5 Minute Read + Scripture readings
Today’s Bible Reading:
2 Samuel 21
Galatians 1
Ezekiel 28
Psalms 77
Today’s Bible Verse(s):
Galatians 1:8 (CSB): “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, a curse be on him!”
Reflections on Today’s Bible Verse(s):
What is the Gospel? Essentially, it is the Good News that every single person, who has broken God’s laws and stands guilty before a holy God, can be forgiven and declared righteous when they rest in the finished work of Jesus on the cross on their behalf.
The Gospel is the incredible news that takes us out of Satan’s realm of darkness and into God’s marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9). It is the absolutely only way that a lost sinner, on their way to Hell, can be saved and become a holy saint, on their way to Heaven.
So, given the infinite value of this Gospel message, it is no wonder that Satan and his cohorts seek to distort it, to rob it of its potency.
And this is why the Apostle Paul was so angry as he wrote the book of Galatians. After quickly writing Galatians 1:1-5 (which seems like a brief formality), he immediately goes on the attack in Galatians 1:6 when he expresses dismay that the Galatians had so quickly distorted the Gospel.
What happens when the Gospel gets distorted?
Well, imagine that someone is deathly sick with a virus and a doctor prescribes them a liquid medicine that, if they take it, will cure them. Without the medicine, death will be soon and certain but with the medicine, a recovery is 100% guaranteed. But, now imagine that the one who is about to administer the medicine takes the small medicine bottle and pours it into a very large pitcher of water, diluting the medicine … and then gives it to the patient. The powerful medicine has been so watered down that it probably no longer has any curative properties. The person who takes the medicine thinks they will recover but the watered down medicine will do them no go. They will soon die.
This is what happens when the Gospel is distorted. Some add human effort to the Gospel, declaring that we must do something in order to be saved … and, in so doing, water the Gospel down. Others claim that the Gospel is a means to achieve health and wealth … and, in so doing, water it down. Others have claimed that all you have to do is say a prayer, when there is no presence of conviction of sin or a desire to follow Jesus … and, in so doing, water the Gospel down.
On and on we could go of how people have diluted the power of the Gospel. The result is that people ingest a watered down Gospel, thinking it will take them to Heaven, as they end up in Hell.
This is why the Apostle Paul was so livid as he wrote the book of Galatians. (“Look at what large letters I use as I write to you in my own handwriting.” [Galatians 6:11]) And this is why we should be equally furious with those who tamper with the powerful, life-saving properties of the Gospel.
Read God’s Word and continue to hone your understanding of what the Gospel is and what the Gospel isn’t. Then, with a pure, biblical Gospel, share it with those who desperately need it.
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Lord Jesus, so many people that I bump into each day are lost, dead in their sins, and are headed for an eternity in Hell. Help me to be so sensitive to the opportunities that You will give to me to share the life-giving Gospel. But, help me to share the Gospel as it is clearly defined and described in the New Testament. I want to be sure that when I administer the Heavenly medicine to mankind’s desperate problem, that I give it in its full potency. Amen.
Matt’s Musings 