Galatians 1:11-24; The Gospel Changes Everything (Household of Faith, part 3)

Introduction: This year’s theme for the BMA Global World Missions Day on February 22ndis The Gospel Changes Everything. For those who don’t know, BMA stands for Baptist Missionary Association. Our church was planted by another BMA church in 1974, and we have remained voluntarily affiliated with the BMA since then. BMA Global is the name of the BMAA’s mission agency.

Every February we observe World Missions Day for BMA Global. Most months, we highlight missionaries & mission partners we support because of our connection to BMA Global. I wish we could share all the stories of life change that happen because of the ministry & missionaries of BMA Global. What I can say is that every single one of those stories of life change can trace their story of transformation to the Gospel. You and I can do the same thing. The centerpiece of life transformation is the Gospel of Jesus Christ- The Gospel changes everything. That’s the message we get from the testimony in today’s text.

Galatians 1:11-24, 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. 14And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers. 15But 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, 17nor 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. 19But 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. 22And I was unknown by face to the churches of Judea which were in Christ. 23But 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.

The person writing this testimony is the Apostle Paul. He is writing to the Galatians to defend the Gospel that he preached to them, that they had believed in, but now they were turning from. He is challenging them to not depart from the Gospel, & part of his defense is his personal testimony; what the Gospel had done for him- it changed everything.

1. The Gospel changes WHO we ARE, vss. 11-14.

Vs. 11 is a good place to reset the context. Paul is an apostle of Jesus Christ, called by God to preach the Gospel. He is writing this letter to a group of churches in Galatia, an area that he traveled through on his first missionary journey, preaching the gospel, making disciples, & planting churches (Acts 13-14). He is writing because some people had infiltrated these churches, preaching a different gospel than the one Paul had preached to them, & these churches were falling for it. The gospel Paul preached was the gospel of God’s calling, the gospel of God’s grace, & the gospel of God’s Son. In a nutshell, (Jesus Christ) gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father (Galatians 1:4).

So that’s “the gospel” Paul talks about in vs. 11. The gospel that Paul preached was not a gospel made up by man, or that he got from another person, or that someone taught him, no, Paul actually received the gospel from none other than Jesus Christ Himself, that is huge!

Paul’s conversion story is amazing, all conversions are miracles of God’s grace, but none more so than Paul’s. He recalls what they heard about his past (conduct= way of life). If we were watching this story on screen, this would be the flashback scene. Paul flashes back to his early adulthood as a religious fanatic, a Jewish man of the sect of the Pharisees, trained in the law by Gamaliel, quickly advancing up the ranks, with a zeal for their traditions that was unmatched by many of his contemporaries. Paul was on the fast-track to being somebody among the sect of the Pharisees- a rabbi, scribe, or teacher, but he was known.

Paul was so zealous for his religious traditions that he believed the “Jesus-movement” (The Way) was leading people astray. He believed that it was right for him to persecute the church & get rid of Christians.

He was standing by when Stephen was stoned (Acts 7:58) & the next you read about Paul, he is threatening murder against Jesus’ followers (Acts 9:1-2). He went to the Jewish high priest & asked for approval to go to the synagogues in Damascus so that he could arrest men & women who followed Jesus and bring them back to Jerusalem. On Paul’s way there Jesus came to him in a brilliant light from heaven & radically saved him.

Paul met Jesus personally & the Gospel he preached came from Jesus directly. It was by the revelation of Jesus Christ that Paul saw that even though he was extremely, zealously, & radically religious, he was still a sinner, and religion never saved anyone, only a personal relationship with Jesus Christ can do that. Tim Keller- Religion makes us proud of what we have done. The Gospel makes us proud of what Jesus has done.

The Gospel changed Paul, & it has the power to change us too.

2. The Gospel changes WHAT we DO, vss. 15-17.

Paul explains that his personal revelation of Jesus Christ who saved him also transformed him into a servant of Christ. The persecutor became a preacher. Notice how he describes both his conversion and his calling.

That it “pleased God” means that God was delighted to save Paul. God delights in saving people, He doesn’t do it reluctantly, He does it rejoicingly. If you are far from God and lost today, He would love nothing more than to save you too and set you aside for service to Him.

Paul’s conversion & calling started with the will of God long before it ever got into the heart of Paul. Much like Jeremiah, Jeremiah 1:5, 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. Much like Isaiah, Isaiah 49:1, Listen, O coastlands, to Me, and take heed, you peoples from afar! The Lord has called Me from the womb; From the matrix of My mother He has made mention of My name. Paul describes how God had planned for his conversion & calling as early as his conception. That God “separated” him from his mother’s womb means that even before he was born, God had big plans for Paul. What were those plans?

God separated Paul for his conversion & called him by His grace to reveal His Son, Jesus Christ IN him. Remember Paul said that the Gospel was revealed throughJesus Christ & here that He was revealed IN him!

The gospel is not a mere external message that we adhere to, but it is an internal change of heart, a conversion. We go from death to life, from wrath to grace, from hate to love, from serving our own purposes to serving God’s plans. When Paul met Jesus, he went from persecutor to preacher! God set Paul aside to be a preacher of His grace to the Gentiles, those who were far from God, strangers & foreigners to the people of God, but through Jesus, Ephesians 2:19, … fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God… No longer Ephesians 4:18, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart… No, now we are new creations. 2 Corinthians 5:17, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

The Gospel changes people’s lives, & Paul is living proof of it

3. The Gospel changes HOW others VIEW us, vss. 18-24.

When Paul met Jesus, he did not immediately confer with (consult with, get advice from) any human, nor go to Jerusalem to meet with the apostles, no he went straight to Jesus. It appears that his purpose in going to Arabia was to pray, study, and be alone with the Lord. This trek into Arabia is not included in Acts 9, & we don’t know how long it was, only that after it, he went back to Damascus & there he continued preaching & teaching “many days” (Acts 9:23-25). The Jews plotted to kill him & he made his escape, then going to Jerusalem.

Vs. 18-21, Approximately 3 years passed from the time Paul met Jesus to the time he went to Jerusalem. Max Anders- Interestingly, the apostles were taught by the Lord for three years; now it was Paul’s turn to spend three years also being trained by Christ. It was a dramatic change to go from persecutor to apostle of Christ. When Paul got to Jerusalem, he met Peter & stayed with him 15 days.

This account corresponds to Acts 9:26-30, that Paul tried to join with the disciples but they were afraid of him, that Barnabas befriended Paul & took him to the apostles, of which he only saw Peter & James.He wasn’t there very long before the Hellenists (Greek-speaking Jews) also tried to kill him, & he was sent to Syria & Cilicia.

Vs. 22-24, That Paul wasn’t in Jerusalem very long is why he “was unknown by face” to the churches in Judea.They couldn’t have picked him out of a line-up, but they heard all about him- “the one who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” And wonders of wonders, they glorified God in me. People praised God for the change He made in Paul. Every conversion is a miraculous story of a God who transforms hearts, & a Gospel that changes everything.

If you look on the BMA Global site, www.bmaglobal.org, you can click the tab mission:world, & visit the link called mission:world news. You can also subscribe to mission:world emails, there you can find out about a lot of people who have stories just like Paul.

Manar, Middle East: walked into church determined to disprove the gospel but instead encountered Jesus who transforms hearts. Once hardened & angry, she is now a shining light in her community: baptized, discipled, & using her gifts to serve the very church she once resisted. God transformed her from a hostile atheist who went to church to argue into a joyful believer who serves others & leads Bible studies in her home. The Gospel changes everything.

Moussa, Jordan: walked into a church planning violence but walked out transformed by the grace of Jesus. From a life of violence, addiction, & hatred, God rescued him, transformed his heart at the very church he planned to attack, & called him to preach the gospel to others. The man who once carried weapons now carries the gospel, pastoring a thriving church in Jordan. The Gospel changes everything.

Job, Nigeria: grew up under deep spiritual darkness, initiated into witchcraft at just six years old, & trapped in violence, fear, & addiction. He was a wizard bound by darkness, but after a near-death encounter & hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ, Job gave his life to Jesus & was completely transformed. Job now lives as a new creation, sharing the hope & freedom he found in Jesus. The Gospel changes everything.

I praise God for stories like these, & for how He allows us to be a part of those stories.We have stories just like that in our congregation.

Every conversion is a miraculous story of a God who transforms hearts, & a Gospel that changes everything. How will people glorify God because of the change He made in you?