I think it is impossible to discuss the Jerusalem Council without also discussing the Letter to the Galatians. Scholars disagree on whether Galatians was written sometime before the Council (AD 49) in response to the Judaizers in Antioch or after the meeting in Jerusalem – two, maybe three years, about AD 51-52; I’m going to side with those who favor the later date, because of Paul’s firm tone and also because it is prima fascia proof that the Judaiziers continued in their heresy. Yes, they had apparently heard the ruling of the Apostles and elders of the Jerusalem church. They knew what had been decided. But they didn’t stop teaching that you must follow the Jewish law in order to be saved. They just moved their “act” a bit further away from Jerusalem.

It is possible that Galatians was the first apostolic letter Paul wrote, which might explain why it lacks the pleasant greeting, etc., that characterize his other letters, but I agree with most scholars that his blunt beginning and stern tone throughout the letter is a result of his intense fear for the Galatians. “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel” (Galatians 1:6).  Something was seriously wrong in the churches of Galatia to prompt such an abrupt and sobering introduction. A careful reading of the entire epistle confirms that he gospel which Paul had preached and which these Christians had accepted was somehow quickly set aside for other teaching.

The study of the Book of Galatians is of critical importance to Christians today. We learn of a departure from the gospel in ancient days, but we also shall see that there is similar error being proclaimed today. Many Christians have accepted this divergence from the gospel, not knowing the seriousness of their error. It is important for us to understand what the Galatian error was so that we can recognize similar false teaching today. God-willing, we will reject false teaching for what it is—a departure from the gospel by which we have been saved.

“I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you, and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to that which you received, let him be accursed.” Galatians 1:6-9

Imagine yourself as a member of one of the Galatian churches which had just received this letter from Paul, who opens with an immediate criticism. The severity of the error warranted the urgency of Paul’s tone and the stinging words he chose to diagnose the disease of the Galatian churches. Paul indicted the false teachers for preaching another gospel and pronounced sentence upon them by damning them (this may be the first Christian example of anathema). Paul accused those who had fallen for such teaching of deserting the God who called them in Christ Jesus. Shocking words, meant to jar his readers, utterly lacking in diplomacy or subtlety. Yet Paul was not being theatrical. He is doing the only thing that can be done in such circumstances. You wouldn’t ordinarily jerk one of your children around by the arm, but if they were just about to step into speeding traffic, it would be the loving thing to do. It would be inappropriate, maybe even fatal, to attempt a casual discussion about traffic. In a time of crisis, severe action is mandatory. The severity of Paul’s words alerts us to the seriousness of the situation in the Galatian churches.

Right in verse 6, Paul explained the problem. To change the gospel is to jeopardize the basis of the eternal well-being of every Christian. When the Galatians turned to a different gospel, they deserted the Father, who called them through the Son. In verse 7 Paul clarified his reference to a “different gospel” in the previous verse. In reality there is only one gospel. What may initially have seemed like a minor adjustment in doctrine to the Galatians was an alternative to the gospel and, in fact, an abandonment of the gospel, for there is only one gospel.

Paul defined the gospel as that which he had previously proclaimed to the Galatians. No matter who it might be, no matter how spectacular they might be, any deviation from the gospel previously proclaimed would be worthy of God’s most severe judgment. Paul then repeated this in order that his readers might understand the seriousness of what they had done. However, verse 9 is more than a mere repetition of the previous verse. I believe that Paul reiterates not only what he has just said (in verse 8), but also what he had previously said while still with the Galatians. He had warned them before, while he was in Galatia, not to turn away. (This is one reason I side with the scholars who think Paul wrote this letter after the Jerusalem Council).

I believe there is considerably greater condemnation for the false teachers than for their hapless students. Believers should take errors very seriously, for Paul spoke of it as forsaking God (v. 6). The false teacher, however, is even more severely cautioned; he is doubly cursed, implying that while the Galatians had fallen into such error unwittingly, the teachers of another gospel did so consciously. Seeking to lead people astray, the false teacher is worthy of a much more severe penalty (James 3:1).

Galatians 1:3-5 outlines the gospel in broad strokes. The gospel of grace brings peace to those who receive it in faith, thus those who turn from the gospel, turn from grace and peace. The gospel is the result of the finished work of Christ on the cross... His death was for the forgiveness of our sins and our “deliverance from this present evil age,” according to the will of God and for His glory. We may be inclined to think of our deliverance from “this present evil age” as our eschatological (future) hope, but this is not the principle thought here. The work of Christ on the cross is sufficient to forgive us of our sins and fully sanctify us in His presence, but for the time being it is also adequate to free us from our slavery to sin here and now. Paul referred to the Galatians present as well as future sanctification. This is quite opposite of what the Judaizers taught, for they believed in putting men back under the Law in order to receive sanctification. In other words, faith alone was not sufficient.

The “other gospel,” or the “un-gospel” to which Paul referred in verses 6-9, finds the finished work of Christ inadequate to sanctify men in a sinful world. As a result, they sought to add Law-keeping to faith, and thus nullify grace altogether. The false gospel which is countered in this epistle was man-made and man-pleasing (1:10-11). It sought to put men under bondage by compelling them to be circumcised and to keep the Old Testament Law (2:3-5; 4:1-31; 5:1-12). It implied that those who fail to live under the Law were second class citizens, denying the gospel (2:11-21). The false gospel ignored that divine power is evidenced through God’s Spirit, given through faith. The false gospel made men rely on the flesh (3:1-5; 5:16-26; 6:8). The false gospel failed to remember that the Old Testament Law condemned men, and that salvation was always a matter of God’s promise, not men’s performance (3:6-29; 6:12-16).

Paul’s introduction to the letter to the Galatians underscores one truth which is not only central in the epistle but is crucial to every Christian: the preservation of the purity of the gospel. By following the teaching of the Judaizers, the Galatians had turned from the truth of the gospel and from God Himself. Circumcision had its benefits, but to circumcise as an act of proof of one’s Christianity would have been to turn away from the gospel of God’s grace (2:3-5; 5:1-4). For Paul, the gospel was not just a message which, if believed, led to salvation; it was a guiding principle which governed men’s lives. Actions which seemed inconsequential to others were abhorrent to Paul because they were a violation of the gospel, the one truth which must never be altered, not only in creedal confession, but in practice.

Paul wrote that the gospel has everything to do with those who are saved for it is the standard by which our every act and attitude must be judged. It is the central truth which must be practiced and preserved in its purity. To Paul, the gospel meant not only an invitation to unbelievers, but the setting forth its implications to Christians. The gospel is not something we face once (at conversion) and then leave behind. It is the message we believe to be saved, and the message by which we are to live. The gospel reminds us of the basis for our salvation and of our sanctification. Christians must be reminded of the gospel because of what it means for our everyday living.

I don’t think what happened in Galatia was a wholesale rejection of the gospel. It was deserted by distortion and thoughtless action. What was wrong, some may have reasoned, in submitting to circumcision in order to humor the Judaizers? It was truly wrong, Paul insisted, for in so doing the gospel of God’s grace was denied. We today tend to measure orthodoxy more in terms of people’s creed while Paul looked at their conduct. It is a departure from the gospel to act contrary to the gospel. This we may do more often, and less intentionally, through our actions than by our outright statements.

The gospel, as we see in these examples, is set aside in the name of purity and piety as much as in the name of paganism and immorality. We look for the heretic among those who openly advocate loose living and openly attack the authority of the Word of God. Satan uses morality and purity as bait as often as he uses immorality and impurity. In 1 Timothy 4:1-4 Paul dealt with the denial of certain liberties in the name of holiness. In Colossians 2, denial and self-abuse are advocated as promoting purity when they do just the opposite. The Judaizers sought to bring about purity and holiness through Law-keeping. Paul taught that the gospel brings about purity through the work of Christ on the cross.

The gospel is salvation by grace, through faith, apart from works. Let us beware of those who seek to promote godliness through human effort. This is a denial of the gospel by which men are saved.