Good evening church, I am Robin Harris, one of the Verse by Verse elders.

This series is called AWOL FROM GRACE

Paul had said in verse 6 of chapter 1 that he was astonished that they were deserters. He says, “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel.” They were AWOL FROM GRACE. They were turning to a gospel of grace plus works. They were being convinced by Judiazers that they must be circumcised to be saved ie the gospel of grace was not sufficient. This was a gospel from men and was not the Gospel of God. Apparently, the gospel of men was looking really good to them. What man can “do” is always appealing to us because it invokes the fleshly nature. It looks really righteous.

When Sue and I start to counsel a couple, I use a simple illustration. I take two glasses of water, one crystal clear and one with dirt mixed with water. I ask them, which glass of water do you want to drink? Naturally, they pick the crystal-clear water glass. After that I ask them why they chose the crystal-clear glass of water. The typical answer is that “it does not contain dirt, it is clean.” Then I let them know if you had a microscope and looked into a drop of water from the crystal-clear water, you would see little squigglies swimming around. The water is actually not pure. I tell them life is like that also. We think something is true by all appearances, but in reality, it is not. It has little squigglies swimming around in it. There is only one thing in this world that is pure, it is the Word of God. 

Ex of two glasses of water…… Proverbs 30:5

Listen, there is a true Gospel from God and there are a multitude of false gospels from men. The Word of God reveals the true Gospel.

 Tonight, we will continue in the book of Galatians starting at chapter 1 verse 11 and preceding through verse 24. The title for tonight’s message is THE GOSPEL NOT FROM MEN.

Paul had first emphatically stated in 1:1 that his apostleship was not from men or through men. It was from Jesus himself and God the Father. His apostleship was not of man. Now he is going to give evidence that his Gospel is not of man. This section of Scripture has a major contrast. The major contrast is that which is divine and that which is of man. We have the messenger from God versus the messenger of men. We have the Gospel of God versus the gospel of men, we have salvation according to God and we have salvation according to man, and we have pleasing God versus pleasing men. 

Doesn’t life really boil down to this even to this very day?

In verse 11, Paul starts with the phrase, “For I would have you know,”, which means this, “by no uncertain terms let me make it very clear.” Remember, Paul is astonished by their actions, and I believe he is also angry. He cannot believe that they have gone AWOL FROM GRACE and are beginning to follow a false gospel of works. A gospel of men. I don’t know if he had any hair or not, but if he did, he is pulling it out by now! 

He also writes a telling statement in verse 20: (In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!). This was a serious statement. “Before God” means God as my witness. He is saying everything with God as his witness. He is astonished that they are following the gospel of men, and he takes it to mean they didn’t believe who he was or what he had said to them!

So, with that kind of frustration Paul begins the defense of his Gospel. Write this down as point 1:

1 Paul received the true Gospel of God.

11 For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel. 12 For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. 

So, Paul emphatically states his case:

What I preach is not man’s gospel. Man doesn’t have his finger in it.

I didn’t receive it from man nor was I taught by man. The complete authorship is God.

Then he writes his most powerful statement. It was revealed to him by Jesus Christ directly.

This was very personal with Paul. He had followed the gospel of men his whole life and now he knew the truth. When Jesus came to Paul on the road to Damascus, Jesus revealed to Paul the true Gospel. It was a dramatic eye opener. Listen to what Pauls says when he gave his testimony to King Agrippa:

Acts 26:9-18 “I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. 11 And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities.

12 “In this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13 At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. 14 And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language,[a] ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15 And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16 But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, 17 delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you 18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

Paul wasn’t seeking Jesus, Jesus sought him. Jesus revealed the Gospel to him. Jesus saved him, and Jesus commissioned him. The Gospel that he preached was not of man. He didn’t learn it from anyone around him and he didn’t learn it from the apostles. He received it from Jesus.

Also, don’t miss what Paul says in our text today. Look at verses 15-16. The true Gospel is not from man, neither is salvation from man.

15 But when he who had set me apart before I was born,[b] and who called me by his grace, 16 was pleased to reveal his Son to[c] me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone;[d] 

Who set him apart? God

What does it mean that he was set apart? Two things, elected and commissioned. Salvation is by God’s election. Paul’s commissioning was by God alone.

When was he set apart? Before he was born.

Who chose the moment to reveal Jesus to him? God

What does this say about salvation? It is by God alone.

Paul, in a short clip, let’s them know that man has nothing to do with any aspect of the Gospel. It is ludicrous for them to even think that anything that man does has any worth for salvation. God chose them before the foundation of the world!

Let’s drill this down further. We believe that salvation is by Christ alone, through faith alone, by grace alone, and for God’s glory alone.

The Bible teaches this:

We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. There is none righteous.

There is none that understands. There is none that seeks after God.

There is no work of man that has any value at all for salvation.

It is God that seeks.

It is God that reveals.

It is God that saves by His grace through faith.

Paul is the perfect example of this. Jesus came to him. Jesus revealed Himself to Paul. And I believe that it was more than just Jesus showing up. I believe Jesus opened his heart to respond to the truth about himself. You know that he had heard all about the Gospel beforehand, but he did not believe it until he responded on the road to Damascus. Let’s use Lydia’s salvation to emphasize this.

Later during one of Paul’s missionary journeys, Paul is called by the Holy Spirit to Macedonia. There he encounters some women near a river. Look at what happens when He shares the Gospel: 

Acts 16:11-15 So, setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the[d] district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days. 13 And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. 14 One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. 15 And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.

Notice that she was a worshipper of God, but she was not a believer yet. God was drawing her, and God had sent Paul to her to share the Gospel. Knowing that there is a God in heaven, even “worshipping” Him, does not save you. A person must hear the Gospel, receive the Gospel, and put their trust in the Gospel. Look what happens:

Paul spoke to the women. He shared the Gospel.

The Lord opened her heart. To do what? To pay attention to what Paul was saying. That is the clearest passage I know that shows that God opens our heart so that we pay attention to the Gospel message. I believe without having our hearts open by God, we can read the Gospel a million times with no salvation impact. Remember, the Bible teaches that no one understands, and no one seeks God. I also believe that it is clear from this scripture that she could now respond to the Gospel. She would either believe and receive it or she would reject it in disbelief. What did she do. She believed and received it. Man’s responsibility is to believe or reject in disbelief. If you believe the Gospel, you will be saved. If you reject the Gospel in disbelief, God will judge you. Those that reject the Gospel and die, spend all eternity separated from God in everlasting destruction from the presence of God. Listen, God does not send those He hasn’t chosen to hell. It is a result of their rejection of Him and His Gospel.

So, Paul has defended his Gospel by saying that his apostleship was not from man, but was from Jesus and God the Father, that his Gospel was not received from man, but was received from Jesus, and that his salvation was not from man, but was solely by God. What man says and what God says are at odds. You have a crystal-clear glass of water (appears to be good), but in fact it is darkness and stems from the power of Satan, and you have the pure water of the Word (the only thing without squigglies). It is divinely revealed, and it is light unto everlasting life.

His second defense of the true Gospel is shown by what he did after his salvation. Write this down as point 2

2 Paul fled the false gospel of men. 1:13-17

13 For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. 14 And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. 15 But when he who had set me apart before I was born,[b] and who called me by his grace, 16 was pleased to reveal his Son to[c] me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone;[d] 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.

Paul’s transformation was extremely dramatic as we have read. Steeped into the teaching of men, Paul was a violent adversary of the true Gospel. Can you imagine the moment that Jesus revealed himself to Paul? 

After Jesus revealed himself, Paul did a 180 degree turn. Paul ran to the Gospel of God and fled the gospel of men. After his transformational encounter with Jesus, Paul took no counsel with men, not even those in Jerusalem. He had already led a life sorely influenced by the deceptive nature of man. He did not want to be influenced by man anymore. But that does not mean he did not fellowship with disciples. God sent a believer named Ananias to Paul. After Jesus appeared to him, and he become a believer, Paul could not physically see. Ananias came to Damascus where Paul was staying. After laying hands on Paul, the scales on his eyes fell off and he was filled with the Holy Spirit. Let’s pick up this account in Acts 9 starting with verse 17:

Acts 9:17-19a So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; 19 and taking food, he was strengthened. 

At this point there is disagreement among commentators on what happens next. Luke’s account does not mention when Paul goes into Arabia, which is in verse 17 of our text. There is a gap in Luke’s account. Paul either went into Arabia right after he was strengthened with food or right after he shares the Gospel in the synagogues of Damascus shown in the rest of verse 19-22 of Acts.

For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus. 20 And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”21 And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?” 22 But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.

 After verse 22 the Jews plot to kill him and he escapes and goes to Jerusalem. So it appears to me that the Arabian adventure took place between verses 22 and 23 of Acts.

23 When many days had passed, the Jews[a] plotted to kill him, 24 but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him, 25 but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall,[b]lowering him in a basket.

26 And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. 

Verse 18 of our text says he goes to Jerusalem after 3 years. 

18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days.

The three year timeframe included going into Arabia and I believe returning to Damascus to preach the Gospel a second time at which time the Jews plotted to kill him. 

The main point is that Paul goes into Arabia. And this is not Saudi Arabia. Most likely it was not to far from Damascus within the desert of Arabia.

Paul went into Arabia, and I believe he was taught by Jesus. Paul went to seminary to be taught by the Master of the Word. Paul fled the gospel of men. He did not want to have anything to do with it.

Also, I believe he is making a point here. I believe he wants them to know that by no uncertain terms, he was not taught by anyone around him nor was he taught by the apostles in Jerusalem. He was a full fledge apostle taught by Jesus just like the twelve were taught by Jesus. He had the same spiritual authority to say what he was saying. He was not a secondary apostle.

Write this done as point 3

3. Paul experienced observable transformation through the true Gospel. 

1:18-24

18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days.19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord's brother. 20 (In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!) 21 Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22 And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23 They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they glorified God because of me.

After the plot by the Jews to kill him was foiled, Paul went to Jerusalem to see the Apostles. He saw Cephas (Peter) and James. Very interesting that he name drops Peter and James here. Most likely he wanted to have the churches of Galatia know that Peter, an apostle, and James, the leader of the church in Jerusalem, were backing him. I believe he wanted to show backing in two ways, his apostleship and the Gospel that he preached. Acts 9:26 also indicates that many feared him. So the other Apostles probably didn’t want to meet with him. 

After meeting Peter and James, Paul began sharing the Gospel in the regions of Syria and Cilicia. Here is the big deal that we see in the text. Know one in the Judean Churches physically had seen the transformed past persecutor of Christians. They had only heard something. 

What was it? What was their response? Saul was no longer his name. His name was now Paul. False Judaism was no longer his religion, his faith was in Jesus. Works of the flesh were no longer important, fruitfulness of the grace of God was everything.

He was being a fruitful minister of the true Gospel and the churches of Judea were glorifying God. There was observable transformation without seeing the face of Paul. Words can mean a lot, but it doesn’t mean much if there is no fruit. 

Paul was letting the Galatian believers know that the work of God through him was sounding out even to the churches of Judea. The Judeans were giving evidence that he was the real deal. The fruit of his message was his proof text.

In summary, Paul was astonished that the Galatian believers had gone AWOL from grace, so he defended his apostleship, his Gospel, and he gave evidence of the fruit of the true Gospel of grace. I believe he nailed it.

Let me ask you a simple question. Are you AWOL from grace? Do you think you need to work your way to heaven or do you reside in the finish work of Christ. Christ said it is finished! Are you living by the crystal clear water of self determined faith or are you living by the only Word without squigglies, THE WORD OF GOD. 

If you are struggling with your confidence in your salvation, settle it today, knowing that no work on your part will save you. If you have put your trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior, you are saved.

 If you are in bondage to a work salvation environment run from it, the gospel of men is garbage. Let me tell you it is out there. I came from an area of Oregon where some “Christian” would question your salvation if you didn’t wear a long sleeve shirt to church or if you used the “wrong” version of the Bible. Listen you have freedom in Christ to obey God and love God, confidently knowing your salvation is secured by God. 

Listen what John 10:27-29 says:

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me,[a] is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.

No one can snatch you out of Jesus’ hand. No one can snatch you out of the Father’s hand, not even yourself.

Let me close with this. There are two opposing spiritual sides in the world. The messengers of God and the messengers of men, the Gospel of God and the gospel of men, salvation according to God and salvation according to men, and pleasing God and pleasing men. This is an age-old conflict, and it is here today. Don’t fall prey to the gospel of men, follow and trust the Bible!