not a sincere teacher of God because he ignored the Law. The Jews were
offended at the idea that the Law of God should be entirely ignored by Paul
and that the Gentiles, former idol-worshippers, should gratuitously attain
to the station of God's people without circumcision, without the
penitentiary performance of the law, by grace alone through faith in
Christ Jesus.

These criticisms were amplified by the false apostles. They accused Paul
of designs to abolish the law of God and the Jewish dispensation, contrary
to the law of God, contrary to their Jewish heritage, contrary to apostolic
example, contrary to Paul's own example. They demanded that Paul be
shunned as a blasphemer and a rebel, while they were to be heard as true
teachers of the Gospel and authentic disciples of the apostles. Thus Paul
stood defamed among the Galatians. He was forced to attack the false
apostles. He did so without hesitation.


VERSE 7. And would pervert the gospel of Christ.
To paraphrase this sentence: "These false apostles do not merely trouble
you, they abolish Christ's Gospel. They act as if they were the only true
Gospel-preachers. For all that they muddle Law and Gospel. As a result
they pervert the Gospel. Either Christ must live and the Law perish, or the
Law remains and Christ must perish; Christ and the Law cannot dwell side
by side in the conscience. It is either grace or law. To muddle the two is
to eliminate the Gospel of Christ entirely."

It seems a small matter to mingle the Law and Gospel, faith and works,
but it creates more mischief than man's brain can conceive. To mix Law
and Gospel not only clouds the knowledge of grace, it cuts out Christ
altogether.