Galatians 1:6–10 (ESV)
No Other Gospel
6
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— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 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. 9 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.
10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.
I always find verse 6 as a wake up call to re-examine what you believe. “6 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.” People often leave
the church for many different reasons. It is often not for theological reasons, but personal. I know it hurts to get your feelings hurt, but don’t sacrifice good theology for hurt feelings. Let’s face it, we are Christians and
subject to feelings, but family members who are our own blood hurt our feelings too. Don’t run from solid theology. There is a time to walk away, but be careful... feelings are real, but they often lie to you. I did walk away from a
denomination that no longer was teaching that the Bible is the Word of God, inerrant and infallible. That church (denomination) worded their belief in the Bible as the “Bible contains the Word of God.” There is a difference in “contains”
and “is”. This allows one to throw out anything that they don’t agree with, such as women ordination, alternate lifestyles, abortion, living together, and many other issues. We change our lifestyle to fit the Bible, not change
the Bible to fit our lifestyle. I didn’t change, but that denomination’s teachings did change. You look back 40 years ago and their views matched the Bible. The world is changing, but the Bible does not change.
I remember a lady who came to our church and she was new in town. They were trying out different churches which I think is good. The problem was that she was letting her 6 year old daughter pick out the church.
I remember telling the mother that she is the parent and a church is chosen by proper theology, not the size of the playground. I never saw her again... but my answer is still the same today.
I
pray: O Lord, help me to study your Word and to know your ways, so that I seek the truth. As a human, I bleed blood and live with feelings. Help me to set feelings aside and focus on what is truth. Help me to not let the world dictate
how to translate the Bible, but to use the Bible as my guide and standard (rule and norm). Help me to focus on proper theology, yet do so with love. Help me to not hurt people’s feelings and to live in forgiveness. Help me to
not seek man’s approval, but yours. Amen.