Galatians 1:6-7

I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.

The first subject, verb and direct object we see in this passage is you (subject), are deserting (verb), and Him (direct object). (I've been working with my daughter on English). This is quite an accusation being delivered to the Galatians. He is calling them deserters. This is the same Greek word (metathemi) used to describe military desertion. It means to transfer one-self, change sides or parties, turn away from someone. They have deserted Christ and they have done it not long at all after Paul left from delivering the gospel to them. Paul says he is amazed. He wonders. He is at a loss for words at how quickly and hastily they have turned away. And they have not just turned away from the correct gospel, they have turned away from Christ Himself! Wow! When we distort the gospel we do not just have incorrect doctrine; we are deserting Christ! Any time there is a turning away, there is a turning to. When they(or we) turned away from Christ, they were turning away from His grace. They turned to a different gospel. The "gospel" being spoken of is a "gospel" of law. As mentioned in earlier notes (vv.3-5), Judaizers were teaching people they must obey the law in order to be saved. As Paul mentions, this is not really even a "gospel." Why? Gospel, by definition, is "good news." What is so "good news" about having to do the impossible to be saved? Besides, that would not be "being saved." That would be "saving ourselves."
Although they turned away quickly, Paul does not fail to mention they were troubled, or disturbed, in the process. Was the Holy Spirit convicting and they ignored Him? Or is he saying there was dissension in the church as a result? I don't know.
What I do know is that these perverts (the Judaizers) were doing this willfully! The Greek word for "want to" or "would" distort means, "to will, wish, desire, implying active volition and purpose." Why do I call them perverts? That's what they were doing. They were committing spiritual adultery; turning from from a grace relationship with Christ to an obedience relationship with the law. They were perverting the gospel of Jesus Christ.
A couple of interesting notes from these verses:
1. Paul is speaking to believers. We know this from his greeting and from his comment in verse six, "Him who called you." He is speaking to the called. Let us preach the gospel, the real gospel, to ourselves daily. Let us not be deceived into the idea that we can earn our salvation through our obedience, lest He call us deserters!
2. How can we know when we are turning away? When we turn away from Christ (the person) we almost always turn to an idea, such as obedience or good deeds. Let us always keep the focus of our faith on the person of Christ!