This week's passage begins with Paul saying, “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel”. Paul later states, “If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.”
The gospel was under attack in Paul's day by people who said that Gentiles who had believed in Jesus had to come under the law of Moses, including circumcision in order to be saved. While not many are insisting that Christians come under the Mosaic law, many are guilty of corrupting the gospel by adding our works to the perfect work of Christ. Just as the error of the false teachers in Galatia was subtle, many in our day will talk about salvation by grace through faith in Christ (which sounds good), while denying that we are saved by God's grace ALONE through faith ALONE in Christ ALONE.
Some will view Paul as an intolerant man as he pronounces a curse on those who corrupt the gospel. Tolerance used to mean that one respects the right of others to have and express different beliefs – a form of tolerance consistent with our beliefs. Now tolerance has come to mean that one must treat all other views as just as valid and true as one's own view. By this definition Paul was “intolerant” and so we must be. The irony is that those who claim to be tolerant are very intolerant of those who claim to believe in absolute truth. While we may endure personal slights or differences on non-central issues, the church cannot tolerate any corruption of the gospel among its teachers and members.
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