The Power of Transformation
Text: Gal. 1:11-24
Introduction
1. Illustration: I would like to buy $3.00 worth of God, please. Not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine. I don’t want enough of Him to make me love a black man or pick beets with a migrant. I want ecstasy, not transformation; I want the warmth of the womb, not a new birth. I want a pound of the Eternal in a paper sack. I would like to buy $3.00 worth of God, please (Wilbur Rees, from "When I Relax I Feel Guilty," Tim Hansel).
2. The Oxford Dictionary defines transformation as "a marked change in form, nature, or appearance: 4 the genetic alteration of a cell by introduction of extraneous DNA, especially by a plasmid. The heritable modification of a cell from its normal state to a malignant state."
3. In other words, we are not talking about minimal transformation; we are talking about radical transformation!
4. That is why transformation is so powerful. It has...
a. Power Beyond Comprehension
b. Power Without Limit
c. Power With Purpose
d. Power To Unify
e. Power Of Testimony
5. Let's stand as we read together Gal 1:11-24
Proposition: The Gospel has the power to radically change us from the inside out.
Transition: The Gospel is...
I. Power Beyond Comprehension (11-12).
A. Mere Human Reasoning
1. Paul begins this section of his letter by revealing the source of his preaching.
2. He says, "Dear brothers and sisters, I want you to understand that the gospel message I preach is not based on mere human reasoning."
a. I want you to understand is from gnōrizō, a strong Greek verb that means to make known with certainty, to certify.
b. It was often used, as here, to introduce an important and emphatic statement that immediately followed.
c. In vernacular English the phrase could be rendered, "Let me make it perfectly clear." (John MacArthur, MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Galatians, WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 23).
d. There are at least three dimensions to "Paul's" gospel: (1) that salvation is in Jesus Christ alone, in fulfillment of the revelation given through Moses in millennia past;
e. (2) that one becomes accepted by God solely by faith, apart from living in accordance with the law of Moses; and
f. (3) that this acceptance and church participation is open as much to Gentiles as it is to Jews.
g. While the first two have been the focus of theologians since the Reformation, the center of attention in Paul's day was the third.
h. It was Gentile inclusion into justification by faith in Christ apart from the law that was the bone of contention between Paul and the Jerusalem Judaizers.
i. Justification in Christ was acceptable to the Judaizers (after all, they claimed to be Christians).
j. Justification for Gentiles was tolerable as well (Jews had plenty of precedent for conversion to Judaism by Gentiles).
k. But it was justification before God without obedience to the law of Moses that became intolerable.
l. This view threatened the very existence of Judaism and created the social crisis behind the letter (Scot McKnight, The NIV Application Commentary – Galatians: From biblical text...to contemporary life, WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 63).
m. What they couldn't comprehend was how anyone could be acceptable before God without having to do anything themselves.
n. How could amazing grace be free grace?
3. However, Paul makes it clear that he, nor any other person made this up. It came directly from Jesus himself. He says, "I received my message from no human source, and no one taught me. Instead, I received it by direct revelation from Jesus Christ."
a. Surely Paul is describing here his Damascus road encounter with the risen Lord, in which experience he was both converted and received his call to evangelize the Gentile world (cf. Acts 9:1-19).
b. Paul's gospel derives, then, from a revelation from Jesus Christ. "Paul's claim… is this. His gospel, which was being called in question by the Judaizers and deserted by the Galatians, was neither an invention (as if his own brain had fabricated it), nor a tradition (as if the church had handed it down to him), but a revelation (for God had made it known to him)."
c. The term revelation describes something made known by God to humans, in this case to Paul, that would otherwise not be known or accessible.
d. Revelation thus stands in glaring contrast to passing on sacred traditions.
e. In fact, we must surely see here a criticism of the Judaizers, whose basis of knowledge was sacred tradition.
f. Paul contends that while their gospel may represent some of the leaders in Jerusalem, his gospel is a direct revelation from Jesus Christ
(Scot McKnight, The NIV Application Commentary, WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 64).
g. Again, the Gospel may seem unbelievable from human standards, but we serve a God who transcends both our thoughts and actions.
h. When it comes to God's grace, the unbelievable becomes believable.
B. Mind Blowing Grace
1. Illustration: There is such a love that creates value in what is loved. There is a love that turns rag dolls into priceless treasures. There is a love that fastens itself onto ragged little creatures, for reasons that no one could ever quite figure out, and makes them precious and valued beyond calculation. This is a love beyond reason. This is the love of God. This is the love with which God loves you and me. – John Orteberg
2. God's transformation is beyond reason because it is unearned.
a. Romans 5:6-8 (NLT)
When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7 Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
b. Jesus didn't die for us after we got it together.
c. Jesus didn't die for us after we became right with him.
d. Jesus didn't die for us after we repented.
e. No, Jesus died for us while we were still dirty and stinking in the filth of our sin.
f. We didn't deserve it; we couldn't earn it.
g. He paid a price he didn't owe; we owed a price we couldn't pay!
3. God's transformation is beyond reason because it is free.
a. Isaiah 55:1 (NLT)
“Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink— even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk— it’s all free!
b. It is the greatest gift, but it comes without price.
c. It is given to us for nothing, even though it is priceless.
d. It cost Jesus everything, but we reap the benefits.
Transition: The gospel is...
II. Power Without Limit (13-14).
A. Violently Persecuted The Church
1. When I was in high school I was trying to tell one of my friends about the Lord and he said I was wasting my time because he was a hopeless case. But if there ever was a hopeless case it was Paul!
2. He said, "You know what I was like when I followed the Jewish religion—how I violently persecuted God’s church. I did my best to destroy it."
a. The original language is vivid in describing Paul's hostility.
b. The phrase violently persecuted is in the imperfect tense and emphasizes a persistent and continual intent to harm.
c. The term "violently" is better rendered "intensely," and basically means "beyond measure" (Fung, NICNT: Galatians, 55).
d. The word destroy was used of soldiers ravaging a city. It is also used here in the imperfect, thereby emphasizing the persistence of Paul's destructive effort. He was determined to utterly extinguish the church.
e. Apparently he used the title the church of God to stress that this was not just a group belonging to Jesus, so that whoever opposed it, opposed only Jesus. Rather, whoever opposes the church opposes God (John MacArthur, MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Galatians, WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 26).
f. In other words, Paul was a first class jerk!
g. Paul's history as a persecutor of the church was a part of his preaching and the Gentiles were very familiar with that part of his story.
3. Paul also makes it clear that he was willing to do whatever it took to climb the social and corporate ladder of Judaism. He says, "I was far ahead of my fellow Jews in my zeal for the traditions of my ancestors."
a. I was far ahead is from prokoptō, which literally means to chop ahead, as in blazing a trail through a forest.
b. Saul kept on blazing his trail in Judaism, which meant cutting down anything in his path such as Jewish Christians, who in his mind were arch traitors to their ancestral traditions.
c. He was so extremely zealous that he continually punished Jewish believers "in all the synagogues, [and] tried to force them to blaspheme; and being furiously enraged at them, [he] kept pursuing them even to foreign cities" (Acts 26:11).
d. In his extreme zeal, he exceeded many of his contemporaries.
e. Few Jews matched his passion for his religion and his intolerance for the truth about Jesus Christ (John MacArthur, MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Galatians, WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 27).
f. Paul was so zealous to get ahead that he was willing to destroy anyone that got in his way.
B. Worst of Sinners
1. Illustration: Christian author Max Lucado says, "We aren’t good enough to judge. Can the hungry accuse the beggar? Can the sick mock the ill? Can the blind judge the deaf?" In the same way, can the sinner condemn the sinner? Absolutely not! He goes on to say, "Be careful! The Peter who denies Jesus at tonight’s fire may proclaim him with fire at tomorrow’s Pentecost. The Samson who is blind and weak today may use his final strength to level the pillars of godlessness. A stuttering shepherd in this generation may be the mighty Moses of the next. Don’t call Noah a fool, you may be asking him for a lift."
2. God's transformation goes beyond anything you have done.
a. 1 Timothy 1:15 (NLT)
This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all.
b. Paul was the epitome of the term "worst of sinners."
c. He tried to destroy the church, and in essence, Jesus himself.
d. If he can be forgiven anyone can.
e. It doesn't matter how bad you've been or what you have done.
f. It doesn't matter how far you have fallen or how low you have sunk.
g. Jesus grace can pull you out of the mud and make you new in Christ!
3. God's transformation kills you and then makes you new again.
a. 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT)
This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
b. The person you used to be doesn't exist any more.
c. The old you doesn't exist any more.
d. The old you died with Jesus at the cross.
e. The new you has been changed.
f. The new you has been make new.
g. The new you has been transformed by the power of Jesus cross and resurrection!
Transformation: The gospel is...
III. Power With Purpose (15-17).
A. God Chose Me And Called Me
1. We have a tendency to think that before we are saved we do our own thing, and then after we are saved God figures out what to do with us.
2. However, according to Paul, God already had a plan and a purpose for you. He says, "But even before I was born, God chose me and called me by his marvelous grace...."
a. God here is the object of the sentence; the one doing the action. God's purpose was to call Paul to reach the Gentiles with the Gospel.
b. He goes so far as to say that before he was even born God called him.
c. Before he was born God's plan was to use Paul to reach the Gentiles and bring them to salvation (Fung, 63).
d. The Lord called Paul to salvation and apostleship not because Paul developed great leadership ability and writing skill or was a determined and hard worker.
e. He had been set apart and consecrated by God even from his mother's womb, long before he could have demonstrated the least potential for anything.
f. Paul was chosen to be an apostle before he was born, just as Jacob was chosen over his twin brother Esau before their births, as Isaiah and Jeremiah were called and consecrated to their prophetic work while still in their mothers' wombs, and as John the Baptist was called even before his conception to be the forerunner of the Messiah (John MacArthur, MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Galatians, WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 28).
3. Then Paul says, "Then it pleased him 16 to reveal his Son to me so that I would proclaim the Good News about Jesus to the Gentiles."
a. His pre-Christian history in no way prepared him to be an apostle. Rather, his past was marked by two features: (1) he was a persecutor, and
b. (2) he was extremely zealous for the law and its national distinctive.
c. Paul's description of his past focuses on the sacred traditions that were passed on in Judaism ("zealous for the traditions of my fathers"), the very element Paul is arguing against in this chapter (Scot McKnight, The NIV Application Commentary – Galatians: From biblical text...to contemporary life, WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 72).
d. God was pleased to reveal His Son to Saul in a direct and absolutely unique way. In his testimony before King Agrippa, Paul gives further details of his first encounter with the risen Lord.
e. After identifying Himself as "Jesus whom you are persecuting," the Lord said, "Arise, and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you; delivering you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you" (26:15-17).
f. God's direct revelations of Christ and Scripture to Paul began that day and continued during the short time in Damascus and the years in Arabia, and then as God desired throughout the apostle's life (John MacArthur, MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Galatians, WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 29).
B. God Has A Purpose For You
1. Illustration: The job of the church is not to impact the church, but to impact the world. It’s like a huddle in a football game. 67,000 people don’t pay $25.00 a ticket to watch the Browns huddle. What if you went to a Browns game and for 2½ hours you watched 11 men stand in a circle and talk? That’s not what you pay for!! 67,000 people pay $25 a ticket to see what difference the huddle makes. What they want to know is, having called the play in secret, does it work in public? The challenge for the church is not what we do when we call our Sunday morning huddle, but what we do when we break our huddle and head to our Sunday morning assignment. When Satan lines up against us, what difference does it make that we are Christians?
2. God has called us for a purpose.
a. 1 Peter 2:9 (NLT)
But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.
b. God has not called you so that you could sit on that seat and take up space.
c. God has not called you so that you can just wonder through life and then disappear.
d. God has called you so that you could make a difference in this world.
e. Don't sit on the sidelines or stay in the huddle; get up line up and hit Satan in mouth!
3. God's purpose for you has no time frame.
a. 2 Timothy 4:6-7 (NLT)
As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful.
b. When Paul wrote these verses he was in jail awaiting execution. He knew he was about to die, but he was going to go out swinging.
c. Don't sit around and wait to die; go out swinging!
d. Don't say God can't use me I'm too young; look at Jeremiah and Timothy.
e. Don't say I am too old; look at Abraham and Caleb.
f. Get in the game!
Transition: The Gospel is...
IV. Power To Unify (18-20).
A. To Know Peter
1. As you might suspect Paul's conversion was met with a little skepticism.
a. When I got saved in high school it shocked a lot of people.
b. The good kids said, "I'll believe it when I see it!"
c. The partying crowd said, "No, not you!"
d. When Paul met with the church leaders in Jerusalem they didn't know what to think.
e. The same Paul that was persecuting the church was now one of them.
2. Look at what transformation can do. Paul says, "Then three years later I went to Jerusalem to get to know Peter, and I stayed with him for fifteen days."
a. Paul makes a point of noting that he went solely for the purpose of becoming acquainted with Peter, who was the personal companion of the Lord Jesus and the most powerful spokesman in the early years of the Jerusalem church, from Pentecost on.
b. He only stayed with him fifteen days, obviously far too short a time to have been fully transformed from all his Jewish theology and tradition and fully instructed in the gospel.
c. Paul's visit to Jerusalem was not to learn more about the gospel message but to meet and get acquainted with (the verb means "to visit with the purpose of getting to know someone.")
d. These two men who had been so close to Jesus and perhaps to learn from them some of their intimate experiences with the incarnate Lord, whom he had come to love and serve, and with whom he had spent those three years getting acquainted (John MacArthur, MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Galatians, WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 30).
e. Humanly speaking they were probably a little afraid that Paul's conversion was not genuine.
f. However, Paul is living proof that when the Holy Spirit transforms someone they change completely from the inside out.
g. This transformation can make friends of enemies, and partners out of strangers.
B. Unity of Spirit
1. Illustration: Two taxidermists stopped in front of a window where an owl was on display. They immediately began to criticize the way it was mounted. Its eyes were not natural; its wings were not in proportion with its head; its feathers were not neatly arranged; and its feet could be improved. Just when they had finished with their criticism, the owl turned his head...and blinked. It’s easier to be critical than correct.
2. Transformation brings unity.
a. Ephesians 4:12-13 (NLT)
Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. 13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.
b. As we are transformed and grow in our faith it creates unity.
c. It causes us to have common goals.
d. It causes us to have a common purpose.
e. It causes us to have common mission.
f. It is no longer about me; it is about the mission of the church.
Transition: The Gospel is...
V. Power Of Testimony (21-24).
A. Now Preaching the Faith
1. A testimony of transformation is a powerful thing.
2. Look at what Paul says, "After that visit I went north into the provinces of Syria and Cilicia. 22 And still the Christians in the churches in Judea didn’t know me personally."
a. Churches is a plural designation indicating local assemblies that are part of the one church. Paul's two visits to Jerusalem did not include visiting the churches of Judea, which region was usually thought of separately from its major city, Jerusalem.
b. He claims, importantly for his argument, that at this time he was still "personally unknown to the churches of Judea" (v. 22).
c. All they knew of Paul was that he had formerly been a persecutor but was now a preacher of the gospel (Scot McKnight, The NIV Application Commentary – Galatians: From biblical text...to contemporary life, WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 73).
3. The result was, "All they knew was that people were saying, “The one who used to persecute us is now preaching the very faith he tried to destroy!” 24 And they praised God because of me."
a. All that those churches knew about this independent apostle was what they kept hearing, "He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy."
b. For obvious reasons, it had been extremely difficult for believers to accept the genuineness of Paul's conversion.
c. But when the Lord gave such great blessing to Paul's ministry, resulting in his own persecution, his fellow Christians could no longer doubt he was a specially chosen and gifted man of God, and they were glorifying God because of him (John MacArthur, MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Galatians, WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 32).
B. Word of Our Testimony
1. Illustration: A young girl once consulted with her minister. "I cannot stick it out any longer. I am the only Christian in the factory where I work. I get nothing but taunts and sneers. It is more than I can stand. I am going to resign." "Will you tell me," asked the minister, "where lights are placed?" "What has that to do with it?" the young Christian asked him rather bluntly. "Never mind," the minister replied. "Answer my question: ‘Where are lights placed?’ " "I suppose in dark places," she replied. "Yes, and that is why you have been put in that factory where there is such spiritual darkness and where there is no other Christian to shine for the Lord." The young Christian realized for the first time the opportunity that was hers. She felt she could not fail God by allowing her light to go out. She went back to the factory with renewed determination to let her light shine in that dark corner. Before long, she was the means of leading nine other girls to the Light.
2. Our testimony is a powerful weapon.
a. Revelation 12:11 (NLT)
And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die.
b. People can deny belief in the Bible.
c. People can deny faith in Jesus.
d. But they cannot deny a changed life.
e. They cannot deny a transformed life.
f. They cannot deny new life.
g. They cannot deny a God that has the ability to make all things new.
Conclusion
1. That is why transformation is so powerful. It has...
a. Power Beyond Comprehension
b. Power Without Limit
c. Power With Purpose
d. Power To Unify
e. Power Of Testimony
2. Have you been transformed?
3. Romans 12:2 (NLT)
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
