It was the end of the fourth quarter. My son’s team was down by three and the other team had the ball. What you always hope will happen but rarely does, did! An interception was made and nearly 80 yards run back for the touchdown! With only seconds left, our side was going crazy… until we realized the official who had thrown a penalty flag was calling it on us.
WHAT? We couldn’t believe it. It was a terrible call that brought an onslaught of yelling. The coach, players, parents and fans were fired up and furious. The wrong call cost us the game!
This is why the Apostle Paul spoke so strongly to the Galatians. He too was fired up by the wrong interpretation of reality.
As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed (Galatians 1:9).”
A false gospel being preached was leading them and others astray. Leading them to trust in their own works and righteousness instead of the grace of Christ. Leading them not to grace, freedom and life but into law, slavery and death.
On Saturday as I sat at my son’s wrestling tournament, I felt this same frustration. Not because of bad officiating but from listening to a sermon on my drive over that was just what Paul condemned. I was angered because I fear we’ve been bewitched by a message that is biblical and yet contrary to the gospel. A message masquerading as Christian but is leading us astray.
To borrow from one of my book titles, we need to get our story straight about what the gospel is and what it isn’t.
– A message that focuses more on man than Christ is not the gospel.
– A message with Bible verses is not necessarily Truth. We misapply and misinterpret all the time. And along the same lines, a book labeled “Christian” is not necessarily good.
– A message that elevates self-improvement instead of pointing us to our need of Christ and his worth and work is not the gospel.
– A message that leaves us convicted but does not proclaim the good news of what Jesus has done for us is law, not real Christianity.
– A message that instructs on how to live might make us a “better” person, but does nothing to grow us in dependence on Christ. On the contrary,
A message full of instruction will lead us to either feel spiritually good or guilty over our own performance or lack thereof.Click To Tweet In other words, law fuels both pride and insecurity.Law leads to:
- Comparison. “Well, at least I’m doing better than her?”
- Competition. “I better do ‘xyz’ so I look as good as Suzy Q.”
- Covering, wearing masks, & pretending. “If they only knew what I did (or didn’t do) I would never be accepted by this group/church, etc.”
- Conviction, but cannot change the heart. Only Christ can.
Law directs our eyes off of Christ’s righteousness and onto our own. Law leads us to believe in an achievement salvation. Albeit so subtle. It disguises itself well because it moves us to “good works” which we think must be good. But good works can be done for lots of wrong reasons, and are not synonymous to Christianity.
For instance when we look to our good works as the basis of our standing, we are living by the law. If we falsely think our good works make us more acceptable (or our sin jeopardizes our acceptance) we are living under the law instead of living loved. If we think we have to earn our keep, instead of resting in his finished work we are living by the law.
It’s no wonder so many of kids who grow up in the church abandon it upon college and adulthood if man-centered, self-help, law-driven teaching is what they’ve been given. I know this sounds harsh, but truth matters and trash corrupts.
Law shifts our eyes off of Christ and on to self and this is NOT the gospel. Only the gospel of grace is the life-giving truth that grows and keeps us.
If this is what you are hungry for or you want to better understand the distinctions of law vs grace, my husband has been preaching through Galatians. You can listen to the sermon series online here, or if you are local come join us Sundays at 10am. But like a fired-up football fan doesn’t easily stop talking about the bad call, this won’t be the last you’ll read of this from me.
Theology matters. It effects how we live and think. It frees us or enslaves us. It’s why I write.
