This article is based on Pastor Adrian Rogers' message, The Gospel of Grace.
Man has three great enemies: sin, sorrow, and death. In the light of all of our so-called progress, what has civilization done about these things? We have only put new labels on things. We have not changed the facts.
There is no answer besides the saving grace in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Because this is true, Satan has tried to pervert the gospel.
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.
They tell you to do good, to feed the homeless, and heal the sick—and you ought to do those things. But that is not the gospel.
Satan has no raw material. All he can do is twist what God has created. God made everything, and sin is a perversion of that which is good. Satan, the enemy of man and God, would rather pervert the gospel than deny it—because if you will accept a synthetic gospel, you will never see your need for the real gospel.
There can be no compromise with the truth. The things that really count, count for all eternity. Why should we not stand up for that which is truth?
What is the origin of the gospel? God taught it.
But I make known to you, brethren, that 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.
When it comes to the Gospel, you put aside your intellect and your emotions and pick up your Bible.
We try to bring human wit and wisdom against the gospel. “It doesn’t seem logical to me that there is only one way to be saved, and all other ways are wrong.” If that doesn’t work, we bring our emotions. “That doesn’t feel right to me. I have a queasy feeling about that.”
It does not matter what you think or feel. It is what God says that counts.
We are not looking for a modern gospel. If it is new, it is not true—even if it were to come from an angel, or from Paul himself. (See Galatians 1:8.) Paul keeps repeating this. He wants them to understand it.
The gospel of God, the revelation of Jesus Christ, is settled once and for all.
So if a man stands up—no matter how many degrees he has, how eloquent he is, or what seminary he attended—if he is not preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, he is a false prophet and the wrath of God is upon Him.
Jesus died for our sins, to obtain this gospel with His royal blood. Paul calls it “the grace of Christ,” and “the gospel of Christ.” (See Galatians 1:6-7.)
Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
This is the gospel of the cross. It is the good news of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Gospel centers in Christ; it does not simply mention Christ. Do you know Jesus Christ?
When Paul wrote this epistle to the Galatians, the pagans had many gods. If you go to Rome you can visit the Pantheon, standing for 2000 years, where they had niches in the walls for all of the gods. Rome syncretized all of the religions of the world where it conquered.
But you cannot do that with Jesus Christ.
If Jesus Christ is not the only way, He is a liar, a fraud, and an impostor. You cannot just tip the hat to Jesus Christ. You have to bow the knee.
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek” (Romans 1:16).
Grace is what allows God to love us—vile, unworthy sinners, by nature, by choice, and by practice.
But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me…
The only reason you are seeking the Lord is because He first sought you. You did not just think it up by yourself. “There is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God” (Romans 3:11).
Why then do you have a thirst for God? Because He gave it to you. It pleased Him to do this.
Paul was lost, on the road to Hell as a hardened Pharisee, and he was saved by the grace of God.
Grace is the free gift of God. You are saved by the grace of God.
That means you are not saved by works of any kind. “And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work” (Romans 11:6).
Do you know why you have eternal security of salvation? Because you are saved by grace. If you were saved by works, your works would fail, and you would lose your salvation.
Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?
Grace can never fail.
The wonderful grace of Jesus is all you will ever need. You will not run out of God’s saving grace. “God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8). God’s grace is sufficient.
…According to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
In the ages to come, we are going to be trophies of God’s grace. You will see Him, and He will point to you, and He will say, “Because of my grace, you are here.”
For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.
Paul was obsessed with the Gospel. It was a divine obsession.
We all have a desire to please people. But we should want to be like the apostle Paul, who would say, “It does not matter whom I please if I displease God.”
Paul loved these Galatians. But he is saying, “I am obsessed with the Gospel. I am not trying to please you.”
They will look at you like you are strange. You are not strange—you are different, standing on the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Galatians 1:3-16, 3:3; Romans 1:16, 3:11, 11:6; 2 Corinthians 9:8
Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
