There is only one Gospel. It’s the good news of what Jesus accomplished for sinners on the cross of Calvary. It’s received as a free gift through faith plus nothing. So many religions and Christian (so-called) cults subtly add something to that equation in order to gather followers. Paul speaks in the strongest language possible in Galatians 1:8 when it comes to adding something to this simple truth. The Gospel had already been preached to them. They had received it. Even if Paul himself changed the message they should reject it. The Gospel is not Paul’s message. It is God’s message to sinful man. He loves us all and has offered peace with us through Christ’s sacrifice. No one can change that truth. Paul can’t change it. Even angels can’t change it. He writes, “…even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.”
Counterfeit money is lacking in authority—it does not have the backing of the federal government. A good counterfeiter can dupe some people into accepting his copy work as legitimate currency. But eventually, when the fake money is brought before the authorities, it will be found false and sentenced to destruction. Likewise, a false gospel lacks something very important: the authority of Christ. The preacher of a false gospel may even believe it himself and persuade men to accept his message. Nevertheless, in the final analysis, there is no salvation in his gospel. Paul tells us that such a preacher will be apprehended by the courts of heaven and judgment pronounced: “Let him be accursed!”
Some of the most despised characters in the history of western civilization have been the slave traders. They were modern pharaohs who cared nothing about human misery or suffering and simply used people for their own pleasure or profit. Jesus rebuked the religious leaders for preventing ordinary people from experiencing the peace of God by laying on them laws and regulations that they themselves could not keep. Jesus cursed them: “Woe to you!” Paul is speaking to the Galatians and referring to the Judaizers as “slave traders.” As one commentator put it, “Paul is outraged that religious slave traders would perpetrate such a crime against his newly freed people.” This is applicable to anyone who is guilty of such a crime. The word “accursed” is “anathema.” It’s the strongest word Paul could use. What the cult leaders of Paul’s day are offering is a psychologically powerful, persuasive message that appeals to our flesh but in reality is an enemy of Christian freedom. They offer nothing but a covert slavery. Paul says they are despicable and deserve hell.