Galatians 1:6-9·~1 min

No Other Gospel

Paul says he is amazed at how quickly the Galatians are deserting the one who called them by Christ's grace and turning toward a different message. Yet this is not truly another gospel, he says, but a distortion brought by people who are troubling them.

I⁶ am amazed how quickly you are deserting the One who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel — ⁷which is not even a gospel. Evidently some people are troubling you and trying to distort the gospel of Christ.

Paul then sets the matter in its starkest form: even if he himself, his companions, or an angel from heaven should preach a contrary gospel, that messenger stands under a curse. He repeats the warning to show that the standard is the gospel the Galatians first received, not the status of the preacher.

⁸But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be under a curse! ⁹As 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 under a curse!

Section summaryPaul says he is astonished that the Galatians are so quickly deserting the one who called them by Christ's grace and turning to what is not another gospel at all. He identifies the trouble as a distortion of Christ's gospel and twice places a curse on anyone who preaches a contrary message, no matter how exalted the messenger might seem.

Role in the chapterThis section opens the crisis of the letter with unusual abruptness. It sets the true gospel as the standard by which every teacher, including Paul himself, must be judged.