Terry Storch

Writing about life, leadership, faith, and anything else I find interesting.

One Gospel

 

One Gospel - Galatians 1

It is impossible to please man, and follow the rules of the world and stay pure to the One Gospel. 

According to the Introduction in the NIV, Galatia was a Roman province in Central Asia Minor. Paul traveled here on each of the three journeys he made to spread the message for Jesus. The Galatians received both Paul and his gospel announcement warmly. But later, some people Paul calls agitators came and challenged Paul's leadership as well as the foundation of his teaching. 

Interesting to me opening another book from the Apostle Paul, and he is again confronting and challenging churches and leaders for falling away from the pure Gospel. Thinking about who Paul was before Christ transformed him, Paul was a strong, dominant type that killed and persecuted Christians. This just jumps out to me this morning to be a reminder that God uses all things to bring Him glory. God used the gifts, strengths, and talents; Paul had to move the Gospel forward. Paul is challenging, bringing correction and discipline to churches across the region; Paul could only do this if he were strong, forceful, and loving. We should not all desire to be this type of leader; that's not my point. My point is we should embrace who God made us to be, and know that those are the gifts and abilities God will use and bless.

“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and is turning to a different gospel— which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse!” - ‭‭Galatians‬ ‭1:6-8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Disappointed and angry, Paul calls these churches in the Galatia region out with abandoning the pure and real Gospel. They had traded the Gospel for legalism, for rules and religion. He was so severe, be told them they were literally going to Hell. 

“As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!” - ‭‭Galatians‬ ‭1:9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

We should read this and let it soak in. The gospel needs nothing in addition, no tweaks, not fluff, no bow, ribbon, or changes. We must know that distorting the gospel, adding or taking anything away from the gospel is a serious offense. We unfortunately, do this as flawed humans. We will read soon about the apostle Peter (Cephas), who got called out for being influenced by some rules-based legalistic types. If this happens to Peter, we better take note. 

“Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.” - ‭‭Galatians‬ ‭1:10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

This is critical! I jumped ahead to what happened to Peter, and we see that it was others who influenced him, and the peer pressure that got to him. We read here that Paul pushes towards just being focused on pleasing God, not man. It is impossible to please man, and follow the rules of the world and stay pure to the One Gospel. 

There it is, the heart of the message and our key take away for the day. It is impossible to please man, and follow the rules of the world and stay pure to the One Gospel. The rest of the chapter is Paul giving account and his testimony around the gospel coming to him from a revelation from Jesus Christ, and not man. This is the pure Gospel, and it's not of man it's of God. 

Lord, as we step into our day and bring ourselves to every situation today, may we bring a pure reflection of you. Lord may our lives be a reflection of you, and may the only pure gospel flow from our actions, words, thoughts, and prayers. 

other writing
John 20 - The Gospel

John 20 - The Gospel

The Gospel, the Good News! Jesus, Son of God, was born of Mary, lived as the Son of Man, died, and rose to life to rescue the world and bring about a new life. The central message of the gospel. Jesus, the centerpiece! John 19 & 20 cover the brutal death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

In this scene, I can not imagine how the disciples felt. John describes them as overjoyed...but those words just fall short of what I can imagine this moment was like.

John 19 - The Magnitude of the Cross

John 19 - The Magnitude of the Cross

The day of Jesus' crucifixion fulfilled 28 Old Testament prophecies. Scripture was fulfilled! Beyond that, trying to wrap my mind around what happened this day, on the cross, and fully grabbing the magnitude of the cross is mind-boggling.

Sure, we can dumb this down or simplify it to a place where I just don’t believe it is anywhere near accurate. We can get into penal substitution and argue over was God full of love or was God full of wrath and hate that he killed his son. To me, John 3:16 is pretty clear on the love part.

John 18 - Jesus levels an army

John 18 - Jesus levels an army

In John 18, we come to the great betrayal. Judas came with the soldiers, officials, and chief priest and Pharisees. We know the scene. But this morning, I saw something I don’t remember reading and surly don’t remember learning about.

“So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons. Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?” “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭18:3-6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

John 17 - The Lords Prayer

John 17 - The Lords Prayer

John 17 is Jesus looking heavenward and praying to God the Father. So much beauty and mystery in this prayer. One thing that jumps out to me is that Jesus, fully God, and fully man prayed. Jesus is God fully. Why did he need to pray, He was One with the Father, He was God...and yet he prayed. This is so powerful;

“And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭17:5‬ ‭NIV‬‬

John 16 - What does it take to believe?

John 16 - What does it take to believe?

By the end of John 16, Jesus had done countless miracles, preached some amazing sermons, transformed so many lives, and developed a close and personal relationship with his disciples. So, when reading these verses, I am just utterly confused on so many levels.

“I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.” Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.” “Do you now believe?” Jesus replied.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭16:28-31‬ ‭NIV‬‬

John 16 - Undervaluing God in Spirit

John 16 - Undervaluing God in Spirit

Jesus’ time on earth is quickly coming to a close, and he finishes up his last sermon or teaching to his disciples as they walk to Gethsemane. This final teaching was a heavy one that no doubt left his disciples with a heavy heart. Jesus said it this way;

“...None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭16:5-6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus goes on to say;

John 15 - Constant Growth

John 15 - Constant Growth

We were built for growth, constant growth. From birth, all the way until our death, we were designed by God for constant growth. The problem is, we often can find ourselves stuck in a belief, a phase, or a part of life where we stop growing.

One of the most brilliant investors embodies this understanding. Charlie Munger, at 96 years old, is still learning and growing as a person. I love this quote:

“Knowing what you don’t know is more useful than being brilliant.”
- Charlie Munger

John 14 - The Gift of Peace

John 14 - The Gift of Peace

John 14 opens with Jesus, saying, Don’t let your hearts be troubled. And the chapter closed down with Jesus saying Don’t be troubled or afraid.

A message that needs to resonate with our spirit and our inner self. This was such a good reminder, reading through John 14 over and over. This passage lifted off the screen.

“But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart…

John 14 - Troubled Hearts

John 14 - Troubled Hearts

The world today seems so volatile and chaotic. Everywhere you look, whatever we read and see on TV just seems to be troubling. Last night, I noticed my lovely wife Tweeted this;

“I can’t be the only one who watches the news and is simply embarrassed right now, right? (Dear Jesus, we tap out. Come on back.)”

I find this first humorous, but then I also find it sad. It’s true, watching the news as a Christ-follower is pretty embarrassing. In John 14, we see Jesus…

John 13 - Unselfish Concern

John 13 - Unselfish Concern

Summarizing John, chapter 13, looks like this. The Lords Supper takes place. Jesus washes the disciple's feet. Jesus calls out Judas, and Satan enters him. Night comes, Judas leaves, and Jesus says he must go, and where I am going, you can not come. To cap it all off, Jesus also calls out Simon Peter and tells him that he will deny and completely disown Jesus three times. Whoa, a really full chapter, and historical day.

Nestled in the wrap up of the day is the parting message Jesus leaves his disciples, a message Jesus is sharing with us right now.

 
thoughtsTerry Storch