The Gospel that Changes Us

Save

“The Gospel that Changes us”
(Galatians 1:11-24)
Series: Set Free To Be Free (Galatians)

Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD

Henderson’s First Baptist Church, Henderson

I invite you to join me in Galatians chapter 1 (page 783; YV).

We are in a series of messages through the Book of Galatians, a series entitled, “Set Free to be Free.” The gospel sets us free from the bondage of sin. If you’ve been set free from sin’s bondage, then don’t go climbing back into the jail cell and put those chains back on you—enslaving sins like lying, stealing, unfaithfulness, drugs, alcohol, fear, unbelief, anxiety, pornography. You’ve been set free from those things. Set free to be free. Walk in freedom.

I like the way I feel when I walk in freedom. I feel better when I walk in freedom than when I try to walk in bondage. Set free to be free.

This morning we are looking at verses 11 and following. Chapter 1 and beginning in verse 11. This begins a section of material often called the “autobiographical section” of the letter. In this section Paul talks about how he came to Christ and about his early years as a follower of Jesus.

But the main point here is that the Gospel Paul preached to the Galatians did not come from his own thinking or from some other man. The Gospel Paul preached to the Galatians came from the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the same Gospel you and I are to believe. It did not come from human origin. It came from the Lord. This is what Paul is at pains to prove here in this letter.

Recall from our introductory messages that these false teachers, the Jewish believers, the Judaizers as we have tabled them, they were coming into the churches in Galatia long after Paul left. They came in and they said, “Look, Paul didn’t give you the true gospel. We know better than he. He told you that you are not saved by keeping the Jewish customs and laws of diet and dress and circumcision. Well, he’s wrong. You’ve got to do this stuff to receive God’s approval. Believe in Jesus and also become as we, receive the rite of circumcision, follow the Jewish customs and you will be saved by your belief in Jesus and also your religious performance.”

So their charge was that Paul was not preaching the true gospel and that, apparently, he had made it up or got some sort of second-hand and second-rate gospel from some of the apostles in Jerusalem who had taught him this insufficient gospel and he was just was peddling that. What Paul writes in response is, “No! No! A thousand times no!” So listen for this as I read the passage.

Please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word.

11 But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man.
12 For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.
13 For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it.
14 And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace,
16 to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood,
17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.
18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and remained with him fifteen days.
19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother.
20 (Now concerning the things which I write to you, indeed, before God, I do not lie.)
21 Afterward I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.
22 And I was unknown by face to the churches of Judea which were in Christ.
23 But they were hearing only, “He who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith which he once tried to destroy.”
24 And they glorified God in me.

Pray.

Paul’s story divides neatly into three sections: what happened before conversion, what happened at conversion, and what happened since conversion. This three-fold pattern is helpful to us in providing an outline whereby Christians may also speak of their autobiography, their own story.

The primary point of Paul’s recounting his story is to show that he did not make up the gospel or take it from someone else and change it up a bit. Quite the contrary, he writes here that he received this gospel from the Lord Himself and further that this gospel message squares with the message preached by the Lord’s apostles in Jerusalem.

As we study these verses we will also see how the gospel is such a work of grace not only in Paul’s heart, but in our hearts, too. So let’s make our way through the text and then I want to leave you with some important takeaways. Okay, first, Paul speaks here of his life before conversion.

I. Our Life before Conversion (11-14)

Paul writes of his life before he came to know Christ. He says, verse 13:

13 For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it.
14 And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers.

This is Paul’s story, his testimony. He can look back before he came to know Jesus, his life before conversion. If you are a follower of Christ, you can do the same and speak briefly of your life before Christ. Briefly! We are not to glorify those details of our pre-Christian life because we want to glorify Jesus, putting the spotlight on Him.

Paul says, “I persecuted the church, tried to destroy the church, thought I was doing the right thing, advancing in Judaism beyond many of my friends and contemporaries. I was very religious, but I was headed the wrong way.”

This is Paul’s life before conversion. Then, something wonderful happened, right?! Paul’s conversion, Paul’s meeting the Lord Jesus Christ. So we have Paul’s life before conversion, and then, number two:

II. The Moment of Conversion (15-16a)

Verse 15:

15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace,
16 to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood,

And when we read this part of the letter alongside the Book of Acts, we get all the details of Paul’s conversion. You can read this later if you’d like. The story is told three times in the Book of Acts—Acts 9, 22, and 26.

You can read that later and read about how God got hold of Paul’s heart on the Damascus Road. Many of you know the story. Paul, formerly Saul, Saul from the town of Tarsus, this religious Jewish Pharisee, Saul of Tarsus is on his way from Jerusalem to Damascus to arrest Christians. He is a persecutor of the church. So he’s on his way to get arrest warrants in order to lock up Christians and it’s while he is on his way to Damascus that the Lord Jesus Christ appears to him and saves him through the power of the gospel!

Paul is converted. He experiences Christian conversion. God revealed his Son to him (Galatians 1:16). He once was lost but now is found, was blind but now is saved.

So we have his life before conversion and the moment of conversion. Then the third part of every Christian’s testimony or story about salvation, number three:

III. Our Life after Conversion (16b-24)

Paul tells what happened after he was saved. Second part of verse 16:

16 … I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood (that is, with men),
17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.

Now remember that Paul’s greater point here is that he did not get the gospel from some human being, some peddler of a half-true gospel, nor did he make this up himself. As an apostle, a “Capital A” apostle, he got the gospel from the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

So what Paul is doing here is answering the charge of the Judaizers, those who believed Paul’s gospel was not authentic. He’s saying, “Look, I wasn’t even around anyone long enough to get any wrong teachings. In fact, Paul says, “I went to Arabia,” and Paul spent three years in Arabia and then Damascus.

Apparently God worked in Paul’s life during this time, these three years, to deepen Paul’s understanding of the gospel. He was already familiar with so much Old Testament and now God shows Paul how the Old Testament points to Jesus. This was a three year education in the Arabian desert! Ancient Arabia included much of what is modern Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and southern Syria. Three years.

In fact, some have suggested that those three years in the desert were to compensate for the three years Jesus spent with the disciples during His earthly ministry. The disciples got three years, so Paul gets his three years, too! Verse 18:
18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and remained with him fifteen days.

And the point is, “Just 15 days, not long enough to get some ill-fated crash course on the gospel. Remember, I received the gospel from the Lord!” Verse 19:

19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother.
20 (Now concerning the things which I write to you, indeed, before God, I do not lie.)
21 Afterward I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.
22 And I was unknown by face to the churches of Judea which were in Christ.

Nobody knew me, Paul says. All they knew was this, verse 23:
23 But they were hearing only, “He who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith which he once tried to destroy.”
24 And they glorified God in me.

John Piper sums up these latter verses nicely. Listen:

Paul’s point is that three years of meditation and ministry on his own immediately after his revelation from Christ, followed by a mere fifteen-day visit to Peter cannot possibly support the Judaizers’ apparent contention that he was a secondhand disciple of the Jerusalem apostles. The point is that he was an independent witness.

And that is the point Paul is making in telling his story. And yet, in the telling of his story, we can learn so much about the grace of God through the grace of the gospel. This week I wrote in my notes “Facts about the gospel that should forever amaze us.” I want to give these to you as three takeaways about the Gospel and the God who works through the gospel. Okay? Here we go:

**3 Gospel Facts That Should Forever Amaze Us:

The Gospel can reach anyone!

If the gospel can reach a hardened, stubborn, man named Saul of Tarsus then the gospel can reach your lost friend from high school. The gospel can reach your lost uncle, the gospel can reach your rebellious daughter and her live-in boyfriend, and your wayward son.

There was hardly a man on the face of the planet more opposed to Jesus than Saul. He was a religious man to be sure. Most people are. Most people will acknowledge some spirituality. Many prefer to identify as “spiritual, but not religious.” The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 3:11 that God “has placed eternity in the hearts of man.” Most people will acknowledge a “sense” of God, something beyond the grave, some spiritual truth.

But in any case, man is saved not because he reasons his way into Christianity, but because the gospel has the power to penetrate a hard, stubborn heart. This is what gives us hope as we share the gospel with others.

If the gospel can reach Saul, the gospel can reach all. We must remember this as we fulfill our church’s vision of “developing generations of God-glorifying disciples who make disciples from the community to the continents.” If the gospel can reach Saul, the gospel can reach all.

Saul persecuted the church. He had a reputation for this. Remember verse 13, “You all have heard of my former life, my former conduct—how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure,” he says. Beyond measure! And if that were not enough, verse 13 ends with, “and I tried to destroy it.”
Could a person “get any more lost” than Paul was?! Did his heart not seem impenetrable? How could this person be persuaded to believe the gospel?

He had heard the gospel, that is certain. He had witnessed—remember this from Acts 7 & 8?—he had witnessed the stoning of a godly deacon by the name of Stephen. He watched it. The bible says he “consented” or “approved” of Stephen’s death by stoning; watched it happen while Stephen cried out, “Lord receive my spirit and do not charge them with this sin.” Saul watch that event and thought of it as a good thing.

He had heard the gospel, but refused it again and again. Until one day. One day the gospel breaks through into Saul’s heart. He is spiritually awakened by the power of the Spirit and believes.

If the gospel can reach Saul, the gospel can reach all. Why don’t you say that with me. “If the gospel can reach Saul, the gospel can reach all.”

Do you know the old chorus:

When the Savior reached down for me
When he reached way down for me
I was lost and undone without God or his Son
When he reached down his hand for me

That’s what Jesus did for Saul. That’s what Jesus will do for your lost loved one, your lost friend, your lost co-worker. Don’t give up. Keep sharing the gospel. Keep witnessing. Keep inviting. Keep reaching out. Believe that the gospel can reach anyone!

The gospel reached many of you, didn’t it? This same gospel? Many of you were hard-hearted to the things of God. And God reached you. Even if you were not a Saul of Tarsus, but were raised in a Christian home—you still were lost and spiritually dead, dead in trespasses and sin and God made you alive. The gospel alone has that power.

So again, don’t give up. Keep sharing. Keep inviting. Keep praying. Keep believing. Be like the father in the prodigal son. Keep an eye out for that wayward child. Believe God that one day he’s going to make his way home to the Lord.

If the gospel can reach Saul, the gospel can reach all.

Here’s the second gospel fact that should forever amaze us, number two:

2) God is at work in our lives long before we know it!

Paul was so lost, right? I mean, so lost. And then, verses 15 and 16: “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace,” (He) revealed His Son in me…”

Before Paul was even born, God had a plan for his life. Paul says God “separated me from my mother’s womb,” or, “God set me apart,” had a plan, marked out a purpose for my life, before I was even old enough to understand, and long before I would ever know it.

God “set him apart.” The New Living Translation puts it this way: “Before I was born, God chose me and called me by his marvelous grace. Then it pleased him to reveal his Son to me so that I would proclaim the Good News about Jesus to the Gentiles.”

This reminds me of Jeremiah 1:5 where God says, ““Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”

There is a lot I don’t understand about the exhaustive foreknowledge of God. And there’s so much hidden mystery to God’s foreordaining work. I feel like the psalmist in Psalm 139:6, “Such knowledge is too wonderful to me, too high, too lofty, I can’t attain it!” It’s a mystery.

But this much is true: God is at work in our lives long before we know it! He is. He’s not surprised by anything. Remember that God is all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-wise. His perfect purposes will come to pass. Speaking through the Prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 46:9-10:

I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like Me,

Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things that are not yet done,
Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,
And I will do all My pleasure,’

There’s a lot I don’t understand about God’s exhaustive foreknowledge and foreordination, but the encouraging takeaway is the fact that God is at work in our lives long before we know it!

He is working in our lives, molding us, shaping us, working through the circumstances of our lives to fulfill His perfect purposes. We make free choices. We do! We make genuine freely choices and yet our choices somehow work in perfect harmony and symmetry with God’s superintending will.

And if we have trusted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, then we have the rock-solid assurance that this good God had been working in our lives long before we ever knew it, bringing us to the point where we would say, “Yes” to Jesus and take the hand of the One who reached down to us!

Listen to Tim Keller here. Keller says this: “The gospel gives us a pair of spectacles through which we can review our own lives and see God preparing us and shaping us, even through our own failures and sins, to become vessels of His grace in the world.”

Isn’t that fantastic?! We receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and we look back over our lives and we can trace His hand. There’s His hand! There it is, back when I was small and running around that house, making a mess of things. His hand was there guiding. And there it is again, off to school, God’s there. And there’s His hand again, when I slipped and fell, and there’s His hand when I did that really bad thing—and then did it again, and again, and yet again—but His hand! It’s still there! He’s guiding me through my failures and sins to become a vessel of grace in this world! Praise God.

That’s the God we worship this morning! God is at work in our lives long before we know it. Don’t ever get over that.

This fact is closely tied to the third and final gospel fact that should forever amaze us. We have said: the Gospel can reach anyone, and God is at work in our lives long before we know it. Number three:

3) God sets His favor upon us simply because He loves us!

If we’re not careful we will mistakenly believe that God brings people to faith in Jesus because they have something special to offer—like some people are more valuable to God than others, more cultured than others, smarter than others, more serviceable to God than others.

This is a mistake. There is no hierarchy among human beings before God such that He looks out at all humanity and reasons, “Well, you are a little further along than that person, so I’m going to see that you get saved.” Or, “Well, you seem a little brighter than most, I’m going to make sure you get the gospel.”

God does not set His favor upon us because we are somehow more worthy than others, smarter than others, bigger than others, wiser than others, more polished than others. No.

God sets His favor upon us simply because He loves us! Paul was lost. He was a religious man, but he was lost. As the hymn goes, “Jesus loved me when a stranger wandering from the fold of God.”

God did not set His favor upon Paul because he was a righteous man, a good man, or a religious man. Paul says it happened simply, verse 15, “when it pleased God.”
“When it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace,” when it pleased God.

God sets His favor upon us not on the basis of our performance, not because we earn it or somehow make ourselves pleasing to God, but simply because He is pleased to do so. He is pleased to love us.

It’s just as Moses tells the Israelites about God’s setting His favor upon them. Deuteronomy 7:7-8:

“The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people [as though greater than others!], for you were the least of all peoples; but [the Lord set His love on you and chose you] because the Lord loves you…”

God sets His favor upon us simply because He loves us. This is so encouraging! It means we are secure!  See I could do nothing to earn God’s love, He simply grants His saving love to me, the saving gospel work of being born into His family. God sets His favor upon me simply because He loves me. This is a relationship, then, that is secure. I could do nothing to make myself savable—and I can do nothing to make myself un-savable! It is all of God’s grace, all of God’s love!

God accepts me not on the basis of my performance, but God accepts me on the basis of His love, His love through Christ Jesus for me.

I hope you never tire of celebrating these gospel facts! The Gospel can reach anyone! God is at work in our lives long before we know it! And God sets His favor upon us simply because He loves us!

Is there someone for whom you are praying—praying the gospel will save them? Don’t stop! Keep praying. Keep trusting.

Have you received the gospel? Are you saved? Trust Jesus this morning. Admit to Him that you are weaker and more sinful than you ever before believed. And know that through Him you are more loved and accepted than you could ever have hoped. Thank Jesus today for paying your debt, bearing your punishment, and offering forgiveness. Turn from your sin and turn to Christ, receiving Him as Savior.

And live for Him! Live your life as a thank you note to God for His grace. If you have sinned, turn to Him this morning. Turn to the grace of Christ and receive His forgiveness.

In a moment we’re going to stand and sing and I’m going to invite you to respond to the gospel this morning. You may want to pray while you sing or bow your head and worship the Lord. You may wish to come forward and ask for baptism or join the church. But you come however the Lord is leading you.

Let’s pray.

Thank you, God, for your amazing grace! Thank you for these truths: that the Gospel can reach anyone, that You are at work in our lives long before we know it, and that You set Your favor upon us simply because You love us. We love you back and we worship you now as we sing in response, in Jesus’ name, amen.

Now stand and as we sing, you respond however the Lord is leading you.

1 Amazing grace! how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch; like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

2 ’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed!

5 When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we first begun.

COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER: The text contained in this sermon is solely owned by its author. The reproduction, or distribution of this message, or any portion of it, should include the author’s name. The author intends to provide free resources in order to inspire believers and to assist preachers and teachers in Kingdom work.