Grace of Christ
Part of a series from Galatians in the Bible

Preached by Apostle Aje Pelser, Harvester Reformational Church, Cape Town
We have been encouraged to begin at any scripture in the Bible and preach Jesus to the lost, to the hungry and thirsty souls that need God’s love.
IN the letter to the Galatian believers, apostle Paul re-emphasises the simplicity of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the grace that is connected with it to prevent a perversion of the truth through legalism and traditions of men that make void the powerful grace of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

From our MBTC Subject Manual: The Book of Galatians teaches us how to walk in the freedom of being led by the Spirit.
It informs us of our liberty from the Jewish laws.
Gal 4:24-26:
“…For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar – for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children – but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all.”

Here is a table of comparisons between the perverted gospel and the true Gospel of Jesus:
Perverted Gospel Gospel of Jesus Christ
“Another gospel’ – beware of people that bring something different to what you’ve learnt in the Bible, from trusted faith heroes and tested fruit. The Gospel of Christ will always be simple and accessible to the worst sinner, to everyone who calls on the name of Jesus in faith, from any background. Nothing is impossible to those who believe.
A perverted truth will trouble you verses bring conviction. A perversion of the truth will condemn you and always make you feel guilty. The truth of Jesus Gospel will set you free and settle you into a direction of change. It convicts and releases you from guilt.
Pervert the Gospel of Christ – means that you remove the essence of grace from the salvation equation and insert dead works, based on traditions of men versus the power of God. The pure unadulterated Word of God is like pure milk to build the inner resistance of the new believer against sin and strengthen their faith.
A perverted Gospel seeks to please man, this is what is happening in the world today as Bible verses are being altered to suit the modern secular humanistic views in all categories of life.
What has happened is that un this age, the perversion of the truth is becoming laws and views are being enforced on believers in many countries. This is the spirit of the Antti-Christ We please God by faith.
It is every person’s right to have their own freedom of faith, and we should exercise that right to believe what the Word says and be able to speak it over our own lives. When others don’t agree with our views, it is their right to believe what they want. That is why there are so many contentious issues in the world today.
We please God by faith in His Word, the new covenant that |Jesus paid for with His sacrificial offering on the cross.
Slave of Traditions of men. Later in Galatians we will see the different between the bond woman and the free woman, the son of bondage and the son of the free.
The physical Jerusalem versus the heavenly Jerusalem. Bondservant of Jesus Christ
When a servant has served his master for many years, the master sets him free. If he wishes to continue serving his master, he is called a bondservant – it is free will decision to serve versus compulsion.

We will discuss several concepts in Galatians over the next few weeks that will reveal where the traps of tradition catch sincere believers and we will decipher the liberty of the Spirit and release the glory of the New Covenant inherent in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Here is another interesting scripture to show you how Apostle Paul fought the perverted gospels in his time, as we do today:

Gal 6:11 See with what large letters I have written to you with my own hand!
Gal 6:12 As many as desire to make a good showing in the flesh, these would compel you to be circumcised, only that they may not suffer persecution for the cross of Christ.
Gal 6:13 For not even those who are circumcised keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.
Gal 6:14 But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

If you are suffering any form of persecution in your life for your faith stance, it means you are doing something right! The cross of Jesus Christ is the converging point of all belief, how you respond to the cross is how you will serve God.