Scripture Text: Galatians 1:10-24
Quotes for Reflection
Charles Simeon, Horae Homileticae: Galatians-Ephesians
I would most gladly, if it were in my power, please all who are connected with me: but if they reduce me to the dilemma of either displeasing them or God, they must excuse me: for “I must obey God rather than man.” The persons who are offended with me, would expect their servant to obey them rather than a stranger: and is not God entitled to that deference from me? I am “a servant of Jesus Christ;” and I must, at the peril of my soul, obey him. And as our blessed Lord said respecting his own conduct to his heavenly Father, “I do always those things which please him;” so, God helping me, will I say: and if I stand condemned for it at man’s tribunal, I have this comfort, that, when standing at the tribunal of my God, he will say, “Well done, good and faithful servant; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.”
Timothy Keller, Galatians: Living in line with the Truth of the Gospel
On the one hand, he was incredibly moral and righteous, yet he was not good enough to be right with God. On the other hand, he was incredibly evil, yet he was not so bad that the gospel of grace could not redeem him. No one is so good that they don’t need the grace of the gospel, nor so bad that they can’t receive the grace of the gospel. Paul shows us here in the most vivid way that the gospel calls us out of religion as much as it calls us out of irreligion.
Todd Wilson, Galatians: Gospel-Rooted Living
Paul knows his transformed life is the most compelling case he can make for the truth of the gospel. And it’s no different for us. We are our best argument. Our changed life is our best argument for the truth of the gospel. It is our most powerful apologetic. Nothing argues more forcefully for the reality of the gospel. Nothing makes the truth of the gospel more real to others. Nothing brings the power of the gospel closer to others so they can see it and indeed touch it. Our life, changed by the gospel, is our best argument for the truth of the gospel. We are our best argument!
Application Questions
1. How has the gospel of grace freed you from the need for man’s approval? How has it enabled you to serve others in love?
2. Who might need to hear your story of how God called you by his grace?
3. What about your experience of the triumph of grace do you want others to experience?