THE GOSPEL OF GRACE, 1 of 3
(June 6, 2010)
KEY VERSE – It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. (Gal. 5:1) SECONDARY THEME VERSES: “A man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ” (Gal. 2:16); “If righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing” (Gal. 2:21).
THEME: Salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone releases us from the yoke of the law, freeing us to live a life of love through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Legal (Imputed) Righteousness: We are justified by faith in Christ (Gal. 2:16). Imparted Righteousness: Immediate Moral Change at conversion (Gal. 6:15); Gradual Moral Change through the fruit-growing work of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22) which requires our cooperation (Gal 5:16-17, 25, 6:8). We cooperate by using CCRC (Concentration, Choice, Reflection, Confession/Thanksgiving. Foundational verse, “By one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” (Heb. 10:14)
REVIEW:
Some feel Galatians 1:4 contains the theme of the letter in one verse. The Lord Jesus Christ of His own will went to the Cross. He was crucified for us. He died to snatch us from this present evil world. The Father and the Son were in harmony in that the Father also willed that the Son would die for us. The Father did not love us because the Son died for us. Rather the Son died for us because the Father loved us.
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned! (Galatians 1:6-9)
INTRODUCTION:
QUESTION: How many times is the word “gospel” used in our text? How many times is ‘gospel’ intimated?
Five times and intimated three times: “called by the grace of Christ,” “other than the one we preached,” “other than what you accepted.”
Martin Luther wrote: “There is a clear and present danger that the devil may take away from us the pure doctrine of faith (the Gospel) and may substitute for it the doctrines of works of human traditions. It is very necessary therefore, that this doctrine of faith be continually read and heard in public.” (As quoted by Ryken, 21)
THE GOSPEL OF GRACE
1. The Content of the Christian Gospel
2. The Ever Present Danger of False Gospels in the Church
3. The Key to Spotting a False Gospel
I. THE CONTENT OF THE CHRISTIAN GOSPEL
The English word ‘gospel’ comes from Old English. The ‘go’ comes from the word ‘god’ which meant ‘good.’ The ‘spel’ comes from the Old English word for ‘story.’ So in Old English ‘gospel’ meant ‘good story’ or ‘good message.’
The Biblical term is the Greek word euaggelion from which we get ‘evangel’, ‘evangelist,’ and ‘evangelical.’
In Greek the eu means good. Anggelion means message and angelos is messenger from which we get the word angel. So a Greek transliteration would be ‘good message.
In the ancient world euaggelion meant glad tidings and was always plural. It would be used in relation to a military victory – “Glad tidings, the barbarians have been defeated.’ Or you might say, “Glad tidings, my daughter is going to marry.” Or “Glad tidings, a hated enemy of mine has died.” Or, “Glad tidings, an innocent prisoner has been released from jail.’ In this way the word euaggelion was similar to the word ‘good news’ that we use today … “Good news, I finally got a job,” or “Good news, my daughter had a healthy baby.”
“As regards the Greek noun euaggelion … the LXX contains not a single instance of the noun in the singular with the meaning of “good news.” (JLM)
Paul uses the noun euaggelion only in the singular. Paul only talks of glad tiding, a once-for-all event that is unrepeatable.
Christ is the content of the gospel: “…that I might preach Him among the gentiles” (1:16) and “…the gospel of God – the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures, regarding his Son . . . (Romans 1:1-3)
“The ‘good news’ of God’s salvation in Jesus Christ, particularly as that which embodies all the objective facts concerning the Christ-event and the meaning of those facts.” (Fung, 46)
Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved . . . For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised the third day . . . (I Cor. 15:1-4).
The true gospel is a gospel of God’s free and unmerited favor, a gospel of grace. When anything is added it is no longer the gospel.
“The true gospel is in its essence what Paul called it in Acts 20:24, ‘the gospel of the grace of God’. It is good news of a God who is gracious to undeserving sinners. In grace He gave His son to die for us. In grace He calls us to Himself. In grace He justifies us when we believe. ‘All is from God’, as Paul wrote in II Corinthians 5:18, meaning that ‘all is of grace’. Nothing id due to our efforts, merits or works; everything in salvation is due the grace of God.” (Stott, 22)
“In the crucified Christ they saw the one who, loving them gave his life for their redemption. The glad tiding of this Christ became for them not an object but rather an occurrence, happening in their midst as though it were a powerful explosion that rearranged the whole of reality (3:1-2). The Spirit of Christ invaded their hearts; they were baptized into this corporate Son of God; and, impelled by the Spirit of Christ, they now cried out to God as their new Father (3:27; 4:6). The glad tiding spoken to them by God himself created them as his new community, and in that New Age community their enthusiasm knew no limit. The love of Christ spawned love of one another, and not least love of Paul, whom they knew to be the messenger God had sent to give them the glad tiding (4:14-15) (JLM, 132)
We summarized our study of the ‘Five Solas” of the Reformation with a definition of the Gospel: The Gospel of Salvation is based exclusively on Scripture, experienced only in Christ, given solely of God’s grace and appropriated by faith alone with the single purpose of God’s glory.
So a person who has received the Gospel has had a life-changing experience. He received Christ and His death on the Cross by faith as God’s provision for his eternal salvation apart from any effort on his part. The gift of salvation is a pure act of grace, unmerited favor from God.
The Gospel embodies a core of fixed tradition which is normative. In other words the NT is very clear about the content of the Gospel and that content was normative in the early Christian churches.
SO WHAT: The Gospel is God’s Glad Tiding of salvation from sin and death by the death of His Son, a salvation of grace that is received by faith alone apart from any human effort.
II. THE EVER PRESENT DANGER OF FALSE GOSPELS IN THE CHURCH
FALSE TEACHERS IN THE CHURCH
QUESTION: What are some NT passages that tell us about the certain presence of false teachers?
For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible. (Mt. 24:24)
I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. (Acts 20:29-30)
You belong to your father, the devil . . . there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:44)
And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. (II Cor. 11:14-15)
The greatest troublers of the church are not the persecutors but false teachers who tamper with the Gospel.
Luther said that heretics and false teachers make a good show, are very persuasive. If they did not, no one would follow them.
“No false teacher comes under the title of errors, and of the devil, neither does the devil himself come as a devil, and in his own likeness, especially that white devil we spoke of before.” (Luther, 21)
SO WHAT: Christians must never let their guard down, never assume that false teachers are seeking to penetrate either from without or within the teaching ministry of the local church.
WHAT FALSE GOSPELS LOOK LIKE
Not all false teachers come with false gospels but most do.
Paul warns about false teachers for they ‘distort the truth’ (Acts 20:30).
“The church’s greatest danger is not the anti-gospel outside the church; it is the counterfeit gospel inside the church.” (Ryken, 21)
“The devil disturbs the church as much by error as by evil.” (Stott, 24)
QUESTION: What are some of the false gospels that have penetrated the church today?
The Gospel of Material Prosperity (name it & claim it, blab it & grab it)
The Gospel of Family Values
The Gospel of the Self (A warm affirmation of self-esteem)
The Gospel of Morality
The Gospel of Religious Tradition
A passionate devotion to pro-life causes
A confident manipulation of modern managerial techniques
A drive towards church growth
A deep concern for the institution of the family
A clever appeal to consumerism by offering a sort of cost-free Christianity Lite.
A Sympathetic, empathetic, thickly-honeyed cultivation of interpersonal relationships
A determination to take America back to its Christian roots through political power. (Ryken, 21-22)
A deep concern for service, people getting involved in the community
A real concern for the poor and homeless: feeding and housing them
SO WHAT: False gospels abound in every age. We need to be aware of the false gospels of our generation so that we can be on guard against them.
THE FALSE GOSPEL OF THE TEACHERS, JUDAIZERS
The Judaizers, teachers that came to Galatia, did not see themselves as false teachers. They were probably very sincere people who felt that they were reasserting the Gospel, cleaning up Paul’s false teaching and giving the Galatians the true version of the Gospel. False teachers are not always insincere and devious people with fraudulent intentions.
Of course, because they are often well-meaning it is very difficult to confront them and/or to get people to see that they are false teachers.
Content of the Judaizer’s Gospel:
Circumcision required – Gal. 5:3, 5:6, 6:12, 15.
Some men came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the brothers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question. (Acts 15:1-2)
Observe special days – Gal. 4:10
Perfection, attain your goal through human effort – Gal. 3:3
Conclusion – Complete Paul’s “Gospel Lite” Gospel.
Paul is being accused of adjusting the Gospel to make it easy for the Gentiles to come into the church. He is pandering to the Gentiles dislike of circumcision.
SO WHAT: The false gospel of the Judaizers added the keeping of key elements of the Jewish law as necessary requirements in order to receive salvation as promised in the Gospel of Christ.
III. THE KEY TO SPOTTING A FALSE GOSPEL
THE STATUE THAT DIDN’T LOOK RIGHT
In September of 1983, an art dealer by the name of Gianfranco Becchina approached the J. Paul Getty Museum in California. He had in his possession, he said, a marble statue dating from the sixth century BC. It was what is known as a kouros, a sculpture of a nude male youth standing with his left leg forward and his arms at his sides. There are only about two hundred kouroi in existence, and most have been recovered badly damaged or in fragments from grave sites or archeological digs. But this one was almost perfectly preserved. It stood close to seven feet tall. It had a kind of light-colored glow that set it apart from other ancient works. It was an extraordinary find. Becchina’s asking price was just under $10 million.
The Getty moved cautiously. It took the kouros on loan and began a thorough investigation. Was the statue consistent with other known kouroi? The answer appeared to be yes. The style of the sculpture seemed reminiscent of the Anavyssos kouros in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens, meaning that it seemed to fit with a particular time and place. Where and when had the statue been found? No one knew precisely, but Becchina gave the Getty’s legal department a sheaf of documents relating to its more recent history. The kouros, the records stated, had been in the private collection of a Swiss physician named Lauffenberger since the 1930s, and he in turn had acquired it from a well-known Greek art dealer named Roussos.
A geologist from the University of California named Stanley Margolis came to the museum and spent two days examining the surface of the statue with a high-resolution stereomicroscope. He then removed a core sample measuring one centimeter in diameter and two centimeters in length from just below the right knee and analyzed it using an electron microscope, electron microprobe, mass spectrometry, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray fluorescence. The statue was made of dolomite marble from the ancient Cape Vathy quarry on the island of Thasos, Margolis concluded, and the surface of the statue was covered in a thin layer of calcite — which was significant, Margolis told the Getty, because dolomite can turn into calcite only over the course of hundreds, if not thousands, of years. In other words, the statue was old. It wasn’t some contemporary fake.
The Getty was satisfied. Fourteen months after their investigation of the kouros began, they agreed to buy the statue. In the fall of 1986, it went on display for the first time. The New York Times marked the occasion with a front-page story. A few months later, the Getty’s curator of antiquities, Marion True, wrote a long, glowing account of the museum’s acquisition for the art journal The Burlington Magazine. “Now standing erect without external support, his closed hands fixed firmly to his thighs, the kouros expresses the confident vitality that is characteristic of the best of his brothers.” True concluded triumphantly, “God or man, he embodies all the radiant energy of the adolescence of western art.”
The kouros, however, had a problem. It didn’t look right. The first to point this out was an Italian art historian named Federico Zeri, who served on the Getty’s board of trustees. When Zeri was taken down to the museum’s restoration studio to see the kouros in December of 1983, he found himself staring at the sculpture’s fingernails. In a way he couldn’t immediately articulate, they seemed wrong to him.
Evelyn Harrison was next. She was one of the world’s foremost experts on Greek sculpture, and she was in Los Angeles visiting the Getty just before the museum finalized the deal with Becchina. “Arthur Houghton, who was then the curator, took us down to see it,” Harrison remembers. “He just swished a cloth off the top of it and said, “Well, it isn’t ours yet, but it will be in a couple of weeks.” And I said, “I’m sorry to hear that.” What did Harrison see? She didn’t know. In that very first moment, when Houghton swished off the cloth, all Harrison had been a hunch, an instinctive sense that something was amiss.
A few months later, Houghton took Thomas Hoving, the former director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, down to the Getty’s conservation studio to see the statue as well. Hoving always makes a note of the first word that goes through his head when he sees something new, and he’ll never forget what that word was when he first saw the kouros. “It was ‘fresh’ – ‘fresh,’” Hoving recalls. And “fresh” was not the right reaction to have to a two-thousand-year-old statue. Later, thinking back on that moment, Hoving realized why that thought had popped into his mind: “I had dug in Sicily, where we found bits and pieces of these things. They just don’t come out looking like that. The kouros looked like it had been dipped in the very best caffe latte from Starbucks.”
Hoving turned to Houghton. “Have you paid for this?” Houghton, Hoving remembers, looked stunned. “If you have, try to get your money back,” Hoving said. “If you haven’t, don’t.”
The Getty was getting worried, so they convened a special symposium on the kouros in Greece. They wrapped the statue up, shipped it to Athens, and invited the country’s most senior sculpture experts. This time the chorus of dismay was even louder.
Harrison, at one point, was standing next to a man named George Despinis, the head of the Acropolis Museum in Athens. He took one look at the kouros and blanched. “Anyone who has ever seen a sculpture coming out of the ground,” he said to her, “could tell that that thing has never been in the ground.”
Georgios Dontas, head of the Archeological Society in Athens, saw the statue and immediately felt cold. “When I saw the kouros for the first time,” he said, “I felt as though there was a glass between me and the work.”
Dontas was followed in the symposium by Angelos Delivorrias, director of the Benaki Museum in Athens. He spoke at length on the contradiction between the style of the sculpture and the fact that the marble from which it was carved came from Thasos. Then he got to the point. Why did he think it was a fake? Because when he first laid eyes on it, he said, he felt a wave of “intuitive repulsion.”
By the time the symposium was over, the consensus among many of the attendees appeared to be that the kouros was not at all what it was supposed to be. The Getty, with its lawyers and scientists and months of painstaking investigation, had come to one conclusion, and some of the world’s foremost experts in Greek sculpture — ”just by looking at the statue and sensing their own “intuitive repulsion”had come to another. Who was right?
For a time it wasn’t clear. The kouros was the kind of thing that art experts argued about at conferences. But then, bit by bit, the Getty’s case began to fall apart. The letters the Getty’s lawyers used to carefully trace the kouros back to the Swiss physician Lauffenberger, for instance, turned out to be fakes. One of the letters dated 1952 had a postal code on it that didn’t exist until twenty years later. Another letter dated 1955 referred to a bank account that wasn’t opened until 1963. Originally the conclusion of long months of research was that the Getty kouros was in the style of the Anavyssos kouros. But that, too, fell into doubt: the closer experts in Greek sculpture looked at it, the more they began to see it as a puzzling pastiche of several different styles from several different places and time periods. The young man’s slender proportions looked a lot like those of the Tenea kouros, which is in a museum in Munich, and his stylized, beaded hair was a lot like that of the kouros in the Metropolitan Museum in New York. His feet, meanwhile, were, if anything, modern. The kouros it most resembled, it turned out, was a smaller, fragmentary statue that was found by a British art historian in Switzerland in 1990. The two statues were cut from similar marble and sculpted in quite similar ways. But the Swiss kouros didn’t come from ancient Greece. It came from a forger’s workshop in Rome in the early 1980s. And what of the scientific analysis that said that the surface of the Getty kouros could only have aged over many hundreds or thousands of years? Well, it turns out things weren’t that cut and dried. Upon further analysis, another geologist concluded that it might be possible to “age” the surface of a dolomite marble statue in a couple of months using potato mold. In the Getty’s catalogue, there is a picture of the kouros, with the notation “About 530 BC, or modern forgery.”
When Federico Zeri and Evelyn Harrison and Thomas Hoving and Georgios Dontas — and all the others — looked at the kouros and felt an “intuitive repulsion,” they were absolutely right. In the first two seconds of looking — in a single glance — they were able to understand more about the essence of the statue than the team at the Getty was able to understand after fourteen months.
Blink is a book about those first two seconds.
(Taken from Blink by Malcolm Gladwell, pages 3-8, Little, Brown and Company, 2005)
QUESTION: Why were the people who discovered this kouras as a fake able to do so even though they did no scientific analysis?
They were all art experts, they had been working with art for years so they had an intuitive sense of what was true and what was fake.
Only as we study the Gospel, feed on the Gospel, think about the Gospel, share the Gospel will we become experts on what the Gospel looks like in all situations and be able to spot any false Gospel.
I fear for the next generation of Americans who will not be experts in the true Gospel and thus will be ensnared by false Gospels.
SO WHAT: We will not be able to spot false Gospels unless we first become experts on the true Gospel of Christ as set forth in the Scriptures.
SO WHAT???
SO WHAT: The Gospel is God’s Glad Tiding of salvation from sin and death by the death of His Son, a salvation of grace that is received by faith alone apart from any human effort.
SO WHAT: Christians must never let their guard down, never assume that false teachers are seeking to penetrate either from without or within the teaching ministry of the local church.
SO WHAT: False gospels abound in every age. We need to be aware of the false gospels of our generation so that we can be on guard against them.
SO WHAT: The false gospel of the Judaizers added the keeping of key elements of the Jewish law as necessary requirements in order to receive salvation as promised in the Gospel of Christ.
SO WHAT: We will not be able to spot false Gospels unless we first become experts on the true Gospel of Christ as set forth in the Scriptures.