January 5 Click on verses for Full Scripture

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Today's Pathway: Galatians 1:8-10 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

Yesterday we saw Paul warning that the "gospel" that the Judaizers were preaching was a false message that twisted the Scriptures. In verses 8-9 Paul writes that if a message is heretical it doesn't matter who has spoken it; it's still heretical. Paul had been very important in the lives of the believers in Galatia. Some of them had been saved under his ministry, and they knew that he was an apostle. Therefore they would be very inclined to listen to what he said. So Paul writes that if he himself preached false doctrine to them they should reject it in spite of who he was. He then adds that even if an angel from Heaven would appear and teach things contrary to the Bible that they should not listen. We know that no true angel from Heaven would ever deliver a message in opposition to the Word of God. Thus, any angelic being who would deliver a false message would have to be a fallen angel. We know that Paul wrote in II Corinthians 11:14 that "Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light", so it would be possible that a fallen angel could appear in the same way.

There are leaders in certain areas of the charismatic movement that speak of how angels told them to do something, or how they had a vision of something, yet the things that they say they were told or they saw are unscriptural. Books have been written by people who say that an angel, or even Jesus Himself, took them on a tour of Hell, and others have written about how they were allowed to visit Heaven, yet these books contradict the clear teachings of the Bible. Unfortunately, people who do not know their Bibles flock to these teachers and authors because of their alleged amazing experiences. We should have more discernment than that. Paul wrote that when the antichrist arrives he will come with "all power and signs and lying wonders" (II Thessalonians 2:9), so believers need to understand that simply because something appears to be miraculous does not mean that God did it, and that every doctrine, preacher, and movement needs to be tested by the Bible. When it comes to the doctrine of salvation, those who do not measure up, be they man, angel, or Paul himself, should be accursed. The Greek word used here is anathema, and it means to be delivered over to God for judgment and destruction. Jerry Bridges wrote,

"This is strong language. But such attacks by Paul do not seem shocking when we pause to consider what is at stake. By substituting man-centered performance as the basis for acquiring righteousness, the very essence and foundation of redemptive truth is compromised."

In verse 10 Paul begins to instruct the Galatians as to the source of his teachings. He opens by asking, in light of what he has just written, if they think his goal is to please men or to please God. The word translated "persuade" is used in different ways throughout the New Testament, but the idea here seems to be "to win over" or "gain the approval of". In other words, is it Paul's primary desire to win the approval of God or win the approval of men? By stating that those who pervert the Gospel of God should be accursed, Paul is clearly seeking the commendation of the Lord. He echoes this by asking if they think his fundamental goal is to please men or God. The answer to this question should be obvious to the Galatians and to us. Paul concludes verse 10 by stating that if he was consumed with pleasing men that he could never be a good servant of the Lord. If we are going to be faithful to God and His Word, we are going to have to tell people the truth, and many won't want to hear it. There will be times when we have to choose between being acceptable to God and being liked by men. If we are going to ever accomplish anything for Christ, we need to decide today that we will always choose God over men.