While the gospel is the greatest message the world has ever heard, it might be the message most tampered with as well.  Man has always attempted to change it.

Galatians 1:6-7 (ESV)
⁶  I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— ⁷  not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.

There are at least two things that we should consider from these words from the inspired pen of Paul.  First, we should not easily give in to false teaching.  Paul was not astonished by the presence of false teachers.  He expected them to come (Acts 20:28-31).  He was, however, surprised that the churches at Galatia were so easily turned away from the truth.  The Greek word for “soon” here points, not only to quickness but also to rashness.  Thayer says that it suggests “inconsiderateness.”

The false teachers who came to Galatia did not have to work very hard to convince the saints of Galatia to accept a message that was different from the one Paul gave them.  It is almost as if they had only to suggest something new and the Galatians were ready to accept it.  I know a lot of brethren like that. They are ready to give in to every new doctrine that comes along.  Anything that sounds a little new or seems a little fresh intrigues them and grabs their attention.  Before you know it, they are clinging to all kinds of teachings that contradict the true gospel of Christ.  Paul warned the brethren at Ephesus about this.

Ephesians 4:14 (ESV)
¹⁴  So that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

Let us not be like the brethren at Galatia and be so easily persuaded by a distorted gospel.  We must study the Word of God so that we will recognize false doctrine when it is presented to us.

Another important fact that Paul is quick to point out is that a perverted gospel is no gospel at all.  He realized that there was only one gospel.  Every other message, no matter how well-intended or considerately conceived, is nothing more than a perversion of the original message.  There is just one system of faith that we must follow, and it is that which we can read on the pages of the New Testament.  Everything else is simply a perversion.  Every claim of new revelation, and every man-made creed or doctrinal discourse conjured up in the mind of man, only serves to lead people away from God, not to Him.

The gospel is a wonderful and powerful message, able to save the soul.  It is important, however, that we remember that there is just one, and, in a world filled with things that are changing, the gospel of Christ is not one of them.  It never changes.  Like Paul, we must be ready to defend it (Philippians 1:16).  We must preach the gospel, only the gospel, and all the gospel, and in doing so, we will help God save both ourselves and others.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.