*****Galatains 1:10-16 life completely changed

Galatians 1:10–16 (NRSV)

10 Am I now seeking human approval, or God’s approval? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still pleasing people, I would not be a servant of Christ. 11 For I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel that was proclaimed by me is not of human origin; 12 for I did not receive it from a human source, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. 13 You have heard, no doubt, of my earlier life in Judaism. I was violently persecuting the church of God and was trying to destroy it. 14 I advanced in Judaism beyond many among my people of the same age, for I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors. 15 But when God, who had set me apart before I was born and called me through his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son to me, so that I might proclaim him among the Gentiles, I did not confer with any human being,

A Changed Life in the Political Arena

CHANGED LIFE

Galatians 1:10–16

(POSB, Introduction)

One of the greatest political minds in America in the twentieth century belonged to that of Lee Atwater. He was known for his keen political insight and for his questionable political techniques that would help his candidate win the election. Atwater considered politics to be war. Obviously, this kind of life was meant to please only his candidate. His gospel was to win at any cost, and enemies made along the way were considered to be trophies collected during the political war.

One day, his world came to a screeching halt. Atwater discovered that he had a malignant brain tumor. All of a sudden he saw life in a different light. In the remaining months of his life, he gave his heart to Christ. Lee Atwater began to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with whomever would listen (and a lot did). He also made it a point to repent for his political sins and went to each of his self-made enemies to ask for their forgiveness. It was not long after Atwater became a Christian that he left this world for a land where the only politician is the Lord Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ.

What lessons can we draw from this example? It is a very easy thing for us to want to please men instead of God. The gospel we proclaim can become tainted with our own personal agenda. And our lifestyle can offend unless we …

• set our hearts to please God.

• proclaim the gospel of Christ.

• show that we are different by the example of our lives.

The Minister’s Life Was Completely Changed, 1:10–15

(1:10–16) Introduction: critics of Paul and false teachers had arisen in the churches of Galatia. They were saying that Paul’s call and the gospel he preached were false. He was not a true minister of God; he was a self-made minister who was only using the ministry for a livelihood and other greedy purposes.

Paul’s answer was direct and forceful: his message and life were of God. His old life and old message had been radically changed.

1. He sought to please God alone, not men (v. 10).

2. He proclaimed the gospel (vv. 11–12).

3. He had a radical change of life (vv. 13–16).

1 (1:10) Minister—Paul: the minister sought to please God alone, not men. The critics of Paul were saying that he was inconsistent …

• seeking the favor and approval of men instead of God

• striving to please men instead of God

• living by the law when he was with the religionists (Jews) and living a looser life when he was with the heathen and non-religionists (Gentiles)

• saying one thing to one group of people and something else to another group of people

• living a life of duplicity and deception in order to secure the support of the people

Paul minced no words; he fired two questions at his critics: “Am I now seeking the favor of men or of God? Do I seek to please men?” As stated, Paul minced no words. He answered his own questions by making a startling statement: he agreed with his critics. “If I yet [still] pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.”

The point is clear: note the word “yet” or still. Paul was saying that there was a time when he was a man-pleaser, a time when he sought the favor and approval of men instead of God. But no more: he was not still pleasing men. He was now seeking to please God and God alone. Pleasing men, courting their favor, and securing their acceptance, approval and recognition used to be part of his life. But now, honor, position, and wealth did not matter to him anymore. He now wanted one thing and one thing alone: the favor and approval of God. For this reason, he was the slave (doulos) of Jesus Christ.

“If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour” (Jn. 12:26).

2 (1:11–12) Minister—Paul: the minister proclaimed the gospel. Some critics of Paul were saying that he was not a true apostle of the Lord Jesus because he had not been a follower of the Lord when the Lord was upon the earth. Therefore, what he was teaching was a man-made gospel taught by mistaken and misguided men.

Note that the word certify (gnorizo) is a solemn word, a strong declaration that what follows is of crucial importance and needs to be heard.

a. The gospel Paul preached was not a man-made gospel. It was not a gospel created by man’s …

• mind

• ideas

• rationalizations

• hopes

• religions

• dreams

• imaginations

• science

• energy

The gospel was not a human thing; it did not originate with man. The gospel was not the good news of men.

b. The gospel Paul preached was not received of man. It was not a taught message, not a message which he had learned from any man. The gospel he preached was not a message …

• handed down to him like tradition

• learned by him from an educational institution

• taught to him by men.

c. The gospel Paul preached was given to him by a direct revelation from Jesus Christ. Revelation means a truth that is shared by God to man, a truth that man never knew. It is crucial to note this point, for Paul’s call to the ministry and the gospel which he preached rested upon this single fact: did Jesus Christ really reveal Himself and the truth of His death and resurrection to Paul or not? If Paul was lying, then he was not a true minister of the gospel. He would be a fraud, a deceiver, a man who viewed the ministry only as a profession to provide a livelihood, to secure honor, and to secure power over people.

However, as Paul plainly declared, he received the gospel by the direct revelation of Jesus Christ. Time and again he declared the fact (see DEEPER STUDY # 1—1 Co. 2:7 for a complete list of the revelations or mysteries of Scripture).

“But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery [revelation], even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory” (1 Co. 2:7).

3 (1:13–16) Minister—Paul: the minister of God had a radical change of life. This was clearly seen by comparing his former life with his present life.

a. Paul’s former life included two terrible things.

1) Paul had been the first arch-persecutor of the church. He had been an inflamed man who struck out more than anyone else against the early believers.

“And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest.… And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: and he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” (Ac. 9:1, 3–4).

3 (8:3) Paul—Church; Persecution of: the church was severely persecuted—both men and women were persecuted by Saul. (See note—Acts 8:1 for more discussion.) Saul made “havoc” (elumaineto) of the church; that is, he tried to devastate it, destroy it, ruin it, wipe it out.

⇒ It is the picture of a wild beast ravaging and tearing to bits some carcass.

⇒ The verb is continued action. He began and kept on ravaging and destroying. He was, as he later confessed, “exceedingly mad against them [believers]” (Acts 26:11).

1. He stormed the homes of believers, breaking open the doors, fiercely seeking every believer in “every house” (Acts 8:3).

2. He arrested all he could find, “hailing” them (suron): constraining and dragging them, using whatever force was necessary to arrest and subdue them. The picture is that of forcibly dragging them from their homes through the city streets (Acts 8:3).

3. He arrested women as well as men. Women were considered unimportant and insignificant in Saul’s day. Yet the fierceness and savagery of Paul was so set on destroying the church that he went after the women as well. His crime against women was to be an offense Paul could never forget (see Acts 9:2; 22:4).

4. He imprisoned as many as he could find, and he found many …

• committing them to prison (Acts 8:3).

• “binding and delivering into prisons both men and women” (Acts 22:4).

• “many of the saints did I shut up in prison” (Acts 26:10).

5. He stormed “every synagogue” and punished the believers who were present. He tried to force them to blaspheme the name of Christ (Acts 26:11).

6. He hunted them down, hotly pursuing them even into foreign cities, persecuting all he could track down (Acts 22:5; 26:11).

7. He brought many to their death and gave his voice to the death penalty of many others (Acts 22:4; 26:10).

Apparently Paul had launched the persecution of the church on the very day of Stephen’s death. Saul had wanted to act and act quickly in wiping out the church. The believers were frightened and on the run; therefore, Paul felt that he had to strike immediately in order to catch them before they could escape.

The point to see is that Paul had been bent on violence; he had sought to utterly stamp out the church; to wipe believers off the face of the earth. The word wasted (eporthoun) means to make havoc; to utterly rack or lay waste; to devastate, destroy, ruin, or wipe out. (See note, Church, Persecution of—Ac. 8:3 for more discussion.)

“As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison” (Ac. 8:3).

“And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, and desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem” (Ac. 9:1–2).

“And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women. As also the high preist doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders: from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punished” (Ac. 22:4–5).

“I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them. And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities” (Ac. 26:9–11).

2) Paul had been the supreme example of self-righteousness. Paul declared that he had “profited” in the Jews’ religions above and beyond what others had done. The idea is that he had blazed a path and given well beyond what they had achieved. He had been much more zealous than they.

But note where his commitment had laid: in religion and in the traditions of the religious leaders. His focus and fanaticism had been placed upon religion and its traditions, rituals, and ceremonies and not upon God.

“But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?” (Mt. 15:3).

b. Paul’s radical change included four significant points.

1) God had set Paul apart and called him by His grace. Paul clearly said …

• that it was God’s grace that had saved him from a life of self-righteousness and destruction.

• that God’s grace had separated him to serve Christ “from my mother’s womb.” The idea is that God had Paul in his mind even before Paul’s birth. Paul’s call and ministry were not due to Paul, but to God and His grace. God had His eye on Paul throughout all eternity.

Thought 1. The believer’s call and ministry is of God not of himself.

“For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty” (1 Co. 1:26–27).

2) God called Paul as a vessel to reveal Christ. Note the words in me. God’s primary call to Paul was the same as it is for every believer: to reveal His Son Jesus Christ both to him and through him. God wants the believer both to know Christ and to make Christ known. We are chosen to fellowship and commune with the Lord more and more and to let Him be seen in us more and more. The believer is a mere vessel in and through whom Jesus Christ lives.

“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God” (1 Co. 2:9–10

) God called Paul to preach Christ. Believers are not only called to know Christ, but also to make Christ known. We must preach and bear witness to Christ.

“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mk. 16:15).

“And straightway he [Paul] preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God” (Ac. 9:20).

4) God called Paul to seek his gospel from God alone. Paul was not to seek his gospel from men but from God. God and God alone is the source of the gospel; therefore, God alone must be sought for the message of the gospel.

Thought 1. This does not mean, of course, that ministers are not to learn from others; it means that ministers are not to proclaim the gospel of men. God has given us the gospel to study and preach. It is His message, not man’s message, that the world needs.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (Jn. 3:16)

“For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (1 Co. 2:2).

“For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Co. 3:11).

The Cross Keeps Us on Course

CROSS

Galatians 1:10–16

(POSB, note 3, point 1.b.)

Before his conversion, Paul had done all the right things except for one: in spite of all his zeal, he was missing the mark and heading in the wrong direction. Listen to this account:

The space ship Mariner II made big headlines when it completed its thirty-six-million-mile trip towards Venus. Until then, we did not know very much about our closest neighbor.

Most of us have forgotten that Mariner II had a forerunner. Mariner I, which attempted the same journey through space … What happened that time?

Well, there was nothing wrong with Mariner I. It was just as close to perfect as the scientists could make it. But when it was launched, it went off course and missed Venus by tens of thousands of miles. Why?

It seems that in typing out the electronic instructions to the missile, someone left out a hyphen. That meant that the signals were off by one electronic impulse. And, of course, the missile behaved—or misbehaved—in accordance with the faulty instructions.

Damage? The project was held up for two years—and eighteen million taxpayer’s dollars were wasted. That’s what a hyphen can cost!”25

In Paul’s former life, the thing that threw him off course was his misguided sense of self-righteousness. The “hyphen” that put him back on an accurate course for life was the cross. Without the cross, we will be, forever, lost in space.