One Lord; one Faith; one baptism…one Gospel

Galatians 1:6-9

November 6, 2011 – AM service

Sun Oak Baptist Church

Introduction

                A.            Some key points to remember: 

• Galatians written to a group of churches in area made up mostly of Gentiles and not Jewish people.
•  Judaizer:  early converts to Christianity who tried to force believers from non-Jewish backgrounds to adopt Jewish customs as a condition of salvation.  See Acts 15:1.
• Soteriology:  the study of salvation.  God in bringing creation, and especially humans, to enjoy the divine purpose for existence; the life, death, resurrection and exaltation of Christ in relation to human salvation; the study of what the Bible teaches about how individuals are brought to God’s saving goals; the study of election, calling, regeneration, faith, repentance, conversion, justification, predestination, sanctification and glorification.^[1]
• Jesus Christ preached one Gospel; and His apostles – including Paul – preached just one Gospel.  Every other gospel is no gospel at all.

               B.            How serious did Paul look on what was happening in the churches in Galatia?         

                              How does Paul demonstrate this seriousness and God’s seriousness in terms of defending and protecting the Gospel?

I.             Paul’s ______________________.  (1:6)

               Historical waypoint:  The 3 main priorities in Paul’s apostolic ministry were evangelizing lost sinners; establishing the doctrinal foundation of the church and discipling believers through the preaching and teaching; the battle to protect the Gospel and Christians by warning them about the incredible dangers of false teachers.

               A.            Paul uses the word “marvel” in a negative way.

                              1.            The word “marvel” indicated:  disbelief – utter wonderment; utter befuddlement; or dissatisfaction in a negative sense – dissatisfaction in a negative sense.

                               2.            Paul was astonished:  that the Galatians were “turning away so soon – so quickly.”

                               3.            See Eph. 4:11-16:  the primary purpose and reason why Christ gave apostles and pastors to the church.

                              4.            Some hope:  the Galatians were only in the process of turning away.  See 4:10; 5:2 and 5:10.

               B.            Paul was astonished ________ what they were turning:  from Him who called them in the grace of Christ.

                              1.            Key interpretive and application point – Paul uses 2 prepositional phrases here:

• from – (apov) – from Him who called you in the grace of Christ.
• to – (eijs) – to a different Gospel.

                                             Historical way-points:

• Paul was in these churches for about 3 months – on average.
• Paul’s pattern of ministry:  he often supported himself during the day as a tent-maker; the rest of his day spent evangelizing and preaching and teaching doctrine:  the revelation of Christ; the Gospel; Christ in the Old Testament; kingdom of God living – and so on.  See Ephesians 2:19-22.

                              2.            Foundational doctrine contained in the phrase:  from Him who called you in the grace of Christ.  God’s calling lost sinners to salvation; to the Gospel; to His work in the salvation of souls – God’s sovereignty in salvation.  See Gal. 1:1 & 3; Matt. 20:1-6; Matt. 22:1-14; John 6:41-51; John 6:60-66; Romans 1:1-7; Romans 8:28-30.

Conclusion

               Consider the Word of God; consider Paul’s astonishment; consider your understanding of the                               Gospel.