In Galatia some men had started teaching a perverted form of the gospel.

They were mixing Old Testament laws and ways with the grace of Christ and this new way of serving God.  They were telling Christians this was how it was supposed to be. This was causing confusion among the believers.

The apostle Paul addressed this in his letter to them, now called the book of Galatians.

Look at Galatians 1:6-10 via BibleGateway.com

Paul is very clear when he says those teaching a false gospel – which is actually no gospel at all – should be eternally condemned for it.

That’s pretty strong, but it’s a really big deal and the strong response is appropriate.

Teaching their version and/or adding their ideas and twists to it makes it not the gospel. It makes it false and a very dangerous thing because it leads not to salvation but to Hell.

This trickery keeps people from having a real relationship with Christ because instead of serving Him the way the Bible calls them to, they would be doing it the way a man says to. They might end up in hell because they followed this false teaching instead of the truth of who Christ is and how the Bible calls us to worship.

They could also end up teaching it to others, which according to Paul’s statement, means they should be eternally condemned.

Clearly, perverting the gospel by changing it is very dangerous to all involved!

Unfortunately, it didn’t just happen in Paul’s day.

It still happens today.

We have preachers and teachers who teach a false doctrine concerning the gospel. They twist it when they add their thoughts on how it should be done, add conditions to it, or say certain things don’t matter when they do.

There is a way we can protect ourselves.

1- Stay read-up in the Bible. Know what it says for yourself. Don’t rely on others to tell you what it says. Take notes during church, classes, and studies, and then later prayerfully look up the passages and compare them to what you heard. This helps prevent errors in your hearing and errors in their teaching, while reinforcing the learning of the lesson.

2-Filter everything you hear through God’s word. If it doesn’t line up, reject it. Always make God’s word the authority, not man’s word or “enlightened” understanding. Remember- preachers and teachers are only human. They make mistakes, too, both accidentally and intentionally. Compare what they say to what the Word says. In cases of conflict, trust God’s Word, not man’s.

3-Stay Prayed-up. Pray about what you read and hear. Ask God to point out errors. Ask him to lead you in to all truth. Pray for discernment. Ask God to show you and to prick your spirit when wrong words come before you. When this happens, ask Him to show you what the truth is.

4-Pray about what you’ve already learned. Sometimes we’ve already heard/learned wrong things. Sometimes we’ve misunderstood. Prayerfully ask God to show you if your doctrine/knowledge needs adjusted. If it does, prayerfully study up on it and adjust your thinking and beliefs. There is no shame in learning more and better on a subject, especially when it is the truth of God’s word.

Remember, we are responsible for what we learn, teach, and believe. It’s imperative we make sure it is accurate and properly represents/reflects God’s Word.