Check Your Sources

In December of 1974, a chartered flight was sent to go pick up the Baltimore Colts football team from Buffalo New York. The empty Boing 727 took off from JFK airport but crashed shortly after takeoff with only the crew onboard. The mystery surrounding the crash was traced back to ice buildup over the tubes on the outside of the plane that measure the plane’s airspeed. The icing meant that the airspeed indicator in the cockpit gave pilots the wrong information and incorrectly triggered stall warnings. The pilots reacted correctly and did the right thing to recover the plane in the event of a low airspeed stall warning. Except that in this case, the reaction of the pilots caused the plane to crash. The problem cannot really be blamed on pilot error. The problem was that the airspeed indicator was displaying the wrong speed. Because of ice buildup, the sensors did not work properly and sent the wrong information from the instruments at the source to the cockpit. The wrong message from the source resulted in the pilots’ actions which lost control of the aircraft.

Getting the right information from the right source makes all the difference. These days there are design improvements in place that make it much more unlikely that an airplane’s airspeed indicator would malfunction resulting in a crash like that. Planes are able to check and verify that the information coming from the source instrument outside the plane is correct.

Today we are continuing our look at the book of Galatians by finishing up chapter one. In these verses we see that the apostle Paul is writing about the need to check and verify the source from which the church’s information is coming. Because the wrong information from the wrong source leads to wrong actions as a result. But the right message from the right source results in the right actions. Paul’s own life illustrates both of these dynamics in these verses.

Galatians 1:11–24 NIV

11 I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. 12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. 13 For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. 14 I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. 15 But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. 17 I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus. 18 Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days. 19 I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother. 20 I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie. 21 Then I went to Syria and Cilicia. 22 I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23 They only heard the report: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they praised God because of me.

Conversion

Paul’s story compares his life before the call Jesus to his life after the call of Jesus

Let’s start out by taking a few moments and pulling this passage apart to see what the apostle is writing about in these verses that conclude chapter one of Galatians. Perhaps many of us know the story of Paul’s conversion experience when Jesus appeared to him along the road to Damascus. That story is found in Acts nine. In this passage from Galatians we see a reference surrounding that conversion experience. Notice the way that Paul, in these verses, makes references to the kind of person he was before his conversion, and the kind of person he has now become as a result of his conversion.

Verses 13-14 give the example of a time when Paul persecuted the church, advanced in keeping all the regulations of strict Judaism, and held fast in all the traditions of the past. Then verse 15 turns the comparison. Now Paul is someone who is called by grace, received Christ, and sent to share the gospel. The example of Paul’s conversion gives a clear before-and-after moment. The kind of person Paul was before Jesus came into his life is very different than the kind of person Paul has become as a result of Jesus coming into his life.

Paul: sudden conversion moment - Peter: conversion spread out over years’ of events

Perhaps some of you have a very defining moment of conversion like that. Or maybe you know of someone who has a conversion story moment sort of like Paul. But let’s also note in scripture the number of people whose conversions are more spread out and gradual. Peter might be a good example of this. When Jesus first called Peter to be a disciple, we get the sense that Peter did not really know or understand what he was signing up for. He did not understand at that time all that Jesus was going to bring into his life and how his life would change as a result of answering that first call of Jesus. And there are many examples along the way of Peter’s journey that show how he slipped up and failed to grasp what it is that following Jesus is all about. By the time we get to Pentecost in the beginning of the book of Acts, Peter finally gets it. But it would be incorrect to identify the moment of Pentecost in Acts two as the conversion experience event in Peter’s life. Rather, it was the three-year-journey of Peter’s life that began when Jesus first called him and then led up to Pentecost. Peter’s conversion does not tie down to one single moment or one single event. It is a string of moments and events all spread out across several years.

everyone who comes to faith in Jesus experiences what we call conversion

The point is this: everyone who comes to faith in Jesus experiences what we call conversion. But there are many ways we see and understand conversion to happen; sometimes a single moment and event, and sometimes spread over many years and many events. Still, conversion is a necessary step in the life of faith. This passage in Galatians illustrates for us the reason why conversion plays into our journey of faith. It shows us the difference that happens and transformation that takes place when Jesus becomes the source of grace. Paul is going back into his own story of conversion as the point of reference which keeps his faith steady during a time of tension in the Galatian churches.

each one of us who belongs to Jesus has a conversion episode in our story of faith

That’s helpful. It is a fabulous reminder for us today that each one of us who belongs to Jesus has a conversion episode in our story of faith. Every person who has faith in Jesus should be able to point back to an event or perhaps series of events—a moment or perhaps collection of moments—which marks the chapter in our story of faith in which we accepted the grace of God and turned to Jesus in faith. That’s conversion.

what does your conversion story look like?

What does that story look like for you? In Galatians one Paul brings his story up as the reminder for us that the activity of his life is traced back to a source; it has a beginning point. Take a trip today down memory lane and identify that moment or series of moments in your own story of faith. Trace your life in Christ back to the place—or places—where you turned your life to Jesus in faith. Go back to the source where your story of faith begins. Remind yourself how it was that you were called and nurtured into this journey of faith within God’s church family in the first place.

Confirmed by Scripture

Let’s move on to see what it is that Paul does with his conversion story in this passage. Recall from last time that Paul is needing to defend his status as an apostle in the church because there have been some people smearing his reputation by pushing another version of Christianity, a false gospel in which faith in Jesus is not enough. They have been trashing Paul’s message of the gospel by telling people that there are additional rules and laws to follow in order to be included as part of God’s family.

This is the part of the story where Paul speaks up to remind the people that the source of his faith, the source of his activity, the source of his gospel message is directly from Jesus. In his former life before Jesus, Paul took his direction and understanding from other men. In his former life before Jesus, Paul allowed other people to be the source of his direction. In his former life before Jesus, Paul acted in ways which sought to follow God but did not have God at the source. In his former life before Jesus, Paul embraced a religion that had been more about following the rules and expectations of men than about embracing a faith in God.

But now, Paul says, he lives in a completely different way because the source and foundation of his faith is shifted away from enslavement to the rules of men, and towards the freedom of new life in Christ alone.

Paul says that he received this revelation of the gospel from Jesus himself

Jesus alone is the source of Paul’s direction and activity

You see, in Christ the source of everything it means for Paul to be a religious person has changed. And Paul’s own story of faith illustrates the exclusive centrality of Jesus as the only source of his gospel message. You can pick that up from the words of this letter in Galatians. Paul says that he never conferred with any of the other apostles before he began his ministry. He did not pick up the teaching of the gospel from other people. He did not come to where he is now because the gospel message was passed along to him by others. Paul makes a very direct claim here that he received this revelation of the gospel from Jesus himself. In his former life, other people were the sources of his direction and activity. But now only Jesus is the source of Paul’s direction and activity.

where is the source of your faith coming from?

What about you? Where is the source of your faith coming from? The apostle Paul lived in the time during which the New Testament scriptures were being written. He and the other apostles received the revelation of the gospel revelation from God, then inspired by the Holy Spirit to put the message of that gospel into writing. The author of Hebrews puts it this way in

Hebrews 1:1–3 NIV

1 In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

the source of God’s revelation remains for us in the words of scripture

Paul’s faith was grounded in a source that came as direct revelation from God. Paul and others put that revelation from God into writing, and it has become the words of Scripture that we hold as the New Testament. For us living today, this source of God’s revelation remains for us in the words of scripture as we have it. Sometimes people will share with me that they think God is laying it upon their heart to do something. And the very next question I always ask is this: How is this thing that you think God is telling you to do confirmed by the message of scripture? Because, whatever that thing is, if it does not align with the message of scripture, then it is not from God.

our faith is confirmed by the message of scripture

In other words, check your sources. Go back to the story of your own conversion moments in which you first turned to Jesus in faith. Remember that this whole journey of faith that your life is on is only happening because—by grace—God has called and led you into it. You and I both know that as life goes on and our journey of faith grows longer and longer, we face trials and struggles in this world. Sometimes these struggles seek to pull us away from Jesus as the source and direction of our faith. And, check this, other times these struggles seek to add sources in addition to only Jesus. Our faith is challenged in moments when the world tells us, sure, go ahead and keep Jesus, but also find strength and direction and security in these other things…financial wealth, successful career. Please understand, there is nothing wrong with making wise financial investments, or with being good at your job; but these things are not the source of our faith. We do not place belief in such things as that to guide us and direct us. Check your sources. Paul reminds us in Galatians, Jesus is the only source of true faith.

Affirmed by Others

Let’s conclude with those final words of chapter one. In verse 18 and following, we read that after a few years, Paul met with Peter and James. And by this time, the story and reputation of Paul’s work has gone ahead of him. Peter and James and the other followers of Jesus in Jerusalem have heard about the way God has extended the gospel message beyond the Jewish people through the testimony of Paul. Verse 24 concludes,

Galatians 1:24 NIV

24 And they praised God because of me.

the message confirmed by God is affirmed by others in the church

The one and only source of Paul’s gospel faith comes from Jesus and, for Paul, that was confirmed by Jesus himself. But then that message confirmed by God is affirmed by others in the church. We saw just a few weeks ago in a message that came from Acts 15 the way in which Paul shares the testimony in Jerusalem of all that God is doing in these new churches in Asia. Paul confirms his source; that this has come from Jesus. And the other apostles affirm that they too have received the revelation of this same gospel message. It is as though Peter and the others are telling Paul, I affirm that your source is correct; this is a true gospel of faith that comes from Jesus.

your story of faith always includes the affirmation of other Christian brothers and sisters

should always point you back to scripture

We still do that too. Your story of faith always includes a moment—or moments—of conversion. Your story of faith always points you back to Jesus as the one and only true source of the faith in which you live. And your story of faith always includes the affirmation of other Christian brothers and sisters. This affirmation from others is a testimony which verifies the truth of scripture. It should never ignore scripture, it should never lead you away from scripture, it should never add onto scripture. The affirmation of Christian brothers and sisters should always point you back to scripture, because that is the one place where we find the only source of our faith; that is the place where we see Jesus revealed.

when Jesus transforms my life to become a new person, the grace of God becomes the source of my focus and activity

Even though the apostle Paul was writing this letter 2000 years ago to a very different audience dealing with a very different set of struggles and circumstances. The message still comes across pretty clearly for us today. Paul is saying in these verses that when Jesus transformed his life to become a new person, the grace of God became the source of his focus and activity. That message is still just as true for us yet today. When Jesus transforms my life to become a new person, the grace of God becomes the source of my focus and activity.

For each of us today, then, check your sources. May we be people who go back to our own stories of conversion to faith in Jesus, remembering that God is the one and only source of faith. May we be people who continue to be transformed by Jesus into the people he created us to be and intends for us to be. And may we be people who give glory to God by affirming that journey of faith we see in one another. When Jesus transforms your life to become a new person, the grace of God becomes the source of your focus and activity.