Everybody has a gospel that guides them; some have a heavenly gospel that speaks the truth of God and brings the witness and testimony of Jesus Christ to yourself and to all who hear it. Others have another gospel that is perverted and brings a false witness of Jesus Christ to yourself and to all who hear it. The true gospel of Jesus Christ is the revelation of Jesus Christ revealed. It is a spiritual gospel that speaks of Jesus Christ and His kingdom according to the Spirit. At the same time, another gospel is the gospel of Jesus Christ that has been perverted and speaks of Jesus Christ after the flesh.
The apostle Paul declared the gospel of Jesus Christ as his gospel. He was fervent in keeping true to it and preaching it everywhere he went. He was willing to die for it and, in many cases, suffered a great price for speaking it so boldly. When he established the church of the Galatians, he set in order a spiritual gospel free from the traditions of what he called the Jews religion, which is trying to keep God’s words through traditions and the works of the flesh. Paul was determined to establish a church on the revelation of Jesus and not on the beliefs of artificial religion.
When Paul set up his church and laid the foundation of Jesus Christ by grace and through faith, some came in to change what he had established. They began to trouble the people by putting them under the law to work the works of the flesh by customs and traditions. (Circumcision would be a good example of this.)
These were the troublers, the ones that come in and pervert the spiritual teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ and make them about the flesh. They turn the teachings of Jesus that are meant to put you into the Spirit into dead works by their traditions. They reason out the spiritual word of God and cause it to be of no effect by their knowledge.
When troubled, you must be careful that your gospel doesn’t become defiled. If you look at this from a personal perception and how it applies to you today, you will see that these troublers are the thoughts that you experience every day that try to pervert the gospel in you. They are the enemies of the cross of Christ, and they want to keep you out of the Spirit of truth.
If you examine yourself, you will see precisely where these troublers have worked in your thoughts. They bewitch you from believing the truth by speaking convincing lies to you. They are subtle deceptions that are believable at first because they deceive you by making it about your physical failures. Every time a spiritual gospel is preached and taught to you, the troublers arise in you and question God about what was taught. Instead of entering into the Spirit, you begin to argue about what is true and not true. They convince you to doubt who you are and what God has given you.
The goal of a troubler is to take your attention away from the Spirit of God and put it back onto yourself and your failures. That’s how they control you and the narrative of your salvation. That’s how they make you think you need a law to fix yourself instead of trusting Christ. Once they convince you, your trouble begins. When you are troubled in your mind, you will fail to access the truth of what God said.
When doubt and condemnation fill your heart, then you start praying the wrong prayers and asking God the wrong questions. You may say you’re just trying to learn and understand. But you don’t realize that the troublers are guiding you to the wrong questions, and you’re seeking the wrong answers. These thoughts doubt God that He will answer His word. These are all troubling thoughts that keep you from the Spirit.
You pray things like, “Lord open my eyes and give me understanding,” or you pray for wisdom continually, not knowing that these prayers come from your troubling thoughts instead of faith in God. Condemnation is leading these prayers instead of faith. If the prayer were of faith, it would get answered.
You’re missing that if you are in fellowship and are continuing in the truth, then God is already giving you “daily bread”, which is your wisdom and understanding. But because your troubled thoughts deceive you, you continue to think you don’t have enough wisdom and understanding, so you keep praying for more out of fear.
Your troublers are convincing you to work after the flesh and not trust the Spirit that has been leading you. This is why Paul told the Galatians that they were foolish to think that they could begin in the Spirit and then be made perfect by the flesh. It is impossible to do so.
You can never be made perfect by the flesh. Your gospel will never be built by troubled thoughts. Flesh and blood will never enter the kingdom of God. So it’s time to discern the troublemakers and begin to be the sons of God that the Spirit of truth leads.
My counsel on how to overcome troubling thoughts is simple; believe every word that comes from Jesus Christ and follow them. Don’t overthink and reason what the Spirit is saying. Learn to be guided by the Spirit, and those troublers that you’ve been contending with will have no place in you to speak. Then the truth of the gospel will reveal all the things that the Spirit has ever promised you.
Be blessed and live in peace!