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Please turn in your Bibles to 
Galatians chapter 1. Galatians chapter 1. This morning 
we were reminded concerning the doctrine of justification in 
our time of studying the confession of faith. And then in the morning 
sermon, we considered that principle harem. It's a Hebrew word that 
the Apostle Paul uses the Greek form of in this particular section 
that I want to look at this evening. So, it kind of ties up two themes 
today. First, the importance of the 
gospel and doctrinal fidelity and allegiance to the truth of 
God Almighty, and then what will become of those who do distort 
or those who pervert the gospel. I do want to read beginning in 
verse 1, Galatians chapter 1, Paul, an apostle, not from men 
nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, 
who raised him from the dead. and all the brethren who are 
with me, to the churches of Galatia, grace to you and peace from God 
the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for 
our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil age, 
according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory 
forever and ever. Amen. 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. But even 
if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you 
than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed, 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. 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. 
But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached 
by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from 
man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation 
of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former 
conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure 
and tried to destroy it. And I advanced in Judaism beyond 
many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly 
zealous for the traditions of my fathers. But when it pleased 
God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me through 
His grace to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among 
the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, 
nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before 
me. But I went to Arabia and returned again to Damascus. Then 
after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and remained 
with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles 
except James, the Lord's brother. Now concerning the things which 
I write to you, indeed before God, I do not lie. Afterward 
I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia, and I was unknown 
by face to the churches of Judea which were in Christ. But they 
were hearing only, he who formerly persecuted us now preaches the 
faith which he once tried to destroy. And they glorified God 
in me. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our 
Father in heaven, we thank you for the scriptures and we pray 
now again for the ministry of your Holy Spirit. We ask that 
he would guide us and lead us and direct us into truth and 
cause us to hold fast to the truth and never to let it go. 
We know, God, that many since the days of the apostles have 
perverted the gospel of Christ. We see such perversion in our 
own day, in our own generation. And we would pray that by your 
grace and for your glory, we would seek to hold fast these 
truths, that we would treasure them, that we would indeed proclaim 
them and declare them. As well, we would guard them 
and fight for them. And we just ask for the Spirit's 
help, the Spirit's aid in understanding and in keeping these truths. Forgive us again for all of our 
sins and transgression, and help us to honor and to glorify you. 
And we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. J. Gresham Machen in his sermons 
on the book of Galatians. There's a book published by Solid 
Ground Christian Books. It covers Galatians 1, 1 to I 
think Galatians 3, 17. And originally, these were printed 
in Christianity Today in the days that Machen lived. I wonder 
if Christianity Today publishes such solid stuff as Machen on 
Galatians, but he says that the epistle to the Galatians is a 
polemic. And a polemic means when we launch 
an offensive, when we guard the faith, and we propagate the faith, 
and we declare the faith, and we do so with a vigor and an 
earnestness and a desire to defend it. He says the epistle to the 
Galatians is a polemic, a fighting epistle from beginning to end. 
What a fire it kindled at the time of the Reformation, May 
it kindle another fire in our day, not a fire that will destroy 
any fine or noble or Christian thing, but a fire of Christian 
love in hearts grown cold. Perhaps one of the best helps 
to reviving a heart grown cold to a believer is a fresh dose 
of the gospel. For how can we gaze upon the 
life and the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ and not be refreshed 
and reminded at what He went through on our behalf? And that 
as a result of that, as a result of His active and passive obedience, 
the fact that He obeyed the law perfectly, all the commandments 
of God, Jesus never fumbled, He never misstepped, He never 
engaged in anything wicked. From the prohibition against 
idolatry to the prohibition against covetousness, our Lord fulfilled 
exactly and entirely and perpetually the law of God. That's the active 
obedience of Christ. The passive obedience is His 
death on Calvary, His bloodshedding. And as the Catechism says, justification 
is an act of God's free grace. wherein He pardons all of our 
sins and receives us in His sight, only for the righteousness of 
Christ imputed to them and received by faith alone. And how we can 
look at that and not be refreshed and reinvigorated and, dare I 
say, revived, is beyond me. So we ought to look at and appreciate 
this book of Galatians from time to time, because as Machen says, 
it is indeed a fighting epistle, and what it's fighting for is 
the truth of the Christian gospel. Well, I want to focus primarily 
on Paul's words in verses 6 to 9. Paul expresses his astonishment. He expresses his amazement. And I want to look at that first. 
The astonishment of the apostle in verse 6. Secondly, the defection 
of the Galatians in verse 7. And then the curse upon heretics 
in verses 8 and 9. But note in the first place, 
he says, I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him 
who called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel. Now, in some senses, what we 
find here in Galatians is a little bit different than what we find 
in the opening of other of Paul's letters. He certainly greets 
the church. Notice in verse 2. He says, All 
the brethren who are with me, to the churches of Galatia, grace 
to you and peace from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ." 
So it's not devoid of, it's not absent of a greeting to the church, 
but it's not really developed, it's not really long, it's not 
really flowery, as is often the custom. I don't mean flowery 
in a bad way, as is the custom of the Apostle Paul. For instance, 
in the book of Corinthians, a book where Paul has to deal with some 
serious departures from the Christian faith, Paul spends a lot longer 
calling them beloved and speaking glorious and wonderful things 
to them before he gets into addressing the particular issues. And I 
think the difference herein lies, because what Galatians is setting 
forth is that there was a perversion of the gospel itself. In Corinthians, 
there was an issue concerning sanctification. In other words, 
there was a whole host of things that Paul would have to deal 
with. There were people that were eating meat, offered up 
to idols, other people having a problem with that. There were 
people engaged in sexual immorality. There were people engaged in, 
you know, strange behavior with reference to the Lord's Supper, 
and all those sorts of things. Those errors concerning sanctification, 
Paul most certainly treats and he deals with. But it is intriguing 
that when the gospel is at stake, as it was in the book of Galatians, 
he greets them briefly, but he gets right to the point. He gets 
right out of the gate to the issue, and he says, I marvel 
that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you 
in the grace of Christ to a different gospel. Because the issue plaguing 
the churches of Galatia was called the Judaizing heresy. Now, the 
Judaizers did not teach salvation by works. This is a common misunderstanding. It was not the case that these 
Judaizers came to the churches of Galatia and said, forget all 
about this faith stuff and just obey the law of Moses. Forget 
all about what Paul is saying about this Jesus of Nazareth 
and just fulfill the law of Moses. That's not what the Judaizers 
said. Any more than Roman Catholicism teaches, we're saved by works 
alone. That's not what Romanism teaches. 
They affirm faith, plus works. That's what the Judaizing tendency 
was. Yes, it's good to believe in 
the Messiah. Yes, it's good to believe in 
the one whom Paul preaches. Yes, you need to look to Jesus, 
but you also need to add to it these particular ceremonies of 
the Mosaic Law, represented in this epistle by circumcision. 
But Paul's argument will be that if you indeed choose that path, 
then Christ is of no avail to you. It's either by grace alone, 
through faith alone, in Christ alone, or it's by your works. 
There's no conglomeration, there's no synthesis, there's no third 
path. It's either Christ or you. And that's the problem plaguing 
the churches in Galatia. So, Paul says, I marvel, I am 
amazed, I am astonished that you are turning away so soon. This is probably the first letter 
written by the apostle after the first missionary journey. 
The first missionary journey, he goes up to the region of Galatia. It wasn't one particular city, 
it was a region, and there he planted several churches. Not 
long after his departure, these Judaizers came in again. They 
said, you know, believe the gospel, or believe rather what Paul teaches 
in terms of Jesus as the Messiah, but you need to be circumcised. 
You Gentiles need to become Jews also. It's not enough that you 
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. You also must be circumcised. 
You must hold to the Jewish faith as revealed by Moses. So Paul 
says this happens soon. The brother is gracious, the 
brother is loving, the brother is kind, but the brother is firm. We need to appreciate that about 
the truth of the gospel. Very often persons who fight 
for truth are deemed intolerant. Well, we ought to be intolerant 
when it comes to heresy. We ought to be intolerant when 
it comes to departures from the faith. We ought to be intolerant 
when men's souls hang in the balance and false teachers come 
along and try to peddle some gospel that is no gospel. We ought to be. We ought to engage 
in a blessed intolerance. Here, Machen, he says, certainly 
the point of difference between Paul and the Judaizers was no 
trifling difference, no matter how trifling it may seem to the 
modern church. See, sometimes we look at such 
things and we say, oh, you know, they just like to spill a lot 
of ink, they like to fight, they like to debate, they like to 
go on Facebook, they like to go on Twitter, over something 
that's not really that important. Most recently, it's been the 
consideration of the Trinity. The doctrine of the triune God 
has come under attack, and good men are seeking to defend it, 
and then you've always got these people that have this Rodney 
King sort of theology. Can't we all just get along together? Can't we all just love one another? No, our love must rejoice in 
truth. our love must be grounded in 
the truth. If we deny for a moment the Trinity, 
or we tamper with the Trinity, or we start to posit some defective 
view of the eternal subordination of the Son of God, we need to 
repent, we need to recant, we need to get our act in order. 
These are not trifling things. There's a lot of trifling things 
that we can get bogged down with in the Christian church. I don't 
doubt that. But the doctrine of the Trinity 
is not one of them. The deity and the person of Jesus 
Christ is not one of them. The hypostatic union is not one 
of them. And certainly the gospel of our 
Lord Jesus is not one of them. So Machen says, it was no trifling 
difference, no matter how trifling it may seem to the modern church. 
He says it was the difference between a religion of merit and 
a religion of grace. That's what's at stake when we 
don't affirm salvation by grace alone through faith alone in 
Christ alone. When we don't affirm chapter 
11 in the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith, When we 
don't see that the ground of our acceptance with God, our 
justification, relies not upon Christ and us, but upon Christ 
alone, we are seeking to approach God with our own works. The Lord 
will not have that, and that's what Paul condemns here. Machen 
goes on, he says, the Judaizers' teaching required a man to earn 
at least a part of his salvation by his own keeping of God's law. 
Paul saw clearly that to follow such teaching was to do despite 
to the cross of Christ. If we have to fill up even the 
slightest gap by our own works, then we are still lost in sin. I don't think we fully appreciate 
Paul's argument in Galatians or in Romans. I don't think we 
fully comprehend the exclusivity of faith alone, that it does 
not entail our works added to it to commend us to God. Machen 
goes on, for the awakened conscience sees clearly that our own works 
are insufficient to bridge even the smallest gap. Brethren, have 
you done enough good works today to bridge any sort of gap other 
than that which separates you from hell? If you are honest 
with yourself in light of the revealed will of God or word 
of God, you cannot for a moment think that your works can somehow 
sufficiently merit favor with God. If you think so, you have 
a defective understanding of who God is, you have a defective 
understanding of who you are, and you need to come to Scripture 
to learn the difference. He goes on. We must trust Christ 
for nothing or for all. To trust Him only for part is 
the essence of unbelief. There are two ways of being saved, 
according to the Apostle Paul. One way is to keep the law perfectly. 
You're perfectly free to try that. Let me know how that works 
out for you. You can call me in about five 
seconds and tell me it didn't work out. I couldn't do it. Love to God with all your heart, 
soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. 
Do you actually think you can get beyond five seconds? You 
know, we try to love God, and three seconds in, we're thinking 
about a cat video we saw on YouTube. We try to love our neighbor as 
ourselves, and then we concoct how it's going to benefit me. 
Brethren, the idea that man can somehow fill that gap is completely 
reprehensible in light of Holy Scripture. So, Machen says, one 
way is to keep the law perfectly. That way is closed because of 
sin. The other way is to accept the 
gift of salvation which Christ offers us freely by His cross. 
The two ways cannot both be followed. That is the burden of the epistle 
to the Galatians. You can't mingle them. You can't 
combine them. You can't synthesize them. It's 
either your personal, exact, entire, and perpetual obedience 
to the law, or it is Christ. You don't mingle the two. You'll 
end up with neither. He says a man must choose as 
the way of salvation either law or grace. In bidding men to choose 
the latter way, the apostle was contending for the very heart 
of the Christian religion. So you see, when he says, I marvel 
that you are turning away so soon from him who called you 
in the grace of Christ to a different gospel, realize that the Judaizers 
had not shown up at the churches in Galatia and said, don't listen 
to Paul, don't do what Paul says, work your way to heaven. Just 
do what Moses commands and you'll find acceptance with God. That's 
not what the Judaizers said. As I said earlier, that's not 
what Roman Catholicism teaches. It's not works alone. No papist 
would actually think that they can earn their way to heaven 
by their own works. It's a mingling. It's a conjoining. 
It's a conflation of justification and sanctification. It's a collapsing, 
the whole ball of wax, so that we need our faith in Jesus and 
our faithfulness before Jesus in order to commend us to God. 
That is, as Paul says, a different gospel. Now, note, secondly, 
the defection of the Galatians, verse 7. He calls this different 
gospel, not another. He's not actually affirming when 
he says a different gospel that there's two out there. Select 
which one you may. You can choose, rather, A or 
B. Whichever one floats your boat. That's not what he's saying. 
He further identifies, further defines, further amplifies by 
saying in verse 7, which is not another. There is one gospel 
of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is one way of salvation. Jesus was not kidding when he 
said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to 
the Father except through me. The Bible is exclusive. Paul says, I'm not ashamed of 
the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation, for everyone 
who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in 
it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, 
that as it is written, the just shall live by faith. There's 
not two Gospels, there's not three Gospels, there's not a 
fourth way to approach God. You know, again, I think this 
is common in our own generation to just hanker after God and 
whatever fits, whatever works, whatever accommodates itself 
to our liking and to our desire, that's what I want. Well, you 
may want it all you want, but there's no granting it in terms 
of the Apostle Paul and the gospel of our Lord Jesus. This is the 
Judaizing heresy, when he says, which is not another. Just for 
a couple of specimen passages to see what was affecting these 
churches, notice in Galatians 3 at verse 1. Galatians 3, verse 1, Paul says, 
O foolish Galatians, Who has bewitched you that you should 
not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly 
portrayed among you as crucified?" Just by way of an aside, can 
I try and illustrate something for you that we affirm and confirm 
as confessional Baptists? We affirm the abiding validity 
of the second commandment. You're not to make graven images. 
You're not to have pictures of our Lord Jesus. Growing up as 
a young papist, we always had the picture of a certain ancient 
Near Eastern man hanging on our hallway wall. After Palm Wednesday, Mom would 
put the palms behind the frame. I don't know what the significance 
of all of that was. The Bible prohibits that. The 
Bible forbids that. And in this particular instance, 
how was Jesus portrayed before the eyes of the churches of Galatia? It wasn't the Jesus film. It 
wasn't the Passion of the Christ. It wasn't the children's Bible 
storybook that had pictures of this ancient Near Eastern fellow. It was through preaching. It 
was through the apostolic proclamation of the gospel of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. We don't need other media. We 
don't need dreams and visions. We need preachers that are spirit-filled, 
men of prayer, men who handle accurately the word of truth, 
to go out and preach the truth. That's always been God's way. 
Paul affirms it in 1 Corinthians 1.21, for since in the wisdom 
of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased 
God through what? Through the Jesus film? Through 
the Jesus puppets that they sell at some Christian bookstores? 
through the foolishness of the gospel, or through the foolishness 
of the message preached. That's the emphasis. And Paul 
says, the four whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed 
among you as crucified. He goes on in verse 2, this only 
I want to learn from you. Did you receive the Spirit by 
the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? Are you so 
foolish, having begun in the Spirit? Are you now being made 
perfect by the flesh? Have you suffered so many things 
in vain, if indeed it was in vain?" In other words, we are 
saved by grace through faith and we need to maintain that. 421 and following, he parallels 
the two covenants, the two sons of Abraham. Notice as well in 
chapter 5 at verse 1, he says, stand fast therefore. in the 
liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled 
again with a yoke of bondage. Indeed, I, Paul, say to you that 
if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing." He's 
not talking about circumcision vis-à-vis a cultural practice, 
because he had Timothy circumcised when he went into Jewish regions. 
So, we know that Paul isn't anti-circumcision. I don't know where Paul was in 
terms of the actual practice of circumcision, but in terms 
of a cultural norm, he does not forbid it. In fact, he has Timothy 
circumcised so that no offense would be given to the Jews. That's 
not under discussion or dispute in Galatians. What circumcision 
represents is the gateway into Judaism. And when we circumcise 
ourselves, or rather are circumcised, with a view to acceptance with 
God, as Paul goes on to say, we have become debtors to keep 
the whole law. It's not just that one aspect, 
but rather, if you choose the path of law, you better get busy. That's the point. He is not condemning 
it as a cultural practice, but as a practice associated with 
religious significance. That somehow, this Gentile, it's 
good he believed, but he must also keep the ceremonies of Moses 
in order to be accepted by God. When there is religious significance 
attached to law-keeping, we have abused the grace of God. That's the point. Indeed, I, 
Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will 
profit you nothing. And I testify again to every 
man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole 
law. You see, there's only one way of approach. It's either 
your own personal, exact, entire, and perpetual obedience to the 
law, or it's grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ Jesus 
alone. The moment you try to mingle 
the two, you destroy the gospel. He goes on to say, you who have 
become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified 
by law, you see, that's the point, justification by the law. Paul 
in 1 Timothy 1 says, we know that the law is good if one uses 
it lawfully. An unlawful use of the law is 
seeking acceptance with God by obedience to it. I hope nobody 
ever mistakes that in this church. I hope you don't get the idea. 
Well, they're Reformed, and they affirm covenant theology. They 
preach the whole law. They affirm the whole Ten Commandments, 
even the Fourth Commandment, much to the chagrin of many around 
us today. But we don't teach that you are 
saved by that law. I hope you got that. I hope you 
realize you are justified freely by His grace, grace alone through 
faith alone in Christ alone. That's why we sing, "'Amazing 
grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.'" We're 
not Judaizers. "'Amazing grace and circumcision, 
how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.'" We're not 
papists. Amazing grace and the sacraments, 
how sweet the sound. We're not the new perspective 
on Paul. We're not the federal vision. 
We're not the covenantal nomists. Amazing grace and our faithfulness, 
how sweet the sound. No, it's amazing grace. That 
is that in which we rejoice. It's not the law. We preach the 
law in its place as the means by which the Holy Spirit sanctifies 
His people. As well, we preach the law pedagogically. You ought to look at the law 
if you're a sinner because it shows you your wickedness and 
your waywardness and your absolute need for the Lord Jesus Christ. 
But in terms of the law for salvation, that is not what we preach here. 
He says in verse 4, you who have become estranged from Christ, 
you who attempt to be justified by law, for you have fallen from 
grace. Now that's not an Arminian proof 
text. There it is, you can fall from grace. No, that's not what 
it is. It is not a battle cry of Arminianism 
to teach, hey, there it is, we can be in a state of grace and 
fall from grace. What's the fall from grace in 
the context of Galatians? It is to mingle works with faith. That is to fall from grace. That 
is to turn our back on the way of salvation provided by God 
through Christ. That's the falling from grace. 
It is to depart from the gracious salvation proffered in the Holy 
Gospel. When we seek to gain acceptance 
with God through circumcision, somehow that means we have fallen. John Eady describes this phrase. He says, Christ's method of justification 
is holy of grace. And those who rely on law and 
merit are in opposition to grace, are fallen out of it. The clause 
has really no bearing on the doctrine of perseverance of the 
saints or on their possible apostasy. It's a different context. The 
fall from grace is to turn one back on the gracious salvation 
that the gospel communicates and embrace the works of the 
law, amazing grace and the works of the law. How sweet the sound. 
That's the fall from grace in the context of Galatians. Fisher, in his wonderful marrow 
of modern divinity, if you read one Christian book in your life, 
it would probably do you well to read that book. He says, so 
that, if you desire to be justified before God, you must either bring 
to Him a perfect righteousness of your own and wholly renounce 
Christ, or else you must bring the perfect righteousness of 
Christ and wholly renounce your own. Christ Jesus will either 
be a whole Savior or no Savior. He will either save you alone 
or not save you at all. Notice, in verse 7, what the 
apostle goes on to say. This is what's grieving as well, 
in amplifying this idea of a different gospel. In verse 7, he says, 
which is not another, but there are some who trouble you and 
want to pervert the gospel of Christ. Now, I don't doubt that 
there's some dim bulbs out there preaching who haven't done enough 
study and just really don't know what they're talking about. But 
there's actually people out there that want to pervert the gospel. There are people that are out 
there that actually want to distort the truth. There are people out 
there that are trying to harm the church of Jesus Christ. Now, 
they may do it for money, they may do it for popularity, they 
may do it because they just despise the truth as it is in Jesus, 
but do what they do. This is what the apostle says. 
He says, there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel 
of Christ. One commentator says, to tamper 
with the gospel is to trouble the church. Indeed, the church's 
greatest troublemakers now as then are not those outside who 
oppose, ridicule, and persecute it. The church's biggest problem 
has never been the pagans or the heathens around them. It's 
the pagans and the heathens within it. He says, but those inside 
who try to change the gospel. Conversely, the only way to be 
a good churchman is to be a good gospelman. The best way to serve 
the church is to believe and to preach the gospel. Martin 
Luther said, that work which is built up of long labor may 
be overthrown in a night. A man may labor half a score 
of years to build up some little church to be rightly ordered, 
and when it is so ordered, there creeps in some malbrain, yea, 
a very unlearned idiot, and he in one moment overthrows all. He's not lying. Guy gets into 
a teaching position and he starts to preach the Judaizing heresy. He starts to preach Romanism. 
He starts to preach the New Perspective. He starts to preach the Federal 
Vision. What does that do to people? 
What does that do to souls? I'm of the mind and I am absolutely 
convinced that if you get your mind wrapped around chapter 11 
in our confession, which accurately teaches the doctrine of justification 
by faith alone, there is no more comfort for the Christian. There 
is no more happy place to be than to understand that your 
acceptance with God is based on the doing and the dying of 
our Lord Jesus Christ. And so some malbrain, as Luther 
calls him, comes in and he starts to say, yes, faith, but your 
faithfulness as well. Again, faithfulness in sanctification. Be faithful. Work out your own 
salvation and fear and trembling. But we're not talking about sanctification 
here. We're talking about our acceptance with God, our justification. And to introduce into that construct 
the idea of faith plus works is to destroy the Church. That's 
why the Reformation occurred. Why do you think these men reformed 
or sought reform? Are they revolted? because the 
gospel was at stake. Praise God it happened then, 
because I'm not sure it would happen now. As long as, you know, 
we have peace and comfort and safety and all that sort of thing, 
then everything's okay. Why would we make a big deal 
out of such little things? The introduction of works and 
merit into the gospel of grace is a perversion of the highest 
order. Now, notice in the final place, 
the curse upon heretics, verses 8 and 9. This morning, I mentioned 
that the principle wherein Israel was to utterly destroy the Amalekites, 
the Hebrew word is called Kerem, H-E-R-E-M, transliterated. The Greek version is anathema. In fact, the Septuagint, whenever 
it comes to that Hebrew word herem, translates it anathema. The word literally means something 
under the band, something devoted. It can have a positive sense 
as well. And it can mean devotion. I think 
it means that in Luke chapter 21, verse 5. It's translated 
by the New King James as donation. It's something handed over. It's 
something given over. Well, in the negative context, 
it means devoted to destruction. under the ban. Do not take that 
stuff, Achan. It was under the ban. He wasn't 
supposed to take that wedge of gold. He wasn't supposed to take 
those garments. When Joshua and the children 
of Israel marched around Jericho, they were told not to take the 
stuff. Saul, in 1 Samuel 15, was told 
not to take the stuff. It's under the ban. It's devoted 
to destruction. It is condemned. The New King 
James here translates it, accursed. So we see that for the Apostle 
Paul, this is no small thing. It's no trifling matter. This 
isn't a difference in eschatology. Paul is not pronouncing anathema 
on you if you're a premillennialist. Paul is not preaching anathema 
on you if you're an amillennialist or a postmillennialist. He's 
not preaching, pronouncing anathema on you if your view of church 
polity differs. If you're a Baptist or you're 
a Presbyterian or even an Episcopalian, he is not pronouncing anathema 
with reference to those things. It's the gospel. It's the truth 
of our salvation. It's the reality of how a sinner 
is accepted by God in Christ Jesus. So notice, verse 8, he 
says, even if we or an angel from heaven preach any other 
gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be anathema. Let him be accursed. I think 
the NIV has it. Let him be condemned. Let him 
be devoted to destruction. Let him be under the ban. You 
see, this is no small thing. This is an important message. 
You can't mess up the Gospel. You children, you young people 
need to listen and pay attention when it comes to the Gospel. 
You need to understand the way of acceptance with God is not 
faith plus. It is faith alone, in Christ 
alone, by God's grace alone that is the way of acceptance with 
our holy God. It's important. It's crucial. 
In fact, it's the most important thing you'll ever learn. I'm 
sure math teachers and history teachers and English teachers 
have that, you know, most important lesson for you. You really got 
to get this down. You really have to understand this. That 
ain't nothing. Now, don't go home and burn your 
math books and your English books and history, but Pastor Butler 
said it's nothing. You got to get the gospel right. That's 
why we have confession study. This is why we preach expository. This is why we seek to educate 
the people of God in the truth of God, because apart from it, 
there's hell in the future. And there's hell in the present 
when men don't understand. Romans 5.1. What's Paul's deduction 
or implication or conclusion after highlighting the doctrine 
of justification by faith? Romans 5.1. Therefore, having 
been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord 
Jesus Christ. Where does peace with God come 
from? It comes from this blessed truth 
that Christ lived, Christ died, Christ rose again, and all who 
by grace look to Him in faith will have everlasting life. That's 
peace. That's blessed peace. That's 
the comfort that the soul in Christ truly knows. Paul says, 
even if we, if it could be the case that Paul would show up 
and preach like a papist or preach like a Judaizer, if we or an 
angel from heaven, if it could be that a holy angel would descend 
and fall behind a pulpit and say, faith in Christ plus circumcision, 
if any of these things were to happen to you, let him be accursed. 
There's no apostolic immunity. There is no angelic immunity. 
There is no immunity, period. The gospel embodies the doctrine 
of Christ's life, death, and resurrection. To tamper with 
that, to twist that, to add to it or detract from it is to tear 
it apart and destroy it. As I said, the word employed 
is anathema. It means something like devoted 
to God, either positively or negatively. The context suggests 
which. Luke 21 5, translated by the 
new King James, has donations. You see the connection. This 
is something set apart. This is something devoted. I 
bring it to the temple and I present it to God. That's a positive 
use. But we see that same concept, something set apart, something 
devoted, something in a negative use is under the ban. It is devoted 
to destruction. It's interesting because it's 
used in several places by Paul in the New Testament, and they're 
typically gospel. They're all connected to Christ 
and His gospel. Look at Romans 9, just to see 
the usage by Paul of this word anathema, to see what Paul condemns. Paul, as I said, is a very gracious, 
very charitable, very large-hearted man. In fact, at times in the 
book of Corinthians, you say, wow, man, he really is nice. You notice he never unchurches 
the church at Corinth? How many of us would have said, 
you know, we might as well hang a clothes sign? Imagine if you're 
Paul and you got a letter from the Corinthians. Yeah, we've 
got some questions. We have a guy who had ancestral 
relationships with his father's wife. We've got people that are 
engaging in, you know, prostitution or with prostitutes. We've got 
people that are engaged in all manners. If I was Paul, I'd probably 
be inclined to say, you know what? It's best just to cut your 
losses, sell the building, see if you can comp something, maybe 
give it to another charitable, tax-free charitable organization. Paul doesn't do that. He never 
de-churches the church in Corinth. And they had issues. When we 
get to this, though, he is really, really fighting. But look at 
how he uses this word in Romans chapter 9, specifically in verse 
3. For I could wish that I myself 
were accursed, anathema from Christ, for my brethren, my countrymen, 
according to the flesh." That shows his heart. That shows his 
love. That shows his pastor's compassion. I could wish that I would be 
anathema. I would be devoted to destruction. 
I would be under the ban. I would be cut off for the sake 
of my countrymen. In this, he reflects Moses, who 
prays something similar back in his day. Notice in 1 Corinthians 
chapter 12, verse 3. 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 
3, another use of anathema. Therefore, I make known to you 
that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, 
and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. No one speaking by the Spirit 
of God calls Jesus a curse, or anathema, or devoted to destruction, 
or under the band. Notice in 1 Corinthians 16, 22, 
a text you've often heard me refer to is one that makes the 
imprecatory Psalms of David look like a walk in the park. A lot 
of people don't like the imprecatory Psalms of David. They don't like 
the fact that David asks God to smash the teeth out of wicked 
men. They don't like the fact that 
David in Psalm 109 asks that the wicked, their wives become 
widows and their children become orphans and they go begging in 
the streets. They don't like David when he 
says that the righteous will dance in the blood of the wicked. 
That's somehow offensive to our modern sensitivities. And notice 
what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 16, 22, if anyone does not love 
the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed, let him be anathema, 
let him be devoted to destruction, let him be under the ban, let 
him be condemned to hell. And then it's used here in Galatians 
1, 8 and 9, so I think you see by definition and by its usage 
elsewhere. how serious an offense the perversion 
of the gospel is. One popular dictionary says, 
he who preaches a false gospel is delivered to destruction by 
God. Again, it is not a matter of an act of church discipline 
in the sense of excommunication. The curse exposes the culprits 
to the judicial wrath of God. That's certainly Paul's not saying 
to the churches, if you have a heretic, just let him go. No, 
certainly deal with him. Jesus commends the church in 
Ephesus in Revelation 2 because they tested those who claimed 
to be apostles and were not. We need to keep men out that 
are not qualified via or vis-a-vis 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. John 
Eady says, the preacher of another gospel exposes himself to the 
divine indignation and the awful penalty incurred by him is not 
inflicted by man. He falls into the hands of the 
living God. Paul rehearses, Paul repeats, 
Paul says again in verse 9, he says, 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. The one 
preached has changed to what you receive. The improbability 
is lessened. We are an angel from heaven has 
become anyone and the future possibility has become a present 
supposition. In other words, Paul is dealing 
in concrete reality with the churches of Galatia because these 
Judaizers had followed on the heels of Paul and they said, 
yes, believe what Paul says and be circumcised and take on the 
ceremonies of Moses and do what God's law says concerning Judaism. So that's our exposition, just 
a couple of lines of application and then we conclude. In the 
first place, I mentioned earlier that there ought to be a blessed 
intolerance in us when it comes to the gospel. Again, here Machen, 
he says, to the men that dominate the life of the modern church, 
it would seem to be a subtle, hair-splitting distinction at 
the most. Surely, they would say, Paul ought to have made 
common cause with those Judaizers who had such a zeal for righteousness 
and furthermore exalted the Lord Jesus Christ so high. As a matter 
of fact, the Apostle did nothing of the kind. What he actually 
said with respect to the Judaizers was, let them be anathema. He seemed to have none of the 
modern virtue of tolerance at this point. You see, we can be 
large-hearted, charitable, and have a great big tent when it 
comes to a whole host of things, but not the Gospel, not the Trinity. It's not the case that we can 
have fellowship with Unitarians. We cannot have fellowship with 
those who teach Jesus is a creature. We can't have fellowship with 
those who affirm this idea that we are commended to God, at least 
in part, by the works we bring to the table. The Apostle Paul 
tells us we cannot. We must be intolerant. Now, we 
should be nice about it. I don't know that we need to 
beat... Well, we don't. We don't beat people up, but we certainly need 
to be intolerant when it comes to the truth of the Gospel. Secondly, 
because we're only popping into Galatians this one night, I think 
in many respects Galatians 2.21 essentially summarizes the entirety 
of the book. After a discussion of justification 
by faith alone, vis-à-vis verse 16, the reality that it is apart 
from works, he goes on to highlight certain aspects, and then in 
verse 20 he reports something of his own life, his own experience, 
not in terms of practical living, but in terms of the doctrine 
of justification. He says, I have been crucified 
with Christ. It is no longer I who live. I 
think we often wrench 220 out of its context and put it in 
the context of sanctification. And, oh, isn't Paul just a model 
Christian in the way that he lives his life? He's still in 
the doctrine of justification. He's still trafficking in the 
truth of what it means to be accepted by God apart from works 
on the basis of faith in Christ. I have been crucified with Christ. 
It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. and the life 
which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of 
God who loved me and gave himself for me." I love the personal 
pronouns employed by Paul. If you cannot say this tonight, 
then I bid you to flee to Christ. This is the glory of the Gospel. 
This is the beauty and the wonder of it all, that a man, a woman, 
a boy or girl, by grace alone, through faith alone, can say 
of Christ, He loved me and He gave Himself for me. Have you, 
by grace, entered into that state where you confess Jesus Christ 
as Lord, to the glory of God the Father, and you see His doing 
and dying for you? That's one of the chief and cardinal 
points of our blessed religion, that our beloved Lord Jesus does 
this for us. But notice, 221. Capping off 
his argument in this particular context, he says, I do not set 
aside the grace of God. For if righteousness comes through 
the law, then Christ died in vain. That is the death knell 
to Judaism. That is the death knell to Romanism, 
to the new perspective, to any concept of our faithfulness, 
commending us to God. If righteousness comes through 
the law, then why did we need Jesus? If we could somehow gain 
acceptance with God by our own doing, then why the cross? Machen, 
again, this verse is the key verse of the epistle to the Galatians. It expresses the central thought 
of the epistle. The Judaizers attempted to supplement 
the saving work of Christ by the merit of their own obedience 
to the law. That, says Paul, is impossible. Christ will do everything or 
nothing. Earn your salvation if your obedience to the law 
is perfect or else trust wholly to Christ's completed work. You 
cannot do both. You cannot combine merit and 
grace if justification, even in the slightest measure, is 
through human merit, then Christ died in vain. John Calvin says, 
for if we do not renounce all other hopes and embrace Christ 
alone, we reject the grace of God. You can't mingle these things. It's not a little bit of this 
and a little bit of that. Christianity isn't syncretic. Luther said, 
for whoever seeks righteousness apart from faith in Christ, whether 
it be through works or satisfactions or afflictions or the law of 
God, is nullifying the grace of God and despising the death 
of Christ, even though he may speak otherwise with his mouth. And then, brethren, we need to 
exercise caution. I would suggest we need to beware 
of doctrinal indifference. Doctrinal indifference, this 
whole idea as we've touched on before, it's just a trifling 
thing. It's no big thing. It doesn't matter. It does matter. 
Our lives depend upon it. We ought to be aware of doctrinal 
imprecision. Why do we study an antiquated 
confession of faith? Because precision marks that 
confession of faith. See, we don't have the luxury 
of gambling with our souls. We need to be correct. We need 
to understand the truth. Imprecision, in terms of doctrinal 
understanding, leads to imprecision in life. It leads to a loss of 
comfort. How do I know if I'm accepted 
by God? How do I know if I've done enough good works? How do 
I know if I've merited His salvation and His favor? There's no Romans 
5.1 in a scheme apart from justification by faith. There's no way we could 
say, therefore, having been justified by faith and our works, we have 
peace with God. No, no, no, no, no. We need to 
be aware of doctrinal imprecision. We need to be aware of doctrinal 
departures. There are some obvious ones, 
vis-à-vis Romanism, that's the whole purpose, or one of the 
reasons why there was a Protestant Reformation. Departures from 
the truth. We need to identify them, and 
the way that we identify them is by knowing the truth. I imagine 
the banker is able to spot the counterfeit because they know 
the truth. They don't have to study every counterfeit out there, 
they just have to know the truth. We have to know the truth and 
then we'll be able to spot those departures from that truth. We 
need to be aware of doctrinal compromise. Well, you know, we'll 
just go ahead and look the other way and entertain this particular... No, no, no. It's not going to 
happen here. We're not going to compromise. God willing, pray 
for your pastors, pray for all of us that we never compromise, 
that we go to our graves holding fast the truth of the gospel. 
And we need to be aware of doctrinal novelties. I'm getting to the 
point where I don't trust much that is in our generation or 
coming out. I mean, there's a lot of good 
theologians, a lot of good men, so I do guess I trust much. But we need to be aware of novelties. If it ain't been discovered yet, 
it's, you know, likely it's probably for a good reason it hasn't been. 
And then we ought to appreciate, with reference to the Gospel, 
it is divine in its origin. It is the message of Christ's 
life, death, and resurrection. It is for sinful men. It is received 
by faith alone. Its consequence is sanctification 
in its recipients, and it ultimately brings glory to God. as Luther 
described. He calls it the joyous exchange. The joyous exchange, referring 
to that whole exchange, our sin upon the Savior, the Savior's 
righteousness imputed to us. He says, the rich, noble, pious, 
bridegroom Christ takes this poor, despised, wicked little 
whore in marriage, redeems her of all evil, and adorns her with 
all his goods. I quite like that. He adorns 
us with all his goods, and the means by which we come into saving 
contact with his Savior is faith, faith alone. Look, as Scripture 
says, and you will live. Banish the thought that it's 
you and Jesus. If it's not Jesus, it's nothing 
at all. You need the Lord Christ Most 
High, and the only way is to look to Him, to believe on Him, 
and to come to Him. Well, let us pray. Our Father 
in Heaven, we thank you for this fighting epistle, and we thank 
you for the fact that our Lord Jesus Christ has wrought a perfect 
salvation for sinners, and that the Apostle Paul tirelessly preached 
it, wrote of it, propagated it. Help us as the Church of Christ 
in this generation to do the same. Help us to hold it fast, 
help us to not compromise or depart or tamper with or add 
to or take away from that cause us to be faithful with reference 
to the truth as it is in Jesus. We pray you'd open eyes and hearts 
to the truth of the gospel and by the power of your Holy Spirit 
bring men, women, boys and girls out of darkness into marvelous 
light that they may behold the face of our Lord Jesus Christ 
and all of his glory and ability to save sinners. And we pray 
these things in his most blessed name. Amen.