No Other Way

03.10.13

Galatians 1.23 23 They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” ESV

It can only be explained as a remarkable turn-around, the irony of it all: He who used to persecute us is now one of us! Go figure. The litmus test of whether one is preaching the truth or not simply boils down to: is he (or she) preaching the Lordship of Jesus Christ? That is the gospel and it is the only gospel. Paul said it was his gospel – not that he made it up, but by the grace of God, he owned it.

Paul said, “For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. But when [God] who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.” (Galatians 1.11-17 ESV) Paul didn’t make this stuff up...

God will share His good news with us men, but He makes sure that we get the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. In today’s reading Moses made it a point of saying that if anyone came along and preached turning to bow down before other gods, they were to be immediately executed for they were purposely lying and rebelling against the truth: there is only one God and He only has one message (read Deuteronomy 13). Anything else is hogwash – no matter how good or reasonable it sounds.

Paul was astounded that the Galatians had given up on that fact. Paul said that he had the only gospel and anything else was accursed – and anyone who bought into such perversity was accused as well.

If ever one has the hankering to get at what God was getting at here’s what to do: thoughtfully and carefully read Galatians. The best commentary on Christianity is found in the little epistle called Galatians. If one ever needs a treatise on love, faith, truth, and hope: it is found in Galatians. Paul masterfully refutes the idiocy of “another gospel” (which he fully understood may sound incredibly reasonable, appealing, and true).

And here is the bottom-line: Paul said if it was popular with men, then it cannot be true. The rub boils down to whether it is accepted by men – the gospel isn’t. Those who believe are those who run against the grain of humanity because humanity cannot (and will not) accept God’s truth. And those who accept it are only those who’ve been given the grace to accept it by revelation; and that only happens to every believer everywhere – every time. There is no other way. And for those who believe, there is a price to pay: an incessant attempt to unravel (or replace) the truth.