Derek Thomas

Well, here's Paul.

There's a place for condemnation.

This isn't Paul simply being ornery or prickly, or this isn't to be explained simply in terms of Paul's personality, or this was Paul on an off day.

This was Paul, and he hadn't had his coffee when he wrote this letter, and things were going badly in his life.

And so he's a little crotchety and a little prickly.

No, Paul is saying there's a gospel, and there's a gospel that saves.

But if you add something to that gospel, if you say you must believe in Jesus and, then that's not a gospel anymore.

That's something else.

That's a distortion.

It's about the absolute freeness of grace.

It's grace and nothing else.

It's none of your doing, not of works, lest any man should boast, Paul tells the Ephesians.

There are wolves in the church.

They're dressed in sheep's clothing.

And Paul is saying to the Galatian church, this young fledgling church, there are wolves among you.

And you may be sitting next to them, and you may be in their Bible class, and they're teaching the damnable plus.

They are wolves and you need to recognize them as wolves and you need to stop listening to them.

False gospels are not to be tolerated.

They are to be expunged from the church.

So, what's the takeaway of this opening section of Galatians chapter 1 verses 1 to 9?