The Danger of Turning Away from God’s Grace

A WING AND A PRAYER

Carlin Lawrence | carlin@agairupdate.com

“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” (Galatians 1:6-7). The word “gospel” means good news and if you’re telling me that God will forgive all of my sins and account me righteous if I will believe in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, that’s good news. But if you’re telling me that I must follow certain rules and regulations and keep certain parts of the Law of Moses in order to be righteous, then that’s not good news. Jesus Christ is the only One who has ever kept the Law of Moses perfectly, and He did that to free us from that obligation. Paul wrote to these Galatian believers to correct the false teaching of salvation into God’s heaven by keeping the Law of Moses. False teachers have hindered the true gospel of Jesus Christ from the very beginning of Jesus’ church!

Anyone who leaves the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ for a legal obligation with God is actually depending on their own old selfrighteousness to get into God’s heaven. Christians are to do good works, but that’s a result of our salvation, not the cause of it. “ 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” (Galatians 1:8-9). The Greek word that’s translated into our English word “curse” is the Greek word “anathema” and it means to be under the curse of God. Paul is telling us that if we’re depending on our works to get into God’s heaven we’re actually nullify God’s grace and are placing ourselves under the curse of the law. “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10).

When someone says, “It’s good to believe in Jesus Christ, but it takes more than that to be saved” don’t believe it! Humans are incurably self-righteous; we love to boast of our selfrighteous works, but it’s extremely hard to boast of our self-righteousness when we come face to face with the grace of God. None of us can say, “God loves me because I am so perfect. Look what I have done.” When we relate to God on the basis of God’s grace, it leaves no place for bragging about ourselves (Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 4:1-5).

“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 1:10). The fear of man is a huge obstacle in the lives of us all; even great men have been snared by the fear of what people think. Abraham, Saul, David, and many other great biblical giants have fallen into this trap—and we’re no exception. There’s a weak idealism that has permeated human society and culture that says that we’re to be agreeable and well liked, even if it goes against God’s Word. Just because it’s politically correct doesn’t make it right in God’s eyes.

Jesus didn’t soft-shoe around the hypocrisy of the Pharisees (Matthew 23) John the Baptist wasn’t afraid to rebuke political leaders for their ungodly lifestyle (Luke 3:19). Peter and John were commanded not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus, but they replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and hear…We must obey God rather than men! (Acts 4:18-20, 5:29). Jesus didn’t please everybody, and it’s foolishness to think we can. Even if you’re kind, generous and nice to everybody, some people will hate you for being so kind and gentle. Some people who will hate us just because of our looks. Can we help that? It’s the nature of sinful mankind to be hateful.

“I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ” (Galatians 1:10-12). Paul had a glorious independence from men, but a total dependence upon God. Paul didn’t need the endorsement of the other church leaders (apostles) in Jerusalem. We need more church ministers today that will speak the truth of God’s word without fear of men. We need to understand that it’s before God that we will be judged (2 Corinthians 5:10)—not some sinful human!

Ask yourself, “Am I seeking the favor of God on my life or am I seeking the favor of man? Am I listening to man’s direction for my life or am I listening to God’s direction for my life?” Too often we’re influenced and badgered by the opinions of men, and we’re prone to water down God’s truth because we don’t want to be accused of bigotry, narrowness, or ignorance by the so-called mentally sophisticated. Those who profess agnosticism usually do it with an air of sophistication. But I always remember the word agnostic, in Latin, actually means ignoramus.

It’s amazing to see God’s marvelous work in reaching down to save the ones we often have classified to be the most unlikely person for salvation. Paul wasn’t expecting an encounter with Jesus on the Damascus road, and the church leaders in Jerusalem were not expecting Jesus to make Paul an apostle. We never know what man or woman that’s next in line for Jesus to save and use for His glory (1 Corinthians 1:25-31).