The Only Gospel
A Sermon on Galatians 1:8
Originally preached Dec. 3, 1961
Scripture
8But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
Sermon Description
Opening his sermon, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones reads from Galatians 1:8. Within, the apostle ridicules the early church for believing another gospel, a gospel from man. But Paul makes himself clear: whoever teaches a different gospel from what Christ revealed, be it an angel or man, let that person be accursed. Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that even today, false gospels are preached by men all over the contemporary world. The Bible is put on a shelf, and people forget its sound doctrine. The Christian message is adapted to fit man’s view of the world. Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains the perilous problem with this practice. When man changes the Christian Gospel, or creates his own, he removes God from the picture. With God gone, man must rely on himself for his salvation and redemption. But, Dr. Lloyd-Jones says, the truth of the Bible has revealed that man will never be enough. It is not man who can save his soul but the blood of Jesus Christ. That is the true Gospel. The beauty of the Christian Gospel is that Christ comes to us in our sin, and He offers whoever believes upon Him unmeasurable grace and eternal life.
Sermon Breakdown
- The apostle Paul uses strong language to condemn false teachings that contradict the true gospel.
- False teachings have no authority and are based only on human opinion. The true gospel was revealed to Paul directly by Jesus Christ.
- False teachings are not actually "good news" and provide no hope of salvation. They leave salvation up to human effort which always fails.
- False teachings should be condemned because they deny the most glorious aspects of the true gospel - that salvation is entirely by God's grace through faith in Christ.
- The true gospel is that God sent His Son Jesus to die for our sins so we can be delivered from sin and condemnation. This is according to God's eternal plan and will.
- False teachings dismiss the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Christ as unnecessary. But only Christ can deliver us from sin and the world.
- False teachings jeopardize people's eternal souls by leading them to hell under the guise of telling them to just "live a good life."
- There is only one way of salvation - faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Other Sermons
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.