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As many of you would know, some months ago we got a new cat in our family. His name is Whiskers and he's quite a cute fellow. This is just a picture of him last night as he was sleeping on our chair. Whiskers is very easy to manage, but something sad happened, at least to me, because I realized over the past weeks and months, he is beginning to dislike me.

He likes everyone else in the family, I think, but he doesn't quite like me. I know that because when I come home, he doesn't come to greet me. He will greet the rest. And when I want to play with him, he kind of skittles away, he avoids me. He doesn't quite like me, I, I wonder why. And I figured out why. I think every night, I am the only one responsible to bring Whiskers from wherever he is in the house to be stuck in the study room.

He doesn't like it. So at night when I come to him, he always looks at me with that, are you going to grab me again? So when he's trapped in the room, he is quite alright. But early in the morning, Whiskers would begin to make noise. He will meow because he knows it's about the time his prison time is over. So he would wake us up, I think, to say, let me out. So Whiskers doesn't like me because I rob him of his freedom every night. I bring him into bondage.

A cat understands the importance of freedom. I think all of us long to have freedom. And the book of Galatians, this six chapters book, is also a book about freedom. However, it's not about freedom to do what we want in our sinful flesh. It's freedom to be who God wants us to be and to do what God wants us to do.

The book of Galatians speaks a lot about freedom and bondage. These words and associated words occur at least 20 times through this book. For example, we read in Galatians 5 and verse 1, For freedom Christ has set us free. And then in verse 13, For you were called to freedom, brothers. So Galatians is a book about freedom.

Freedom from sin. Freedom from even our own pathetic, self-righteous works in order to gain favor with God. Freedom to be the sons and daughters of God. Freedom to serve God and to serve others the way God wants us to do. So this is a tremendous book about how you and I can live the way God wants us to live.

Now Paul, the author of this letter, wrote this because there were some false teachers, pretenders, who have crept into the churches at Galatia and are wanting to bring the Galatians into a kind of bondage, a, a kind of slavery. They are saying to these Galatians, hey, Jesus is not enough. The grace of God in Jesus is not enough. You need to supplement it. You need to add to it.

Jesus dying for you on the cross is not enough. You've got to be, for example, circumcised. That's a Jewish ritual. You need to be circumcised in order for God to accept you because Jesus and His grace alone is insufficient.

Not only must you be circumcised, you need to keep the festivals, the feast days, the rituals of the Jewish religion, and you also need to keep the laws. You need to do all these things. And so what's happening is that the Gospel of Jesus is meant to bring freedom to God's people, that they may live the way God wants them to live, but the false teachers are coming down and bringing them into a kind of bondage.

Now let me be very clear. The Bible is not saying that circumcision or festivals or the law are bad things. They are not bad things. They are good things. God has a purpose and plan for these things. But they become bad if you use them as means to earn a righteous standing with God.

You have knives at home, right? Are knives good things or bad things? Well, it depends on how you use them. If I use a knife to prepare food, it's a good tool. But if I use a knife to stab at people and my brother because he irritates me, that's not a good thing, that's a bad thing. So these are not bad things, but you can misuse them, abuse them and that becomes terrible.

So Paul comes along. He cares for the Galatians. He doesn't want them to live in such false teachings. He doesn't want them to be brought into a bondage of legalism, of self-righteous works in order to gain favor with God. He wants to deliver them from such enslavement and false teachings. And that's why we are given this book, Galatians.

This book is an urgent appeal to the people at Galatia. Oh, the false teachers are now hoodwinking you, bewitched you. And I'm writing in urgency to plead with you to get out of this false teaching. So you would see that Galatians is written in a very vigorous, direct, blunt and brief way. Very little time for thanksgiving, praising here this person or that person. Paul gets right down to business in a no, not, no-nonsense manner.

So let's get into this book directly as well. Paul says in verse 1, I, Paul, an apostle, not from man nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father. Paul begins right away establishing his apostleship. He's, it's almost, you could read it, it's almost as if you know that the false teachers are attacking Paul as well, discrediting Paul. Saying, who is Paul? His teaching is not of God.

So Paul now writes, from the first sentence, I am Paul and I'm an apostle, a messenger, a servant of God, a leader of the church. And I'm commissioned, I'm given this authority by God and His Son, Jesus Christ.

Now we know that they attacked Paul because a little bit later on, we see in 4:16, have I then become your enemy? Paul is saying, now that I'm telling you the truth, do you treat me as enemies? As an enemy to you? I mean, it's bizarre, especially when we realise, Paul is the one who first brought the Christian message to the Galatians.

But they have been so bewild.., bewitched by the false teachers that they have turned against Paul. So in the first line, Paul says, don't forget, I'm an apostle commissioned by God and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And we read, he goes on to say, all the brothers who are with me, saying that what I'm writing to you is not my own, my, it's something that I alone hold, but that, there is a band of brothers, the apostolic band, the brotherhood. We all believe the same things and we are writing to warn you against the false teachings you are currently receiving.

And he says, this is a letter written to the churches of Galatia. Now, it's very important for us to know where is Galatia. Otherwise you are like, where in the world is this? Is this in China? Is this in US? Where is Galatia? Well, Galatia is in modern Turkey. This is a map of Europe, Africa, and Turkey is right in the middle there. And Galatia is, I, I'm not very good with PowerPoint ah and my Photoshop, whatever. So, Galatia is somewhere there lah.

Agak, agak there in the region of Galatia, ah in Turkey, all right? If you want to zoom in a bit more, uh, during the days of the Roman Empire, this region is divided into these various regions or districts, as it were. You have Bithynia and so on and so forth. And Galatia is this green portion.

The Apostle Paul visited the cities of Galatia quite a bit. We read about that in Acts 13, 14, and also his second and third missionary journeys. He visited Lystra, Antioch of Pisidia, uh, Iconium, Derbe. And these are cities in the region of Galatia. So, don't be mistaken, Galatia is a region. It's not one city. Colossae is one city. Philippi is one city. Ephesus is one city. Those are the letters you read, written by Paul.

But when Paul wrote to Galatia, it's writing to the region, and so it's, it's being written to the various churches. And I think this letter is meant to be passed from church to church. Because in those days, don't have WhatsApp. Don't have email. Send, everybody receive. This one got painstakenly, painstakingly couriered from church to church.

So, with these introductory remarks, Paul says this one-line greeting, Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this is really a little glimpse into what the Gospel is all about. The Gospel is about grace and peace. If I may say, it is the grace and peace are the root and the fruit of the Gospel.

Let me say this again. Grace and peace are the root and the fruit of the Gospel. What is the Gospel? The Gospel is God's love, God's saving message for us. And grace is the root of this saving message. Grace is God's generous, magnanimous love for us. That when we are not deserving of any goodness from God, He would choose to send His Son to die and to pay for our sins. So, it is God's grace that gives us Jesus to save us from our sins.

And peace is the fruit. When we think about peace, we often think about Switzerland. Going by a lake, wow, so peaceful. I feel so peaceful. But the peace here is not a subjective feeling. I think the peace here is an objective reality of our relationship with God. Because the Bible tells us that we as sinners are at war against the Holy God. We do not submit to Him. And God is angry with sinners. But because of the Gospel, because of Jesus Christ, and what He did on the cross, we receive healing, and reconciliation in this relationship. We have peace with God.

So Paul says, the Gospel, the root is grace, the fruit is peace, because Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, gave Himself for our sins. The central message of the Bible is that God is so gracious that when we don't deserve it, He still chose to love us, sent His Son to die on the cross, not because He is sinful, He had no sin, but He gave Himself for our sins. He was there as our Sacrifice, He was there as our Substitute to save us from our sins and to deliver us, to free us from the bondage, the dominion of this evil age.

This is what the Gospel is all about, this is God's work to save us. And he says, according to the will of our God and Father, this is not man's will. Man would never come up with this idea that God would give His Son freely to save man graciously from our sins. Man's idea is always, we got to try harder, do better. God's will is, you can't do what you need to do to save yourselves, so I give you My Son. That's absolute, out of this world generosity, magnanimity, grace, and love.

And Paul says, to whom be the glory forever and ever. I mean, it's almost like Paul cannot contain himself. He's so excited, he is rejoicing. And he gives praise to God for His infinite worth. So, I labor through these verses because it's very easy, I think, almost typical, that we will read Galatians 1:3-5, and skim over them. And treat it as if they are just customary greetings.

But I think in the context of Galatians, Paul is really getting right down to business and laying down the foundation of what the Gospel is all about. He describes the Gospel. This is a description of the Gospel. It describes the work of God in the Gospel. It is all grace, it is for peace with God, and it is through the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ.

He talks not just about the work of God, but the will of God. This is God's plan, not man's plan. And he talks about the worth of God. This brings tremendous glory to God. He manifests His grace, His compassion, His mercy beautifully in this Gospel message.

So, verses 1, or verses 3 to 5 is really a description of the Gospel. And in verses 6 to 10, we now see the distortion of the Gospel. And Paul says, first of all, in verse 6, I am very surprised. When he said, I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel.

So, Paul lays down the foundational pieces of the Gospel in verses 3 to 5, and now he says, I'm so surprised that you allow this distortion to take place. The word surprised is to marvel or to wonder. In this context, it is negative. And I think you could say Paul is saying, I'm shocked, I am horrified that you could so quickly turn to a different gospel.

If I, if I may say, he's probably saying, how can you? With an exclamation mark. If the Apostle Paul lived in Singapore and is like a Hokkien Peng like me, he might say, wah, why you so jialat? Why you so jialat? Why you so quickly turn to a different gospel? And maybe if you are typing an SMS or WhatsApp message, you would use this emoticon, face palm.

Why would you do this? How could you do this? How could you, after I've come to you and told you the life-changing message of the Gospel, be so quickly turning to a different message? It's an entirely different message, because the message I gave you is a message, message of grace. God's unconditional free gift of Jesus Christ.

But now the false teachers are saying, you've got to add to it circumcision. You've got to add to it observance of festivals. You've got to add to it your own observance of the laws. Again, not that these things are bad, but if you do these things in order to earn salvation, they are wrong. Why would you turn to a different gospel? Not that there is another one.

This self-correction statement is a literary, rhetorical device to emphasise you're turning to not another gospel. There's no other Gospel. You're turning to something that does not save. So I'm astonished that you're so quickly, so easily turned away. There is no resilience. There's no faithfulness to the doctrine. There's no durability. You're so prone to wander. You're so impressionable. You're so gullible to turn away from the message I gave you.

Now, Paul goes on to say, not only the surprise, but the stakes. It's a high-stakes thing. Because he says, to turn to a different gospel is equal to deserting God. In fact, he says it again in chapter 5 and verse 4, when you want to be justified by the law. If you want to earn your salvation by your own obedience to the law, you are in deep trouble because you're falling away from grace and you will be severed from Christ.

You see, grace and self-righteous works can never mix. Like oil and water, they don't mix. The moment you say, oh, Jesus is not enough. I need to supplement with my own efforts. You fall from grace. You're not depending on Jesus and His finished work anymore. You're mixing grace with your pride. And you are in danger of deserting the God of all grace who gave His Son for you.

So if I may say, Paul is espousing addition to the Gospel. Addition to the Gospel with your own self-righteous works is tantamount to abandonment of God and what He has promised in His Son, Jesus Christ.

So this is a severe thing. A really serious thing. This is not minor, because this is about a relationship with God, no less. And therefore, those who come and trouble you and those who want to distort the Gospel of Jesus are doing a grievous thing. It's a serious, serious disobedience against God.

The word distort means to pervert or to corrupt. It means to lace something with impurity or with poison. I read about a helper who worked in a family where there are two of them, two helpers. She's responsible for everything in the family, household chores, and the helper, the other helper is solely responsible to care for the infant baby.

So this helper, who is responsible for everything else, became very jealous of the helper who is just taking care of the baby. And out of sheer jealousy, she cannot take it, she decided to sabotage the other helper by mixing detergent into the baby powder. Well, thankfully, the, uh employers were sharp and alert, smelled something fishy, literally smelled the milk powder that was different, and sent it to HSA for investigation and subsequently discovered that she, the helper, had done this thing.

And she was found out, she was sent to jail, because this is something serious. The baby could have died as a result of continuous ingestion of this milk powder. And the baby wouldn't be able to say it. But the baby would be progressively poisoned by it. The Apostle Paul is saying that these false teachers are poisoning you.

Oh yes, they may agree to some things that I have said, but the danger is not that they deny everything I said, but the danger is that they add something to what I've said. That Jesus is not enough, grace is not enough, you've got to add in your detergents, your circumcisions, your laws, your festivals. And that would distort the Gospel and cause you to abandon the God of grace.

The Sentence

As a result, we see Paul as an Apostle pronouncing a severe sentence. He says, even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preach to you, let him be accursed. Now, this is so important that he says, if anyone just tells you something apart from what I've been telling you, this person should be accursed. The word accursed means devoted to destruction. Cut off from God, sentenced to eternal judgment, because this is a very important matter.

It doesn't matter who, no matter how big shot he comes, he can be one of us, or he can even be an angel from heaven, let him be accursed if he gives you another message. And so, from this greater to lesser argument, Paul goes on to say in verse 9, as we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone is preaching to you a different gospel, let him be accursed.

If one of us preaching to you should be accursed, if one of the angels preaching to you should be accursed, then anyone else who is preaching to you a different gospel must also be accursed.

In Singapore, we hold a very strong stance against drugs and drug trafficking, isn't it? Many other nations would frown on it, and say that the death penalty for drug trafficking is too severe, and there is no compassion whatsoever. But the reason behind it is not so much of lack of compassion, but actually I think the opposite. Because we know that the ramifications of drug trafficking can be severe in our land, that's why very strong public support for such anti-drug stance. The sentence is severe to deter people from doing it.

And I think Paul is raising the stakes, or actually just stating the stakes, and saying the sentence for peddlers of spiritual drugs, of false teachings, they deserve, they must be dealt with severely by God.

I think in our country, our ministers get flak for affirming such strong anti-drug positions, but I think they also say, in effect, I don't care what others think. We don't care what other nations think, because we can see what happens to them. They may not like our position, but this is our position. We do that which is right for our people, and not because we want to kowtow to other foreign pressures.

And in a sense, that's what Paul says in verse 10. I, I'm not trying to seek approval from men, I'm not an apostle to win a popularity contest, because I'm a servant of Christ, and I aim only to be faithful to Him. I aim only to be faithful to the pure and unadulterated Gospel of Jesus Christ. If anyone preaches anything else, I say, let him be accursed.

So what is Paul saying in all these 10 verses? You say, Pastor, what's your sermon title today ah? Actually, after so long, then I tell you ah. The sermon title is simply, Only One Gospel. Because he says in verse 7, not that there is another one. There's only one message in the whole universe. Doesn't matter where you live, China, India, Philippines, US, Singapore. There's only one Gospel, there's only one Good News, there's only one message that says there is no other message that saves.

And therefore, I think it's really important that Christians and churches, our church here, we should be very, very clear what this Gospel means.

What is the Gospel? Because if you're not clear what it means, you won't know how to defend it. You will be easily duped, you will be easily deceived, you will be easily led astray. But clarity of what this is allows you to spot the deviance.

The best way to see whether a line is straight or crooked is to put it beside a ruler. Straight, you can tell. So let's have a straight and clear understanding of the Gospel. I think it's really important so that we may depend on it, so that we may cling on to it, so that we may delight in it. What is the Gospel? We need to define it.

The Apostle Paul gives us the basis of defining the Gospel when he said in 1 Corinthians 15, Now I would remind you, brothers, I, I think I'm doing the same here today. I think many of you know what the Gospel is already. But maybe some of you have forgotten, or maybe not so clear. And there are some who are new with us, so let me do my part, remind you, brothers, of the Gospel I preached. And he went on to say that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, and that Christ was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, which is Peter, the twelve apostles, and to the five hundred at one time.

You can see that the Gospel message really centers on the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I know these are the main things, even though there seems to be four things. These two are the main things because he qualifies them with, in accordance with the Scriptures, in accordance with the Scriptures.

But he talks about Jesus dying and that He was buried because it's the burial that confirms His death. He talks about the appearance because it's the appearance that confirms the resurrection.

So the point Paul is saying is, this Good News of God's plan to save humankind is anchored in this foundational reality, God's Son, Jesus Christ, came and died on the cross. But He did not remain dead because He was raised or resurrected the third day, proven in the way He was buried in the tomb and the way He appeared to five hundred over people, incontrovertible proof that He was truly the risen Savior.

So the core of the Gospel is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. So I think the Gospel then can be understood this way, the Gospel, the word itself means Good News, fantastic news. Why? Not that you strike 4D or Toto, but the Gospel is the Good News that Jesus Christ died and rose again. The Gospel is the Good News of Jesus Christ dying and rising to save us from our sins.

This is why it is of huge implication for all humanity. God sent His Son to save you and I from our sins, so that we might be reconciled with this Holy God. See the Gospel is not a get-rich plan, it's not a get-well plan from your sickness. It's about get right with God. We are enemies, we hate God, we are sinful and filthy, but God in His magnanimous grace says it's okay, I will send My Son to die for you and to pay for all your sin debt.

That's why it's Good News, because without this news, we are condemned, we are doomed, we will be hopeless. But Jesus paid it all with His life on the cross so that you and I can have peace with God, so that we can have eternal life, so that we can be reconciled with our Creator God.

And this is the message we must be super clear about. And when we are clear, then we know that deviance like prosperity gospel is no Gospel. The prosperity gospel, I think is the most, probably the most dominant message even in churches today. Most churches, sadly has in some degree or form imbibed this prosperity teaching. Come to Jesus, He will help you get rich. Come to Jesus and He will heal you from your sickness. Now I'm not saying that God cannot do that. He has all power to do that, but that's not why He sent His Son to die for us.

He's not here to let you worship yourself. The prosperity at the heart of it all is not God worship, it's self-worship. I want to be rich, I want to be healthy. It's all about me. That's not the Gospel. The Gospel is how God saves us, cleanses us from our sin so that we may serve God. That is what true freedom is. Freedom is not doing what I want in my flesh, freedom is doing what God wants. That's where we find real joy, meaning, satisfaction and purpose.
Jesus did not die to give you money. What is money to God? What is this world to God? He did not need to send His Son to die to create this world, but He sent His Son to die to save us from our sins.

It's only when we know the Gospel that we can understand that it is not about legalism. Legalism is trying to obey the law in order to gain salvation before God. It's self-righteousness, it's me, myself and I trying to deserve heaven for myself. And God says, that doesn't work. Because the Gospel is news, not what you do. The Gospel is not good advice. Advice is for you to do something tomorrow, news is what is already done yesterday.

Jesus paid it all. He died and rose again, nothing left for you to do. He said, it is finished. Any addition to grace is abandonment from the God of grace.

I think the Gospel must be distinguished from easy believism, which is, I say I am a Christian means I am a Christian. Not quite, huh. Because sometimes we may say things for the wrong reasons or with the wrong understanding. It must be faith in the heart that results in a confession of the lips.

And that true faith will result in a life that is reconciled with God. There will be increasing obedience to God. You don't obey to be saved, but if you are truly saved, you will begin to obey. Those who follow Jesus in obedience and life are truly His people.

So we must be very clear as a church, and I hope you will be clear. As I often say, I make my sons remember two things in life when they are very young, not multiplication timetable or whatever, but my phone number and the definition of the Gospel. One is for them when they are physically lost. The other is for them when they are spiritually lost. I hope you will remember it and be established in it.

There's only one Gospel, and Paul says there is not another one, so we need to define it. We need to be clear, so that we may believe it, so that we may depend on it, so that we may delight in it. My time is almost up. Let me say, like Paul, we must also defend the Gospel, because it's so important. I said this illustration a few times, but I'll say it again, it's fun, huh. I used to stay in a shop house here, upstairs. Downstairs is the laundry shop. And one night, as I was bathing, I heard some splattering or, or loud noise coming from the roof downstairs, it's those kind of a zinc roof, and I heard my wife say, better run, Jason, run! Fire, fire!

Well, I was bathing, I was with soap suds all over, and so I quickly rinsed myself. I had no time but to just put on a pair of shorts, half naked, and I saw fire, the tongues of flame leaking out from under the zinc roof. And I was getting ready to run off the house when I realized my wife is already out there.

She's out there with the most precious thing in her life, our only son, then, Shawn. It's almost like saying, Jason, you Lei Zi Gei Boh Zong lah. I don't care what happens to you, but I'm bringing Shawn out. You take care of yourself, alright? If you're boiled like a pig or steamed chicken, it's your business. But I'm out with Shawn because Shawn is her precious one. You'll do everything to defend the precious one.

The Gospel is the only message that saves. As a church, we must recognize it is the ..., the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes. We need to defend it. That means as a church, we must not allow false teachings to creep in. We must point out false teachings and false teachers. We must protect the people. We must avoid unhealthy associations that may bring confusion to the message of the Gospel.

There was someone here in our church who was in a meeting with religious leaders, and the religious leaders, different religions gathered together, and one Christian leader stood up and prayed, Lord, unite all our religions. And she was horrified. How can a Christian pastor say that? Because most people think all roads lead to Rome, but the Bible is very clear, Jesus is very clear. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by Me. There can be no unity of religions because there's only one Gospel. There's only one message that saves.

There's another church, well, it's called a church, but they wanted to have some partnership, collaborations with us, but after I spoke with them, I realized for them, the Gospel is not a pure Gospel of grace, but that for a man to be saved, you need to believe in Jesus plus you need to be baptized. If you're not baptized, you're not saved. To me, that is grace plus works, that's legalism. That's exactly the problem spoken of by Paul in the book of Galatians. And we cannot, we cannot collaborate in that way because we need to defend the Gospel.

Finally, we need to declare the Gospel. I hope that Gospel Light will always be faithful to preach the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ. No matter who stands here, no matter who goes out, I pray that we'll be very clear about the Gospel and preach the Gospel and the Gospel alone. Not just with our lips, but also with our lives.

If I tell you today, I found a miracle drug to cure all cancers. What should I do? I think number one, I have to define this drug. I have to make clear what this drug is. I have to trademark it. I have to have proprietary rights to it. I have to do whatever I need to do to make it clear to people, this is the miracle drug that cures all cancer.

Then I have to defend it. I must make sure that the formula will never be adulterated or polluted or corrupted. And then I must tell the world, I have a drug that cures all cancer. And if I were a cancer patient myself, I'll take this drug and prove to the world that this drug saved my life.

Today we did not discover a miracle drug for cancer, but we know there's an even greater cure because it cures us from spiritual sin against God that sends man to hell. We must define the Gospel, we must defend the Gospel, and we must declare the Gospel. This is what church is about. It's about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

May God bless this church to help us hold on to this one singular, powerful message of Jesus and His love.

Let's bow for a word of prayer together. Father, we thank You again for this time we can study Your Word. We pray that people would turn from sin and believe in Jesus. We pray that You'll grant to them forgiveness and eternal life. And please help us as a church to be defining the Gospel in our heads, defending the Gospel with our lives, and declaring the Gospel everywhere we go. It is in Christ alone that our hope is found. We ask all this in Jesus' Name, Amen.

 

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