Gal 1:6
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
In the day that we live in there seems to be such a mindset with many of God’s children concerning the subject of grace and all things acceptable concerning that grace
To many including preachers and teachers the idea of grace implies that an individual is able to do what they want and when they want with no consequences to their actions.
Hear the word of God very carefully
Rom 6:16
Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
To whom you yield yourselves servants to obey you become his servants
Whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness and grace does not void out or nullify this scripture
True grace teaches us how to live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world
Titus 2:11-12
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
The true grace of God is a teacher that instructs us how to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and how through faith to tear down strongholds and bring them in to the obedience of Jesus Christ and to revenge all disobedience.
2 Cor 10:4-6
(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.
Now notice what the Apostle Paul writes to the Galatians
Gal 1:6
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
In this epistle Paul is adamant about the grace of God and he says that if anyone comes preaching another gospel even if it is an angel from heaven let them be accursed or on other words LET THEM BE CONDEMNED TO HELL
Gal 1:8-9
But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
And he goes onto say that there are some who have brought trouble and have perverted the gospel of Christ.
Listen to what Paul wrote in the book of Romans concerning the gospel of Christ
Rom 1:16
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
Paul states that the gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation and now in the book of Galatians Paul is saying there are some of you that have brought trouble and have perverted the gospel of Christ
Hear what he is saying “NOT ANOTHER”
Gal 1:7
Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
Paul is saying it is not another gospel, it’s not another teaching or even another philosophy that is the enemy, the enemy is that the gospel has been added to ,it has been perverted,
Paul is saying that the worst thing that can happen to the gospel of Christ is that it has been added to making it perverted and that is what happened to the church in Galatia and the same thing in taking place throughout America today
The Galatea church were not renouncing that Christ was the Messiah or the Savior of the world
They were not saying that Christ was not the Son of God, they believed those things, the problem was that they we’re not believing by faith in Christ alone, they were adding works upon the work of Christ which had already been finished.
Religious Jews had come in to the midst of the church and said yes Christ is the Son of God and yes he is the Savior of the world and you must accept him as Lord but you also have to keep all the rituals and regulations of the Old Testament in addition to faith in Christ and this is what Paul is preaching against
Look at
Gal 2:20
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
What an awesome word!
Paul is speaking about death and in fact speaking about his own death and he says I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live, he is speaking about dying and in that death he states he has found the true purpose of life,
In his hungering and thirsting for the abundance of life he has found it in death to himself
I wonder how many will be able to grasp the significance of that statement
Mark 8:34
And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
“whosoever will come after me let him deny himself”
Matt 10:39
He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
“he that loseth his life for my sake will find it”
Are you seeking for revelation on his word
Here it is—-it’s about denying self and self is alive and well in the lives of most people today and not only is it alive and well it is thriving as we are being encouraged to walk in the relationship of self.
Many have the mindset today that self is the center of the universe and everything revolves around that.
Let me give you revelation,
Self-centeredness is the source of all problems, all grief, all heartache, pain and unhappiness.
Only when you get out of your self-centeredness and put God and other people ahead of yourself are you ever going to experience any true liberty in your life
James 1:25
but whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
whoso looks into the perfect law of liberty and becomes a doer of the work this man shall be blessed in his deeds
Multitudes of God’s people want revelation knowledge, they want to attach themselves to someone with that revelation knowledge without it costing them anything
They want to hang out and walk in revelation knowledge without that revelation knowledge becoming lifestyle in them.
They are not willing to deny themselves, they are not willing to come out of their life to find the true purpose of life and they are not willing to forsake all so that they can come into the virtue of truth that will give them perfect liberty in Christ
It’s called self-centeredness
And then on the other hand there are people who will hear this message concerning self-centeredness and they will see the problems that it is causing in their lives and they will begin to deny themselves to such a point that they will begin to hate everything that they do, people so consumed with dying to themselves, so consumed with carrying the cross of Christ and crucifying everything that is in them and that is not what the scriptures are talking about.
Paul said I am crucified with Christ
Paul taught on this in
Rom 6:8-11
Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Such as awesome word and yet multitudes continue to be bound by the shackles of religion.
Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
Dying in Christ has been so religiously taught according to religious views that many because they have such an obsession with dying to themselves they become more self-centered trying to get rid of all the things that happen to be in their life
i remember so well in a church service one night that the sermon centered around self-centeredness and we were given a piece of paper and we were told to write down on this paper all of the sins in our lives that we felt were giving us problems
so I wrote down all these sins and then we were told to meditate on these sins so that we could see just how bad that they really we’re in our lives,
by the time that I had finished I was so condemned and miserable that I was determined to get those things out of my life and in that I now was more centered in on myself than I ever had been before and even though the focus had changed I was still centered in on my self
Notice what Paul said
He did not say I am crucifying myself he said I am crucified with Christ in other words it is a done deal. it is over.
When you became born again you we’re crucified with Christ
The correct way to die to yourself
The correct way to take up your cross and to deny yourself and to follow him is to come to the revelation that he died, he was the one who was crucified, he paid the price so that we might live and because of what he has done your love for him should overshadow everything in your life and the focus should be all about him and not about you
The love that you have for him should far exceed the love that you have for yourself
Your entire life should be centered around him
So many of Gods people believe that before the light can shine forth darkness has to be removed
That is not true at all
When a room is dark all that needs to be done to make the darkness go is to turn on the light
John 1:1-5
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
WHEN YOU REALLY LOVE THE LIGHT THEN SELF LOVE WILL DIE