“A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.”
Galatians 5:9
When Aretha Franklin’s version of Respect was released in 1967, it was an instant mega hit. Her changes to Otis Redding’s original version electrified millions around the world. In 2021, Rolling Stone Magazine listed Aretha’s version of Respect as the number one song on their "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time[1]" list.
One of Aretha’s signature changes were backup singers repeating different phrases throughout the song. One of these memorable lines was “just a little bit[2].” They sang it over and over
Aretha was asking for just a little bit of R-E-S-P-E-C-T because she knew that’s all it would take. Just a little bit of respect would forever change her life. Forever change everything.
And that one song certainly helped change the life of a young woman from a very unstable family and upbringing. She’s remembered for Respect and countless other songs, selling over 75 million albums throughout her career. All this and more led to her being crowned as the Queen of Soul.
Just a little bit changes many things in life. Add just a little bit of Mad Dog 357 Plutonium No. 9 hot sauce to anything and the top of your head might just explode. It only takes a little bit of lead to poison water for a building, a neighborhood, an entire city.
And the same is true with when it comes to Jesus and his taking care of our sin problem. Jesus said that he paid for the forgiveness of all our sin[3]. Throughout the Bible, there are so many claims that he paid for all sin, once and for all[4].
It started day-one of the Christian church, and consistently keeps going. Peter lays it on the line. He leaves no doubt about it. There’s no plan B. There isn’t anyone or anything else needed.
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.
Acts 4:12
Did you hear what Peter said? No one else. No other name. It’s Jesus and only Jesus. Period. There’s nothing more to add. No more sacrifices. No more rules and laws.
So, when these out-of-town experts show up, they start adding to the truth. They say Jesus is good, but not good enough. He’s a fine starting point, but he’s not it all by himself. You need to add something else.
With all other religions and philosophies, you always have to do more. You must keep doing things so that you stay clean. But not with Jesus. His once-and-for-all sacrifice is one of the things that totally separates Christianity from everything else.
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
1 John 2:2
Jesus isn’t a sacrifice. He’s not one of many sacrifices. It’s not Jesus plus some ritual. No, he’s the sacrifice. Period. The one and only sacrifice. The once-and-for-all sacrifice.
So, when anyone says that you need something more than Jesus to be fully forgiven before God, it’s a big deal. It goes against everything that Jesus and everyone else said about him.
That’s why Paul gets himself in such a state of frustration. He clearly and consistently communicated to the Galatians that Jesus died for their sins and that there wasn’t anything more to be done to earn a relationship with God.
With Jesus, there’s no additive when it comes to payment of sin. There’s no one else, or anything else needed. There are no additions. No special ingredients that only a few people know about. There’s no hidden secret-sauce.
When you add yeast to dough, it changes the whole shebang. It’s not like icing on a cake that just sits on top. No, yeast spreads throughout the whole loaf. It changes every bite. It changes everything.
Trying to add something to Jesus is the same thing. Jesus alone is enough for God and it should be enough for us too. So, why do we try and keep adding something? Because we don’t like something being done for us. We want to do it. We want to earn it.
But that just doesn’t fly with God. He did it all. Our job is to receive. Anything else, and we try to make ourselves God.
[1] https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-songs-of-all-time-1224767/public-enemy-fight-the-power-5-1225336/
[3] Matthew 26:28
[4] 2 Corinthians 5:14, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Galatians 1:4, Galatians 3:13, Romans 5:6-8, 1 Corinthians 15:3, 1 Corinthians 5:7
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