The Miracle of Conversion (Galatians 1:11-17)
Notes
Transcript
Pre-Introduction
Introduction
Introduction
[Insert introduction]
Numb to the miracle of conversion?
Post-Introduction
In verses 1-5, we looked at the introduction to the letter. Then from verses 6-10, we saw Paul beginning his defense of his apostolic authority and rebuking the Galatians for turning away from His gospel.
Now, beginning here in verse 11 and continuing through Chapter 2:21, Paul is going to explain from his own story — his own personal experiences — why his gospel is the gospel.
That those who desert his gospel are deserting God’s gospel.
This is an extended defense of his authority as a genuine “capital-A Apostle” of Jesus Christ.
This morning we’re going to see that
Big idea: The miracle of conversion proves the Gospel is gift not gain.
Let’s look at our passage together, Galatians 1:11-17.
11 For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel.
12 For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
13 For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it.
14 And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers.
15 But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace,
16 was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone;
17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.
How is the gospel gift, not gain?
How is the gospel gift, not gain?
1. The Gospel is Revealed (vv.11-12)
1. The Gospel is Revealed (vv.11-12)
11 For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel.
12 For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
Explanation
Here Paul lays out the main claim of this section, in defending his authority as an Apostle to speak on God’s behalf.
Illustration
For those of you who remember taking English 101, this is Paul’s thesis statement for this section, the central proposition that he will defend in the verses ahead.
Explanation
He says the gospel I preach is not from a human being, like you or me. I didn’t make it up; and I wasn’t taught it by anyone else; I received it directly from Jesus himself.
In other words, the Gospel is not Invented, the Gospel is Revealed.
Illustration
[Illustration about a courier?; phrase “don’t shoot the messenger”]
Theologically speaking, Paul is articulating the doctrine of revelation, or God’s revealing Himself.
The gospel Paul is preaching is directly from Jesus.
“God told him”
Illustration
Today, we get in trouble when we try to say “God told me.”
I think of the young woman who went off to Bible college and, to her great horror, a young man approached her and said “God told me to marry you.” Wisely, the young woman replied, “Funny, God didn’t tell me” and walked away. Great work, Mom. Proud of you.
Saying “God told me” today apart from pointing to a chapter and verse is dangerous territory.
But in Paul’s divinely appointed role as an Apostle of Jesus Christ, when He says “God told me,” we need to listen up.
If the Judaizers want to attack Paul’s gospel, they will be attacking Jesus’s gospel.
Application
#1 - (Apologetics Application) - In the last 100 years, a common viewpoint expressed by skeptical New Testament scholars is that Paul was the real founder of Christianity. That whatever Jesus had taught, Paul had come in and shaped Christianity in his own image.
This is still the case when some who profess to be Christians begin talking about issues of gender and sexuality. There’s an attempt to pit Jesus — who is supposedly open and affirming and progressive, against Paul, who is supposedly a closed, harsh conservative who hates gay people and hates women.
Just focus on the Red Letters, some will say, attempting to drive a wedge between Jesus and Paul.
But this is surely a fiction.
If you read the Gospels — all the Gospels — I have a hard time believing that the same Jesus who talked more about Hell and judgment than heaven is anything close to an open-minded progressive social advocate.
And if you read Paul’s letters — all of Paul’s letters — you’ll find someone whose life was radically transformed with his encounter with Jesus and who spent his years pouring into believers and coming alongside them to help them, and who said that “We were gentle among you like a nursing mother taking care of her own children.” and “We were so affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.” (2 Thess)
Paul didn’t go against Jesus by changing his message; He obeyed Jesus by proclaiming his message.
#2 - How about you? How confident are you in the truth of the Gospel?
Are you willing to proclaim the Gospel as God’s gospel, not your Gospel?
See, you and I don’t need to point to a personal revelatory encounter with Jesus to be able to trust that the Gospel is from Jesus.
We have the complete Word of God.
19 we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed. . .
The record of what God has done in the Bible is even more sure than being there and seeing it with our own eyes, Peter says.
We don’t need to have an encounter like Paul did; we have the Written of God.
If its up to you to craft a compelling message that your friends and family and co-workers will want to hear, then you’ll discover pretty quickly there are things in Jesus’ Gospel that are offensive. It’s offensive to be told you’re a sinner. It’s offensive to be told there’s only one way to God. It’s offensive to be told of God’s judgment.
If you’re not confident that this Gospel is God’s Gospel, Revealed and not invented, you’ll be tempted to make some changes, to shape the message in your own image.
1. The Gospel is Revealed (vv.11-12)
2. The Gospel is Undeserved (vv.13-14)
2. The Gospel is Undeserved (vv.13-14)
13 For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it.
14 And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers.
Explanation
In our Scripture reading earlier, we read Luke’s account of Paul’s conversion in Acts 9.
The Galatian churches were not unaware of who Paul was.
Paul was a religious zealot, an oppressor of the church. He was also a murderer, responsible for the death of Stephen, the first Christian martyr.
Paul, the murderer.
Jesus warned his disciples in the Upper Room they would face people like Paul in Jn 16:2-4:
2 They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.
3 And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me.
Why was Paul so aggressively opposed to Christianity? So much so, that he was willing to kill?
Paul describes his former life in v.14 and gives us a clue.
14 And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers.
That word zealous is important in the mindset of first century Judaism.
Illustration
The word zealous was most prominently connected to two moments in Jewish history — Phineas and the Maccabees.
We read about Phineas in Numbers 25.
There was a man in the covenant community who had decided to violate God’s instructions to not marry any woman from the nations around Israel. A plague broke out against the people when he took her into his tent.
So Phineas, the grandson of Aaron the High Priest, intervened by putting them to death.
When the man and the woman were put to death, the plague stopped and the rest of the community was saved, after 24,000 had been killed.
We read about the Maccabees in the 1 Maccabees, which is part of the Apocrypha.
Side Note: The Apocrypha is a collection of books that the Catholic Church accepts as canonical, meaning it is part of their Bible, while Protestants reject them as non-canonical, meaning we don’t believe they are part of inspired Scripture.
However, some of the books in the Apocrypha are helpful as we study the inter-testament period.
Most noteworthy among these books is the book called 1 Maccabees, which is a historical narrative that tells us about the Maccabean revolts.
The Maccabean Revolts (167–160 BC) were a Jewish uprising against the Seleucid Empire led by the priestly family of Mattathias and his son Judas Maccabeus, sparked by the forced Hellenization of Jewish culture and the desecration of the Temple in Jerusalem by Antiochus Epiphanes. Through guerrilla warfare and religious resolve, the rebels achieved independence, restored the Temple, and established the Hasmonean dynasty.
In subsequent generations, the Maccabean revolt stood as a emblem inspiring many Jews who lived under oppression of what it looked like to stand up for God and fight.
In both cases, the word zeal came to mean being willing to stand for your convictions and physically fight against God’s enemies in God’s name.
Explanation
When the early Christian church is growing like wildfire in Jerusalem, 3000 added on the Day of Pentecost alone, Paul hears the central claim of their message.
In the words of Peter:
36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
This message was utterly repugnant to Paul.
The word “Christ” — which means “Messiah” — and “Crucified” — didn’t belong in the same sentence.
To the Jews and the Romans, crucifixion was utterly shameful and sign of God’s curse. There’s no way God would allow his Messiah — His Long-Awaited Anointed Deliverer-Warrior-King — to be crucified.
And so, because Paul believed these Christians were blaspheming God, he decided to follow the footsteps of Phineas and the Maccabees and stand for truth. Stand and fight.
He thought he was fighting for God. He thought he was doing right. He thought he was a good guy.
But most bad guys don’t realize they’re the bad guy, do they?
Paul thought the Christians were storing up God’s wrath for themselves, but it turns out that he was the one storing up God’s wrath.
If God made a list of people who deserved to be rescued from their sins and rescued from God’s righteous wrath — Paul would never be on that list.
He did not deserve grace. That’s what makes it grace. Grace is by definition undeserved.
If it’s deserved, if it’s earned, if it’s this-for-that, if it’s fair, it’s not grace.
Grace has to be unfair, it has to be undeserved, or its not grace.
Application
I wonder how often we cry out “that’s not fair.” But if we would just pause for a second and think about what “fair” would be, I wonder if we would be so upset.
It’s not fair to have your sins forgiven. It’s not fair to have the hope of eternal life with God. That’s not fair.
The Gospel is Undeserved. It was undeserved for Paul and it’s undeserved for you and for me.
#1 - Have you forgotten that the Gospel is Undeserved?
Illustration -
Are you like the man who was forgiven a debt that would take a laborer 200,000 years to repay, but then was unwilling to forgive someone else who owed him a debt that would take a laborer just 100 days to repay.
Have you become quick to point out the sins of others, only to forget that the only reason you are God’s child is because of God’s grace, not because you deserved it?
#2 - Have you forgotten that God loves to redeem the undeserving?
Not the deserving. The undeserving.
If grace isn’t ever offensive, you might not be understanding grace yet.
Illustration -
In one episode of a crime show, the main characters discover that a young doctor in her thirties is plotting to murder a man who had assaulted her sister, who then couldn’t cope with the trauma and took her own life. This doctor couldn’t move past her sister’s death, and when she ran into this man who had gotten away with his assault, she put a plan in place to kill him.
Now, who among us wants to live in a world where the rapist gets to go free?
In the end, the main characters of the show convince this woman to not carry out her plan. To hand the keys over and not have vengeance.
In God’s economy, the Gospel means the repentant rapist gets to go free. The repentant murderer gets to go free.
That doesn’t mean free from the legal and relational consequences of their sins— by all means, lock em up! Send them to jail for a long, long time. Trust is shattered, probably for a long, long time, maybe forever.
But, in God’s economy, Grace--being forgiven of your sins and restored in a right relationship with God-- is not for those who deserve it; it’s for those who don’t deserve it.
13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’
14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
In the coming weeks we’ll see more of Paul’s story and learn about some wisdom principles for how to allow time and space and a period of waiting to verify and prove the genuineness of repentance.
It’s very easy for people to say they’re sorry because they don’t like the consequences, but we shouldn’t confuse that or people using Jesus words as a get out of jail free card.
We don’t need to be naive.
But we do need to sit with the uncomfortable and incredible reality that God only extends grace to those who need it. He only gives grace to the undeserving.
So if you don’t realize you need grace, you’ll never get grace!
Grace is unfair. It’s undeserved. That’s what makes Grace so amazing.
1. The Gospel is Revealed (vv.11-12)
2. The Gospel is Undeserved (vv.13-14)
3. The Gospel is Planned (vv.15-16)
3. The Gospel is Planned (vv.15-16)
15 But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace,
16 was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone;
Explanation
Paul had requested permission from the high priest to give letters to the synagogues in Damascus and require them to report to him if there were any among them who belonged to the new Christian movement, so he could take them into custody.
But as Paul was on his way to Damascus, God intervened.
3 Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him.
4 And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”
5 And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
Paul has an encounter with the Resurrected Jesus. And he would never be the same.
Paul had heard the Christians’ claim, of course, that Jesus was not just the Crucified Messiah, but the Resurrected Lord, and that had been utterly repugnant and offensive to him.
But now, Paul couldn’t deny this encounter with Jesus Himself.
This Jesus who now said that Paul was not only persecuting the Christians, but Jesus Himself.
It’s difficult to overstate how transformative this experience was for Paul.
There in an instant, when Jesus shows up in a blinding display of glory and reveals Himself to Paul, it was like Paul’s whole house of cards collapsed in on itself.
We’ll see more of this explained later in the letter, but if Jesus had really risen from the dead, as Paul was now being personally shown, then that means God had vindicated Jesus.
Jesus wasn’t a sinner deserving who deserved curse after all.
Jesus wasn’t a blasphemer.
But that meant if Jesus didn’t go to the cross for his own sins, then he must have gone to the cross to face the penalty for the sins of others.
To deliver His people when they could not deliver themselves.
And that means all his claims were really true. He really was God in the flesh. He really was the long-awaited Messiah.
He really did come to fulfill the Law.
Everything changed when God was pleased to reveal Jesus to Paul.
Illustration
Someone once said that when God reveals Jesus to you, it’s like getting hit by a train — you’re not going to walk away unchanged.
Explanation
As Paul has had time to think about this encounter, look at how he connects this moment to God’s bigger plan.
15 But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace,
16 was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles...
God had a plan for Paul’s life before Paul was even born.
We see this idea scattered all over the Bible.
In particular I think we have an echo of the prophet Jeremiah, who said something remarkably similar.
Before Paul was born, God had a plan for his life.
God set him apart before he was born, literally “from the womb.” From before Paul was even out of his mother’s womb, Paul’s story was already written. God brought Paul into the world to accomplish God’s plan and God’s purposes.
Eph. 2:8-10 says the same thing. Eph 2.8-10
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Where does Paul learn that salvation is all of God’s grace and that salvation is the necessary precondition for being able to accomplish the good works that God has designed for us to do?
From his own experience!
Paul says God set him apart before he was born and called him by His grace and was pleased to reveal Jesus to him so he could live a life of fruitfulness for God as — of all things -- an Apostle.
Even when Paul was God’s enemy. Even when Paul wanted nothing to do with Jesus. Even when Paul believed with all of his heart he was already doing the right thing.
But God.
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
It’s clear from this passage that Paul really hasn’t ever gotten over how Amazing God’s grace is.
Illustration -
Listen to how Charles Wesley describes this moment when God’s grace breaks into a person’s life and transforms them from the inside-out. We sang this earlier in the service:
Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and nature's night
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light
My chains fell off, my heart was free
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee
Amazing love! How can it be
That Thou, my God should die for me?
Charles Wesley
God set Paul apart before he was born, even when Paul didn’t want a relationship with Jesus, and God called him by his grace.
God revealed Jesus to Paul and everything changed.
How and Why did Paul become a Christian? --> all because of God’s amazing grace.
Application
#1 - Christian, why are you a Christian and not someone else?
As you think about your faith journey I want to encourage you to remember just how amazing God’s grace is.
You’re not a Christian because you’re smarter than them.
You’re not a Christian because you’re more committed than them.
You’re not a Christian because you’re more courageous than them.
You’re not a Christian because of your superior openness to spiritual things.
You’re a Christian because of God’s grace. That’s it. Full stop. Nothing else.
You’re a Christian because of God. Not because of you.
And so when you interact with those who are not yet Christians, you have no reason to look down on others.
#2 - Maybe you’re not a Christian — you’ve never turned from your sins and trusted in Jesus alone — and you’re saying, “Well, what about me? I’ve never seen Jesus like Paul saw Jesus? If this is all about grace, why can’t I have a spiritual encounter like Paul did?”
The answer is you are! You’re having a spiritual encounter right now!
No, you’re not seeing Jesus face to face like Paul, but you’re hearing the same message that Paul heard!
Not only that, but God has brought you to church today to listen to this message from this passage of Scripture on this topic.
It’s as if God is right now at this very moment revealing Jesus to you and saying, “Trust me! Believe me! Turn from your sins. Follow Jesus.”
And the promise from God’s word is that if you will turn from your sins and trust in Jesus and Jesus-Only, not Jesus-Plus anything else, then you too can find mercy and grace and forgiveness at the cross of Christ, who died in your place and rose again so you could be declared right with God.
If, you’ll turn and trust him.
1. The Gospel is Revealed (vv.11-12)
2. The Gospel is Undeserved (vv.13-14)
3. The Gospel is Planned (vv.15-16)
4. The Gospel is Powerful (vv.16-17)
4. The Gospel is Powerful (vv.16-17)
16 was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone;
17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.
Explanation
Remember, Paul is defending why his gospel is God’s gospel.
He’s been referencing the story of his conversion, but now he keeps going with the story.
He explains that after his conversion, he didn’t immediately connect with the rest of the apostles in Jerusalem.
Instead, he says that he went away into Arabia and then back to Damascus.
Now, in Acts, Luke doesn’t tell us about Paul’s trip into Arabia. But what he does tell us is that in Damascus, Paul begins to preach about the crucified and risen Jesus among the Jews, which results in a bit of trouble.
Paul says he went to Arabia, which is most likely a reference to the Kingdom of Nabatea.
In verse 18, he will say that his time in Arabia and Damascus was a total of three years.
So what was he doing for these three years?
He was likely doing two things: (1) Preparing, and (2) Proclaiming
Some scholars have suggested Paul went out into the Arabian desert by himself and isolated himself for the majority of the time, working out his newfound experiences and the implications for his theology. And certainly, its very likely that Paul would have taken some time to do just that.
But given what Paul says about his time in Damascus, he most likely began proclaiming the message among different communities scattered in Arabia.
In other words, he was both preparing and preaching.
But crucially, Paul is emphasizing he wasn’t doing any of that with the other apostles. He was a member of the very young church in Damascus, true. But his gospel wasn’t from them or from the apostles. Paul is emphasizing that during the first three years of his ministry, Paul had essentially no contact with the Jerusalem church. And that meant his gospel wasn’t from people. It was from Jesus Himself.
The Gospel creates a powerful zeal to follow Jesus and obey Jesus. The Gospel is powerful. It changed Paul’s life. And that change showed up in Paul’s Preparation — searching the Scriptures — and Paul’s Proclamation — his sharing this Gospel message with others.
This is a defense of his apostolic authority, directly serving Jesus.
Application
And in case you didn’t know, you and I are not Apostles. We don’t get to claim this sort of direct, “Jesus told me” like Paul did.
But there’s a principle at work here — the Gospel is powerful. It generates this desire to serve Jesus. To be like Paul and to prepare - to search the Scriptures and see how they were pointing to Jesus all along. And to proclaim, to share the good news of Jesus with others.
Has the power of the Gospel showed up in your life? Are you preparing and proclaiming the Gospel in your own life?
Has God’s grace generated a life of willing thankfulness and obedience in following Jesus in your life?
Big Idea: The miracle of conversion proves the Gospel is gift not gain.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Oh, that we would not move past the radical and astounding grace of God!
I recently read a poem written in 1633 called “Love (III)” by George Herbert.
It portrays this encounter between God, who is personified as “Love” and the speaker, who is a sinner and who feels the reality of sin in God’s presence.
Listen to the way this poem describes what one writer calls God’s “lavish, excessiveness and unliaterality of biblical grace”
Love (III)
By George Herbert
Love bade me welcome: yet my soul drew back,
Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack
From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning
If I lacked anything.
“A guest,” I answered, “worthy to be here”:
Love said, “You shall be he.”
“I, the unkind, ungrateful? Ah, my dear,
I cannot look on thee.”
Love took my hand, and smiling did reply,
“Who made the eyes but I?”
“Truth, Lord; but I have marred them; let my shame
Go where it doth deserve.”
“And know you not,” says Love, “who bore the blame?”
“My dear, then I will serve.”
“You must sit down,” says Love, “and taste my meat.”
So I did sit and eat.
Big Idea: The miracle of conversion proves the Gospel is gift not gain.
May God help us to never get over the super-abundance of God’s grace for us in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Let’s pray.
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