A Different Gospel

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 - not that there is another one, but there are some who would trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel of heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.

Galatians 1:6-8

Jesus tells us this parable in Matthew 13:
"A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop - a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."

Christians expect to see certain types of attrition in the church. There are often people who show up who seem to be newly awakened to the truth of Christ, full of enthusiasm to learn and serve; and then just as quickly, it seems, they're nowhere to be found. And if you run into them in the future, perhaps they will dismissively refer to it as a phase, of no greater significance than changing cereals for a season. These are those seeds that fell among the stones. The Christian sees this and grieves over it. But the Christian also soldiers on. We're used to it; but more than that, there is by the Holy Spirit a call and a burden on our souls that makes it impossible to turn aside.

The seed among the thorns represents a different type of attrition, one in which the person falls away, not because of unbelief, but because of worry and lust. While Christ makes it clear that the seed which falls on good soil represents the true believer, nevertheless this weed-choked seed poses a special trouble for Christians. For who among us has not had to endure hardships which have sapped our energy and joy?

The Galatians experienced such a hardship when false teachers showed up and persuaded them that they had to get circumcised and follow Jewish customs if they wanted to be considered true Christians. The great danger in this case, however, was that the Galatians didn't know they were in danger! The false teaching appealed to their pride and lust, for in adopting the Jewish forms they were in fact seeking spiritual security in forms and ceremonies rather than that which the Word and Holy Spirit give in the profession of faith in Christ. They were seeking a faith secured by their actions rather than by the actions of Christ.

This is a great threat to us at all times, as Calvin points out:

Here Saint Paul shows, that whatsoever men bring besides the Gospel, is every whit of it but stark smoke, and that in the end it will be perceived that the Devil did cast trinkets in their ways, to cozen silly fools that could not rest wholly upon God's truth. [...] Saint Paul declares, that the Galatians may well pretend, that they which came from Jerusalem had told them that they ought not to separate the Law from the Gospel. No, no (says he), there is no more but one Jesus Christ, neither is there anymore than one doctrine that leads us unto him, and holds us in the faith, where through we obtain salvation by his means. So then all such as intend to cleave unto the pure knowledge of the Gospel, and to continue in the same, must not seek any other perfection than that.

Calvin's Sermons on Galatians, 60, 61

Amidst all these alarms and threats about the purity of our faith, there is also a wonderful truth to behold: that Christ is enough. It is a testimony to his power and efficacy that we need no additives to preserve or strengthen our faith; and it is his abiding grace and profound love by which he invites us into his freedom, to enjoy the knowledge of him and the glory of his presence.
While we must be on guard against all of the prideful notions that seek to attach themselves to our faith, nevertheless we can also take comfort and confidence in the power and love of Christ, which are more than adequate to meet our need.