In 1985, Coca-Cola changed its formula. The public was furious over the new, sweeter taste. The company quickly tried to re-brand the new product, calling it New Coke while bringing back Coke Classic. But it wasn't long before New Coke disappeared into the pages of bad marketing history when people refused to buy it.
For Coke to be anything different, it's NOT Coke. And Paul tells the Galatians that for the Gospel to be anything different, it's NOT the Gospel.
Paul is just back in Antioch after his first missionary trip with Barnabas to the island of Cyprus and the region of Galatia in what we know today as Turkey. He's greeted with the bad news about the Good News. The people of Galatia have already abandoned the Gospel that Paul had just preached to them. Hearing that, the apostle fires off the most blunt and stern letter that's ever left his pen.
"I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you" (v6). There's a lot in this opening phrase. Paul's absolutely flabbergasted by the news. The Greek verb here is θαυμαζω/thaumazo. It means to marvel with amazement at something, to be shocked, stunned, amazed or astonished. The apostle is still picking his jaw up off the floor as he picks up his quill.
He describes that he's stunned that this happened "so quickly." The Greek here is ταχεως/tacheos. The term can mean something that occurs quickly but just as well something that happens easily. Paul can't believe that the Galatians ditched the grace of Jesus so quickly and easily. He made not one but two trips to this network of churches he planted in the area (Acts 13:13-14:23). He's been gone just a few weeks and it's fallen apart. How in the world could this happen "so quickly."
These Galatian believers are "deserting Him" (v6). Let's go back to the original language once again. The verb here is μετατιθεμι/metatithemi. The ESV's rendering of "deserting" is right on target. This was used to describe soldiers who abandon their military service and bolt from the battlefield. They've gone AWOL in Galatia. No "Onward, Christian Soldiers" here. No, a court-martial may be more the order of the day for these deserters.
Paul is brokenhearted, not that they've jumped ship on him, but that they've turned their backs on Jesus, "Him who called you in the grace of Christ" (v6). The apostle didn't call them to salvation. That was Jesus. It's the same for everyone. While God continually uses an endless parade of goofballs, weirdos and losers to share the Good News of Christ, it is actually God Himself who does the calling (2Th 2:13-15; Rom 8:30; 2Tim 1:9).
And Jesus' call is one that drips with grace. We absolutely do not deserve it. As a matter of fact, He's reaching out to His enemies and with an invitation to join His royal family. That doesn't make a lick of sense. And THAT'S why the Bible calls it grace. Amazing grace. Breathtaking grace. Mind-blowing grace. Instead of getting the punishment we deserve for our sin, He drenches us with the grace we don't deserve. We must NEVER forget that. We must preach that Gospel to ourselves EVERYDAY!
Paul tells the Galatians that they are "turning to a different gospel" (v6). The Greek uses the adjective ‘ετερος/heteros. It can mean other, another or different. The term actually means something that is distinctly and completely different to that which it is being compared. It designates something qualitatively different.
The word can also mean strange or weird. The apostle is NOT saying this gospel is really close to the true Gospel he preached. No, what the Galatians have heard and are now following is counterfeit.
The Apostle Paul can't believe it. The folks in these Galatian churches have fallen for some strange distortion of the truth. And now they've gone AWOL. For a gospel to be anything different from the TRUE Gospel, it's not THE Gospel.
©2012
Jay Jennings
No comments:
Post a Comment