The Incomplete Gospel

Gal. 1:6-9

Galatians 1:6-9, I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: {7} Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. {8} 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. {9} 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.

The problem with the churches at Galatia was they had been saved by the true grace of God, but had not continued to serve God in grace. They heard a different message from a false preacher about how they had to live for God, not how God should live in them. This is going on today in many religious circles. The gospel is being preached differently today than in days past. This is why there are some many people that say they are saved, yet have no fruits of their salvation.

There is no salvation if God doesn't continue to deal with that person for scriptural baptism and faithful service. The story of Lot is the story of a saved person who never really became what we would call faithful in service, although God called him just, II Peter 27,8. So there can be salvation without faithful service, but there cannot be salvation if God doesn't deal with that person concerning faithful service. This statement is the core of this message.

Example: A young person wants more than to meet their mate, or to be simply introduced to them, or to simply marry them. They want fellowship with them all of their lives. The person who is lost needs the gospel, then they need more - baptism. Baptism is not a part of the gospel, (using the word "gospel" in the strictest sense of the word) then service in the Lord's church. Service is not a part of the gospel (using the word "gospel" in the strictest sense of the word).

I. Some scriptures that speak about salvation, baptism and service as if they were one.

A. Acts 2:37,38 - Why did Peter preach that they ought to repent and be baptized?

1. Some would have us believe that baptism is a part of being saved.

2. But baptism is not a part of being saved, but rather a part of living for Christ.

3. Remember Gal. 3:27 - by being baptized, we put our candle (light) on the candlestick (compare Matt. 5:15 and Rev. 1:20).

B. Acts 16:30 - Note verse 32 - After Paul and Silas told the man that he needed to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ in order to be saved, they told him how he needed to be scripturally baptized in order to live a life for the Lord.

1. This he readily did.

2. He did not submit to baptism that he might be saved, this was taken care of in verse 31.

3. But we really ought to notice that the preachers didn't leave off baptism, they included it in their message.

4. A lot of preachers and teachers today don't do this.

5. They believe the only thing necessary is to preach only the gospel.

6. The gospel is the only thing necessary for that person to be saved, but we also need to include how that person can lead a satisfactory life before god.

C. Acts 8:26-40 - Philip preaching to the Ethiopian eunuch.

1. The eunuch was reading from Isaiah 53.

2. This passage is a description about the death of Christ for our sins.

3. The eunuch didn't understand what he was reading, so Philip joined him and explained to him what the scripture meant.

4. But note that baptism is not in Isaiah 53, yet in Acts 8:36, the eunuch declared that he wanted to be baptized.

5. The Campbellites would have us believe that Philip added to Isaiah 53 and declared that the eunuch would have to be baptized in order to be saved.

6. Yet this cannot be because in verse 37 Philip put the condition on baptism as believing on Christ.

7. Now by looking at the scripture, we can tell that Philip was presenting the gospel (salvation of the spirit) and concluding with how a life can be saved.

8. He was preaching a complete message, salvation and Godly living.

9. This is so much better than the one sided messages we often hear today.

D. Baptism - Gal. 3:27 - If you're baptized, you've put on Christ.

1. Salvation and Baptism are two separate acts - John 4:1

2. Acts 2:37,38 - On the day of Pentecost the people were told to (1) repent and (2) be baptized. Acts 2:41 - (1) They that gladly received the word were (2) baptized. Verse 42 - they continued stedfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship. They were continually "putting on Christ", just like faith keeps on coming as we keep on hearing, Rom. 10:17.

3. Acts 8:12 - The people at Samaria (1) believed [1] the things concerning the kingdom of God and [2] the name of Jesus Christ (power) and (2) were baptized.

4. Acts 16:12 - The beginnings of the church at Philippi. Acts 16:14,15 - Lydia heard and (1) the Lord opened her heart and (2) she was baptized. Acts 16:30 - The Philippian jailer heard that he should (1) believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and (2) that he should be baptized. (He was baptized that same night, so he had to hear about baptism that same night!) He had a church to congregate with.

6. Acts 18:8-11 - The Corinthians (1) hearing believed and (2) was baptized. Paul was instructed by the Holy Spirit to remain in Corinth and teach the truth. He stayed for 1½ years, continually building the local church.

II. Service - Eph. 3:21 - Unto Him be glory in the church. This part of the message, like baptism, is not a part of the gospel (i.e. not necessary for salvation of the spirit), but it is necessary for the salvation of the life.

A. We must put our light on the candlestick.

1. Matt. 5:15 - We must put our light on the candlestick.

2. Rev. 1:20 - The seven candlesticks are the seven churches.

B. II Cor. 11:2 - Present as a chaste virgin to Christ.

1. From the church, the Lord will chose His bride.

2. Please notice who the apostle Paul is writing to.

3. A church is an assembly, not a non-assembly.

C. Just any church won't do.

1. A lot of times it is preached, "Go, join the church of your choice."

2. This is error.

3. We ought to join the church of Jesus' choice!

D. Let's draw a parallel between the Lord's church and the husband and wife (home).

1. Eph. 5:22-33 - (verse 32) Paul is using the example of the home to explain more fully about the Lord's church.

2. II Cor. 11:2 - The church ought to be presented as a chaste virgin to Christ. Certainly both partners in the marriage ought to be virgins when they marry.

3. But in religion, people simply lose all sense of reasoning. They will say one church is as good as another, when they know:

a. one paycheck is not as good as another. I want the paycheck that belongs to me. So does everybody else. Taking the wrong paycheck may be called stealing.

b. One car (truck) is not as good as another. If you take the wrong vehicle, that's called stealing.

c. One house is not as good as another. If you enter the wrong house, that's called illegal entry.

d. One wife (husband) is not as good as another. If you take the wrong wife (husband) that's called adultery.

e. One child is not as good as another. If you take the wrong child, that's called kidnapping.

E. Rev. 19:6-8 - We must be faithful in the right church before Christ will even consider me for a part of His bride.

1. There is be a lot of people in heaven that will not be in the bride.

2. We are in the bride by grace, not by works.

3. I am in salvation by grace, not by works.

4. People that believe they must do certain things before God will chose them to be a part of His bride are doing exactly the same thing the church at Galatia was doing.

F. Regardless of what kind of trouble you are in, you can learn enough to be stable in Christ in less than three years.

1. Acts 18:8-11 - Paul taught these people everything they needed to know in 1 year and six months.

2. Acts 11:26 - Paul and Barnabas assembled with the church a whole year, teaching enough truth for them to stand for Christ for the rest of their lives.

3. Gal. 1:18 - There is a school of thought that Paul was taught of God in the wilderness for three years.

The Perverted Gospel

Gal. 1:6-12

The perverted gospel is not another gospel or a new gospel, but a perversion of the true gospel. It is declaring that the spiritual aspects of the gospel are attainable by the natural man. That is; that a man can believe in his head and be saved. It is believing that all the spiritual parts of salvation and service can be accomplished by the natural man. This gospel completely disregards the work of salvation, and God the Holy Spirit in drawing sinners to salvation and service. This gospel completely disregards the spiritual side of service while claiming to enlighten saved people to greater service.

Salvation doesn't come by education, it comes by revelation.

It is error to:
  1. To call upon the sinner to come when he can't come. We need to teach the doctrine of Total Depravity so the sinner will know that God must come to him, and he will realize that he can't come to God because he is helpless to come. He will pray that God will come to him. He will trust God to come and save him.
  2. Looking to sinners to be saved and not looking to God to reach down and save them. This is a very common and dangerous situation that is happening today. many will intended saved people are putting a lot of pressure on the sinner to come to Christ. Sometimes this pressure is what produces the guilt that is so often mistaken for Holy Spirit conviction. If the sinner finally comes to the front of the church building, everyone is happy and the sinner is also happy because he has made those people happy and his guilt (conviction) is gone so he thinks he has been saved when actually he hasn't lost his sinful condition, he has only lost his guilt caused by other people.
  3. John 6:44 - Sinners cannot come unless they are drawn by the Holy Spirit. Saved people ought to realize this and spend more time praying that God will draw sinners than they do in drawing them themselves.
  4. To call to sinners to "give their hearts to God" or "put their faith in God" when they need a "new heart given to them b God." The terminology we use can cause lost people to believe that they have something to give to God, when they don't have anything at all. A lost person needs to understand that they have a wicked heart full of sin and God won't accept it at all. God will accept them when they come to Him with a heart full of sin that they can't cleanse. As a matter of fact, this is the only time God will accept them at all.
  5. To call on sinners to "call upon God" when Rom. 10:14 says they can't call until after they believe (are saved). Luke 18:9-14 - the publican's prayer didn't save him, his trust in Christ did. The chief command is to believe in the heart to the saving of the soul. Not "calling upon God" with the mouth until the heart believes. The Pentecostal denomination largely believes that any number of "callings" will bring salvation. Many Baptist are falling into this error.
    1. Falling on the knees and "praying through". There is nothing wrong with a lost person praying, but he can't "pray through". If he could, this would be salvation by his strength, and salvation doesn't come like this.
    2. Acquiring a certain emotion by a person doing certain things (praying aloud, praising God aloud until they're hoarse, holding your hands over your head until he blood is cut off and then getting a tingling sensation in the fingertips) or watching somebody else do those things -- such as a speaker or other church members speaking "in tongues" or rolling on the floor or jumping pews, or some other such nonsense. This is all of the flesh and not of the spirit. Those that do such are not Godly, but are only pretending to the satisfaction of the flesh.
  6. To call on sinners to "make a commitment to God". This is such a sorry way to present salvation that it actually defiles human language to describe it. It is scriptural to ask a saved person to "make a commitment to God, but how on God's good green earth can a lost person make a commitment to God? We can only say that God is not in such a statement and the one using the statement is not being used of God. Men will probably like to listen to such garbage, as it makes them feel like they have something to do with their salvation. But they will go to hell believing in a false (perverted) gospel.
  7. To call lost people to church membership instead of offering them membership in the family of God. There is a difference and saved people ought to study enough to know there is a difference and speak in such a way as to make the difference apparent.
  8. To call sinners in such a way as to make them believe that salvation is a work of the flesh either 1% or 99%. They need to know and believe that salvation and service is completely in the hand of God and all they can do is to submit themselves to God and let Him do with them as pleases Him.
  9. I believe there are many people today that believe they are saved when in fact they are lost and on their way to hell. There are many church members who are trusting their church membership to get them to heaven, just as many are trusting their baptism, and many are trusting their "good works". This is why there are so many people claiming salvation, yet the world is getting worse and worse. This is why the Bible is the most purchased book in the world, yet the least read book in the world. This is why church records show many people as church members, yet on Sunday, the lakes are full of boats and the stores are full of shoppers. This is why the sale of filthy books is increasing and getting dirtier and dirtier. This is why venereal disease is on the increase, abortion on demand is increasing, (at government {taxpayers} expense), adultery is everywhere, and a whole host of other moral and civil crimes to numerous to mention.
  10. Many people have been lead to believe they are saved, when in fact they aren't and now they are in a state of confusion, not knowing what to believer.

John 8:30-59 - This is not a modern problem. It has been with us as long as there have been men on the earth. Read this portion of scripture and see that these people who "believed" were not lost before they "believed". These believers argued with Christ about everything He said and finally took up stones to kill Him.

Many church members today get mad at the preacher because of what he preaches, or mad at the church because they don't do everything they believe they ought to do. This is a good evidence they are lost. They may have made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ, but the proof of the pudding (in the way they lie) is in the eating. A person who gets mad and won't come to church to worship God probably doesn't (and can't) worship God anyway. There will be disagreements from time to time, but when those disagreements are unreasonable, then one of the parties don't want them resolved. They had rather stay mad so everybody will know how much they have been hurt. They don't care that everybody will know how great their Savior is or how much they love God or how much God loves them, they want everybody to know how much they have been hurt. This is not the mind of Christ, but of Satan, and the one doing such is following the devil and not God.

A through reading of John 8:30-59 will shed much light on true salvation.