International Gospel Hour

Jeff Archey: When it comes to the gospel of Christ, there is only one gospel, friends. To trust in another or a different gospel? Never. Let's see why today from the International Gospel Hour.

J. Webb: It's time for our broadcast from the International Gospel Hour. I'm J. Webb, and welcome to our study today as we embrace God's word to help us meet the challenges of today. Let's open our Bibles and open our hearts for this time of Bible study with our speaker, Jeff Archey, of International Gospel Hour, a broadcast of the churches of Christ. Here is Jeff.

Jeff Archey: Thank you always to our J. Webb, and greetings and hello, everyone. It's great having you with us once again for our broadcast from the International Gospel Hour. We love to study the Bible with you, and we also love to share material that is available from a number of sources. All the material and study tools that we offer here are absolutely free. Let me just pause quickly and allow our J. Webb to share with you a free periodical we are giving away today. We have given it away before and we have others and we want to share this with you once again. Then we will come back for our study from the book of Galatians.

J. Webb: Courtesy of our friends at apologeticspress.org, we have available a free Christian apologetics magazine for teens called Valor and Virtue. It is a great biblically-based tool for your teenager. Get your copy today by calling 855-444-6988. Leave your name and address and just say, "Valor." You can also request it through our website at internationalgospelhour.com. Click on the contact tab and leave us your name and address and put "Valor" in the message box. We will send it very soon.

Jeff Archey: Friends, let's consider Galatians 1:6-7 for our study today. Paul said, "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." The first five verses of this wonderful book of Galatians establish the power of Christ through God's authority. We can know for sure and count on the power of Christ, the only power and life that delivers one from sin. One is delivered through the gospel of Christ.

Some time back, I came across the following, and surely they are statements many of us have heard before. I can't take originality for this, but I'm thankful that I can share it. It's about the gospel of Christ. The gospel of Christ has facts to be believed, commands to be obeyed, and promises to be enjoyed. The gospel of Christ has facts to be believed, commands to be obeyed, and promises to be enjoyed.

Let's consider the first one. The gospel of Christ has facts to be believed: the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. In 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, Paul says, "Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures."

We can believe these facts because they are certain. They are true. Jesus died, he was buried, and he was resurrected. That tomb is as empty as can be. But the gospel of Christ has commands to be obeyed. When I believe in the gospel, I understand faith, and without faith, it is impossible to please God. For he that comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. I need to come and I need to seek God. That is Hebrews 11:6, friends.

That faith moves me just like faith moved Abraham. That faith moves us to change our lives by the command of repentance from our Lord in Luke 13:3, a command that he said would be preached beginning at Jerusalem, as noted in Luke 24:44-47. Sure enough, on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem, when they asked, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" Peter said the word, "Repent." Actually, he had more to say that we will note in a moment.

Repentance was commanded by Peter in 2 Peter 3:9. God is longsuffering to us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance, a change of life. How we confess our faith in Christ is a unique deed in Acts 8:37: "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." To confess him before men as Jesus commanded in Matthew 10:32 and the words of Paul in Philippians 2:11, "and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

In Romans 10:10, we see that with the heart man believes unto righteousness. Man is believed unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation. Then one is baptized into Christ. Belief is unto, confession is unto, and baptism is into. That is how one gets into Christ, as shown in Romans 6:3-6 and Galatians 3:26-27. On the day of Pentecost when they repented, Peter said, "And be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins." That is what they did in Acts 2:41, and the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

The gospel of Christ has commands to be obeyed. When we hear that beloved gospel, we believe it. Because we believe it, we then can repent of our sins, confess our faith, and be baptized into Christ, added to his church. Therein are the promises to be enjoyed. These are the spiritual blessings that are only in Christ, Ephesians 1:3. We note faithful living, walking in the light according to 1 John 1:7, being faithful unto death as in Revelation 2:10, and to add to that faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge self-control, and on as we read in 2 Peter chapter 1.

The gospel of Christ has facts to be believed, commands to be obeyed, and promises to be enjoyed. Looking at another gospel, a different gospel? Never, my friends. Always and above all, the gospel of Christ. We have mentioned the blessings that are to be enjoyed and the promises. Let's think about when we are called by that gospel message. We note that today from Galatians 1:6-7: "Called you in the grace of Christ." Dear friends, when we are called by the gospel—and indeed we are in 2 Thessalonians 2:14—we find where these souls in Galatia were already obedient to the gospel message.

Their lives now reflected a high calling that has us pressing onward, not looking away. Philippians 3:14 says, "I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." It is a holy calling according to God's purpose and grace. 2 Timothy 1:8-10 says, "Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel."

That calling is a heavenly calling, as the Hebrew writer says in Hebrews 3:1, and a calling of hope as we note in Ephesians 1:18. That one hope that is only in Christ, Ephesians 4:4, is the hope that enlightens us through Christ. What about that call unto liberty in Galatians 5:1? It is a call unto liberty that we serve one another, Galatians 5:13. It is not according to our works that we are saved. Works are not what a man does to be saved; works are what a saved man does. We serve one another. We help. Our works reflect our faith as shown in James chapter 2. It changes our lives, that wonderful gospel. It changes us through the salvation that we talked about, and it keeps us saved.

No other gospel will provide all that the gospel of Christ will provide. From this wonderful study of Galatians chapter 1, we can look at the first seven verses and we can see the power of Christ, the only power that delivers one from sin, and how one is delivered through the gospel of Christ. Do not turn to another gospel because there is not another gospel. If it misleads, misdirects, or leads us away, whatever the case might be, we need to make certain we are obedient to the gospel of Christ. It is not Paul's gospel. It is not Peter's gospel. It is the gospel of Christ that both Paul and Peter said is what you obey. To God be the glory.

There is a lot going on in this world and the religious world that is just not right. Some things are said that just cannot be backed with scripture. We would like to help you in that study and that thought with our free booklet that our J. Webb is going to share with you at this time.

J. Webb: The free booklet, Something Is Wrong, but the Bible Is Right, is available from International Gospel Hour. To receive yours, please call us toll-free at 855-444-6988 and leave your name and address and say, "Bible Tract." Or go to our website at internationalgospelhour.com, click on the contact tab, and leave us the same information: name, address, and type "Bible Tract" in the message box. We will send it right away.

Jeff Archey: As you call and request that booklet, don't forget our earlier offer for Valor and Virtue. You can receive that free publication as well. We can send both of those to you at one time. Let's summarize our offerings today. If you would like to receive the free booklet, Something Is Wrong, but the Bible Is Right, and the magazine for teens called Valor and Virtue, when you call us, just say, "Bible Tract Valor." Just mention both of them and we will send them both to you in one mailing. Again, 855-444-6988, leave your name and address and just say, "Bible Tract Valor." That is all you have to say, and we will send both of them to you. For now, I appreciate you studying with me today about the gospel of Christ and thank you for joining me on the International Gospel Hour. I'm Jeff Archey. Friends, keep listening.

J. Webb: Thank you for listening today. To God be the glory, and we hope that our study today will draw you closer to his word to walk in his way. Feel free to listen to our other programs at our website at internationalgospelhour.com and join us next time.