NO, NOT ANOTHER!
(Bro. Bob Craig has been preaching and living the gospel for many years. I like
what he wrote about Galatians 1:6-7, and would like to share it with you. -web)
"I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called
you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel; which is not another; but
there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ."
(Galatians 1:6-7).
People look at the suggested passage and some-times become a little confused.
"How can another not be another?" they ask. This is one of the verses that more
than likely could be better understood had the translators seen fit to insert a
rather lengthy paraphrase. But since paraphrasing, which is basically commentary
on a verse, is not the work of translators, they used the same English word in
translating two different words of the original language.
That procedure is followed with many different words. For instance, the Greek
words huper, eis, gar, anti, apo, achri, dioti, de, dia, ek, en, epi, hoti, and
others, are often translated by the English word FOR. Generally, a person need
not have a knowledge of Greek in order to understand how the word is being used;
he needs only to consider the setting or context in which the word appears.
There are occasions, though, when someone will misuse these words to teach a
false idea -- some-times inadvertently, sometimes deliberately! That has
happened, in particular, to Acts 2:38: " for remission of sins." These who deny
the essentiality of baptism say that the word "for" in that passage means
"because of." There are two ways to prove that that concept is wrong. One is to
go to the Greek. The other is to show the harmony of that passage to similar
passages such as Mark 16:16 or Acts 22:16.
But, with that explanation out of the way, let's get back to our passage in
Galatians 1. The first usage of the word (unto another gospel) comes from the
Greek word "heteros" which means another of a different sort." It is used like
than Acts 7:18: "Till another (heteros) king arose, which knew not Joseph." A
king of a different sort or character not like the Pharaoh that befriended
Joseph. So the Galatians were being told that they were removing to another (one
of a different sort) gospel, thus Paul's amazement.
Then he says, "which is not another (allos)."This word means "one of the same
sort" or "one of like character." So it is used in John 14:16: "He shall give
you another (allos) Comforter." This Comforter would be of like nature or
similar in character or the same sort that he had been.He would not be (heteros)
one of a different sort.
So a paraphrase of Galatians 1:6-7 based on a close study of the words would be:
"I marvel that you are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace
of Christ to a gospel that is of different sort, different in quality, different
in character, which is not at all similar in nature nor of the same sort that
you received from me: but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the
gospel of Christ."
Expository Review, Vol. 2, No. 1, January 1983
By Bob Craig
Submitted By Warren E. Berkley
The Final Page
From Expository Files 6.4; April 1999
