Galatians 1:6-10
We quickly trade the actual truth for what is a lie. Really quickly.
Verse 8 is interesting, but we’ll get there.
First, you have to feel for Paul. He left the Galatians not long ago, and within a very short time, traveling preachers had arrived and poisoned the water hole. We’ll get into the details of what they were teaching in a later lesson, but for now, let’s take a closer look at how Paul lays out the problem.
Verses 6 and 7 make it clear that even though some may have thought the new teaching was “another” Gospel, there is no such thing. There is the one, true Gospel, and then there are lies. There is no such thing as “another” Gospel.
What does another Gospel look like? Frankly, it makes up a surprising amount of the Christian church, even if we don’t realize it. It’s the true Gospel, plus some extra rules, plus some additional books alongside the Bible—it’s the Gospel plus.
Or, it is the Gospel, minus some of the more inconvenient things. People love to talk about how God so loved the world that He gave us Jesus, but they don’t like to admit we’re sinners who needed Jesus to pay for our sins. So they take that icky bit out and wrap it in some Christ-consciousness we’re-all-children-of-God everyone-is-going-to-Heaven gobbledygook, and voila: another less problematic Gospel.
God makes it clear, in these few verses, there is no such leeway.
Verse 7 goes on, though, into the interesting realm of what these false teachers were doing. It speaks to both motive and outcome, and may possibly help us identify what it looks like when a false teacher passes through.
Some people. It’s the same Greek word (τὶς tis) for “some people” as used in verse 9 for “anybody”. There’s nothing special required to lead people astray; a caveman could do it. That should be a warning to the “not I, Lord” crowd.
Throwing believers into confusion. God is never the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33).
Trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. This speaks to the false teacher’s intent. That is, they were trying to pervert the truth, not just bumbling around and accidentally saying something that confused everyone.
So now we get to verse 8, which clearly shows that it is the message, not the messenger, that is important. Most people tend to flip that and note the messenger’s demeanor, appearance, oratorical prowess, and other noticeable aspects, and use them to determine whether the message is valid. This is wrong, but we’re suckers, so we keep doing it over and over in life.
Remember: evaluate the message, not the messenger. The message will reveal a false messenger more than outward appearance or other observable traits. It is not the wolf that’s hard to spot, but the wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Verse 8 is particularly interesting because, in the midst of this warning against falling for a false version of the Gospel, it specifically warns against anyone who claims that an angel came to them from “heaven” and gave them a different Gospel than what God had given through Jesus and the apostles.
Here’s a list of people and religions who have done that, or versions of that:
Islam: claims the angel Gabriel came and gave the Koran to Muhammad.
Latter-Day Saints (Mormons): Joseph Smith claimed the angel Moroni told him of engraved golden plates, which were translated into the Book of Mormon.
Seventh-Day Adventists: Ellen G. White, a key prophet‑figure involved in the formation of Adventists, claimed to have visions in which an accompanying angel explained the hidden truths of Scripture.
Jehovah’s Witness: Charles Taze Russell and other early followers said they were guided by God’s spirit beings (angels). The organization also has its own translation of the Bible, the New World Translation, that was edited and revised to fit its doctrine.
New Church: Emanuel Swedenborg claimed that angels gave him the secret key to understanding the Bible’s hidden passages and allegories.
New Age/Occult: Often talk about spirit guides and ascended masters, often described as angels or light beings.
These take different forms, including additions to the Bible, subtractions, changes to the Bible itself, and outright “new” books of revelation in addition to the Bible. It has been noted that the “angel Gabriel” has had quite a hand in founding many religions. It is also worth noting that Lucifer was created as a beautiful angel of light whose superpower is deceiving people (2 Corinthians 11:14).
You might think you’re safe if you’re not involved in any of this, but be aware: there are many popular books, Bible translations, devotionals, and influences in the Christian church that, if you dig deeper, are supposedly revelations from angelic beings, letting someone in on some special, hidden knowledge they should share with the world. Anyone claiming to have received new knowledge that alters what the Bible tells us is in this list.
Paul warns against all of this, and quite emphatically. “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse!” (Galatians 1:8, NIV)
He then reiterates: if anyone preaches “another” Gospel, let them be under God’s curse, and closes out in verse 10 by saying that if he were interested in pleasing people, the last thing he’d be doing is preaching the true Gospel.
There are many other versions of the Gospel today that exist only to avoid making people uncomfortable (2 Timothy 4:3). We have churches with rainbow flags waving during pride month, telling us “love is love” and helping people march to hell because they get a comfortable “other” Gospel that strips away sin and repentance. We have religions and sects that make their people think they can earn their way to Heaven through personal hardship and restriction, unaware that the ticket in their pocket is for hell.
The Angel of Light knows very well which parts of the Gospel individual people are willing to hear, and which ones they won’t. He knows what we need to hear that will take us just enough off the path to change our entire eternal trajectory.
There is one true, unadulterated, unadjusted, unmaligned Gospel, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Everything else is hellbound.
If you’d like a worksheet for this lesson, you can get a copy here.