All Shook up

In the opening words of his letter to the churches of Galatia, Paul wastes no time in cutting to the chase.  He is shocked and stunned that they've become traitors to Jesus almost overnight (Gal 1:6).  

The apostle has just returned to the church in Antioch from his first missionary journey.  He's greeted with disturbing news of a great Galatian desertion.  Despite two amazing visits to this network of churches in modern day Turkey (Acts 13:13-14:23), they have turned to a counterfeit version of the Gospel.

Paul tells his readers that it is really impossible to believe another gospel because their is NO SUCH THING!  He writes, "not that there is another one" (v7).  Previously, he described it as "a different gospel" (Gal 1:6).  The Greek term here is ‘ετερος/heteros, meaning a completely different kind.  

In verse 7, the apostle writes it's not possible for there to be "another" (Gr. αλλος/allos).  This word means another of the same kind.  To be different in any way from the true Gospel is to be no Gospel at all.

This is a mammoth reminder to each one of us that any variation of the news about the Good News is very bad news.  There is one and only one Gospel of Jesus.  

When we add anything to it or take anything from His gracious message, it's no longer the Gospel.  Any variation is simply a manmade Frankenstein's monster that can't save anyone but destroys everything.

What is the Gospel?  Paul sums it up in his first letter to his friends in Corinth.  He reminds the brothers and sisters there "of the Gospel I preached to you" (1Cor 15:1).  

He plainly states "that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures" to boatload of people including Paul himself (1Cor 15:3-8).

Mark Driscoll sums up the Gospel in this way.  Jesus lived the perfect life we couldn't live.  He died the brutal death we should've died.  And He was raised to a life we don't deserve.  

He is our substitute.  In life.  In death.  He did for us what we should have done.  That's the Good News.

Any variation of the news about the Good News is very bad news.

Paul begins to describe the situation in Galatia.  "There are some who trouble you and want to distort the Gospel of Christ" (v7).  Apparently some people rolled into these churches just as the apostle hit the road stirring up trouble among these baby believers.  That's a pretty accurate picture.  

He uses the Greek verb ταρασσω/tarasso.  It describes someone shaking an object violently back and forth, causing an inward disturbance.  

The Galatians once had the grace and peace of God (Gal 1:3).  Not anymore.  This counterfeit gospel has them agitated and anxious.  They're all shook up.

When we're feeling an inner anxiety, we need to preach the Gospel to ourselves again.  Fear and worry are NOT part of what Jesus has for us.  Over and over in the Gospels, God's message is "Fear not!"  

When life shakes us up, we must remember that "God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control" (2Tim 1:7).  Remember, that spirit of fear is NOT from Christ.  Jesus is the source of the peace "which surpasses all understanding" (Phil 3:7).

Paul goes on to say that these "Gospel shakers" came into Galatia wanting "to distort the Gospel of Christ" (v7).  Again, a closer look at the original text is insightful.  The verb here is μεταστρεφω/metastrepho.  It means not only to turn around but to pervert and distort something.  

The term describes how one thing is changed and twisted into something completely different.  What began as one thing is now radically and thoroughly changed.

It doesn't take much to change the gracious Gospel of Jesus into laundry list of works.  We are NOT saved through good works.  We are saved to good works (Eph 2:8-10).  A subtle difference.  Yet it is the difference between the Gospel and no Gospel at all.

And we see Paul use the term "Gospel" (v7).  Here we see it as a noun.  But in Greek, we also see it as a verb often translated as "preaching the Gospel."  The apostle uses the noun and verb forms of "Gospel" five times in verses 6-9.  

They appear 15 times in his letter to the Galatians.  He is getting back to the basics of the Good News for these wayward believers.  If we don't get it right from the beginning then we're in big, big trouble.

Any variation of the news about the Good News is very bad news.  That's what happens when we're all shook up. 

©2012 

Jay Jennings