I'm Not Who I Used To Be

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Galatians 1:23–24 “23 but only, they kept hearing, “He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they were glorifying God because of me.”

Paul is still in defense mode, seeking to validate his ministry and message.

This is not primarily to appease the agitators, but to assure the the believers.

This is not to draw unnecessary attention to Paul, to somehow elevate himself or his work

The issue for Paul is that if you discount me as an apostle you simultaneously discredit my message = you devalue the gospel

One of the ways Paul defends himself is appealing to his motivation for this way of the cross - if it were not for Jesus...I would not be in here

The other thing Paul appeals to his what the gospel/God had done in his life

Paul gets personal

Paul makes the point that there was nothing in his life in the past, that could’ve suggested that this is where he would be in the present

One of the things we learn about Paul is that God grabbed Paul, God’s word convicted Paul and it made a turnaround in Paul’s life

Paul establishes that I was against the gospel, which means I was against the church, he was against Jesus

Even though this was the extent of Paul’s rebellion and ignorance - God still saw someone worth saving - THIS OUGHT TO BE YOUR TESTIMONY

This gave Paul even more confidence in God and zeal for God’s effort and mission that was placed in his hands

And even though this mission brought Paul a measure of difficulty, he was faithful to it

Now, it’s worth is being challenged. It’s message is being perverted and Paul views it as necessary to defend it

And now in defense of the same God and same gospel he once attacked says, “I’m Not Who I Used To Be”

There is much to learn here for the contemporary Christian

You don’t have to stay where you started

You can’t scare God off with the things in your past

God knows all the skeletons that you have in all the closets that you have

Yet, God still wants to save you/God still wants you

You did enough in your past for you to be deserving of wrath - But instead of God’s wrath, I get His mercy and His grace

And while God offers this blessing of pardon, it is not a license to continue how you were but license to allow Him to enter your life and change you until He (God) is pleased with the result.

So, you might have some mess but, God could turn your mess into a message

God can turn your turbulence into a testimony

God is saying, you can change

Paul’s change is presented as evidence to prove the power and potency of the gospel and the legitimacy of it’s message.

It changed Paul

“He was not who he used to be” - and the gospel had a big part to play in that

It can change you too!!!

If you give your whole heart, mind, body, spirit - God will transform you

And one day you can say, “I’m not who I used to be!” - and let me tell you who’s responsible JESUS.

#1 Remember The God of Grace

It is this God that brought you out!

Galatians 1:13–15 “13 For you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it;

14 and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions.

15 But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, was pleased”

Thank God that there was a “But God” moment in your life, when God got your attention, woke you up, shine some light, got you thinking - and you realized that you needed to make things right with God

I wish to encourage you to REMEMBER THAT GOD OF GRACE

We forget sometimes!

HOW CAN WE TEACH GRACE/MODEL GRACE WHEN OUR HEARTS HAVE LOST THE SIGNIFICANCE OF GRACE

We sometimes get our thinking all twisted and what it ends up doing is minimizing the greatness of grace!

maybe we start thinking we didn’t really need all that saving

maybe we start thinking that I’ve finally settled the accounts with God from all my activities and programs I attended

maybe you’re thinking I trusted God with the trials and turbulence, and I’m in a much better place now. I don’t really need all that grace now, I can handle those small things

maybe you’ve stopped looking at the cross, and started looking across. And when you look across you see people and in people you will always see something in them that you’re better at

What these mindsets accomplish is a depreciation of the greatness of grace

In vs. 13 Paul calls to their mind his former life - Mercy and grace came Paul’s way

Paul never forgot his former life, often bringing it up in his letters and his interaction with others

Acts 26:10–11 “10 “And this is just what I did in Jerusalem; not only did I lock up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests, but also when they were being put to death I cast my vote against them. 11 “And as I punished them often in all the synagogues, I tried to force them to blaspheme; and being furiously enraged at them, I kept pursuing them even to foreign cities.”

1 Corinthians 15:9 “9 For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.”

1 Corinthians 15:10 “10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.”

1 Timothy 1:12–13 “12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, 13 even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief;”

But God set me a apart

This is the part where I get my reason to praise from - “God called me through His grace”

God saw what I was doing yet stilled called me through His grace

[Greater than this, is that God called him from His mother’s womb, meaning that despite of this, God still saw something He can use for His glory]

THIS WAS GRACE

Grace saved Paul (set him apart)

Paul didn’t do anything to earn God’s grace. There is no amount of work, activity, programs you attend that can ever put God in a disposition that He owes you.

Paul submitted to the fact that God had a plan for him. When confronted he didn’t resist the grace or try to run away from it.

Grace shaped Paul

Shaped his desires - advancing Judaic traditions to advancing kingdom teaching

Shaped his objectives - Killing to saving

Shaped who he was - Murderer to messenger, persecutor to preacher, antagonist to apostle

Grace shouts

You can’t be exposed to grace and it not be evident

There must be evidence of His influence

#2 Remember The Fruit of Grace

Galatians 1:23–24 “23 but only, they kept hearing, “He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they were glorifying God because of me.”

As loud as His former life was, his new life in Christ was equally loud

Paul wasn’t just saved and he decided to keep quiet about it.

When God saves you He wants to let you loose, and let people know what happened, and who made it happen

That’s not the time to be cute

It’s the time to tell others you should’ve seen me last year/ five years ago

If it had not been for the Lord

His character went before him

APPL. God wants His grace to bear fruit in your life!

“they kept on hearing” (periphrastic construction) emp. that their hearing was continuous.

When they went to the market - they kept on hearing

When they went to the synagogue - they kept on hearing

When they gathered in homes - they kept on hearing

That’s how we should live, so they could keep on hearing - don’t let them stop hearing!

When you go down the road

When you step out on your job

When you come through school gate

MAKE SURE THEY KEEP ON HEARING!

Let them know God put his hand in my life and made a difference!

Paul did not have to go defend himself to all who heard, his character and change was his defense

This must be stated because we are faced with ideologies in this world that resist accountability, resist any type of regulation in behaviour, embrace entitlement - you can’t tell anyone what to do

God needs you to show some fruit - you can’t be the same person all the time. Somewhere along the line you need to stop______________.

Somewhere along the line you will declare, by the grace of God, I’m not where I want to be, I slip up, I mess up, I get lazy....but thank God I’m not where I used to be!

But Grace has a friend and His name is Mercy

This is the day you get back connected to grace and to mercy

Where can grace and mercy be found

You just have to look to Jesus/just look at the cross

John 1:17 “17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.”

Hebrews 4:15–16 “15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”