What Will Jesus Do for You?
Galatians 1:11-24
In his 1961 inaugural address, President John F. Kennedy, made the infamous statement, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” This statement was by no means original. Some say Kennedy’s speech writer got it from one of the student essays that Harvard published in 1916 that said, "Don’t ask what can Harvard College do for me?," but "What can I do for Harvard College?" What every the source, President Kennedy made it famous.
In our study of Galatians, Paul is dealing with the gospel of Jesus Christ. There were false teachers distorting the gospel of grace. They were saying, “Don’t ask what Jesus can do to save you, but what you can do to save yourself.” Paul was saying the opposite, “Don’t ask what you can do to save yourself, but ask Jesus to save you.” The only way a human being can experience salvation is through the grace of Christ. It is through the gospel of Jesus Christ.
As we noticed in our last study, Paul was very surprised at the fact that the Galatian believers were deserting the gospel of Jesus Christ. They believed that Jesus could save and placed their faith in him, but now they were turning to a different gospel, which really isn’t a gospel at all. There were false teachers who were distorting the gospel of Christ. This distortion, which said that Christ was not enough to save, was causing the desertion of the Galatian believers. They were placing their allegiance in what they could do for salvation instead of what Christ, and only Christ, has done for salvation.
Paul didn’t have kind words for those who distort the gospel. Notice what he says in verses eight, “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed.” Paul repeats this curse upon the gospel distorters in verse nine.
Paul continues his defense for his ministry and the gospel in verses 11-24. Notice what Paul says in verses eleven and twelve, “For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.” Verse twelve is similar to verse one where Paul talks about his calling, “Paul, an apostle (not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father…” As you can see that Paul says in verse one that his apostleship finds it’s source in God, not man. In verse twelve, the gospel finds its source in God, not man.
What Paul is trying to set forth in verse twelve is the legitimacy of the gospel that he preaches . It’s not a man-made gospel that he is preaching, but God’s gospel. The gospel is truth, not by reason of Paul’s authority as an apostle, but because it is from God. Both the mission and the message of Paul find their source in Jesus Christ.
There are two ways to understand the prepositional phrase “through a revelation of Jesus Christ” in verses twelve. The message of the gospel was revealed to Paul by Jesus Christ. That which was revealed by Jesus Christ to Paul was also about Jesus Christ. The gospel was revealed to Paul by Jesus Christ, and that which he revealed was about Jesus Christ.
Paul will now set out to prove verses eleven and twelve in verses thirteen through twenty-four. He does this by using his autobiography. He will use his conversion to Christ at the means to prove those two verses. In verses thirteen through twenty-four we see Paul’s life before he came to Christ, when he came to Christ, and after he came to Christ. When we look into Paul’s life, we see how Jesus can make a extreme difference. We see what Jesus can do for those who accept him by faith. What will Jesus do? First, we notice that Jesus will change your life.
I. Jesus will change your life
Paul describes his life without Christ in verses thirteen and fourteen, “For you have heard of my formal manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it; and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my cotemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions.”
Paul argues that the gospel that he preached was not from man on account of the religious background that he was saved from. The false teachings that were infiltrating the church stemmed from Judaism. The false teachers were declaring that Jesus was not enough to be saved; one had to become a Jew, before one could become a Christian. This meant that one must be circumcised to be saved.
Paul’s life before he came to Christ was by no means a life we would consider wicked. He wasn’t a man who had no regard for the God or the things of God. No, the opposite is true of Paul. He was a very religious man who had a great religious résumé. First we notice his religious practice.
a. Religious Practice
Paul was a practicing Jew before he came to Christ. He lives his life according to Judaism. As a matter of fact, he was fanatical about Judaism. When Paul speaks about his manner of life in Judaism he is speaking about both a belief system and a behavior system. Paul goes on to describe how Judaism and his zeal for it shaped the way he lived his life.
Notice that Paul’s zeal for Judaism caused him to become a persecutor of the church of God. Paul didn’t just give the church of God a hard time, he tried to destroy the church. We get a candid account of his savagery in Acts chapter eight. Paul persecuted the church; he arrested Christians, and even voted for their execution.
Not only was he fanatical in persecuting the church, but he was also fanatical in keeping the long standing traditions of the elders. The traditions of the elders were man-made traditions that were added to the Law by the Pharisees and the Scribes. The Pharisees would zealously keep the traditions of the elders, while neglecting to keep God’s commands.
Paul’s whole point in sharing his past is to give evidence that he is the most unlikely candidate to make up a gospel based on a Messiah who dies on a cross and a righteousness that can’t be earned.
John Stott describes Paul’s pre-Christ condition well:
“He was a bigot and a fanatic, whole-hearted in his devotion to Judaism and his persecution of Christ and the church. Now a man in that mental and emotional state is in no mood to change his mind, or even have it changed for him by men. No conditioned reflex or other psychological device could convert a man in that state.” (BST, Galatians)
That was Paul’s condition before he came to Christ. He was not a thug or hoodlum. He was a content Jew with deep convictions about his religion and his practice. He would be one of the last people you would consider as giving a positive response to the gospel, given that his response has been negative. However, the day he met Christ was the day that he experienced a radical conversion. It was the day that Jesus changed his life.
b. Radical Conversion
In verse fifteen we read, “But when God, who had set me part even from my mother’s womb and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his son in me so that I might preach him among the gentiles.”
Paul’s speaks of his conversion as an act that we initiated by God. In the original language it reads, “But when God was pleased…” Paul’s point is clear. His conversion was based upon God’s good pleasure. Paul’s language is similar to the language used in the Old Testament book of Jeremiah where the Lord says to the prophet Jeremiah that he knew him before his mother’s womb, set him apart in the womb, and called him to be a prophet.
When did Paul experience change in his life? He says when it pleased God to “reveal his Son in me.” The day when Christ was revealed in Paul is recorded in the ninth chapter of the book of Acts. It is called Paul’s Damascus Road experience. That day, Jesus became very real to Paul. That day was the Day that Jesus came into Paul’s life. That was his conversion. Moreover, with that conversion came a call.
Paul says, “Was pleased to reveal his son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles.” Christ was revealed in Paul so that Christ could be revealed through Paul. Though we don’t all experience the same call that Paul experienced at conversion, we, who are converted by the grace of God are called to be servants of Jesus Christ and his church.
Jesus changed Paul’s life. He went from persecuting the church to proclaiming the gospel. He went from hating Jesus to loving Jesus. He went from destroying the church to serving the church.
Paul had everything to lose and nothing to richly gain by the world’s standards in becoming a Christian. He would give up safety and peace for tribulation and persecution. His life is an example of the changing power of Jesus. This can only be explained as an act of God’s amazing grace.
At the age of 18, Susan Atkins believed she met the savior of the world. His name was Charlie Manson. She joined the “Manson” family and her life would take an ugly turn.
Charlie sent Susan with some other followers to a home in Beverly Hills with the orders to kill everyone in the residence, one of which was actress Susan Tate.
Susan and the others were arrested on multiple charges of brutal murder. They were convicted and sentenced to death. While awaiting her death, Susan received a Bible from an anonymous benefactor that said on the inside, “Jesus, my prayer is that you reveal yourself to Susan Atkins.”
While on death row, the California Supreme Court voted to abolish the capital punishment. For the first time in years Susan prayed and gave thanks to God.
On September 27, 1974, as Susan lay on her prison bed, considering her numerous sins, she found herself saying, “I want to be forgiven.” The words came to her, “You have to decide.” She felt that if she didn’t give her life to Jesus at that very moment that the chance would never come again. It was at that moment that God revealed Jesus in Susan Atkins. For the first time, Susan felt clean inside and out. Her life was changed forever. Jesus will change your life, regardless where you are, or what you have done. Not only will he change your life, but we learn from Paul’s life that he also guides your life.
II. Jesus will guide your life
What happened after Paul gave his life to Christ? He started living his life for Christ. This meant that he lived a life guided by Jesus Christ. Notice what he says at the close of verse sixteen, “I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood.” Paul is arguing the divine origin of the message of the gospel. Therefore, he let’s us know that he didn’t immediately seek out the counsel of men. Instead, he eagerly pursued the leadership of Jesus Christ in his life.
What Paul describes in verses seventeen through twenty-one is about a three year period. In those verses he shows us how God guided him to different places. First, we notice that God guided him into a period of preparation.
a. Preparation
We learn something about Paul in verse seventeen that we don’t any where else in Scripture. He says, “Nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away to Arabia.” This is the only place that we are told that Paul went to Arabia after his conversion. There is speculation of why he went, but most agree that God guided Paul to Arabia for the aim of preparing him for his ministry of proclamation.
Arabia was a time for Paul to get alone with God and God to get alone with Paul. It was a time where Paul would learn directly the message of the gospel, meditate, pray, and commune with his Lord Jesus Christ.
The great men used by God in the Bible had periods where God guided them into preparation before they entered into their ministry. Moses was prepared forty years before God used him to deliver the children of Israel. Elijah had a time of preparation also before he had his showdown with on Mt. Carmel.
Those of us who have experienced conversion have also experienced a call upon our lives, to serve the kingdom of God. God wants to prepare us for that call every day by guiding us into a time of communion and fellowship with him daily. Not only did God guide Paul into a time of preparation, but he also guided him into a time of proclamation.
b. Proclamation
After he spent some time alone with the Lord, Paul then went about doing God’s plan for his life, proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ. Notice where the Lord guided Paul after Arabia in verse seventeen, “I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus.” Paul was guided by the Lord back to Damascus. Paul had to face his past. He had to go back to a town where he persecuted Christians and face the Christians. He had to go back to a city where he once was a practicing Pharisee and tell his companions and countrymen that he was now a follower of Christ. What courage that took on the part of Paul.
Not only did the Lord lead him back to Damascus, but he also led him to Jerusalem, Syria, and Cilicia. All this was done in a three year period. Paul’s point in showing the places that God guided him was to give evidence that his message was not from flesh and blood, but directly from Jesus Christ.
I love Paul’s resolve when it came to following his Savior Jesus Christ. God gave him a command and guidance, and he didn’t feel the immediate need to consult flesh and blood. You don’t need a cosigner if Jesus sings the command. You just do it.
When the Lord guided Noah to build an ark, he didn’t consult flesh and blood, he just followed God’s guidance and built the ark. When the Lord told Abraham to leave his county and go to the land that he would show him, Abraham didn’t consult flesh and blood, he just followed the leadership of the Lord. When Abraham was guided by God to take is son Isaac and sacrifice in on Mt Maria, Abraham didn’t consult flesh and blood, he just followed the Lord’s guidance.
When Jesus changes your life, he will guide your life. Will you follow? One of my favorite hymns of the faith is by Fanny Crosby. The first stanza says, “All the way my Savior Leads me, what have I to ask beside? Can I doubt his tender mercy, who through life has been my guide? Heavenly peace divinest comfort, here by faith in him to dwell. For I know what er befall me, Jesus doeth all things well.” The last thing that should happen when Jesus changes your life is found in verses twenty-two through twenty-four. There we see that Jesus should consume your life.
III. Jesus will consume your life
Paul says in verse twenty-two, “I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea which were in Christ; but only, they kept hearing, ‘He who once persecuted us in now preaching the faith that he once tried to destroy.’ And they were glorifying God because of me.”
Paul talks about those churches who had not seen him, but had heard about him, and how Jesus changed his life. Notice how they responded in verses twenty four, “they were glorifying God because me.” That last phrase can also be translated “They were glorifying God in me.” I like the latter translation better. They heard about Christ in Paul’s life and therefore the were glorifying God on the basis that Jesus not only changed his life, but he also consumed his life.
When Jesus changed Paul’s life, he also consumed Paul’s life. Paul had the philosophy that if he lived, it would be for Christ. Christ was in Paul and working through Paul.
On the southern coast of Wales, in Great Britain, is the town of Tenby. It resembles any number of small coastal towns in England. If you ever visit Tenby, there is a souvenir that you can purchase that is very intriguing. It is a stick candy. You can get this candy as small around as a dime or as large as a 50-cent piece. What makes them unique is that the word Tenby is in it—not on it, but in it. You can break the stick anywhere, and you will see inside the word Tenby.
When Jesus changes a life, he should consume a life. If Jesus has changed your life, your life should be broken at any point and all we see is Jesus!
Everyday we should sing, “Jesus, be Jesus in me. No longer I, but Thee. Resurrection power, fill me this hour, Jesus Be Jesus in me.” What will Jesus do for you? He will change your life, guide your life, and consume your life.
Has Jesus changed your life? He will, all you have to do surrender your life to him. Has Jesus changed your life? If he has, then he wants to guide your life. He wants you to follow him by faith everyday. Has Jesus changed your life? Then Let Jesus consume your life.
In our consumer minded society people are always asking “what will it do for me.” Today, in our study of Galatians 1:11-24 we will notice what Jesus can do for a life that surrenders to Him as Lord and Savior…
What Will Jesus Do For You?
Galatians 1:11-24
I. Jesus will change your life (11-15)
a. Religious Practice
b. Radical Conversion
II. Jesus will guide your life (16-21)
a. Preparation
b. Proclamation
III. Jesus will consume your life (22-24)
