10/04/2026
FREE — A Letter to the Galatians - Week 1 | There Is No Other Gospel | Pastor Daniel Kolson
What happens when we add something to Jesus?
In Week 1 of FREE, Pastor Daniel Kolson begins a seven-week journey through the book of Galatians with “There Is No Other Gospel.”
Paul’s letter to the Galatians begins differently than his other letters. There is no thanksgiving. No easing into the conversation. Paul greets them and immediately confronts the problem.
Other teachers had come into the churches Paul planted with a message that sounded reasonable:
Jesus is necessary—but Jesus isn’t quite enough.
They taught that these Gentile believers needed Jesus plus circumcision and obedience to the law in order to fully belong to God’s people.
Their teaching didn’t look like rebellion. It looked like greater devotion.
That’s what made it so dangerous.
Paul responds with some of the strongest language in the New Testament because he understands what is at stake:
There is no other gospel.
If the message becomes Christ plus something, then Christ was never enough. And if Christ wasn’t enough, then the cross was insufficient.
An addition does not enrich the gospel. An addition replaces it.
The same danger exists today.
We may not add circumcision to the gospel, but we can add our politics, culture, spiritual performance, Bible reading, prayer life, experiences, past, or even our ministry to the equation.
Slowly, without realizing it, we can begin trying to earn something Jesus has already given us.
The difference can be summed up simply:
Religion says: “I obey, therefore I am accepted.”
The gospel says: “I am accepted, therefore I obey.”
The actions may look identical from the outside, but the heart underneath them is completely different.
One is working toward acceptance.
The other is living from acceptance.
And you often discover which one you’re living from when you fail.
If your obedience is the basis of your acceptance, failure becomes devastating because you believe your standing with God has changed.
But if your acceptance in Christ is the foundation of your obedience, failure is painful—but your standing hasn’t moved.
Some of us have been carrying a version of Christianity that has exhausted us for years.
Maybe that exhaustion isn’t because you aren’t trying hard enough.
Maybe something got added somewhere along the way.
So this week, ask yourself:
What have I quietly believed I need to do—or be—in order to be fully accepted by God?
Then come back to what Paul says at the beginning of Galatians:
Jesus gave Himself for our sins to deliver us.
He already did it.
It is already finished.
There is nothing left for you to add.
You’re not earning it. You already have it. Now live like it.
� Key Scriptures:
• Galatians 1:3–5 — Jesus gave Himself for our sins to deliver us.
• Galatians 1:6–7 — There is no other gospel.
• Galatians 1:8–9 — The gospel cannot be changed, regardless of the messenger.
• Galatians 1:10 — Are we seeking the approval of people or God?
� Highlighted Quotes:
• “Jesus is necessary. And Jesus is not quite enough.”
• “What gets added to the gospel usually looks like taking God more seriously.”
• “There is the gospel, and there is a distortion of it.”
• “An addition does not enrich the gospel. An addition replaces it.”
• “Religion says: I obey, therefore I am accepted. The gospel says: I am accepted, therefore I obey.”
• “There is a difference between the cost of following Jesus and the weight of trying to earn Him.”
• “He already did it. It is already finished. There is nothing left for you to add to it.”
• “You are not earning it. You already have it. Now live like it.”
� Key Themes:
• The true gospel of Jesus Christ
• Grace vs. religious performance
• Christ alone
• Freedom from earning God’s acceptance
• Obedience flowing from acceptance
• The danger of adding to the gospel
• God’s approval vs. people’s approval
• Spiritual performance and comparison
• Resting in the finished work of Jesus
• Freedom in Christ
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