The Apostle Paul was the most powerful preacher in his time of the true gospel of salvation by God's grace through faith in Christ alone. As he wrote to the Ephesians: "For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God; not of works, lest anyone should boast" (Eph. 2:8-9). Works come as a result of salvation, they do not produce it (Eph. 2:10).

So you can imagine Paul's shock and disappointment, after establishing the church in Galatia on the Gospel of Christ, to learn that some of the Galatians were being turned by false teachers away from the only true gospel (good news) there is and to "a different gospel, which is not another [no gospel at all]" (Gal. 1:6-7). These false teachers were promoting and winning converts to a works-based system based not upon Christ's finished work on the cross but upon obedience to God's law.

"Yes, you can believe in Jesus," the false teachers were saying, "but you must also add these other things (circumcision, baptism, whatever)."

Yet Paul makes clear that adding any works or human effort whatsoever to faith in Christ alone and His finished work automatically negates the grace of God, canceling it out: "And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace" (Romans 11:6). It then becomes an unbiblical salvation by works and you are then responsible for saving yourself (something that is impossible) because you have rejected the atoning sacrifice of Christ.

As Paul put it bluntly to the Galatians: "But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed" (Gal. 1:8). Any other "gospel" is not the Gospel of Christ that brings life, but the vain philosophy of man which breeds only death -- spiritual death, which is eternal separation from God: "For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes" (Romans 10:3-4).

Truth is, salvation was always a gift. It was always a sovereign work of God in the Person of Christ, as opposed to the works of man. The righteousness of God is nothing short of absolute holiness, as demonstrated by and embodied in the perfect life that Jesus Himself lived in His incarnation.

For everyone else, we must receive eternal life by accepting the sacrifice Christ made for us on the cross, where He paid our sin debt in full and declared triumphantly of His atoning work, "It is finished!" In the original language, He cried out "Tetelestai!" which literally means "Paid In Full!" Religion always says, "Do, do, do!" Jesus assures us, "Done, done, done!"

When we surrender to Christ as our Lord and Savior, we are clothed in His perfect righteousness by God -- Jesus took our sins upon Himself and paid for them all, so we receive His pure holiness as a gift. This is "The Great Exchange" that takes place at Calvary for every repentant sinner who comes to Christ at the cross and places their trust (faith) for eternal life in Him.

None of us have the righteousness it takes to make it to heaven, nor can we attain it through works, sacraments, religious affiliation, any other means. God's own righteousness in the Person of Christ is what is required, and that can only be transferred to our "spiritual account" by God on the basis of what Christ fully accomplished for us (and all mankind) on the cross. This is known as imputed righteousness and it goes all the way back to the "father of faith" himself: "Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness" (Genesis 15:6, Romans 4:3, Galatians 3:6).

Paul therefore concludes in Galatians 2: "For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain."