus Christ alone
for our salvation.
When we are born
again Jesus makes us into His new creation.
Second Corinthians 5:17 says,
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a
new creation; the old has gone, the new has
come!”
And Romans 12:2 says, “Do not
conform any longer to the pattern of this
world, but be transformed by the renewing of
your mind. Then you will be able to test and
approve what God's will is — his good,
pleasing and perfect will.” (NIV)
Jesus transforms us into His image because
He loves us and has been made the Lord of
our life, not because of the works we do.
When we focus on keeping the law we are
focused on our self and our performance.
When we focus on serving Jesus we are
Christ-focused and loving others will be the
natural result.
When we become
Christians, we are made part of God’s family
through the power of the Holy Spirit living
inside of us!
What does the Holy
Spirit do for us? Everything of eternal
value in this life and in eternity comes
through the work of the Holy Spirit in our
lives. Once we become Christ’s disciples and
have received the Holy Spirit, God begins
the sanctifying work of transforming us into
the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29).
God
is the one who works in us and promises to
bring His work to completion.
Philippians 1:6 says, “And I am sure of
this, that he who began a good work in you
will bring it to completion at the day of
Jesus Christ.”
Remember how simple
the gospel really is:
Romans 10:9-10
says, “Because, if you confess with your
mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your
heart that God raised him from the dead, you
will be saved. For with the heart one
believes and is justified, and with the
mouth one confesses and is saved.”
When we enter into a relationship with Jesus
Christ as our Lord and Savior we will do
naturally what we could never do by focusing
on keeping certain laws, or performing
certain acts. Ephesians 2:8-10 says, "For by
grace you have been saved through faith. And
this is not your own doing; it is the gift
of God, not a result of works, so that no
one may boast. For we are his workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand, that we
should walk in them."
The salvation
Jesus offers us is not based on our works!
If it were then those who were saved would
get all of the glory. No human effort can
contribute to our salvation; it is solely
the gift of God (Isa. 64:6; Rom. 3:20; 5:1-2;
Titus 3:5). The good works Christians
do are the result of the work the Holy
Spirit does inside of us as we become His
new creation.
We are saved when we
put our trust in Jesus Christ alone for our
salvation. Keeping the law won’t save us,
accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and
Savior will.
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