Deserting Grace: The Danger of a Distorted Gospel

I'm astonished that you are so quickly deserting him and we had already seen in previous sessions how in chapter 3 verse one he says You must be Bewitched you must be drugged you must be under a spell to throw away the gospel with this non-gospel that you're being taught but here it's throw away a person and who is it you are you are deserting a person it's not Christ only it's God the one who called you in the grace of Christ This Is God your maker the one you must be right with you are throwing him away you are walking away from him. [00:01:47]

The irony is that these people who are troubling them and changing the gospel are Jewish people they are basing everything they say on their understanding of the Old Testament and the god of the Old Testament which means they're God people this is what was so offensive in the in the life of Jesus where he said if you don't have the son you don't have life you don't have the father if you don't have the son and so he's saying these God people these people who are saturated with the god of the Old Testament they don't even know him they have deserted him and they want you to join them in deserting God. [00:02:36]

The Gospel is the gospel of the grace that was manifest in the death of Christ for us as we've seen in the previous paragraph this new gospel this changed gospel is forfeiting Grace so you've been called in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel what is before we before we pursue that further let's just clarify here this word called I think he's giving them the benefit of the doubt that they are truly called of God and this process of desertion has not been complete he still holds out hope that they are the called of God. [00:03:31]

The call of God is The Sovereign work of God in and through the preaching of the Gospel that causes people to see Christ for who he really is and believe so when Paul says here you are deserting him who called you he's still in the Judgment of Charity and love saying I believe you're called but you sure are giving evidence that you may not be called in this sense now what's the problem they're turning to a different gospel and it's not a gospel though it's being claimed as a gospel. [00:05:12]

They changed the gospel of Christ and thus trouble them and how has it changed Galatians 2:21 I do not nullify the grace of God for if righteousness were through the law Christ died to no purpose so they are saying circumcision we'll see this in a minute is a part of the law that must be kept you cannot be righteous before God without the performance of circumcision and so they are adding circumcision as a necessity for salvation alongside the work of Christ and what that does Paul says is make the death of Christ pointless and nullify Grace. [00:05:58]

Look I Paul say to you that if you accept circumcision Christ will be of no advantage to you now there's the requirement of circumcision if you go along with these false teachers and you say okay I will say that necessary for salvation is circumcision then Christ ceases to be your savior wow isn't that amazing you try to add this to Christ you don't have Christ I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that means accepts it as a ground for his acceptance with God his justification if you do you must keep the whole law. [00:07:18]

In other words if you want to base your acceptance with God on lawke keeping you have to base it on perfect lawke keeping because that's the way the law is set up you have to have Grace if you don't have perfect lawke keeping you are severed from from Christ so cut off from grace and cut off from Christ you who would be justified by law you have fallen from Grace they're choosing against Christ and against Grace and Paul is pointing out here against God so I'm astonished that you were walking away from God because it was God who called you to himself by grace. [00:08:05]

If you turn away from grace to a different gospel namely the one that adds to the gospel that's what this change is here these folks who are troubling them would say oh we're not rejecting the gospel we're tweaking the gospel we're tweaking the gospel the gospel is incomplete as Paul shares it it has to have circumcision in it and Paul says if you go that route and change the gospel it's a different gospel indeed it's a damnable gospel it is no gospel they were called Paul hopes and Praise by Grace. [00:09:08]

Grace is undermined by marginalizing in Christ by making him a partner in self-Salvation through circumcision now we're going to see more of this a lot more of this because the whole book is written to protect against that Distortion of and rejection of grace and the loss of God by embracing a gospel that is no gospel. [00:09:52]

The irony is that those leading this astray are deeply rooted in the Old Testament, yet they fail to recognize the true God because they reject His Son, Jesus Christ. The core issue here is the distortion of the gospel, which is fundamentally about the grace manifested in Christ's death. This new, altered gospel forfeits grace by adding requirements like circumcision, suggesting that righteousness can be achieved through the law. [00:02:54]

Despite the current situation, I hold onto the hope that those who are straying are still called by God. However, their actions suggest otherwise, as they are turning to a different gospel that undermines grace. This altered gospel is not a gospel at all; it is a distortion that leads people away from the true grace of God. [00:05:14]

The requirement of circumcision, as proposed by false teachers, is a significant issue. Accepting it as necessary for salvation means that Christ is no longer of any advantage. It implies that one must keep the entire law perfectly, which is impossible, thus severing oneself from Christ and falling from grace. This choice is not just against Christ and grace but against God Himself. [00:06:43]