I Am Astonished

 
^“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are following a different gospel—not that there really is another gospel, but there are some who are disturbing you and wanting to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we (or an angel from heaven) should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be condemned to hell! As we have said before, and now I say again, if any one is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let him be condemned to hell!”            Galatians 1:6-9 NET

Paul's letter to the believers in Galatia could easily have been written today with minimal changes, given the state of the American Christian Church in our time. Believers are often too quickly swayed from their faith, claiming it is too restrictive or "out of fashion" to adhere to it when the culture promotes promiscuity and premarital sexual relations, and even casts doubt on the sanctity of human life. We live in a disposable society, and this mindset also extends to our morals—anything is acceptable, and nothing is sacred.

Paul was astonished and concerned by the believers in Galatia. They had once embraced the teachings of Christ and lived transformed lives under Paul's ministry. However, they were now being led astray by false teachers who were promoting incorrect ideas and doctrines. The believers, who had initially been open to receiving spiritual insight, were now unable to discern that the new teachings were contrary to God's spirit.

This new "gospel" being preached in the church in Galatia, as Paul called it, was really not a gospel at all. The word gospel means 'good news,' but what Paul was hearing was anything but good news. Paul taught very clearly that the indwelling Spirit of Jesus transforms us, not anything we do in the flesh. God takes no pleasure in the flesh, and, in fact, we are told to crucify the natural man so that the spiritual man can be raised and fully formed. "You were taught with reference to your former way of life to lay aside the old man, who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires, to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and to put on the new man who has been created in God’s image—in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth". (Ephesians 4:22-24 NET)

Paul vividly describes how Jesus's grace touched the Galatian Church. Grace, as Paul knew, is unmerited favor, and it isn't just a one-time thing; it's a continuous outpouring of God's love. However, the Galatians, in their actions, treated God's grace with disdain, moving away from the freedom of the grace they had been given. Jesus forgave them, but the Galatian Church, unfortunately, did not fully embrace and live in that freedom, a fact that we, as a close spiritual community, should reflect upon.

Paul uses the word 'desert' to refer to those who would abandon their position in Christ of what they first believed through Paul's testimony. Remember that the only things these believers in Galatia had were the Torah and the letters from Paul or the other apostles to keep them grounded in the faith. Of course, they had each other, but as mentioned above, because they lacked discernment, they allowed a free-for-all to come into their meetings and deceive them into believing extra-biblical things that were contrary to the teaching of Christ.

The word 'disturb' has an interesting Greek origin, 'terrasse', which can also mean 'to agitate', 'stirred up', or 'thrown into confusion'. It is clear that this group of people were actively trying to discourage the Galatian Christians from forming a strong Church. These opponents were doing everything in their power to stop the Church from progressing by spreading lies and false statements about the gospel of Jesus.

Another notable phrase in this passage is 'condemned to hell'; the Greek word is 'anathema,' a term of great significance. It means a devoted thing,' typically negative, like being devoted or cursed by an oath to hell. In this context, it signifies a severe form of condemnation or curse. The fact that Paul says, 'if we or an Angel from heaven...,' he is drawing upon the Deuteronomy 32 worldview, where fallen or rebellious Angles may bring deception to the Galatian believers; Paul is bringing much more to the table than just considering mortal liars and deceivers infiltrating the Church, he also has evil spiritual forces in mind.

Paul's use of the word 'anathema' twice in these passages is meant to be taken very seriously. It serves as a strong warning that anyone who distorts or adds to the gospel of Jesus to such an extent that it leads others away from their faith will face the judgment of God. Jesus himself addresses this directly in the gospel of Luke: "Jesus said to his disciples, 'Stumbling blocks are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! It would be better for him to have a millstone tied around his neck and be thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.'" (Luke 17:1-2, NET)

You have to commend Paul for his willingness to go out on a limb to support the Galatian Church; he is doubling down on those who are leading his flock astray and condemning them in the most severe way that he could, seeing that he was locked in a prison cell and writing these letters from afar. His heart was faithful to the gospel of Jesus, and all he wanted was to see Christ being formed in the lives of the saints at the Galatian Church; what an incredible advocate they had in Paul.

How much more of an advocate do we have in Jesus, who stands before us and pleads our case before the Father in heaven, Jesus is our true advocate "…for he has said, “I will never leave you and I will never abandon you.” So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, and I will not be afraid. What can people do to me?"”      Hebrews 13:5b-6 NET

Stephen Barnett