THE PRICE OF DEPARTURE

 THE PRICE OF DEPARTURE

I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ. Galatians 1:6-10.

Introduction

“Beware of Greeks bearing gifts”, was a phrase coined by Virgil in the Aeneid, the retelling of the Trojan War. I suppose a good illustration of this adage would be the legend of the Trojan Horse. The Greeks were at war with the Trojans. They had laid siege to the City of Troy for ten years and they were getting nowhere. So the Greeks devised a plan, didn’t they? They built a huge wooden horse, and they hid an army of warriors in it. Then the Greeks all made like they were going home. They withdrew from surrounding the city, and they sailed away into the sunset!

Then Sinon, a Greek spy, smooth-talked the Trojans into dragging the wooden horse into the City of Troy. When it was dark, Sinon let the Greek warriors out, who then killed the guards. Then the gates of Troy were open and the Greeks flooded in.

Many heresies get dragged into the church. Like the Trojan Horse, they too may look harmless on the outside. But inside they contain something that can kill you and your church. We must always be on our guard against false teaching in the church. We must “Beware of Greeks bearing gifts!”

The Galatians had wheeled a Trojan Horse into they’re midst. The Judaizers had smooth-talked them into buying a false Gospel. The Apostle Paul is firing warning shots over the heads of the Galatians. Paul means business. The warning shot’s more like cannon balls whizzing past your face. They get your attention. You can feel the heat from them. Paul fires his cannon twice. Once in verse 8, and again in verse 9, “Let him be accursed … Let him be accursed”.

The general gist of what we’re looking at is, We need to learn that whoever departs from the Gospel is in mortal danger of being accursed.

To have Christ deny you is to be accursed. When you deny Christ you’re behaving as one who is accursed. To be accursed is “Bad News”. The bad news is that the wrath of God abides on some people. The bad news is that some people are going to experience God’s fiery anger. This is not something I like talking about, but it is something needs to be talked about.

We’ve reached that part of Galatians where Paul, with all the authority vested in him as an Apostle of God, places a curse on the heads of certain individuals. Therefore, we need to ask the question: What does it mean to be “accursed”? To be “accursed” is to have Christ deny you.

Christ Denying You

Proof that you’ve been denied by Christ is demonstrated by your denial of His free offer of grace to you. The rejection of Christ has with it eternal consequences. At this present moment, all who do not have Christ as Saviour are accursed. All who are not believing the gospel at this present moment do not have salvation. That’s the cold reality, isn’t it? But there is good news.

The good news is that God has provided a way for His people to escape the penalty of this curse. That’s what the message of the Gospel is all about. It is God’s solution to the problem of man’s sin. God alone has provided the means of escape. However, there were some people hell-bent on distorting the Gospel. These, as we have learnt, were the Judaizers in Paul’s day. Some of them are most likely Christians converted from Judaism.

The Judaizers are a mild version of the Pharisees, who were all rules and regulations, not necessarily in accordance with God’s law, but their own imaginations. And, like the Pharisees, the Judaizers were attempting to work their way into heaven. The Apostle Paul wants to head them off at the pass before they do any more damage.

They’ve got the congregation at Galatia in a bit of a tizzy over the way of salvation. Up until the Judaizers had arrived, the Galatians believed a man was saved by grace through faith. In other words they believed they were justified by faith. That’s the core of the Gospel isn’t it? Justification by faith is to be declared righteous on account of faith, Christ’s faith!

Even the faith you have is not your own. It belongs to Christ who has given it to you as a gift, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” Ephesians 2:8-9. The Judaizers were saying that more than God’s gift of faith was needed to get a man into heaven. And they were out to teach everyone else their version of the Gospel.

Paul says they wanted to pervert the Gospel. He calls the Judaizer version of the Gospel, a non-gospel, a distorted mirage. Their gospel is like heat-haze on the highway. It looks like water, but you wouldn’t be able to fill a little communion glass in it. There’s no substance to it. It’s not really water at all. It just looks like it.

The Judaizers had begun to make changes to the Gospel. It’s like you or me receiving a wedding invitation and changing things in it. Instead of reading “Come as you are. Wedding garments provided”, you’ve altered it to read “Come dressed in your best. No Admittance for those in flip-flops and tea-shirts”. You’ve seen those dress code signs in buildings? Well there’s no dress code for entrance into the kingdom of heaven. The Lord has taken care of all of that. Augustus Toplady got it right when he wrote,

Nothing in my hand I bring,

Simply to Your cross I cling;

Naked, come to you for dress,

Helpless, look to You for grace;

Stained by sin, to You I cry:

“Wash me, Saviour, or I die!”

But this isn’t the song of the Judaizers, is it? They’re singing from a different hymnbook. They’re singing a different tune. They’re singing different words, words they have invented. They’re saying, “No, no Toplady. Forget about this being naked and simply clinging to Christ’s cross business!” They’re saying, “You need to come to God cash in hand!” They’re saying that God deals in the currency of good works!They’re saying, “If you want to get into heaven here’s what you gotta do…

But the Judaizers have it all wrong, don’t they? The Judaizers will stick out like sore thumbs at the wedding feast of Jesus. They’ll be like the man who didn’t have on the wedding garment. In Jesus’ day wedding garments were customarily provided apparently. Nowadays we all have to rush out and buy three-piece suits and fancy dresses. But back then, all guests were provided with suitable wedding attire.

Jesus spoke in a parable of one gate-crasher who didn’t have a wedding garment at a king’s wedding. Matthew 22:13 tells us what happened to him, “Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness;’ there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” This is what it means when Christ denies you. It means you are accursed. It means that you’ve refused to put on the garment of grace He has offered you. It means you’ll be cast into outer darkness, weeping and gnashing of teeth. This is the price of departure! This is where the Judaizers were heading with the Galatians. But Paul is out to guide the Lord’s precious little flock at Galatia back into green pastures, beside still waters.

The Judaizers were accusing Paul of proclaiming only half a Gospel. They were accusing him of being a man pleaser. That’s what he’s on about in verse 10, “For do I now persuade men or God? Or do I seek to please men?”

Some of our own churches has not been devoid of “men pleasers” in its pulpits. I’ll tell you from experience that it’s not easy to stand in a pulpit and preach some Bible passages. But it must be done, as Paul said in his farewell to the Ephesians, “I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God” Acts 20:26, 27.

I know that some in the pews are offended by some of the things I say, but what can I do but preach the whole counsel of God. If I water down, or add something to the Gospel, even just a little I run the risk of ending up with your blood on my hands! “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea” Mark 9:42. “Let not many of you become teachers knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment” James 3:1.

But what about your part in all of this? There are many people out there who wander from church to church, seeking to have their ears tickled by men pleasers! (2 Tim. 4:3). We live in a time when many people would rather listen to fables than the truth. There’s a great demand for those who will teach fables and tickle peoples ears nowadays. But will a fable ever glorify God and save a sinner? Only the unadulterated Gospel will save sinners, right?

Paul never proclaimed only half a gospel. Therefore the accusations of the Judaizers were as false as their gospel.

Paul had spelled out the way of salvation in the simplest of terms. Simply turn from your sins, believe in Christ and what He has done on the cross, and you shall be saved – is what Paul’s on about. Jesus said the same thing when He said, “Repent, and believe in the gospel” Mark 1:15.

I once presented the Gospel to a Jewish man & what did he say in response? “Too simplistic!” “Too easy!” say the Judaizers. “Paul just said that to keep in with you Galatians. He didn’t want to upset you by telling you what you really need to do to get saved. He was afraid you’d get upset with him if he told you the whole truth.” These are the kinds of things the Judaizers were saying about Paul and his gospel message. They were accusing him of missing out the difficult parts.

It’s kind of like those ministers who keep on telling their congregations “God is love. God is love”, and neglect to tell them “God is a consuming fire” for fear of upsetting them. The result of decades of this that people end up worshipping a lop-sided God. A distorted Gospel inevitably brings with it a distorted God, a god who’s not the God of Scripture.

God is a consuming fire. We enter into heaven through a fire-escape. Christ is that fire-escape. And He’s the proof that God is love!

The Gospel provides clear instruction how to flee the wrath of God to come. The good news is help to the helpless. But if you don’t see yourself as helpless, you’ll end up like a Judaizer. You’ll end up thinking you can contribute to your own salvation to your own destruction. But Paul never gave anyone that impression.

Jesus died to save sinners. Paul says in his letter to Timothy, “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief” 1 Timthy1:15. As a sinner, Paul was under the condemnation of God. But Jesus Christ had set him free from that condemnation, i.e., from being accursed. The truth of the matter is that every human being is under the condemnation of God. The wrath of God abides on all at this very moment who do not believe in Jesus Christ (John 3:36). “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23.

Those who believe in Christ and His Gospel have escaped the punishment for their sins. It means you have escaped the curse of God. It means you no longer have God’s curse on your head. It means that the curse you have inherited from Adam has been lifted. Isn’t that a wonderful feeling? It’s great to know that God has declared you innocent of all sin. It’s a great feeling, isn’t it, to have the guilt of your sin removed.

When God lifted His curse from you, it was as if He’d lifted a great weight from your shoulders. Instead of your legs buckling under the load, you now walk with a spring in your step. You walk around with the song of salvation in your heart. What is that song of salvation?

It was music to your ears when you first understood the words of the Gospel.

O for a thousand tongues to sing

my great Redeemer’s praise,

the glories of my God and King,

the triumphs of His grace! (Charles Wesley)

“The triumphs of His grace!” The triumphs of Christ and His cross! That what the Gospel proclaims. It proclaims that you who believe in Jesus Christ have been redeemed. Redeemed from what? From being accursed? How and when were you redeemed? When Jesus died for sinners.

Sin, as you know, is the breaking of God’s law. Galatians 3:13 says, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law.” The Gospel, then, is simply the instrument God uses to tell you of your redemption. You know you are one of the redeemed because you are believing the Gospel for your salvation.

So then, what’s the problem with these Judaizers? They’re missing the boat, aren’t they? The boat’s leaving the jetty. They’ve got one foot in the boat and the other on the jetty. It’s make your mind up time! Do you want to stay under God’s curse or do you want to sail along with Jesus? Paul, as it were, is yelling out last call. “All aboard?” He doesn’t want to see any left behind, Galatians, Judaizers, you and me. “I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.” In other words, the ultimatum, “Choose you this day whom you will serve.” What’s it gonna be? The good news or the bad news? The blessing or the curse? I’d rather talk about the blessing in the good news any day, than the curse in the bad news!

The Gospel has always been the grace of God to fallen man. The Gospel message doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It’s not something that dangles in mid-air. Christ and His resurrection need to be interpreted by Scripture. We of the Reformed faith believe in letting Scripture interpret Scripture. In other words, Scripture interprets itself. And Scripture, of course, interprets the historical event of Christ at Calvary.

Scripture says that, “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.” Therefore, to tamper with the Gospel is to tamper with the Scriptures. To understand the Gospel clearly it needs to be viewed in the context of the fallen world. In other words the Gospel is good news in the midst sin and suffering. The Judaizers were causing the Galatians all sorts of trouble through their additions to the Gospel. If anyone adds anything to the Gospel, “Let him be accursed” says Paul.

I hope there is no one reading this who is adding things to the gospel. If there is, God has placed a curse on your head through His Apostle. But God is a compassionate God. He’ll forgive you, if you repent and believe in the Gospel. You may think your sin is too big for God to forgive, but God is far bigger than your sin. Confess your sin to God. Repent of it. And He’ll forgive you. For the Gospel is God’s grace to sinners.

But the Judaizers were adding their own thoughts to the Gospel of grace. There are warnings in the Bible about adding to the Word of God. Proverbs 30:5, 6, “Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Do not add to His words, lest He reprove you, and you be found a liar.”

God is reproving the Judaizers through His Apostle Paul. “Let the one who distorts the gospel be accursed!” says Paul.

You Denying Christ

Jesus says, “Whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven” Matthew 10:33. In other words you give evidence that you are accursed by ignoring or knowingly distorting the message of the grace of Christ. Simply put: Your rejection of Christ is proof of His rejection of you. Or viewed in the positive: Your acceptance of Christ is proof of His acceptance of you.

God has provided the one and only means of salvation through Christ and His cross as spelled out in the Gospel. To distort the gospel is to look a gift horse in the mouth. It is to treat the gospel as if it were a wooden horse with a belly full of trouble. It is to act like a spoiled kid at a birthday party, “Is this all I’m getting?” To distort the gospel is to act like an ingrate and Christ will deny you. This means that every Hindu, Jew, Muslim, New Ager, Atheist whatever, all mankind is somehow distorting the Gospel.

“No one comes to the Father except through Me” says Jesus. Therefore, whether you ignore God or invent your own religion, you’ll never get to heaven. There’s only one way and it’s spelled out in the Gospel.

The Judaizers were in danger of being accursed because they were adding to the Gospel. They are beginning a process of denying Jesus Christ. They’re on the road to complete rejection. It’s like the door to door salesman with his foot in your door. Pretty soon he’ll be sitting in your living room. Before you know you’ll have paid a fortune for all this stuff you don’t need.

Little acorns grow into giant oaks. You let a couple of cane-toads into Queensland and they take over! So it is in any church. Let in one little heresy and by the time you get the barn door closed someone’s wheeled in a wooden horse! How is this so? Well essentially they’re suggesting, “Jesus, you don’t quite have what it takes to save us from our sin!” That’s rejection! That’s a denial of Christ and everything He is and everything He has done.

How can God not quite have what it takes to save sinners? God is the Almighty Sovereign Ruler of the universe. When a person adds to the Gospel, they’re insulting Christ Himself. They’re stealing Christ’s glory. In a subtle way they’re attacking Christ’s Deity.

Charles Wesley in Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, writes,

Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;

hail, th’incarnate Deity,

These Judaizers are far from hailing the incarnate Deity. They’re beginning to mock Him, to insult Him. Just as the Roman guards mocked and insulted Him when they placed a crown upon His royal head, a crown of thorns!

The Judaizers were denying Christ His glory before these Galatians. They were suggesting that Christ did something less than perfect. For Christ to have done any imperfect thing, would have meant He was a sinner and not our Saviour.

Jesus said that He came to do the will of the Father who sent Him. Jesus was obedient to His Father even unto death, even the death on the cross. He said that He came to seek and to save the lost. The Judaizers are saying that Jesus failed to save the lost. It doesn’t matter how you look at it. If you say you need more for your salvation than what Jesus did on the cross, then you’re denying Christ. You’re calling Christ a liar! Your robbing Him of the glory He is due. No doubt this wasn’t the Judaizer’s intention, but that’s where their heresy was leading them, and the Galatians with them.

They were saying that Jesus only made it possible for people to be saved. Jesus didn’t just make it possible for us to be saved, but rather He saves to the uttermost. While praying to His Father He said, “Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost.” He’s speaking there of His elect. He died to save only those chosen by His Father. “It is finished!” He cried before He died for them on the cross.

To say that Jesus only made it possible, and that you now have to work your way into heaven, is to deny Jesus Christ. Jesus says, “If you’re not with Me you’re against Me.” Matthew 12:30.The Judaizers were denying Jesus Christ before the Galatians back then. The Mormons, the Jehovah’s Witness, and a host of other cults do the same thing today. There are even those in Christian churches teaching the same lie. They are all denying the sufficiency of Christ and His work on the cross. The Judaizers were beginning a process which could end up in full denial of Christ and His Gospel. Jesus says, “Whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven” Matthew 10:33. “Let him be accursed!” says Paul.

What does it mean to be accursed? It means eternal separation from God. It means that you are denying the salvation of God has provided in Christ. All who distort the Gospel run the danger of being accursed. To be accursed is the price of departure!

The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” Romans 6:23, and that’s the gospel! The good news is that the curse will be lifted from all of God’s elect.

The good news is that all who are God’s elect will repent and believe in God’s good time. The curse is lifted because of God’s grace toward sinners. The curse is lifted from all who are believing in Jesus Christ, i.e., the Jesus Christ as presented in the unadulterated Gospel.

How much does the Gospel mean to you? What’s the Gospel worth to you? The Gospel has brought you back to life. You were dead in your sins until God made you alive. He made you alive by granting you an understanding of His Gospel.

Would you lay down your life for the sake of Christ & His Gospel? If you think that’s a bit too dramatic, let me soften it. How about this: If you had kids, would you want one of them to marry a non-Christian? Surely that’s a bit easier to answer than the life and death stuff! Would you want him or her to marry someone from a denomination who don’t quite believe what we believe? How about this: Are you happy for those who go forward at evangelistic rallies to be sent to churches who don’t believe what the evangelist is preaching? Surely you can see that it’s all life and death stuff as far as the Gospel is concerned.

Conclusion

If anyone teaches anything but the pure Gospel the Apostle Paul says: “Let him be accursed!” Never look a gift horse in the mouth as far as the Gospel is concerned. But I urge you to watch out for “Trojan Horses” in your church!

“Beware of Greeks bearing gifts!” Make sure you yourself haven’t let a wooden horse into your heart. Make sure your heart contains only the Gospel of our fathers. The Gospel many died for at the time of the Reformation. The Gospel that Paul the Apostle died for. The Gospel that Jesus Christ died for.