WHAT THE CURSED GOSPEL OF WORKS LOOKS LIKE Pastor Art Watkins of Coden Bible Church (Coden, Alabama) January 20, 2018 In Galatians 1:8-9 Paul warned us about a gospel he called cursed. He wrote: But 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. 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. Paul preached the Gospel of Grace but at the same time false teachers, like the Pharisees (Acts 15:1, 5), preached another gospel that contradicted his. He calls their gospel cursed twice in these verses. There are men and women today who continue to preach the cursed gospel of Galatians 1:8-9. What did the cursed gospel look like then and what does it look like now? According to the cursed gospel preached by the Pharisees in the past and the false teachers of today: *The death and resurrection of Christ did not provide a complete and total atonement for our sins. According to them we must also atone for our sins by the works we do in this life. *The sacrificial death and resurrection of Christ did not satisfy all of God’s wrath against our sins. God is not satisfied unless we do some type of work the church prescribes for us to do. *The moment a person believes the gospel all of the merits of Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross are not put to his account. According to them, we must come to the church to receive the merits of Christ’s death. The church and its priests and leaders are the ones God entrusted the merits of Christ’s death and they and they alone have the power to distribute them to men. *Salvation is not a gift of God, but a reward earned by a life time of works. It is not free, for it is conditional upon the works the church prescribes for men to do after they believe. According to them, works have as much a part of salvation as faith. Faith is not enough. According to them no one can be saved without works or kept saved without works. *God did not do all the works necessary to save us and keep us saved. We must participate in our salvation by doing the works the church gives us to do. God did his part and now we must do ours and if we do, we will be finally saved, if we continue to do the works we are supposed to do to the end of our life. In other words, all of the work Christ did to save us is not imputed to us by faith alone the moment we believe the gospel. He did his part and now we must do ours. It’s like salvation on the installment plan. Christ made the down payment and we must pay the notes. *The grace of God is not freely given to all who believe the moment they believe. Grace is distributed to men by the church and its priests and leaders. God deposited his grace to them and they alone have the power to distribute his grace to the faithful for their salvation. *All sins are not forgiven or blotted out and remitted the moment a person believes the gospel. It’s the church and its priests and leaders who forgive sins. You must come to them for forgiveness and absolution. *The believer is not secured eternally because of the sacrificial death and resurrection of Christ. His security is based upon the works he does in his life. As long as he is faithful and does the works the church tells him to do, he is secure. It’s a conditional security based upon the works he does in his life, till the end of his life. Hence, no one can know for sure they are saved until they get to the end of their life. *The believer is not justified and cleared from the penalty of all his sins. He can be eternally condemned or damned to hell for his sins if he does not follow the laws and ordinances of the church or receive the sacraments of the church. *All charges against the believer are not cancelled out by the cross the moment he believes the gospel. A believer can be charged and penalized to hell forever for his sins. In other words, a man who professes to believe in Christ can be cast into hell later if he does not do the works the church gives him to do. This is the cursed gospel of Galatians 1:8. This is the gospel of the Pharisees in the past and false teachers today. This gospel damns those who believe it.