“From Then Until Now”

Scripture: Galatians 1:11-24

Last week, we began to read the letter that Paul wrote to the churches in Galatia. They had been swayed by some false teaching, and Paul felt the need to draw them back. He told them “some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.” (Galatians 1:7)
But that’s the entire purpose of false teaching, isn’t it? To introduce some new concept into the Christian faith, for whatever reason, that has never been part of Christian thought before. They are based either in societal norms, or in some other faith expression, but they have little to do with Christianity. But the problem is which of the lessons do we believe? How do we know which one can be trusted?
That’s the quandary that pursues us throughout our lives. Whether it is in high school, or college, or organizations, or our jobs, or the church – we will always be exposed to diverse thought, with some of it being true and some of it not. When we are relatively new to a school subject or an organization or in faith, we don’t always know who and what to believe, and while we usually trust the instructor / teacher / professor / preacher, and believe the things they teach, we have no real basis for trusting or not trusting. We have to get to know the leader, we have to know if we can trust the teacher.

Paul would have to gain the trust of Galatia, and would have to remind them of just who he is and how he came to Christ.

Read Galatians 1:11-17

Paul spells out, in very clear terms, the source of his authority and his call into ministry. At first glance, he is doing this solely to establish the difference between his teaching and that of the false teachers. He states that the gospel that he has been sharing with them was never created by human minds, but that it came directly from Christ Himself. The implication is, of course, that these other teachers cannot claim this authority – and that their gospel is a creation of men, and is not from God.
Quite a difference, don’t you think? But it also raises a very controversial thought – it insinuates that the law, which is apparently the basis for the other teaching, is not of God. Jesus Himself overturned certain aspects of the law, issues such as what is clean and what is unclean (Matthew 15:1-14), who is worthy and who is not (Luke 18:9-14), what is legitimate activity on the Sabbath (Luke 14:1-6), and there were many other matters of ritual and custom that Jesus challenged.
There were also some laws that he strengthened, such as that regarding divorce (Matthew 19:1-12), he affirmed many others that dealt with issues of relationship and morality (Matthew 15:16-20), and he changed the entire approach to, and understanding of, salvation (Mark 10:17-31).
I don’t think that Paul was telling the people that they could disregard any law that they wanted to, but rather that they were obligated to God’s laws, and not to those which came from human minds and wills.

And then, just to deal with any accusations that others may have brought against him, he relates, in a very broad way, the life he lived before Jesus, and how he was changed after he finally met the Lord. “You have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism”. Paul was a zealot, a fanatic, when it came to observance of the law. In Philippians 3:4-7, Paul confesses his pride and zealotry. In his love for the law, he began attacking the supposedly heretical church, and he readily admits that his righteousness was only legalistic and not a matter of faith. Paul was traditional and dedicated in his brand of Judaism, and it extended into every aspect, every nook and cranny, of his life.
And it gained him absolutely nothing.

Paul then proceeds to tell them about his conversion from Judaic legalism into Christ-centered discipleship. But, interesting enough, he never mentions his Damascus Road experience, he never mentions the fact that Jesus came to him specifically, he never mentions the blindness that struck him and never mentions the miraculous healing he received. He only tells what God had done for him and with him and through him, and not the things that happened to him.
I think that the reason he does this is so the emphasis is taken totally away from him, and is placed squarely on the glory of the Lord. He could easily become prideful if he began talking about himself, so he doesn’t. It was about God’s plan, God’s grace, and it was the Father’s desire that he would come to put his whole trust in the Son. He never sought the guidance or instruction of the disciples – of other men – he simply did what the Lord called him to do. Let the others minister to the Jews – for him, he would focus his ministry on the Gentiles – the very people he had hated because of the law, and on the gospel of Jesus Christ, which he had tried so hard to wipe from the face of the earth.
Had Paul changed radically? You had better believe that he did!

There’s a story that in South Carolina some years ago, the Greenville County Department of Social Services sent this letter to one Philip Fleming:
“Your food stamps will be stopped effective March [of this year], because we received notice that you passed away. May God bless you. You may reapply if there is a change in your circumstances.”
-As quoted in Health, January-February 1993, 56.

The point is that if there is no change in our circumstances, then we are still dead.

Read Galatians 1:18-24

The point of Paul’s letter isn’t to convince the people that he is faithful, or that he is a messenger of God, or that they should concentrate on being as righteous as he is, or anything else, for that matter, that is based in him. He is saying that the word of God is truth, and all other words are false. He is saying that the power of humanity is nothing when compared to that of the Lord. He is telling the people that if they don’t change their ways, if they don’t begin finding their way back to the heart and mind of Christ, if they don’t leave the ways of the world and their dependency on the law, they will be forfeiting the new life that they were receiving.

The people of Galatia trusted that the false teachers were offering the truth of God, when, in fact, they were offering their own version of truth. They were still rooted in the law of days gone by, and were refusing to make the transition to the word of God today. They thought that the law was of God, but they didn’t want to listen to one who had been called by the Law Giver to correct the misconception.

James A. Harnish (Hyde Park Church, Tampa, Florida) tells of the man who came home one day to find that his wife had hung a plaque on the wall which read, “Prayer changes things.”
Within 24 hours the plaque had been removed. She asked, “What's wrong? Don't you like prayer?” He replied, “Sure, I like prayer. I don't like change.”

Prayer changes us.
Prayer changes others.
Prayer changes [circumstances].
Prayer changes the church.
Prayer changes the world.
- Homeletics OnLine

There’s an old saying that says ”If you don’t want to hear the answer, you shouldn’t ask the question.” Prayer is the blessing that puts us squarely in the middle of God’s answer, regardless of what we think our question may be. For Paul, his life had become one of constant prayer, constant contact with the Lord Jesus, and one in which he received God’s answers moment by moment.

The previous story reminds us that through prayer, we will be changed. And through our example of submitting to God’s change, others can be changed, too. Paul saw that the people of Galatia were changing, but not for the better. And he was not about to let them continue on their downhill slide.
And that is our call, too. It is never easy or pleasant to tell someone that they have bought into a pack of lies, and many folks will go out of their way to avoid that task! And in our desire to steer clear of any painful experiences, we, by default, condemn others to continue in their deceit. I’m sure that we all know of someone who is entangled in the lies of false teaching, and each of us may be their only hope for the truth.
Begin with prayer. Then seek the Lord’s answer to the situation. And only then, follow his lead and speak his word.

Intentional prayer changes us.
It changes others.
It changes conditions.
It changes the church.
It changes the world.
And it moves us from the lies of the past, and into the truth of God.

The Lord changed Paul, and it would change at least some of the Galatians. May he change each one of us, too.