Galatians 1:10-17 Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ. I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. 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. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus.
Paul in his zealousness for Judaism sought to destroy the people who were following what was known then as the Way, the followers of Christ. He did not realize he was actually battling the God of his fathers and those who served that God and honored the patriarchs, beginning with Abraham. His desire to eradicate the church of God came from his desire to keep the purity of the Law he knew well as a Pharisee. Paul speaks of his fleshly authority in his letter to the church at Philippi: If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. (Philippians 3:4-6) Paul is so zealous in his persecution of the church that he sought permission from the highest authority to stop the Christian movement. At the same time the disciples were reaching the lost, the Book of Acts records this description of Paul (then Saul): Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. (Acts 9:1-2) Here is a man whose great hatred for the church of Christ caused him to stand by and assent to the death of the Lord's beloved Stephen. How his hatred must have festered after this stoning. The Bible says: And Saul was there, giving approval to his (Stephen's) death. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison. (Acts 8:1-3) So here we have a man whose reputation goes before him, whose purpose was clear for all the world to see, whose evil passion erupted against the church of the living Lord. What would you do with such a man, how would you treat him, what fate would you hold in store for him?
Immediately after receiving his letters to the synagogues in Damascus, Paul sets out on his journey to arrest believers, but he is interrupted by a light flashing around him. He falls to the ground and hears, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Confused, he asks, “Who are you, Lord?” The voice says, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” Most of us have read or heard the story that Paul is blinded for three days and during that time he follows the Lord's instructions and goes to Damascus to meet a man named Ananias. God gives Ananias a vision that he is to go and pray for Saul to be healed of his blindness. Ananias questions this because he has heard of Paul's persecution of the church and his intention to arrest people in Damascus. God tells him: This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. Ananias obeys the Lord and meets Paul at the house where God sends him. He prays for Saul and his eyes are opened as if scales fall from his eyes. He is filled with the Holy Spirit as well and gets up and is baptized. He spends several days with the disciples in Damascus and begins to preach the gospel. (See Acts 9:4-25) The rest of his history can be read in Acts and his letters to the various churches. This was God's plan for such a man as Saul, and the man who became Paul, God's chosen apostle to bring the Good News to the Gentiles. Paul understood his position and his calling. He knew he was called by God. He said, For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. (1 Corinthians 15:9-10) He did not boast in himself. In fact, he said this about himself, This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. (1 Timothy 1:15) This is grace. Paul's life was a grace gift to the church. There is nothing we can do that is good enough to gain God's gift of salvation, and there is nothing we can do that is bad enough to keep us from receiving God's salvation gift if we accept Christ as Lord.
In his letter to the Galatians, Paul wants to be very clear. He is not trying to win the approval of men and women. He is not coming to them based on his pedigree: his background, experience, education, contacts, or accomplishments. He is writing to them because he was called by the Lord on the road to Damascus; and since that experience, since the Lord called him by name, he has never been the same. He has a message to share: the Good News of the gospel of the Kingdom of God. He is concerned for the church at Galatia because they wanted to add something else to that gospel, something that is not the gospel at all. They wanted to go back to the old law, a system that never did work as a solution to the problem of sin, a system that showed us our sins but was powerless to free us from our sinful nature . We could make sacrifices for our sins according to the law, but the law could not change our hearts. Paul knew what Jesus said was true when He told the disciples, Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. (Luke 12:1) Paul did not want the church to tell people they were saved by the grace of the Lord and then impose Old Testament laws upon them because this was hypocritical. Paul knew from his own experience where this could lead. He also knew it was the unconditional love and the unfailing grace and mercy of the Lord that had led him to Christ. Jesus had called Paul from a life of passion and commitment, but he was passionate for and committed to the wrong things. Finding the Son of God and learning Jesus died for our sins changed Paul completely. He wanted the believers to understand they did not have to keep any laws or fulfill any special religious practices to keep their position of grace with God. We want to remind each of you today that you are alive in Christ right now. You have been adopted into his family, and you are living in the year of the Lord's favor. Stand up Church of the Living God: Rejoice and be glad!
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