A Different Gospel...

Galatians 1:6
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel.

While I think most of us would not believe this verse to be talking about us, perhaps we need to take a closer look at ourselves. Paul is telling the Christians in Galatia that they are “turning to a different gospel.” What do you suppose he means? I wonder what kind of gospel they were turning to.The gospel, meaning good news, is Jesus – He is our good news, our focus (as we discussed yesterday), our everything. I think, perhaps, these Christians were looking else-where, to someone or something else to save them, to bring them some good news. Pshaw! We would never do that!! Or would we? In this society of free-thinking, and opinions around every turn, it would be hard not to start veering off from time-to-time. We hear something here that makes sense, are told something there that feels good, think up something in bed that makes our hearts soar, and VOILA! we have ourselves a “new gospel.” A wrong gospel. Saved by grace but made like Christ through works – wrong! Saved by grace, therefore we can go out and do as we please – wrong! Saved by grace, so that we can return to earth as a new person, reincarnated – wrong! Really, the list could be endless.
We must remain in the Word of God, friends, allowing God to shape our beliefs. He is truth, and He desires that we would worship Him, alone. We must take everything our pastors and our teachers tell us (yes, even me…especially me – I’m no one special!) and compare it to the timeless words of Scripture. And not just one or two verses – the whole thing. It’s easy to take a word here and another there and make the Bible say what we want it to. No, we must work past that temptation and see beyond all that to what it does say, whether we like it or not, whether we agree or not, whether it makes sense or not.
Have some wrong beliefs crept into your heart and mind? It’s easy to let happen, little-by-little, bit-by-bit. Let’s start looking to Scripture, alone, and all that God teaches us there, what we know to be truth, to form our beliefs, and all that we live by.
Hurry, go open your Bible and make sure all of this holds up to the light of God’s Word!