Prayer of the Day: Almighty and gracious Lord, pour out Your Holy Spirit on Your faithful people. Keep us steadfast in Your grace and truth, protect and deliver us in times of temptation, defend us against all enemies, and grant to Your Church Your saving peace. We pray this through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.

A number of years ago a famous cola company had as its slogan, “It’s the ‘Real Thing!’” That company wanted you to remember that although you had many different sodas and colas that you could reach for, don’t be fooled or settle for imitations. Drink the “Real Thing!” They wanted you to believe that the other colas wouldn’t taste as good or be as satisfying because they weren’t the “Real Thing” like their product. Do you know what soda I am speaking of? Coca-Cola, of course, the most famous and best selling soda in the world.

There is some truth to that slogan of theirs. There is nothing else that tastes exactly like the “Real Thing.” I learned this one time when I was young and was out and about with my best friend and his mom. We had stopped at the pharmacy on our way home and my friend and I saw an end cap full of cans of “Rite Aid Cola” marked at 4 for $1. “Four Cokes for $1!?!?” we practically shouted to each other. We couldn’t believe it! What a deal! We begged his mom to let us get 4 cans. We probably would have gotten 8 cans if she’d let us. She knew better. She let us each get one can and warned us, “You’re probably not gonna like it.” Yeah, here’s the thing: turns out “Rite Aid Cola” is not the same as Coca-Cola. Getting 4 “Rite Aid Colas” for $1 is not the same as getting 4 Cokes for $1. I don’t think either of us even finished our can of soda. Lesson learned!

Now, when you’re walking through the supermarket and you reach over and decide to pick up a generic cola instead of buying the “Real Thing” the consequences aren’t that great, are they? Sure, you probably won’t get something that tastes exactly like Coca-Cola—it will hopefully taste at least a little bit like cola!—but you are obviously more interested in saving some money than you are in the taste of the product. You know you’re going to get what you pay for, but if it tastes just fine to you, you’ll pick up the store brand cola instead of buying the “Real Thing;” no big deal!

Sadly, many people treat the Word of God this way and they choose their religion like they choose their soda: “I’ll just take what is closest and most convenient for me right now; what’s going to cost me the least. So what if it’s not the ‘Real Thing?’ It’s close enough; it doesn’t really matter. All churches are pretty much the same anyway.” Is that kind of thinking a bit troubling and confusing to anybody else, or is it just me?

We are talking about our soul’s salvation here! We’re not talking about what kind of soda you prefer! Your criteria for what you believe and what your church or church body teaches and preaches better be more than just what is most convenient and “cheapest” for you right now. Because when it comes to the Word of God and the soul saving message of the Gospel of Christ, There is Nothing Like the “Real Thing!” Accept no imitations!

The Apostle Paul drives home the seriousness of preaching and believing only the “Real Thing”—the Gospel message of Jesus Christ crucified and risen again for our salvation. He says in our text, “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed” (v.8). Just in case you missed the deadly seriousness of Paul’s words, he repeats the thought again in the next verse, “As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed” (v.9).

Wow, Paul! That’s harsh! Those words wouldn’t fly too well in our day, would they? Do you understand what Paul is saying in our text? He’s saying that even if he, or even if an angel from heaven were to come down—or anyone, for that matter—were to preach anything other than the Gospel of Christ, which Paul preached to the Galatians, let that person or being be “accursed.” Literally, that means to be “delivered over to God’s wrath; cursed by God” (Friberg Greek Lexicon)! Too harsh, you might say? Again, think about what is at stake here: souls! The soul-saving message of the Gospel is more important than any apostle, more important than any angel—not even they are to tamper with the teachings of God. The Gospel is more important than the ideas, opinions, or feelings of people.

What was this Gospel, this “Good News” that Paul had taught these Galatians? In some of the first words of his letter he says, “Grace (which means, “undeserved love and favor”) to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age” (Galatians 1:3-4).

Paul’s message was very simply the “Good News” of forgiveness and salvation—full and free; no strings attached—through the perfect life of Christ, and His innocent suffering and death. It was the message of resurrection and eternal life through the resurrection of our living Lord and Savior, Jesus. It was a message that is unconditioned by any works or merit on the part of human beings. It is a salvation that rests completely and totally on the works and merits of Christ alone!

Apparently, some false teachers had come in amongst the members of the Galatian congregations and had not denied the Gospel of Christ completely, but had twisted and perverted it so that it was no longer the “Real Thing.” Paul writes to them in the verses just before our sermon text, “I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ” (Galatians 1:6-7).

These false teachers were called “Judaizers.” They were teaching that the non-Jewish (Gentile) Christians could only enter the kingdom of God by following many of the ceremonial laws of the Jews. These Judaizers allowed the necessity of faith in Christ as the promised Savior, but their teachings opposed the Bible’s teaching that salvation is by faith alone. They didn’t believe that salvation could come from God purely as a gift by grace alone. They taught that in addition to faith in Christ, the believer must also keep the Law of Moses and the Old Testament ceremonies. This perversion of the Gospel made their teaching no Gospel at all! It rested the hope of eternal salvation partly on human works and not fully on the saving work of Christ. That is why Paul responded so harshly, so vehemently.

Do these types of false teachings sound familiar? During the Reformation season we remember how God worked through men like Martin Luther and other reformers to bring back the teaching of the pure Gospel—the “Real Thing.” The church of Luther’s day did not teach salvation by faith alone through God’s grace alone. Much like the teaching of the Judaizers the church of Luther’s day taught that your salvation depended on more than just faith in Christ—that was a necessary part of it—but that you also needed to keep God’s commandments to gain salvation, to work off some of your own sins through confession and penance, they even began selling off certificates (called indulgences) that supposedly absolved people from their sins.

Thank God that Luther and the Reformers didn’t take the pure words of the Gospel of Christ as lightly as so many in our day do. They realized that the salvation of people’s souls depended on the preaching of the Bible’s teaching that eternal salvation comes by God’s grace alone through His gift of faith in the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus, and “not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:9 NIV). Luther and the Reformers fought for this Gospel, and all the teachings of God’s Word fiercely, and by God’s grace, faithfully! They understood the importance of the pure message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was spiritually, and physically, a matter of life and death to them! Luther once wrote concerning the Word of God:

“I must place the Word of God above everything. I must hazard life and limb, the world’s favor, my property, honor, and all my welfare that I may keep it [the Word] and cling to Christ as my most precious Treasure in heaven and on earth.” [“What Luther Says,” Vol. 3, p. 1465, #4734]

These were more than just words from Luther; he lived them! With the help of God he stood before the councils of the church, and even before the emperor himself, and at the threat of removal from the church—and even the threat of his own life being taken—Luther boldly and clearly took his stand on the Word of God, the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ, the “Real Thing,” and confessed: “Here I stand. God help me. Amen!”

Because Luther and the Reformers and the many generations of pastors, teachers, parents, and other laypeople also took their stance on “The Real Thing,” we are here today worshiping freely in a church that teaches and preaches the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ!

There is Nothing Like the “Real Thing!” Accept no imitations! No other message can give our guilt-burdened consciences peace with God. No other message can give us the comfort of being children of God Himself. No other message can give us the joy of eternal life in heaven. No other message brings us forgiveness, full and free! No other message can do this. Nothing else can do this. Nothing! Nothing—but the blood of Jesus! There is Nothing Like the “Real Thing!” Amen.

—Pastor Luke Bernthal

Messiah Lutheran Church
Hales Corners, WI

---

Ministry by Mail is a weekly publication of the Church of the Lutheran Confession. Sermon archives, and subscription and staff information may be found online at www.clclutheran.org/ministrybymail. Audio Sermons are available at: podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ministrybymail

All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.