This is a serious issue!

Galatians 1:6-7 NKJV
^“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.”

Galatians 1:6-7 TPT
(I consider TPT to be more of a commentary than a translation. I enjoy referring to it and using it from time to time. I love how the author of TPT so beautifully captures the heart of the Father and His gospel of grace.)
⁶ I am shocked over how quickly you have strayed away from the Anointed One who called you to himself by his loving mercy. I’m frankly astounded that you now embrace a distorted gospel! ⁷ That is a fake “gospel” that is simply not true. There is only one gospel—the gospel of the Messiah! Yet you have allowed those who mingle law with grace to confuse you with lies.

Someone should give the apostle Paul a lesson in the sandwich technique! You know, that technique when delivering a difficult message of correction where you give a positive, then you deal with the issue not to forget to finish off with another positive remark? I really dislike situations like that. Most people who practice the sandwich technique do it in a way where the positive elements are tainted by the issue they are raising, and the whole thing feels fake. Paul obviously missed the class on people skills where they dealt with “how to be confrontational” because he goes straight to the main point and doesn’t mince his words at all. He shoots straight and the urgency that he has can only be the result of his genuine love for them. And rightfully so – the issue Paul is dealing with is a very important one! Paul is expressing immense shock – he is clearly horrified at what the believers in Galatia are doing… but what are they doing?

Paul states that they are turning away from Jesus – not just a message but the Origin of the message. The believers in Galatia are giving in to the deception of people who are perverting the good news gospel of Jesus and His grace, and they’re turning to a message which is not good news and contains no grace because it is rooted and infested with legalistic burdens of “to do’s” and “to don’ts”.

Paul is concerned for the church in Galatia and is trying to show them that the message they are embracing is not good news and it will not cause them to live in the victory and freedom that Jesus came to give them. Many Christians do not realise the importance of their spiritual diet – when you mix legalistic teaching in with the message of the gospel it perverts the message, contaminates it and it will not be able to produce life and peace nor help anyone to live in victory or freedom. The message is the seed that will bring a harvest in your life. Only the seed of the pure gospel of grace will produce a harvest of life, peace, freedom and victory. Mixing even a little bit of law in with grace is like mixing a little bit of poison into your dinner.

Legalism will produce death because it is a ministry of death (2 Corinthians 3:7). There is no life or power in legalism. The law focuses on “self” and is all about what you need to do or shouldn’t do. It doesn’t focus on Jesus, it focuses on you. When you start focusing on what you need to do for God and what you shouldn’t do for God, even though it is “in the name of God” it is a focus on “self” which is basically idolatry. The true gospel will focus on Jesus; on what He has done for us and freely offers us and how we can access everything He freely offers us by simply believing.

Are there areas in your life where you tend to focus on your efforts too much? Are you receiving a pure diet of “finished work”? Or are you sitting under a ministry of “to do’s” and “to don’ts”?
.