Departing From the Gospel

Now we will look more deeply into the subject I touched upon earlier. I said that whereas Paul does not spare the Galatians, neither does he wish to shut the gate of salvation to them completely. He intends to bring them to repentance, and for this reason he speaks of the grace of God into which they had all been called. Yet, he does not flatter them; rather, he rebukes them for their sins. In particular, he rebukes them for their fickleness, for they had listened to deceivers who came in among them distorting the pure doctrine of the gospel. In order to make them better perceive their treachery, Paul says he marvels that they have forsaken their heavenly calling so quickly and easily. He wonders how it is that they have been led astray so swiftly, and how it is that they have remained in that state, given that they had felt and experienced the grace of God in our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Because he is seeking to restore them, he is not saying at the outset that they have completely turned away from the gospel, but rather that they have been overtaken by temptation through seducers, who sought no less than to pervert the truth of God. There is only one pure gospel, as also there is only one Jesus Christ on whom it is founded. It is not for us to create the gospel anew; indeed, if we seek to add anything to the pure seed which we have received from our Lord Jesus Christ, we are destroying what God has established. This, in sum, is what Paul is teaching us in this first verse.

-ooOOoOOoo-

Calvin is deeply challenging here.  When Paul writes to the Galatians, he is writing to the church in that place, the local church.  And in that church, there are unbelievers – he wants to keep the door of salvation open to them!  His desire is to bring them to repentance (cf. Rom.2:4).  They have all been called into the grace of God, but not all have responded properly.  Hence he rebukes them for their sins.  And rightly so.  Any good father or pastor would do that when he sees his children going astray.  Pity the church that has a minister who shows he does not love them or care for their souls by not rebuking them.  

But he is also deeply concerned for the purity of the Gospel in the church.  Not many ministers like that either!  These church members are in a backslidden state!  And they were quick to move away from the true Gospel.  Paul can’t believe it.  They haven’t completely deserted the gospel, but they are heading in that direction.  He wants to reclaim them for Christ. 

Seducers pervert the truth of God!  Beware of them!  Be vigilant!  Be alert!