Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Every life tells a story - every life is proof of something that is true.

This past week, a new lead in a decades old case led to the arrest of the “Golden State Killer” after nearly 30 years.

And, of course, it was hard to miss the that a court found comedian Bill Cosby guilty of crimes that happened years ago.

Paul is continuing here his argument that he did not come up with this gospel that he originally told the Galatians.

Both of these lives are proof that crimes will be punished - sin will not go unchecked.

Odds are you won’t outrun the human authority.

But even if you are, their lives remind us that ultimately justice will be served.

As we return now to our look at Galatians, Paul is continuing here his argument that he did not come up with this gospel that he originally told the Galatians and uses his life as the proof for his argument.

Paul established these churches, most likely on his first missionary journey that we read about in Acts.

And later, he got word that they had abandoned the gospel for a false, or counterfeit gospel that added to - the Judaizers said that they could not be really saved unless they were circumcised as well.

And in doing this - they criticized Paul and his teaching.

Saying he wasn’t a “REAL” apostle.

He wasn’t really from Jerusalem.

And if we remember last week, I laid out the case that there is only one true Gospel.

I mentioned that Paul was attacked by the Judaizers who said he made up the gospel he shared and gave them something different.

That he botched it and aren’t the Galatians lucky that they came along to set the record straight.

So, Paul is defending the message he gave as not his message but God’s message and his transformed life is proof.

Paul gives to us a beautiful picture of the Gospel Message - that no one is too far away from God’s Grace and that everyone is in need of God’s Grace.

This is the Gospel, that we have been saved by grace through faith and not of ourselves, it is the gift of God.

Paul’s life transformed life through God’s grace is proof that the gospel he shared is not only true but the ONLY gospel we should listen to.

Paul was a bad man who thought he was doing a good thing.

Paul was a bad man who thought he was doing a good thing.

EX - Paul’s life was one where he did the wrong things for the wrong reasons … but thought he was on the right track.

Paul was a Pharisee’s Pharisee.

Zealous beyond his years.

Paul established these churches, most likely on his first missionary journey that we read about in Acts.

Protective of his way of life and the teachings of his religion.

And later, he got word that they had abandoned the gospel for a false, or counterfeit gospel that added to - the Judiazers said that they could not be really saved unless they were circumcised as well.

So when people started abandoning his group’s belief’s to follow this Jesus?

Well, Paul went off.

And if we remember last week, I laid out the case that there is only one true Gospel.

And I mentioned that Paul was attacked by the Judiazers who said he made up the gospel he shared and gave them something different.

He was bad - persecuting the church and doing what he thought God wanted.

So, Paul is defending the message he gave as not his message but God’s message.

But, while Paul was a bad man who acted against God, he firmly believed that he was doing the right thing.

The simple truth is that Paul was convinced that he was doing the right thing.

These “Christians” were a blight on the world and an embarrassment to his nation - they had to be stopped.

His persecution wasn’t just because he didn’t like them - he was convinced that it was the right thing.

IL - Doing the right thing?

We all have times where we think we are doing the right thing only to find out later that it is not.

I contend that few, if any, people act in a manner that they believe to be wrong.

You see the temptation and you give in.

A few weeks ago, I was chatting with someone about abortion.

Man, says he is a Christian, argued that sometimes abortion is the proper answer given what might happen to a woman or the child.

And then you give in.

We would argue that abortion is wrong.

But the abortionist doesn’t view themselves as doing something wrong.

I believe that Scripture teaches us that all life is precious.

But he isn’t sitting in his evil lair trying hurt people.

They think they are

Generally speaking, people don’t say, “Hey, I know this is the wrong thing to do, but I’m going to do it anyway.”

That’s why we don’t trust our own hearts.

We must look to an objective standard

AP - Ask the question: What is the standard for my life?

Paul’s standard was a religion that added to the requirements of God to keep people in line and to keep power over them.

This is the very essence of legalism.

And why it is so contrary to the gospel truth.

But we all are prone to legalism and to adding to or taking away from the Gospel hope that God gives to us.

Paul’s standard for his life - how he viewed everything changed after meeting Jesus.

Maybe today you are sitting here and you are resting on your own goodness to get into God’s kingdom.

Stop it!

Paul knew that if anyone could get into glory by being religious - Paul could.

So, religion won’t save you .

And we know that being good won’t save you - the prophet Isaiah says in

We are not good enough, we cannot be good enough and we will never be good enough.

If the standard for heaven is Goodness - none of us will be as good or righteous as Jesus.

But maybe you say, I get that, I have repented.

I have trusted in Christ.

Now, I’m free to do whatever I want.

NO! That’s not right either.

If our standard is the gospel, then, as John the Baptist reminds us in

Remember, faith in trust in Jesus Christ is more than saying sorry you got caught.

It is belief that everything he said about himself is true.

And if he is indeed God made flesh and he did die and rise again for the payment for sin - should we also then obey his teachings such as loving our God and our neighbor?

If we trust Jesus for our life eternally, we need to obey his commands contemporarily as well.

The gospel is bigger than just “Jesus died so I can go to heaven”.

It’s also that Jesus died and rose again so I can bear the fruit of the Spirit we will look at later on in

The gospel reminds us that Jesus Christ redeems our past, repurposes our present and revives our future.

That is our compass and standard for life.

Paul was set apart by Jesus for the purpose of the Gospel.

EX - Paul continues by telling this Church that he was called and set apart for the gospel.

As we look again at v.15, we see that Paul is making some bold claims about Jesus Christ.

That God had called Paul by his grace.

It pleased God to reveal the truth about Jesus to him.

He gave Paul a job to do - that is preaching about Jesus to the gentiles.

That God had set Paul apart for the work he was to do from before he was even born!

Because of this calling - and the fact that Paul was taught by Jesus Himself, Paul did not run back to Jerusalem to learn from them.

He learned directly from Jesus Christ.

As we piece together Paul’s life from his different letters and from Acts, we conclude that Paul, after his Damascus Road encounter with Jesus was led out into the deserts of Arabia to be taught by Jesus for 3 years - the same amount of time the other Apostles had with Jesus.

And because Paul had this message come directly from Jesus, he did not need to stop and collaborate with others regarding it.

Despite the critics claims, Paul was not a Jr. Apostle who botched the teaching of the Jerusalem church.

Instead, he was a full apostle, taught by Jesus.

God saved Paul by the gospel and then called him in the gospel to proclaim the gospel to a lost world.

IL

AP - View Your Life as a Calling

We view calling as something that happens to “other people”

For example, we view pastoral ministry as a “calling”.

Or our friends the Tierney’s who are “called” to serve in Africa.

Or our friends the Ropps who are “called” to serve in the Philippines.