In Deut. 13:5 and Gal. 1:9, we read "You must be alert and purge evil from your midst......(and) if anyone proclaims to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let that one be accused."
Just as Moses spoke to Israel that God had warned them about not yielding to any fraudulent god, but to eliminate it from your midst, so Paul pleads with the Christians in Galatia to stay loyal to the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, and not to add or subtract anything except what Jesus proclaimed.
Paul himself, or one who may have proclaimed to be Paul, may have added his opinion on occasion, so we must be extremely vigilant, studying the scriptures so as to be certain of Jesus' teachings and not some other. And I must be vigilant to the forces of evil that would color my love for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Satan prowls around, lurking for an opportune moment to just slightly alter the true gospel.
In this day and age, with much talk about ISIS, and concern about whose God belongs to Whom, etc., we must keep a prayerful vigilance and have appropriate listening for God's answers to our questions, so that we can keep a loving attitude toward all we meet. Those of other religions need graciousness and love such as Christ can give through us. It is up to us to let those to whom we speak know that God loves us all.
"Jesus, keep us alert always to those who corrupt the freedom you willingly give to the world. Amen."
Jo INMN
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