Tuesday ·
Holding On to the Good News
Scripture: Galatians 1:9
“As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.”
Galatians 1:9 KJV
Galatians is one of Paul’s most urgent letters. He skips his usual warm thanksgiving and goes straight to his concern. Not long after he shared the good news with these churches, others arrived teaching that faith in Christ wasn’t quite enough, that believers also had to keep certain parts of the law to truly belong.
Paul’s words here are strong, and he repeats them on purpose: anyone preaching a different gospel stands under God’s judgment. That can sound harsh to our ears. But Paul isn’t being severe for its own sake. He’s like a parent who sees a child wandering toward a busy road. The gospel of grace is too precious, and too easily lost, for him to stay quiet.
The “other gospel” rarely announces itself. More often it whispers: Jesus plus your good behavior. Jesus plus the right performance. Jesus plus proving yourself worthy. Each addition sounds small, but together they shift our trust from what Christ has done to what we can do, and that’s no longer good news at all.
We might listen for those quiet additions in our own hearts. Where do we feel we have to earn God’s welcome? We can carry those thoughts back to the simple message we first received: Christ died for our sins and rose again, and we are received by grace through faith. Let’s hold on to that, and gently help one another hold on too.
Prayer
Father, thank You for the gospel of Your grace. Guard my heart from anything that would add to what Jesus has done. When I start trying to earn Your love, draw me back to the cross. Help me treasure this good news and share it faithfully. In Jesus’ name, Amen.