ESOCS Devotional 11 October 2025 – No Other Gospel
MEMORY VERSE: ‘‘But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the LORD God of Israel with all his hear for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, which he made Israel to sin.’’ 2 Kings 10:31 KJV
TEXT: GALATIANS 1:1-13
Paul, an apostle (not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead), 2 and all the brethren who are with me,
To the churches of Galatia:
3 Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 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, 5 to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
6 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, 7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 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. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.
10 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.
11 But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. 12 For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.
13 For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it.
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Since his last visit, false teachers known as the Judaizers, came through the area and taught a message that was contrary to the one Paul preached. They called into question Paul’s apostolic authority and taught the Galatians “a different gospel.” Primarily, their message was that faith in Christ was only the start of becoming a Christian. In order to be accepted by God, they must also be circumcised.
Paul would not have had any problems if these teachers came through Galatia and complemented his message. But they contradicted it. They preached a different gospel. Paul taught Christ while they taught themselves.
Fundamentally, this letter is about the basis for our relationship with God. The Galatians began to rely upon their ceremonial obedience—especially their circumcision—but all of us are tempted to base our relationship with God on what we do rather than what Christ has done. We feel justified when we’ve gone to church or had our daily quiet time. Galatians is a strong rebuke of making the gospel about our works. Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Anything else is NOT the Gospel!
On one hand, some churches and individual Christians today may find themselves in the place of the Galatians, being bombarded with messages from inside and outside of the church that demand them to be something other than they are called to be. Paul’s letter is a potent reminder to stand firm in the gospel of Christ and trust in the good news of God’s graciousness. On the other hand, some may be acting as the Judaizers did in Galatia, demanding that others should earn their place at the table by conforming to long-standing customs or practices that do not represent the heart of the gospel.
We often prepare for opposition that comes from outside of the church; but Galatians warns of false teaching from within the church. False teachers continue to wander from church to church. They are wolves in sheep’s clothing. We never move beyond our need for grace. We never move past the gospel. The true gospel is a gospel of grace. It is a gospel in which our salvation rests entirely outside of our own doing. “Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to thy cross I cling” – no righteousness of our own but the Lord’s. The moment we begin to think we contribute anything to the righteousness of Christ, we pervert the purity of the gospel.
CHALLENGES
- Do you hold fast to dogma in place of the gospel?
PRAYER POINT
- God please help me to choose Christ over sin. Amen.
FORTHER READING: 2 Kings 11:11-21; 12:1-12; 2 Corinthians 13:1-End
ESOCS Devotional 11 October 2025
