Galatians 1:11-24 – The Gospel is God’s Good News

What a wonderful, special message is contained in the Bible. Last week, in the opening verses of his letter to the Galatian Christians, the apostle Paul pointed us to the fact that the gospel message of Jesus Christ crucified for sinners is able to do what nothing else can – it gives eternal life. Paul warned us from following other teachings, from looking for salvation and hope from other gospels – which really are no gospel at all. The Bible is an absolute truth upon which to build our lives both here and for eternity.

 Paul in the words before us this morning builds on those thoughts. He points us again to the fact that the Bible is God’s word – not man’s. And he points us to the great power of that gospel. The gospel is God’s good news. It is God’s message. It is God’s power. 

 The churches in Galatia, that portion of Asia Minor – modern day Turkey – where Paul had traveled on his first missionary journeys were being troubled by false teachers. These false teachers, known as the Judaizers, were saying that for a person to be saved, you had to obey the Old Testament ceremonial law in addition to believing in Jesus. You had to be circumcised and fast and follow certain festival days if you were to be saved. Jesus wasn’t enough.

 In addition, they were attacking Paul and his message. It seems that they were accusing Paul of neglecting to preach the law. They accused Paul of even promoting a sinful lifestyle with his preaching of full and free salvation through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.

 But Paul knew the law. In fact, Paul knew the law better than most. He had been trained as a Pharisee. He had followed every last detail of the Old Testament ceremonial law in the hope of earning heaven himself. Paul tells us concerning himself - “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.” Paul had kept the law as well as anyone, in fact than most. 

 But Paul’s view of the Old Testament and its ceremonial law changed when he was brought to faith. After Paul’s conversion, after Paul came to know Jesus, the whole Old Testament which he knew so well took on new meaning. Paul now saw that all of those Old Testament ceremonies were to point forward to the coming Savior. Paul saw how God was active in preserving the line from which the Savior from sin would come; how God had directed and controlled things so that at just the right time God’s Son could come into this world to save sinners. Paul could see Jesus in the Old Testament. For Paul that burden of the law had been lifted. No longer, did Paul feel that burden to save himself by his life and works. Paul knew that Jesus had accomplished salvation for him.

 And that was why Paul stressed salvation in Jesus alone, apart from works. That was why Paul was so unwilling to compromise the truth of the gospel. Not because Paul didn’t know the law as people were accusing him, but precisely because he knew the law and its burden so well.

 Now that Paul had come to know Jesus as the Savior, Paul realized he couldn’t be saved by obeying the law. The law was not the way to heaven, but it worked as a mirror showing the great need for a Savior. Paul tells us, “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.” Paul realized that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” And it no longer matter how well Paul had kept that law, no matter how good he was. He knew that apart from Jesus, he would never be good enough to get into heaven. As the apostle James tells us, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” 

 But Paul also knew the great peace and hope that the gospel gave. While he couldn’t save himself, salvation was his. Our Savior Jesus had lived a perfect life and died on the cross for all of us. That was the message which Paul proclaimed. That was his emphasis. Grace - God’s undeserved love for sinners.

 And that was a message which Paul had gotten directly from God. He was not a second rate apostle as some were saying. He hadn’t gotten his message from the other apostles. Paul showed by his life history that was impossible. He hadn’t spent time with the other apostles until years later. And even then it was for a short time – too short to have learned everything he was teaching. The message was God’s and Paul had to proclaim that message. He couldn’t change it. He couldn’t make it fit what he might think was better, or what might appeal to more people. It was God’s message and as such it was the message that everyone needed to hear. So as Paul defended himself and his ministry, he was really defending God’s word.

 And God’s message continues to face attack today. Many, even among Christians, refuse to accept the Bible as God’s word. They refuse to accept that the Bible is completely God’s word and so true in all that it says and an absolute authority. They will accept that it contains God’s word – God’s message to us, but they will claim that it’s also the words of men. So we are left to look behind the writing, behind the words to find the actual meaning and to decide what is God’s word and what is man’s. So we are left as the authority to decide what is relevant today and what is outdated and no longer applies. 

 That is a temptation that is very appealing to us as well - because ultimately, I get to be my own Bible. I get to choose what in the Bible I like, what seems good and reasonable to me, and the rest I can push aside as simply man’s word written for a people of a different age and no longer relevant in today’s world. So if something in the Bible makes my life difficult, if it doesn’t fit with my lifestyle, if it pricks my conscience a little too much, I can put that aside as outdated. Then I don’t have to be bothered by those things that in the Bible that for one reason or another I don’t like or that don’t make sense to my thinking. I can do as I want.

 So we need the reminder as well – it is God’s message. The fact is many of those same arguments directed at Paul are still heard today. How can works not be part of your salvation? People want to conclude that if you’re going to preach that salvation is free, you’re just encouraging people to go out and sin. Certainly the message of the gospel is not a license to sin. The apostle James reminds us, “In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. ... As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” Faith will naturally want to show it’s thanks to God. But people still want to change it and make it fit with the times and with human reason. So we see those who attach a good “Christian life” as part of the requirement for salvation. We see those who teach that faith is a decision that I must make. It’s all so reasonable. We see those who soft peddle the law and who overlook certain sins in the name of love. God’s message is changed to make it appeal to the masses.

And the temptation is there for us to change God’s Word. Many things aren’t popular. People aren’t always receptive to the message of the gospel. How easy a temptation it can be for us to change it, or at least consider some parts unimportant and ignore them, to make it more appealing to others. After all, wouldn’t we like to see our churches filled on Sunday? And when God’s word tell us something that we don’t like to hear ourselves or that doesn’t make sense to our human reason, the temptation can be to either ignore that part of God’s Word or make it fit with our way of thinking. 

The message of the gospel message is God’s and to change it in any way, to ignore any part of it, is eternally dangerous on our part. God, in his grace and mercy, has revealed himself to us to bless and save us. We are blessed when we take God at his word, rather than coming to his word with our preconceived ideas of right and wrong. Because as Paul also points out from his own life, that gospel is not only God’s message which we are not to change but it is also God’s power. Paul writes to the Romans, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.” Paul knew that power in his own life. Not only had Paul, through his missionary journeys, seen people brought to faith in Jesus. Paul had his own conversion to look back on.

 Think about what kind of individual Paul was before his conversion. He hated Christians. He was active in persecuting them. He had been present at the stoning of Stephen, the first martyr. He had given his approval to his death. At the time of his conversion, he was on the way to Damascus to round up Christians - to put them in prison or even to death.  So no person was going to convince Paul to change his mind about Jesus.  

 And yet after Paul’s conversion, a complete, a total change took place. Paul was now willing to suffer persecution for the sake of the gospel, to be put in prison, even to be stoned - all for the sake of spreading that precious gospel message. That was indeed a complete 180 degree turn around, a change from law to gospel, from death to life. Paul, perhaps more than anyone, knew the power and comfort of that gospel message of Jesus Christ crucified for sinners. Paul writes to Timothy - “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners —of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.” That was a miracle that occurred in Paul’s life. 

 But really no less a miracle has happened in each of our lives. We too were once dead sinners. By nature, we were lost eternally. And if even we grant Paul that he is the worst sinner, maybe we have to think of ourselves as the second worst. When we stop and look at our lives, examine our thoughts - we don’t do the things that God commands. We don’t deserve to have him give us eternal life. If we had to follow even a part of the law to be saved, we would be lost.

 But by the working of the Holy Spirit, a complete change has also taken place in us. We who were dead sinners have been made alive. We have been turned from hell and eternal death to heaven and eternal life.

 And Paul reminds us that this is God’s doing. Paul says that God had set him “apart from birth and called me by his grace.” God in his undeserved love, had chosen Paul to be his servant, to carry the gospel message into the world - before Paul was even born.

 It is also the case that God has chosen us - we didn’t choose him. And God chose us to be his own, long before we were born. In fact, before the creation of the world, God knew us and had chosen us to be his own. And then in the course of time, God carried out his plan of salvation and saw to it that we were brought to faith. Paul writes in Ephesians chapter 1, “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will — to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.”

 What great comfort that gives us. God loved us and was concerned about us enough that already in eternity he knew us and had chosen us. Certainly, we can count on God to continue to be with us, to watch over us and protect us. If God put that much thought and effort into making us his own child, then certainly he is also going to be able to see us through the problems of this life. We can count on him. We can count on his Word. In fact, Paul tells the Corinthians that he “resolved to know nothing … except Jesus Christ and him crucified. … so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.”

 Trust and follow that Word of God. That gospel message is God’s message, his message for our salvation. It is his power. We don’t want to ever change it - to do so would only be to water down God’s power. Remember the gospel is God’s message and power for the salvation of everyone who believes - for our eternal salvation.