Galatians 1:6-10

Pastor Russell Johnson opened with rapper 50 Cent's 2003 album Get Rich or Die Tryin', a title that understands how a vow works: this happens, or it kills me. He then took us to Jerusalem in AD 57, where Paul was nearly beaten to death and more than forty men swore before God not to eat or drink until Paul was dead. The chief priests agreed to help, and the plot fell apart only because Paul's teenage nephew overheard it. The Greek word those men used to curse themselves is the same word Paul uses in Galatians 1:8-9 for anyone who preaches a different gospel. Teachers had come into Galatia distorting what Paul preached, and within a year or two the Galatians were deserting it. Paul says he is amazed, and Pastor Russell said the word carries horror rather than surprise, the same picture as Israel turning to a golden calf so soon after the Exodus. Paul reminds them they were called into grace, meaning grace is where the Christian life continues, not merely where it began. Then he shifts from the gospel he preached to the gospel they received, a word for something handed off. They are no longer the audience. They are the guardians.