Galatians 1:7
which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.
Truth to Learn
The gospel (good news) about salvation through faith in Jesus Christ has absolutely nothing to do with obeying rules or laws.
Behind the Words
As in the previous verse, we have the word “another,” but this is translated from a different Greek word. In the current verse it is the word allos, meaning “another of the same kind” whereas in the previous verse it was heteros, meaning “another of a different kind.”
The word translated “pervert” is a form of the Greek word metastrepho. This is made up of meta, denoting “a change of place or condition” and strepho, which means “to turn.” Hence, metastrepho means ‘to turn into something different, usually for the worse.’
Meaning Explained
In the previous verse it was noted that Paul was surprised that the Galatians had turned their allegiance to another gospel. In the current verse he seems to contradict himself by saying that it ‘is not another.’ This confusion is cleared up when we see that he used two different words for “another” in these verses
What he is saying is: “I wonder that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different kind of gospel, which is not simply another way of expressing the gospel we preached to you …”
In fact, Paul goes on to describe this different kind of gospel which they have been tricked into believing. He says that it has been perverted. There were some among the Galatians who wanted to change the simple gospel of Christ into something totally different, and worse. These “legalizers” had brought the Law from Judaism and tried to cram it into the good news about salvation through faith and faith alone. They were insisting that the Christians in the Galatian churches bear the yoke of the Law, which they themselves had not been able to bear.
Anytime you add to the simple gospel you make it something less than what God intended it to be. We are not bound by the rules of the Mosaic Law; we have been set free from the Law.
Here’s how Paul expressed it in Romans chapter 8:
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:1-4)
Challenge
Are you walking according to the flesh, trying to prove your righteousness to God? Or are you walking according to the Spirit, accepting the righteousness that only comes through faith in the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ?
In God’s service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2007 Will Krause. All rights reserved.
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