“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—which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!” (Galatians 1:6–9, NIV 1984).
“You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. ‘A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.’ I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be.” (Galatians 5:7–10, NIV 1984).
My Musings – “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” (Soren Kierkegaard). The reality is that when one chooses to believe what isn’t true, they are in fact refusing to believe what is true.
Whenever we add to or subtract from the Gospel account, we are perverting the Gospel of Christ. For this, under inspiration from the Holy Spirt, Paul has harsh words. “Let him be eternally condemned!” So important that he repeated the condemnation. Some of the perversions are easy to spot. Others are so subtle that they “have a form of Godliness,” and can easily fool the uninitiated. And there are so many that it is nearly impossible to keep track of all the counterfeits. The remedy is to be so familiar with the genuine article that whenever we are confronted with a false gospel, no matter how nuanced, we are to spot the flaws.
My Advice – Do not let yourself be fooled. Satan will do his best to get you to refuse to believe what is true (“did God really say?“) and believe what isn’t true (“isn’t this what He meant?”). So, “do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15, NIV 1984).
The Brew Is A Musing 