"Let Him Be Accursed"

" 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—not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 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." (Gal. 1:6-8 ESV)

The Epistle of Galatians is the first recorded letter we have from the Apostle Paul and was written sometime close to the Jerusalem council (49 AD). This council rejected the idea that the Gentiles had to undergo circumcision and keep the Old Testament Law (Acts 15:5) after salvation. James, the brother of Jesus, summarized the conclusion of the council in acts Chapter 15:19 “Therefore it is my judgement that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles…”, verse 22 “Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas…”

If you remember, this council took place after Paul’s first missionary journey (Acts 13 & 14) with Barnabas, during which they took the gospel to the Gentiles in southern Galatia (modern-day Turkey), west of Paul’s hometown of Tarsus, around 47-48 AD. The date of Galatians is around 49 AD, and it is addressed “to the churches of Galatia,” whom he visited on his first missionary journey. The purpose of this letter was to address the problems caused by some false believers, also called Judaizers, who were spreading these teachings to new believers and adding works to the gospel of grace.

Paul starts Chapter 1 by recounting his Apostleship, which was being called into question by those “disturbing” the gentile churches that he and Barnabas had established. This section of Scripture provides details about Paul’s early life and call to ministry that we don’t find anywhere else in Scripture. Prior to his meeting Jesus, Saul was a terror to the newly established Jewish churches in Jerusalem and the surrounding area (see Acts 7:58 and 8:1-4), but then in Acts 9, Saul’s life changed when he met Jesus face to face. From that moment on, Saul, also known as Paul (Acts 13:9), would never be the same. From that moment on, Paul had one purpose in life: to proclaim the Gospel of Grace and forgiveness of sins through faith alone in Jesus our Lord.

Paul summarizes the gospel that he preached in Gal. 1:6: “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel.” There you have it, Paul would not tolerate anyone distorting the gospel of grace; in fact, he says in verse 8, “But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed.” Paul had no tolerance for someone corrupting the gospel of salvation as a gift from God. He could not stand by and hear others adding works to this gospel.

In our world today, we have so many “cults” that are continually adding works to the gospel and trying to nullify the grace of God (see 2:21). As soon as someone or some organization says “Salvation is a gift from God and to receive this gift you have to accept it AND…”, they are preaching a gospel “contrary to that which Paul preached” and they should be “accursed”.

Paul is not talking about differences in “method” of worship, which is cultural and reflects the heartfelt gratitude of those worshiping the one true living God. What Paul is talking about is the “message”. I know it sounds harsh to say that those who preach the saving grace of Jesus and then add works to the message are accursed, but it’s true. As soon as anyone or any organization changes the message of “Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone,” they have corrupted the gospel and should be avoided at all costs. I personally don’t want to listen to or participate with anyone who tries to nullify the grace of God by adding any form of works on our part that are required to receive the free gift of salvation. They are changing and corrupting the message that Paul so clearly presents in all of his letters.

Having different styles or methods of worship is fine, some I like and some I don’t, but we have freedom in Christ to seek how we can best worship our Savior, but we do not have any room to change the message, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast.” (Eph. 2:8-9)

So, believer, please be cautious as you listen to “preachers” online and on television, be very critical of the message, and if they “preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed.”, and stop listening.

"Living in Grace is not about what I can do, but about what Jesus has already done!"