The Gospel Plus Nothing
Preached by Jason Abbott
January 11, 2015
Introduction to sermons in 2015 and the Galatians sermon series:
Where are we headed this year?
Galatians (6 weeks)
The Apostles’ Creed (8 messages through Easter)
Back to Galatians (7 weeks through Memorial Day)
Judges (12 weeks during the summer)
What’s the story behind Galatians?Well, to set the table for our study in Galatians, let me tell you another story. I want to share briefly about an 18th century missionary to Native Americans—David Brainerd.1David Brainerd lived a very short but really meaningful life for God’s glory. In July of 1739 he had an experience of “unspeakable glory” after which he desired to worship and serve God for the rest of his life; he consequently enrolled at Yale in order to become a pastor.While Brainerd was at Yale, the 1st Great Awakening created controversy. Through the gospel preaching of George Whitefield and, then, Johnathan Edwards, some faculty and many students were shaken from the sleep of a dead orthodoxy. However, this revival created tension between those who were freshly awakened and those who were not.All this led to an altercation in which Brainerd was dismissed from school and, consequently, unable to pursue his dream of serving God in pastoral ministry. Yet—what seemed a total disaster to Brainerd—God used in a very amazing way for his good and glorious purposes.You see, even though he was unable to pursue ordination as a pastor, Brainerd still had an unquenchable drive to serve God as a minister of the gospel. Thus, in April of 1743, Brainerd began work as a missionary to Native Americans. And, in this way, God used him powerfully to bring many into his eternal family, notably, a church of 130 Delaware Indians at Crossweeksung in New Jersey.Now, you may ask: What does this have to do with Galatians? Well:Suppose, when Brainerd had parted from this young Indian congregation, that others came to that church and said to them: “You’ve made a very good start, but you must get haircuts and wear clothing as we do—farm and build as we do—in order to truly follow Jesus, in order to truly be Christian.”Imagine, when Brainerd left these precious new Native American believers, that some white Christians came and said to them: “This Brainerd didn’t teach you the full gospel; Jesus plus haircuts and suitcoats—Jesus plus plows and houses—that is the full and true gospel.”Suppose then that Brainerd hears, from far away, about all these things. What do you think his response would be?I say “suppose” because we do not know for certain whether this happened in regards to Brainerd’s work with those Indians at the Forks of the Delaware. However, I did find this in regards to Brainerd’s work with the Indians:
The revival that took place in August of 1734 brought him great joy, but it also brought him an increased burden of work as he discipled the new believers and helped them establish Christian communities. He was oftentimes severely criticized and opposed by the white colonists, many of whom called themselves Christian but showed no Christian compassion, love, or concern for the Native Americans.
2
It’s not—in the least—unlikely that something like this could have happened to the 130 or so newly converted believers of the Delaware tribe in New Jersey. History has sadly demonstrated that a Jesus plus tendency has occurred repetitively in the church (and still does!).Again, what do you think Brainerd’s response would be?Well, I believe that Brainerd would’ve responded as Paul does in Galatians. In fact, he could have simply gone to his Bible, torn out the letter to the Galatians, and sent it to this young church with the simple preface: Read this!You see, Paul’s letter to the Galatians was penned in a very similar situation:
Paul had preached the gospel there, and people had believed! But:
Paul had to go away and when he did Jewish “Christians” came and said: “You have started well, but you need Jesus plus the Mosaic ceremonial laws in order to be Christian, in order to be pleasing to God.”
Instead of the gospel plus haircuts and suitcoats, it was the gospel plus circumcision and dietary restrictions.
So, it’s into this context that Paul writes his letter to the Galatian churches (and to us, today, as well). Let’s read our first passage together then pray.
Galatians 1:1-9
1 Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 2 and all the brothers who are with me,To the churches of Galatia:3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.**********In order to move forward, we must ask ourselves: Why is Paul angry here? And, as we begin to answer that question, we’ll see that two loves drive his anger: (1) Paul’s love for God and (2) Paul’s love for the church.
1. Paul’s love for God (vv. 3-6, 8-9)
Throughout Paul’s New Testament letters, we see his profound love of God. This letter is, in that respect, no different than any other letter which Paul wrote; there are many expressions of his love and devotion to God here:
God is “our Father” (v. 3)
God is Papa; he’s the tender and loving Father.
In Jesus, God “gave himself for our sins to deliver us from…evil” (v. 4)
God is sacrificial Hero; he lovingly died to save us.
God deserves “glory forever and ever” (v. 5)
God is perfect King; to know his beauty is to praise him eternally.
God has been so very gracious to us in Jesus Christ (v. 6)
God is extravagant Giver; he showers us with gifts we do not deserve.
St. Nic of Myra
santa-claus
This is a language of deep and devoted love for the God whom Paul serves. Consequently, when he hears that some are putting lying words in God’s mouth, Paul is incensed! He is very, very angry!Consider how you would feel if you heard someone slanderously tell lies about the person you most love and revere in the entire world—about your spouse, about your parent, or about your child.I’ll bet no one here knows who this is:Nicholas of Myra.I’ll bet every single one of you knows who this is:Santa.Essentially the 2nd pic is the mythologized, westernized version of the 1st pic. In other words, Nicholas of Myra was the original figure who would finally evolve into our “jolly old Saint Nicholas.”Now, by all accounts, Nicholas, who lived in the 3rd and 4th centuries A.D., was a really nice guy; thus, all the giving of gifts associated with him today. However, there was apparently one thing that could really, really tick him off—namely, saying things that are untrue about God.What do I mean?Well, at the 1st Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D., the nature of the Son of God was being discussed and debated so the church might establish right biblical truth with respect to the nature of God the Son’s relationship to and with God the Father. Was the Son eternal God or was he created, therefore, not eternal God?Nicholas held the first position (which, by the way, is a good place to be) while a guy named Arius argued that the Son was not eternal God with the Father but created by the Father and, consequently, given his divine status by the Father (which, by the way, is a bad place to be).Supposedly, during one of Arius’s arguments for the creation of the Son, Nicholas became so upset (so very angry!) that he stood up, walked over to Arius, and punched him in the face!Now that is a completely different kind of Santa! Try and put that snapshot in your jolly, old Saint Nicholas pipe and smoke it!Look, that is the kind of anger, which I believe, Paul is exhibiting here. Paul’s tremendous love for God and for God’s truth drive him to severe anger when he finds that some have been perverting the gospel. So he rages:
…even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed (v. 8).
Then again:
If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed (v. 9).
Paul says it twice because Paul really means it. Paul very deeply loves God. Thus, with his words, he verbally punches these liars—about God and his gospel—in the metaphorical face!Let’s move now to the second love leading Paul to anger here:
2. Paul’s love for the church
Paul truly loves the church—not because the church is especially loveable, but because God loves the church; in other words, Paul’s love for God (point one) leads to Paul’s love for the church that God loves (point two).Allow me to explain how this leads Paul to anger with the Galatians.When Natalie and I were newlyweds, we (over the course of a summer) watched our pastor’s three kids during weekdays while he and his wife worked. Since I was a teacher, I had summers off so it was an easy arrangement.This was the couple who had kindly mentored us through our engagement; in fact, he’d done our premarital counseling and wedding, and she was our doctor. We looked up to them and really loved them, and—because of our love for them—we invested in their children and loved them too.Well, on one of those summer days, while we were watching their kids, Natalie and I took the three children on a walk to get a candy at a nearby market. Naturally the kids were excited so it was difficult for us to keep them close to us; they’d constantly press ahead too far for my comfort.At some point during the walk, Sam (who was probably a 7-year-old then) ran behind a parked car, and, as he did, I noticed the car’s back-up lights come on. I was not yet a father, nevertheless my full-on father voice prematurely kicked-in, and I roared angrily at Sam: “Come here now!”Why did I roar in such anger? Why did I scream for Sam to turn back to me? I didn’t do it primarily because of the love I had for Sam (though I did love him). Rather, I did it primarily because of the love I had for his father, and for the love, which I knew, his father had for him!This, I think, is just a bit like the way in which Paul loves Christ’s church. He sees the danger that they are in—like my pastor’s son running behind that car; he knows how much the God (whom he loves) loves these precious children. Therefore, his love for God and God’s love for the church drive Paul to roar:
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting [God] who called you in…grace
(v. 6).
Brothers and sisters, I by no means want to be known as an angry pastor. Neither do I want Community Free Church to be thought of as an angry church. However, when it comes to the reputation of God and the purity of his good news, there are times in which our love for him and his church should drive us to anger because there are things far worse than death!Jesus has told us that there are two great commandments:
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets
(Matthew 22:37-40).
Friends, I truly believe Paul is doing his best to keep these commandments in today’s passage. How are we doing?Let me ask just a few application questions as we finish:
What ways do you make the gospel into Jesus plus something?
The gospel plus health and wealth equals Christianity
The gospel plus well behaved children equals Christianity
The gospel plus career success equals Christianity
The gospel plus prince or princess charming equals Christianity
When you notice a brother or sister who’s adding something to the gospel, does it upset you because of your love for God and for them?
When you don’t confront them are you loving God or them?
When you choose not to confront them then what are you loving more?
1
Hear John Piper’s excellent reflections on David Brainerd’s life
.
2
See The Gospel Fellowship Association’s biography of David Brainerd
