Called By His Grace

Scripture Text:

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.

Sermon Notes:

Previous Way of Life—by Tradition:

“my previous way of life in Judaism” (Galatians 1:13).

• “In Judaism”—he speaks of an “ism.” This word describes a system of belief and practice, a religion, to which he subscribed.
• This is the most prominent way in which we think about religion and religious preference. We see it as a system.
• We look at the various systems of religion, and we try to choose from among them. We are literally seeking a “system” of religious thought and practice that we think fits us.
• “Traditions of my fathers”—he speaks of something which he inherited. It was handed down to him.
• We are most likely to choose the system that was handed down to us by our forefathers.
• It makes the most sense to us because it is already imbedded in our culture.
• I was driving south on Interstate 45 in Texas a few days ago and saw a big highway sign that notified me of the approach of “Calvary Road.” I had to think about that for a minute. Here was a road in the piney woods of East Texas called “Calvary Road.” It can only have come from the place where Jesus of Nazareth died. In fact, the Christian religion is omnipresent in our culture. The code words are everywhere. East Texas has so many places named from the Bible, including Palestine, you would think you were in the Holy Land. Paul grew up in the real Palestine. There all the names and cultural signs point to Judaism as the true way of life.
• Traditions are not necessarily good or bad. They just are. They have a powerful influence upon us. That needs to be recognized.
• I inherited a Christian worldview and culture from my parents. Most people on Planet Earth did not inherit such a culture and tradition. Many people would look at me and say that I am a Christian because of my culture and heritage. Had I been born in India I would be Hindu or Muslim. If I had been born in Iran I would be Muslim. But I was born in the United States to parents of European descent, and that is why I am a Christian.
• People may become true Muslims or Hindus through culture and tradition.
• But they do not become true Christians through culture and tradition. If they are Christians only my culture and heritage, they are just as lost spiritually as anyone can be.
• Judaism was a religious system that began with a revelation of divine grace to Abraham, but lost its sense of the individual’s relationship to God.
• This may be illustrated by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
• Abraham experiences God. He is called away from his culture and heritage to serve the one true God.
• Isaac, his son of promise, knows God but in a less dramatic way that his father did. He lives out his life in quiet obedience to the God of his father.
• Jacob, the grandson of Abraham, comes along, and he has no sense of God in his life at all. He lives like a pagan, deceiving his father, stealing from his brother. He only develops a true faith in God after he experiences God’s presence at Bethel: “the Lord was in this place and I did not know it.”
• Any culture and tradition may itself become the god—an idol. If your faith is one step away from a true encounter with the living God, then you are what some would call a “cultural Christian.” You have a “civil religion,” a religion based upon your particular civilization. Your Christianity is all mixed up with American patriotism and being a “good old boy” from the South. There is nothing wrong with patriotism or southern culture unless they themselves are your god. Then you are just as lost spiritually as anyone can be.
• Zeal is not a true indicator of your genuine encounter with God. You may be very zealous for your religious system, as Paul did, without having a personal experience with God yourself.

Current Way of Life—by Revelation:

“the gospel I preached is not of human origin. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ” (Galatians 1:11-12, 16)

• Christianity is a revealed religion. This would be pure Grace, for God to reveal himself to us. It would be all up to him and not at all up to us. That is, the origin of this religion happened in time and space—at a certain point where we believe that God intervened in human history, revealing himself as the God of grace and love by taking on flesh through Jesus of Nazareth. As strange as this story sounds, it is the true beginning of Christianity.
• True Christians, though, are not simply people who believe that God was at work 2,000 years ago in the person of Jesus. They are people who “confess” with their mouths that Jesus is Lord and “believe” in their hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead.
• They “believe.” That is, they have faith in God through Jesus Christ.
• They “confess.” That is, they personally appropriate this faith for themselves apart from their culture and heritage. It is no longer a borrowed religion, one that is handed down. It is a personal faith in God as revealed in Jesus Christ.

The Only Explanation: Grace

“God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me” (Galatians 1:15-16).

• This is “grace.” That God would call anyone to himself is an act of pure grace. God called the Apostle Paul. He confesses it here as an act of grace. He feels that this call belonged to him even before he was born.
• When we talk about a “personal relationship with Christ” we are pointing to this event of grace that must happen for any person to become a true Christian.
• The grace of God is that God “was pleased to reveal his Son.” It is about the Lord Jesus as God’s climactic revelation to all humans.