Day 21: Galatians 1:9

“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.”



We have to be very careful about what we’re doing, what we’re saying, and what we’re relaying in our teachings. If you read Paul much, you’ll notice that he’s very concerned with the purity of the Gospel. Look at the strength he projects with Galatians 1:9. He is literally saying “if someone is preaching another gospel, let him go to hell.” Yeah, it’s that serious.


Paul was fighting a group of people that were purposefully coming behind Paul and trying to tinker with the gospel. It was turning the hearts of the people that Paul taught towards legalism, and Paul rightfully deplored it.


We can take a look at that and say “shame on those guys, who do they think that they are, screwing with God’s word like that?” We’d be right to do so. Remember, though, that most heretics don’t start out that way, and they don’t believe that they are heretics.


Why did Paul send Timothy into Ephesus? To stop people from falsely teaching. One of the main reasons that John wrote his first epistle was to stop a rash of false teaching. No doubt that these guys thought that they were right, too.


What I’m trying to say is that it’s real easy to get into bad teaching, and even easier for us as teachers to start practicing it. We have to be on our guard against it. Don’t be teaching or preaching from what we think is right, or what feels right to us; always back up your teaching biblically. Always be in context. Study from other sources to make sure you’re on the right path. Run your stuff by other people that you trust to have sound doctrine and teaching. You are not a force unto yourself, and given time and a good dose of ego, you’ll land yourself on the wrong side of Paul’s warning; and that’s not a place you want to be, even by accident.


CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLE: We have to be very careful about what we teach. We are held to a higher level of responsibility than others. We don’t want to be found preaching a wrong gospel or message.


Here’s a set of verses to meditate on today: James 3:1-2


Prayer: Guard my heart and my words, Lord. Make them Your’s. Help me keep from striking out on my own when I teach, Lord. Help me to seek You in all that I do. In Christ’s name, amen.