“So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” — Psalm 90:12

There is not a worse position for any human being to be in than to be a false teacher propagating lies from hell, lies that twist Scripture to pervert the true gospel, which then clouds the reality of the only way of salvation The Wickedness of Gospel Distorters — John MacArthur // February 11, 2018 He looks at the character of false teachers, the very work that marks them. Now remember in the big picture, this whole letter is defending the gospel of salvation by faith alone. And the first two chapters he defended it by his own apostolic testimony. And then in chapters 3 and 4 he defended it from Old Testament Scripture, because it was always the way of salvation – by faith alone. And now in chapters 5 and 6 he defends the true gospel by the experience of the believers in Galatia and the work of the Holy Spirit which they had always seen manifest in their life. So we’re in that section. But before he starts to talk about the work of the Spirit in their life, which is a manifestation that they have genuinely been saved by faith, he lays down an all out assault on false doctrine and false teachers. There is not a worse position for any human being to be in than to be a false teacher propagating lies from hell, lies that twist Scripture to pervert the true gospel, which then clouds the reality of the only way of salvation. So that’s what’s on his mind in these opening twelve verses. Last week we looked at the first six and we saw what happens to someone who accepts this doctrine of salvation by faith and works. And what did we learn? “If you do that, Christ is of no benefit to you,” verse 2. “If you do that, you’re under obligation to keep the whole law,” verse 3. “If you do that, you have been severed from Christ. If you do that, you have fallen from grace.” And then in verse 5, “If you do that, you will never know the righteousness that you pursue.” False doctrine leads you down the wrong path. It makes Christ useless. It makes you obligated to the law, cuts you off from the only Savior. You step out of the category of grace, which is the only category, the only realm of salvation, and you have no hope of the righteousness you pursue. Stay away from false doctrine, it is damning. Paul elsewhere calls such things damnable heresies. And remember as he said at the beginning of verse 1, “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm, do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.” Any kind of works system ends up being a yoke of slavery, which does you no good. It does you no good. This freedom is not freedom to sin, it is freedom to do right, to do good. This freedom is tied to a new life principle, eternal life from God; a new power, the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. “You are now free from external constraints which you could not keep up, because now you have an internal power in the Holy Spirit. All the law did was put rules on the outside which you couldn’t keep. Grace puts the Holy Spirit on the inside and gives you the power and the freedom to do what is right, which is what you desire to do because you have been recreated. Stand firm,” he’s saying this to Gentiles. “Don’t go back to a Judaism you never knew.” They hadn’t had any experience with Judaism. They didn’t live under the Mosaic law. There was no reason for them to go back to something that was never a part of their lives. The Jews wanted them to do that because they wanted to be the only door into the kingdom of God. But that was long gone. Now in Christ there’s neither Jew nor Gentile. The way is the way of faith and the way of grace.

Enough already with this gay Christian stuff. — Voddie Baucham