“Well, that may be true for you, but it’s not true for me.” Maybe you’ve encountered that kind of relativism – maybe you even believe it. But Paul disagrees. He says that there is actually only one gospel (v. 7). And that’s because the good news of Jesus Christ is based on the things that He did, a real person who lived some 2000 years ago in the place we now know as the Middle East: He gave Himself for our sins (v. 4), dying on the cross to pay the death penalty that our rebellion against God deserves. That’s a fact, not an opinion.

But if we avoid the problem of relative truth, we can just as easily fall into the problem of subjective truth: “I know this is true because I feel it in my heart.” Now, it is certainly the case that God continues to move His people by His Holy Spirit. But how can we know if the feelings and desires that we have are actually from God, and are not instead just our own tendency to rationalize what we want to do?

Again, Paul gives us an ironclad test of truth: the testimony of the apostles, those who were witnesses to the historical fact that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Because all the books of the New Testament were either written by or approved by these apostles, of whom Paul was one (v. 17), we should consider all of the Scriptures to be our inerrant and infallible rule of faith and practice. In fact, if anyone – even an angel – were to say that God is sending us a message that disagrees with the Scriptures, we should not listen (vv. 8-9).

So, instead of giving into the deception of our own sinful inclinations, let’s remember the true gospel of Christ: Jesus died for us not so that we can go on living however we wish, but to deliver us from the present evil age (v. 4). So, let’s follow the teachings of Christ, as He gave them to us through His apostles. For that’s the only way we can be sure we’re basing our lives on what is really true.

Galatians 1:1-17 (ESV)

Paul, an apostle– not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead–
2 and all the brothers who are with me, To the churches of Galatia:
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
4 who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,
5 to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel–
7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.
8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.
9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.
10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.
11 For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel.
12 For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
13 For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it.
14 And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers.
15 But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace,
16 was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone;
17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.