“Desertion!”

Scripture: Galatians 1:1-12

Paul’s letters all seem to begin in a fairly common format – he begins by 1) telling the recipients of each letter who it is that is writing to them, 2) who it is he is writing to, along with a word or two of encouragement, 3) an offering of grace and peace to them, and a thanksgiving for their ministries. However, his greeting to the Galatians is different with two notable exceptions– he includes a much more extensive word of “grace and peace” that almost sounds more like a scolding than a blessing, and he offers them no words whatsoever of thanksgiving! You might think, and rightly so, that Paul is a bit upset with these folks.

Read Galatians 1:1-5

He reminds the people that Jesus gave his all to save us from the evil of the age, and that it was all in the will and glory of God that it came to be. But he then will continue throughout this letter recounting just why Jesus came into our world and what this rescue cost him. And what is the issue that has him so riled up? He is appalled that the church is placing far less emphasis on the teaching of Jesus Christ and far more on the laws of Moses.

This was a fairly common problem in the first century church. At the time of this letter (approximately 50 AD), the church had yet to break away from Judaism and many converts to Jesus’s way were Jewish. Jewish influence was very strong - the traditions of a thousand years were very hard to break, and the Jewish leadership in the fledgling faith expected gentile converts to become Jewish.
This doesn’t mean that the people weren’t claiming Jesus as Lord and Savior – they just weren’t following his teaching completely. Remember that it would be several more centuries before the 66 books of the Bible would be chosen out of the thousands of letters, scrolls, and other writings that had been produced, and many followers of The Way were still leaning on the Hebrew teachings for consistency in faith expression. In essence, Paul was telling the churches that Jesus died to free them from these oppressive and inconsequential rituals, so why are they still doing them?

Jesus had never condemned the Law of God (Matthew 5:17-18) – he only taught that the Law of Moses was overly restrictive and left no room for faith to grow and thrive. And yet, Gentile believers were being coerced into accepting Jewish customs and traditions as the only way to live a righteous life. As we read though the Gospels, we discover that all of the Lord’s teachings were intended to uncover the difference between God’s law and Moses’ law – to show which we were to keep, and which we should let go of.

Read Galatians 1:6-9

He implies that their “new gospel”, based solely in the law, has no truth in it, which is quite a statement for a former Pharisee – and he even calls them “deserters”! Desertion was a serious charge, even in that day, but we can understand this call perfectly in our own military’s context. A soldier takes an oath of allegiance to both their country and their senior leaders, and failure to stay faithful to that oath is the most serious offence that can be committed, and that failure is worthy of death. That is how serious a situation the church now found themselves in.
And it isn’t the fault of the new converts to Christ – the fault rests squarely on the shoulders of the leadership and the teachers of these new congregations. In James 3:1, a letter written at about the same time as this one, we are told that those “who teach will be judged more strictly.” Paul is in agreement, and says that anyone who proclaims a “gospel” other than what came from Christ will be “eternally condemned”. He wanted the churches in Galatia to know that they had fallen to that very level.

We need to understand, though, that when Paul refers to “another gospel”, he isn’t implying that this is another possible “truth of God”! He says that it “is no gospel at all.” Demands that centered on circumcision and dietary laws were, in all likelihood, at the core of this false teaching, and it was being taught as though it had come directly from Jesus Himself. And it would take time, and no small amount of angst, before correction would begin to set in.

And Galatia wasn’t the only church to receive this false teaching – in Acts 15:1, we read that Antioch was subject to the same issue, as well as did the church in Corinth. And quite honestly, false teaching has never been defeated - it has been a problem throughout the centuries. The early church experienced Gnosticism – the belief that certain people had received special spiritual understandings that no one else had, and that it gave them a closeness to God that others did not have. The Middle Ages had the Crusades and the Inquisition – two very dark times in the life of the church. Even the 200 years of the Reformation were bloody and hateful, and lies and intrigue plagued both the reformers and the established church.
And this doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of problems that the Church has had to endure, and today is no different – today it is social issues that have taken hold of many in the church, and the result is the same. False teaching will always be a divisive factor for us, and it will continue to plague the faithful until Christ returns to make his truth our watchword. In general, these issues arise because some dynamic speaker takes some scriptural verse out of context, and uses it to advance their own personal agenda.

But we don’t have a Paul today to hold us accountable to the truth of Jesus, so who is going to do it for us? How will we know? How will we stay focused on God’s truth?
The first century church didn’t have scripture – the word of God in Christ Jesus had to be passed on by word of mouth, or by letters that circulated among the various congregations in a city, or by itinerant evangelists. And any of these methods could be misunderstood, or offered out of context, or even false in both word and context.
But we have the Bible and Bible study materials, and even at that, there are good studies and there are others that lead us away from the truth. The best studies involve discussion as well as teaching, with various thoughts and understandings being shared and evaluated by the participants. We are to hold each other accountable, and not depend on the explanations, or prejudices (!) of only one person.

When there is no accountability, the defection from God’s grace and way becomes rampant, and Paul proclaims a curse on the false teachers of his day. But this isn’t just Paul’s idea – even Jesus offered a condemnation on those who taught contrary to his life. In Matthew 5:19, the Lord tells us that anyone who sins, or who even teaches a way that is contrary to his, will be called “least” in the Kingdom of God. And being “least” is not good news, believe me!

Read Galatians 1:10-12

Paul says that the concerns he is expressing have nothing to do with his trying to win the admiration and approval of humanity. It may be that he had been accused of teaching such abrupt thoughts because he was trying to start his own brand of faith. It hadn’t been that long since Paul, as Saul, had terrorized believers all over the area, and there was still some mistrust of his sincerity in proclaiming the truth of Jesus Christ. And that is typical of anyone who had a radical change of heart in faith. But he tells the people that this has nothing to do with trying to develop a personal relationship with anyone – it only comes from his desire to be Christ’s servant in ministry.

Had the church been deceived in faith? The answer is a resounding “Yes!” Had they deserted Christ to the point of no return? No. The truth is that as long as we have the word of God available to us, and as long as we allow the Holy Spirit to work in and through our lives, there is always hope of restoration. Desertion in the military is a punishable offence, but failure to follow Jesus can be turned around and forgiven. And his way will always rise to the top. (John 8:31-32) All who would profess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior have an obligation to know his truth, to follow his way, and to teach others to do the same.

And the church of today is in no different a situation than where the churches in Galatia were. The advancement of personal agendas, the influence that comes from individual desires, scripture that is changed or just plain ignored, the induction of other faith ideals, the infusion of societal norms, or out and out lies – they all serve to falsely influence and de-educate the faithful. But as the Church, we all must be vigilant for deviations from Christ’s teachings, and we must call the false teacher to account. And if we are the one who has “deserted”, we need to be open to the correction of others.

The truth of God is forever, and it has been given that we might be forever in him. And there is no other way.