Christian Living

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‘But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed’
Galatians 1:28


“Any other gospel?”

My thoughts exactly as I read this scripture. Can there be any other gospel? As a believer, ‘gospel’ to me had always meant the gospel of Jesus. How could there be any other gospel?

Galatians 1:28 was written as a warning to the Galatian church because they had received amongst them, some who preached a gospel that sought to enslave them to work out their salvation in the flesh or, more simply put, by self effort.

In Jude 3-4, Jude raises similar concerns as he exhorts those called and sanctified by God to:

‘Contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints’

In other words, contend for the gospel in the form and substance in which it was handed down to the early church. And, just like Apostle Paul in Galatians, Jude exhorts the church to resist any attempt to vary the truth of the gospel from the form in which it was passed on to the Apostles and the early church.

Also exhorting the church to stand fast against false teachings, John the Apostle writes in I John 2:24:

‘Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning’

Why the constant exhortation to hold on to the truth as taught at the beginning? Because when we let go of the truth upon which we became saved, we either destroy the foundation upon which our faith rests or we begin to build on a false or perverted foundation that will not stand the test of eternity. And

‘If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?

Psalms 11:3

The foundation we seek to protect must, however, be based on the truth and verifiable by scriptures. And in this, we must accept only the building blocks of truth that are solely based on scriptures and not another’s revelation or interpretation of it. We are not to accept interpretations and revelations of the Word that seek to ‘add to’ or ‘remove from’ the clear literal meaning of the Word.

The truth however is that our search and hunger for the truth can only produce the truth when we search and seek for understanding with a heart that is pure, loyal and committed to God. An impure heart can interpret and see things in a way that defends and protects its own interests. But, if we embark on the search with a genuine heart cry to know the heart of God, the Spirit of Truth will lead us, all the time, to the truth.

Please note that in both Galatians and Jude, these ‘other gospel’ was taught, not by strangers or non Christians, but by those who had held themselves out within the Church as being qualified to be entrusted with the responsibility of teaching the truth. The same holds true in today’s church.

While the contention in the Galatia church was in respect of salvation by works as opposed to salvation by faith, the battle ground can defer. Today, there are ‘other gospel’ on:

• Whether heaven and hell exists
• Doctrine of eternal security
• The second coming of Jesus
• Infallibility of the Word
• Same sex relationships /marriages
• Polygamy

This list is not exhaustive.

The only way we can avoid falling victim to these ‘other gospel’ is to arm ourselves with the knowledge and understanding of the truth.

How can we do this?

• Acknowledge and appropriate the truth of God’s anointing within us. I John 2:20 states:

‘But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things’

Verse 27 states:

‘But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him’

This means that we have been gifted by God with the ability to be taught the truth by the Holy Spirit.

• Devote time and effort to studying the Bible.

II Timothy 2:15 admonishes us to study to show ourselves:

‘… approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth’

We must acquire for ourselves an approved version of the Bible, set aside time to study the Word and call on the Holy Spirit to teach us the Scriptures. We need the Holy Spirit. He is the Spirit of truth, the Teacher and the One who inspired those who wrote the scripture. He, more than anyone else, is most qualified to unveil the truth of the Word to us.

We owe it to ourselves and to God who did not hold back in giving His only begotten Son for us, to go that extra mile to ensure that we run this race armed and equipped with the truth.

If we at any time note or perceive that a word as taught or a doctrine as put forward does not align with the gospel, we must seek the face of the Lord to help us to discern and acknowledge the truth. And if indeed we find it not to align with the gospel of Jesus Christ, we must not hesitate to label it ‘any other gospel’ and declare the one who teaches it as “accursed”.

May the Lord who alone is able to keep us from stumbling uphold us in the truth, may He embolden us to be able to contend for the faith, may we remain faithful to the true gospel of Jesus, which is and forever remains the power of God unto salvation.

Shalom!

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