The Apostle Paul opens his letter to the churches in Galatia not with his usual warm greetings, but with a tone of urgent astonishment. “I marvel,” he writes, “that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel” (Galatians 1:6). His words, recorded nearly two thousand years ago, ring with a startling relevance for the church today.
In this pivotal passage, Paul confronts a crisis: believers he had personally taught were being quickly swayed by a distorted version of the truth. He minced no words in his defense of the one, true gospel.
Galatians 1:6–9 (NKJV)I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.
Paul makes a crucial distinction here. He says the Galatians are turning to a “different gospel,” but clarifies that it is “not another.” This isn’t just a play on words. The Greek text reveals a profound point:
- Another (allos): another of the same kind.
- Different (heteros): another of a different kind.
Paul’s message is clear: there is no other gospel of the same kind as the one he preached. There is only one. Anything else, no matter how appealing or spiritual it may sound, is a “different” gospel—a perversion. The Greek word for “pervert” (metastrepho) means to turn, twist, or change something into an entirely new form. Those who peddle such a distorted message, Paul declares, are to be accursed.
This stern warning raises a vital question for every believer: If we are to guard against a perverted gospel, how can we identify it? The answer is simple yet profound: If we want to discern what a perverted gospel is, we must first know intimately what the one, true gospel looks like.
The Importance of Knowing the True Gospel
A deep and abiding knowledge of the authentic gospel is not an academic exercise; it is essential for the life and health of every Christian. It serves at least three critical functions.
1. To Be Assured of Our Salvation
Knowledge of the true gospel is the bedrock of our assurance. Paul reminded the Corinthian church of the gospel he preached, which they received and “in which you stand, by which also you are saved” (1 Corinthians 15:1-2). Our standing before God and our very salvation are tethered to the content of this message. Likewise, Paul tells the Ephesians that they were saved and sealed by the Holy Spirit after they “heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation” (Ephesians 1:13). Assurance is not based on a feeling, but on the unchangeable truth of the gospel.
2. To Faithfully Preach the True Gospel
We cannot share what we do not know. Paul’s commission was clear: “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). The core of the gospel—the substitutionary death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ—was something he knew with certainty and therefore preached with conviction. Like the apostles who declared, “we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20), a true understanding of the gospel compels us to proclaim it accurately.
A perverted gospel often moves in one of two ways: it either misrepresents biblical truths or it presents a limited, incomplete view of the gospel. This can manifest as a message focused only on feel-good themes, ignoring sin and repentance, or a story of the cross that is detached from the rest of God’s redemptive plan in Scripture.
3. To Defend the Faith
A robust knowledge of the gospel equips us to defend it. The church is called “the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15), tasked with upholding and supporting God’s revealed Word. Jude found it necessary to urge believers “to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). Why? Because “certain men have crept in unnoticed,” twisting God’s grace and denying Christ. To “contend earnestly” is to fight for something precious. We cannot fight for a faith we barely understand.
The Characteristics of the True Gospel
How, then, do we recognize this true gospel? Scripture reveals its unmistakable characteristics.
1. It is Christ-Centered (Christocentric)
The central theme of the true gospel is a Person: Jesus Christ. Paul’s ministry was simple: “Him we preach” (Colossians 1:28). He was adamant, “For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord” (2 Corinthians 4:5).
In sharp contrast, a false gospel is often man-centered (anthropocentric). We see a stunning example when Jesus first predicted His suffering and death. Peter, thinking from a human perspective, rebuked Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” Jesus’s response was shocking: “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men” (Matthew 16:21-23). Any gospel that prioritizes human comfort, potential, or prosperity over God’s divine plan and Christ’s preeminence is a different gospel.
2. It Comes by Divine Revelation
The true gospel is not a product of human philosophy or intellect. When Peter made his great confession, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” Jesus affirmed, “flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 16:16-17). Paul made the same point about his own ministry: “the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ” (Galatians 1:11-12). Its origin is divine, not human.
3. It Proclaims the Whole Counsel of God
The true gospel does not shrink from difficult truths or pick and choose convenient doctrines. Paul could stand before the Ephesian elders with a clear conscience because he had “not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). This “whole counsel” encompasses the full, magnificent scope of God’s eternal purpose to “gather together in one all things in Christ” (Ephesians 1:9-10). It calls believers to comprehend the immeasurable love of Christ and be “filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:14-19).
False gospels, however, tend to limit a believer’s view. They may focus exclusively on the four Gospels while ignoring the epistles, promote a prosperity theology that misuses scripture for material gain, or impose a legalistic system of works for justification, directly contradicting the gospel of grace (Galatians 3:3).
A Call to Examine
As believers in Jesus Christ, we bear a solemn responsibility to know what we believe and to be assured that what we believe is true. Paul’s admonition is timeless: “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified” (2 Corinthians 13:5).
This examination happens as we immerse ourselves in God’s Word. Jesus told the religious leaders of His day, “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me” (John 5:39). To know the Scriptures is to know the Person of the Bible—Jesus Christ.
True faith is not a blind leap. The writer of Hebrews states, “By faith we understand” (Hebrews 11:3). Knowledge of the truth does not diminish faith; it builds and establishes it. In a world of “various and strange doctrines,” our hearts are established by grace when we are anchored to the unchanging truth of who Jesus is and what He has done (Hebrews 13:8-9). Let us, therefore, commit ourselves to knowing the Scriptures, so we may know Christ more deeply and stand firm in the one, true, and unchangeable gospel.
