In Galatians 1:7, the Apostle Paul warns the Christians in Galatia that some people are trying to ‘pervert the gospel of Christ’. Yet the word ‘pervert’ is used elsewhere in the NT to mean ‘reverse’. For example, Acts 2:20 says ‘the sun will be turned into (same word) darkness’, or James 4:9 says ‘let your laughter be turned into (same word) crying’.
So how can changing the gospel of grace, even slightly, actually reverse the gospel altogether? It’s because when it comes to salvation, there are only 1 of 2 options:
- Either God did something for us (salvation), and we now owe him (our faith and obedience),
- Or, we do something for God (good works), so he now owes us (salvation)
There is no middle ground here. Either salvation is all of God, or it is not. If we claim even the smallest thing is needed to earn salvation, we’ve reversed the gospel. For example:
- When the Roman Catholic church claims salvation is through Jesus PLUS the sacraments, they’ve reversed the gospel.
- When certain Pentecostal churches claim one has to speak in tongues to be a true Christian, or experience a ‘second blessing’ to be a true Christian, they’ve reversed the gospel.
- When certain mega-churches claim if you tithe (give 10% of your income) to their church, God will bless you materially 100-fold, they’ve reversed the gospel.
- And when certain liberal churches claim that Jesus is one way to God, but not the only way, they’ve reversed the gospel.
The reason Paul is so harsh in his letter to the Galatians is because this ‘anti-gospel’ messes with people’s eternities. Those who hold to a works-based gospel have not abandoned a doctrine, they’ve abandoned God himself (Gal 1:6). May we not incur the curses Paul called for in Gal 1:8-9, and stick to the gospel of grace.
