Life After the Cross – 3

Life After the Cross – 3

By Apostle Felix

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. 

8  Anyone who comes to you with a different message than the grace gospel that you have received will have the curse of God come upon them! For even if we or an angel appeared before you, to give you a different gospel than what we have already proclaimed, God’s curse will be upon them. 

9  I will make it clear: Anyone, no matter who they are, that brings you a different gospel than the grace gospel that you have received, let them be condemned and cursed! 

12  No one taught me this revelation, for it was given to me directly by the unveiling of Jesus the Anointed One. 

Galatians 1: 6 – 9, 12

Apostle Paul’s concern for the church in his time was the drifting away from the Jesus Christ to another gospel. What did Paul mean by ‘another gospel?’ I believe the answer to this timeless question will settle many of the questions one may have regarding the state of the church today. In the early days of of christianity, believers were straying away from the Lord, not because they were promiscuous. Their straying away had to do with a message they later embraced. It was a message that was based on the life before the cross. These were brothers and sisters who loved the Lord, but yet were straying from the truth. Apostle Paul had received a revelation of Christ by the Spirit of God. The Lord, Himself had tutored Paul about the gospel truth, which is life after the cross. Another gospel is a message that veils Christ from the people. It is a message, whose emphasis is on works, rather than grace. It’s a message that diminishes the works of Christ, and exalts rituals and practices that are not New Testament.

In chapter 1 verse 9 of Galatians, apostle Paul emphatically refuted any minister of gospel who preaches a mixture, that is law and grace. The church has been founded on the revelation of Christ, and that revelation is the one that sustains it. Sadly, the church is not satisfied with the message of grace. The church is devoted to adding what Jesus delivered the church from. Paul used very strong language towards those that were preaching another gospel. He said, anyone preaching that kind of gospel should be condemned and cursed. If a preacher preaching false gospel  can be condemned and cursed, how much of the members of that church, who are  receiving the fake gospel and practice it. The problem of the church is not necessarily the devil, but the message the church has embraced.

4  If you want to be made holy by fulfilling the obligations of the law, you have cut off more than your flesh—you have cut yourselves off from the Anointed One and have fallen away from the revelation of grace! 

Galatians 5: 4

What is falling from grace? It is not what many have believed falling from grace is. Oftentimes, when we hear of someone has fallen from grace, we assume the person committed a terrible sin such as fornication, adultery, or murder. But Paul, did not mean such sinful activities as falling from the grace of God. This is not endorsing sin or taking light of sinful behaviors. The point is that, falling from grace has in most cases to do with reverting to a life before the cross. Life before the cross, the people destroyed high places dedicated to false gods. Israel pulled the high places and built a new unto the Lord.

3  And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place. 

4  Ye shall not do so unto the LORD your God. 

Deuteronomy 12: 3, 4

The practice of destroying altars was a practice before the cross. The people destroyed the altars physically. Jesus came into this world s an altar to destroy all the altars once for  and for all.

8  But the one who indulges in a sinful life is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God was revealed was to undo and destroy the works of the devil. 

1 John 3: 8

There is no satanic altar that can work against the Lord and His children. That altar in the village is not your problem. It is the ignorance of the life after the cross. Whether you break it or not, it does not matter. You have  power over all the altars in Christ. Apostle Paul never went around breaking altars and pulling down images of idols. In fact he preached next to an erected idol and won souls for Jesus.

22  So Paul stood in the middle of the leadership council and said, “Respected leaders of Athens, it is clear to me how extravagant you are in your worship of idols.

23  For as I walked through your city, I was captivated by the many shrines and objects of your worship. I even found an inscription on one altar that read, ‘To the Unknown God.’ I have come to introduce to you this God whom you worship without even knowing anything about him.

Acts 17: 22, 23

Paul’s focus was to preach the gospel of Christ and introduce  Him as the true God. He did not ask people to destroy their idols. The devil is not residing in a graven image. When people are saved genuinely, they forsake the past life and throw away the idols.

To Be Continued…