Have you been exposed to “another gospel?” In Galatians 1:6, Paul writes to the Galatian church, warning them against what he calls “another gospel.”
Galatians 1:6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
Is there more than one gospel? The Galatian church had succumbed to a stylized message that was a mixture of Jewish legalism and hyphenated grace. They understood that Jesus was their savior, but they added to the message of Jesus the requirement to adopt and submit to all manner of performance-based teachings regarded as necessary to be right with God (in addition to the work of the Cross).
If there is another gospel being preached today, how would we know it? In Gal. 6:8 Paul references the error in his day as one that leaned heavily on extra-biblical understandings, alleged angel visitations, and claims of endorsement by the most prominent teachers of his day, including himself. People would show up in Galatia and say, “I saw an angel, and he told me what you need to do…” or “I spent time with the apostle Paul, and he gave me a secret revelation that you need to adopt to be right with God…” Paul goes on in v. 8 to say that all such pretenders are accursed from Christ.
How do we know when we’ve been exposed to “another gospel?” Not as easy as you might think. Many say, “if it doesn’t agree with the Bible, then it is false doctrine.” Really? That assumes that the person saying this has a total and accurate understanding of what the Bible says. When they say, “God will never speak contrary to His word,” what they mean is, “God will never speak contrary to my understanding of the word…” That is arrogance. If that is the litmus test for false doctrine, then no one can be taught what they don’t already know because if they don’t know it already (by their measurement), then it must be false doctrine. Many people think this way.
How do we tell the difference then between the true gospel and “another” gospel? My wife was a banker for many years, and as a banker, she had to know the difference between a real dollar bill and a counterfeit. She didn’t learn this by handling counterfeit bills but by handling genuine bills. If you spend enough time handing genuine bills, you will instantly identify counterfeit ones. What then is the genuine message of the gospel? Paul narrows this down to utmost simplicity in Col. 1:26-27:
Col. 1:26 …the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: 27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: 28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
What is the message? Christ in you. Christ in you is the centerpiece of the gospel. Everything in God’s plan for the ages is totally geared and slanted to bring about the believer’s utter dependency on the indwelling of God in the human heart. In Luke 17:21, Jesus states:
[Luk 17:21 KJV] 21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
If it’s not IN YOU, its NOT the kingdom. If the message you are hearing is that you need some OUTWARD THING, a message, a teaching, a complex set of religious protocols to “get it on” with God, then that is “another gospel.” Jesus died to be something IN you not to bring you into a relationship with some OUTWARD dependency. All true ministry, no matter what their message is, will, in the end, always seek to enlarge and increase your understanding of who God is in your own heart and life. They will leave you with a greater dependency not upon them or their ministry but upon the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in you. If that is not the end result then you may safely disregard that ministry no matter how compelling they may seem to be.
Christ IN you is the message. All other messages, dependencies, etc., are the “other gospel” that Paul warns us about in Galatians.
