Editor’s Note: This sermon was delivered by Pastor Peter C. Picos on Sunday, November 1, 1998 (the day after Reformation Day), from the pulpit of Northfield Baptist Church during the Sunday Morning Worship Hour. There is only one true gospel, and it proclaims that Jesus alone saves. God tells us in Galatians 2:16, “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” And again in v. 21: “I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” The theme: Christian brother, do not heed, and non-Christian friend, do not be deceived, by anybody who brings “another gospel, which is not another.” May God be pleased to use it to bless all Bible-believers and save even a single precious soul of His elect who does not at this moment know Christ, His gospel, and His everlasting love. The offer of free grace and free salvation given to any sinner who by faith alone trusts Jesus Christ and His blood alone still goes out—it is still the day of salvation, and Jesus is still mighty to save.
Audio cassettes of this simple but sobering explanation of the gospel are available for $2.00. Write to us at: Northfield Baptist Church, 17 E. Northfield Road, Livingston, NJ 07039. Or call (973) 992-0070.
Galatians 1:6-12, KJV, “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: ~ which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. ~ But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. ~ As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. ~ For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. ~ But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. ~ For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
What St. Paul is fighting here is the same thing, if you read the Book of Galatians. People came in who believed, among other things, that a number of the ceremonial practices of the Old Testament were still binding on the New Testament church. And he takes issue with that, and he takes issue with it very, very strongly. And as you read through the Book of Galatians, all you have to do is circle the word “gospel.” And he’s very, very concerned with this.
It must be that when we approach Scripture, it must be that when we witness to people, it is Christ PLUS NOTHING. “Christ plus anything” is “no gospel.” And this is the reason why you had all the solas in the Reformation. Solo Christos, sola fide, sola gratia, sola scriptura. Only Scripture—ALONE! Only Christ—ALONE! Only faith—ALONE! Only grace—ALONE! And Paul takes issue with the Galatians because they started to mix works and grace together, and you cannot do that. And people wanted to combine the gospel of Christ with the observance of Jewish ceremonies. And as you read the first chapter, and the portion that we read, you will see this.
“I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: ~ Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. ~ But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.” (Let him be anathema!) “As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed”—anathema! Verse 11, “But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. ~ For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.”Now, I want to ask you a simple question this morning, because it’s based on not only Scripture—it’s based on what Jesus said—all of Scripture! What do you base your hope of heaven on this morning? And I know some of you can answer that this morning. But for all of us—even for the preacher!—what do I base my hope of heaven on? Any religion that has as its hope of heaven a mixture of faith and works is false! No one can provide a hope of heaven outside of Jesus Christ. And this was the cry of the Reformation: “Only Christ!” You heard Luther (or the man who portrayed Luther; and by the way, that film Martin Luther was the best that Hollywood ever produced—they did a good job on that). And so people were coming into the church in Galatia, and saying, “No, not only to be a Christian that you believe, but you must do also certain things!” No person will get you to heaven—only Christ will.
Look at chapter 2, and verse 16:
“Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”Why? Because the works of the law only condemn you! The law of God, the Ten Commandments, condemns you! You can’t keep it! And it must be grace plus nothing, it must be Christ plus nothing. And in the few moments that we have, I want to consider with you three things:
First of all, the purity of the gospel. The gospel is a fountain of life to a ruined world. Understand that? The gospel is a fountain of life to a ruined world. Why? Paul tells us in the Book of Ephesians that men are “dead in trespasses and sins.” The Scriptures tells us that the wrath of God abides on people who know not Christ. And it is the good news of Jesus Christ that will give them life in a poisoned society! And Paul expressed himself with great zeal when it came to the gospel, and we must too. There is no other gospel.” Why? We can even take the words of Peter, on the day of—in one of the sermons, not on the day of Pentecost, but in his sermon, when he says in Acts 4:12, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved.” This is Peter talking. And you and I are to give out the gospel of Jesus Christ in its purity!
Someone sat at my table, and we were talking over authority. And I said, “My only authority is this [the Bible]—this is my only authority.” See, I don’t get up a copy of The Book of Galatians by Luther off my bookcase, or some other commentary and say, “Well, here’s my authority.” I don’t do that. I say, “Here’s my authority [the Bible]!” And you know what I did to the person? I said, “What’s your authority?”
“Oh! I take a little of this, and a little of this, and a little of this, and put it all together.” And that’s their authority.
This [the Bible] is my only authority. I don’t have to go to education; I don’t have to go to philosophy; I don’t have to go to a psychoanalyst, or anything. This is my authority. Luther said, “Unless you can convince me”—what?—“by Scripture!” he would not be moved. The purity of the gospel—the gospel is a fountain of life, and it brings ruined people out of darkness into God’s marvelous light. This is the reason why I’m asking the question—what is our hope of heaven? What is the foundation that we’ve laid? All these years that God has given to us—what’s the foundation? Let me go on.
The importance of the gospel. Many who would shudder at the idea of infidelity are ready to consider the doctrine of justification by faith alone either as erroneous or at best speculative—doubtful, and indifferent. What is your hope of heaven?
I remember listening to a tape by Jay Wimberly. Jay Wimberly pastored in Florida. He was in an association, and he came to believe certain doctrines—what we call the Doctrines of Grace. He was in the Southern Baptist Association, and because he believed these things, they were ready to throw him out. He said, “They have some in there, or at least one pastor in there, that have committed adultery, and they haven’t thrown him out!” You see the impurity? You see how people get upset? Justification by faith alone is the hinge upon which the whole of Christianity turns. Why? “Justification” is a legal term. Justification is where God declares that I am right—not in myself, not in my works, but in the righteousness of Christ. This is the reason why it is so important—the importance of the gospel—because in it, God not only saves me, God not only gives me eternal life—because you see, I cannot get to heaven and stand before Him unless I am justified, because I will perish! And so will you. In order for me to stand before my Father in heaven, I must be declared righteous by Him. And that comes through faith in Christ. By faith ALONE, in Christ ALONE. And we who are believers do not preach any other gospel, because we have none. When we witness, we witness this Book, and the words out of it. Let me go to my third point.
The sufficiency of the gospel. Is the gospel sufficient enough, or do I need that plus works? Just like these Judaizers that came in. Just like some people are trying to do (that you know) that you need faith PLUS works—this is what you need to be, and need to do.
The robe of Christ’s righteousness is quite sufficient to cover our nakedness without adding to it the filthy rags of our unrighteousness. Every day we get up, we live by grace, we live by faith, we live by Scripture, and we live by Christ. The Scripture is plain: all that believe are justified from all things. And it is equally plain that faith will work by love, and overcome the world, and purify the heart. You see, this is the reason why Luther didn’t consider the Book of James inspired, in a sense, because all that James talks about is works—if you have faith, you work. And we take both Romans and James and Galatians, and we say, “If you’re a Christian, your life will produce good works, and that you don’t do it for a little bit and go back to your bad habits, because if you do, you’re not a Christian.”
What is your hope? What is your hope of heaven? What do you base your hope on? What is the foundation that you’ve laid? Listen to the Apostle Paul: “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (I Corinthians 3:11). And we must be clear, folks, on what we believe, where we are headed, and to make sure that we have eternal life—not in something that I do, but in the Person that I believe in. If anybody comes, Paul said, even an angel—if Gabriel came, and Michael comes, and preaches any other gospel, you do not believe it! They’re anathema. Or, you can use the word as a “messenger,” because that’s what “angel” means sometimes—“messenger” or “messengers.” Right? Any other messenger. And just bring that down from a lofty angel in heaven to a messenger here upon earth. How do you test the spirits? How do you test men? By the Book. By the Book, that’s how you test men. And this is the exclusiveness of the gospel, the one and only gospel. The Mohammedans don’t have it; the Jews don’t have it—only one and only gospel. We have it. We have it in this church. And this is the reason why I’m asking the question: What do you base your hope of heaven on? Where’s your faith this morning? Is it in the Person of Christ, or is it in something that you did? Even our Roman Catholic friends have no hope of heaven without Christ.
What is your hope of heaven? And you know I’ve repeated the words of the Lord Jesus many times. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). And after that, there’s PLUS NOTHING. There isn’t anything after that. There’s a period.
And in this day of amorality—no morality—we need to stand firm, from the President on down, upon the Word of God and what the Word of God teaches and says. And I know we’ve revered these men who stood. John Huss—burned at the stake—for his faith! William Tyndale—killed—by somebody who made believe he was his friend, and killed him. Do you know what he was killed over? Over the Scriptures! And we say, “Those men got guts! Those men had fortitude! They had the ‘Church’ and the Emperor after them!” And folks, what we need is that same fortitude. Paul says, “Quit you like men” (I Corithians 16:13). And I encourage all of us this morning—not only for your faith in Christ, that you find your hope and your eternal soul’s salvation in Christ, but as a Christian, you’ll move along. And whether others follow in the way or not, you will, regardless of the cost. See, it cost them. It cost them. I just want to leave those words with you—“It cost them.” If we’re to follow Jesus, we’re to take up our cross and follow Him, because if we don’t, we’re not worthy to be His disciples. “And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62). That’s what the Scriptures teach.
So I leave you with these words of St. Paul, I leave you with these words of Scripture, with these questions—and for us to go on in the twentieth century, that we will be students of the Word, to share the Word of God with others, and to be on the firing line for the gospel of Christ. Amen.
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