There is no description of their state of grace or who they are in Christ. There is no thanksgiving given for what Christ has done and is doing in them. For those who are familiar with Paul's letters the absence of this thanksgiving is remarkable. It is the only one of his epistles from which it is missing.
This is because the Galatian churches are descending into apostasy.
There is a mistaken notion in some of our modern American churches, evangelical and otherwise, that it is somehow wrong or ungraceful to ever question the salvation of individuals who profess to be believers in Christ. Yet, in the first century this was done all the time. Questioning the genuineness of the professions of faith of the Galatian churches is what Paul is doing right now.
Not only that, but because we preach a gospel which produces an eternal salvation, and because we believe rightly in the eternal security of the believer, we have de-emphasized the threat of apostasy as if apostasy is impossible.
Understand that apostasy is impossible for those who are genuinely in Christ. Nevertheless there are genuine warnings throughout the New Testament of the dangers of falling away from Christ. Those warnings are important and deserve to be emphasized, not dismissed or downplayed. The warnings are given to all professing believers, or those who 'claim' to be Christians. It is clear that not all those who claim to be Christians genuinely are.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’--Matthew 7:21-23
The worry that these Galatian churches have abandoned the gospel is what has prompted this passionate epistle from Paul. He is making his plea to them to come back to the genuine gospel and thus to come back to Christ.
False professors are a fact. They have always been around and always will be until Christ returns. That is one reason why we emphasize the gospel so much in every worship service even when we have no visitors. It is also why we should strive to maintain the integrity of the church roll, looking for outward signs of apostasy from the faith and seeking to restore such ones. But those who will not be restored should be removed.
Moreover we should always be checking ourselves.
Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.--1 Peter 1:10-11
Some do leave the faith. What are we to make of that, especially in light of what we believe about eternal security, or as it is more properly called, the perseverance of the saints? John writes:
They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.--1 John 2:19
Special note should be taken that these specifically to whom John refers left the faith over theological matters. They departed from the faith theologically. In other words, they questioned, then doubted, then rejected essential Christian doctrine. In 1 John that doctrine concerned the nature of Christ, specifically his humanity. In Galatians, that apostasy is a departure from the gospel, or what has come to be termed as 'justification by faith alone,' as we shall see as we go further into the Epistle.
God has entrusted us with a sacred message. We dare not mishandle it. We dare not change it in any way. In this sense, maintaining the purity of the message becomes just as important as proclaiming it. The gospel is God's. We must be very careful to preach it in all its fullness and all its glory and all its simplicity, not 'paring down its rough edges' (as Spurgeon put it), not encumbering it with extra-biblical garbage, not changing it in the slightest.
The gospel is that God came down in Christ to save us. It includes all the truth about Christ and what he did. All who believe that message and embrace Christ are saved. Those who reject it are not.
Below you will find a recording of this informal Bible study which I taught at the Winnsboro Reformed Church three nights ago. I hope you will take the time to listen, investigate for yourself, and be confirmed in your faith. Just click the link below. God bless.
Click here: Galatians 1:6-9 - A Warning of Apostasy
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