All of grace. Just like us. Galatians 1.13-18
Galatians 1 (5)
Opening Prayer: Psalm 18.1-3
I will love You, O LORD, my strength.
The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised;
So shall I be saved from my enemies.
Sing Psalm 18.1-3.
(St. Columba: How Sweet and Awful)
I love You, LORD, my Strength, my Rock, my Savior and my Fort;
my God, my ever-shelt’ring Rock, You shield my trembling heart.
My Stronghold, LORD, my Saving Horn, I call to You with praise!
From those who Your salvation scorn You save us all our days.
Read Galatians 1.1-18; meditate on verses 13-18.
Preparation
1. What was Paul’s “former conduct”?
2. What happened to change that?
Meditation
Here Paul takes a step back to remind the Galatians that grace had been the operative power in his life from the beginning of his faith in Jesus.
Everybody knew what Paul was like before he met Jesus on the Damascus Road. He fiercely and cruelly opposed the faith of Jesus out of zeal for the traditions of his forebears and hunger for the approval of his superiors. But the grace of God worked powerfully in Paul, first to bring him to faith in Jesus (v. 15) and then to equip him with deeper understanding of the Good News he had come to know.
God sent Paul into Arabia for an extended season of deprivation and rebuilding. How we would love to know more about that time! But Paul tells us only that Arabia was where the Lord prepared him for his life and ministry. The goal of this time was that God might “reveal His Son” in Paul, as He had on the Damascus Road, that both in his life and words people might know convincing proof that Jesus was alive, just as Paul proclaimed.
Paul sought no man’s approval in those early days with Jesus. He didn’t ask his superiors and teachers if this could be so; and he didn’t turn to the apostles in Jerusalem (vv. 15, 16). He got away from everything familiar and comfortable because that’s what he needed to do to concentrate on knowing Jesus.
Get with Jesus—alone, in an undisturbed place. He wants to show you more of Himself, more clearly, consistently, and convincingly, so that you reveal Him to the people in your world. This kind of transformation comes only by being in the Lord’s Presence, in prayer and in His Word.
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
Although the Gospel is wondrously simple to explain and accept, the full Gospel is more complex. Yes, the beauty of God’s forgiveness, grace, and mercy towards His enemies is astonishing, and the nature of all that being given to us as a gift is beyond comprehension. Yes, yes, and yes.
But the hard work of sanctification is often overlooked and downplayed. For we fear that if we explain that salvation might entail work—things other than fun and games, joy and bliss, financial security, health and happiness and wealth—then people might not be so eager and willing to sign up for it. And then we, like the prophets, disciples, and apostles of old, might not see abundant responses to our evangelistic efforts and we might even have to suffer a tad for our faith. Heaven forbid!
A full-on walk with the Lord involves more study, work, and preparation than most are led to believe. It is an ongoing, lifelong process whereby we are becoming more like Jesus every day. Sanctification does not just happen—it is accomplished by conscientious, daily, dedicated time in God’s Word and in prayer.
Paul, who was confident enough of his own growth that he could say “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ” (1 Cor. 11.1), did not become that person overnight; nor did he become sanctified by rubbing shoulders with lots of Christian folks or conferring with great Christian minds. No, as he points out to his readers, “I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me…[but] after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter…” (Gal. 1.16-18).
We might be tempted to think that Paul needed this “time out” because of his destructive past; but as he said, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3.23). All. We all share the same past of being displeasing to God and rejecting the glorious gift of His Son. “Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight—that You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me” (Ps. 51.4, 5).
Nowadays, the modus operandi is:
1. Get saved.
2. Start talking.
And although we all are told to “sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience…” (1 Pet. 3.15, 16), there is something to be said for taking time out to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 3.18).
Peter encouraged people to do this, to dig deep and study hard, because in the Scriptures, and he singled out Paul’s epistles, “some things [are] hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures” (2 Pet. 3.15, 16). Peter warned them, “since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked…” (2 Pet. 3.17).
Our time of early sanctification can be a both/and time of growth in the Lord and talking about Jesus, but heavy on the getting to know Him. And then throughout the rest of our lives, being sanctified should always be heavy on the learning Jesus part. When we love the Lord God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, the very essence of Jesus should be oozing from every part of our lives. Jesus will be all in all. And He cannot be hidden within our being—even if we tried.
“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matt. 5.14-16).
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations” (Jer. 1.5). There is nothing wrong with taking time to carefully fulfill this calling.
Reflection
1. Why must we take the time to invest in our own growth in the Lord?
2. How would you counsel a new believer to prepare for a lifetime of sanctification?
3. How can believers encourage one another in the work of growing into Jesus? Whom will you encourage today?
All who are savingly converted, are called by the grace of God; their conversion is wrought by his power and grace working in them. It will but little avail us to have Christ revealed to us, if he is not also revealed in us. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on Galatians 1.15-24
Pray Psalm 18.25-36.
Give thanks and praise to God for your salvation and for the calling He has issued you. Call on Him for wisdom, grace, and strength to fulfill your calling today.
Sing Psalm 18.25, 26, 29-36.
(I Am Thine: I Am Thine, O Lord)
You are kind, O LORD, to the kind at heart; with the blameless You are pure.
To the pure of heart You Your grace impart, to the crooked You are sure.
Refrain v. 49
I will thank You, thank You gracious LORD, I will lift Your Name in praise
‘til the nations hear Your saving Word and amend their sinful ways.
In Your strength, O LORD, I can leap a wall, I can stand against the sword.
For Your way is pure, You’re a shield to all who depend upon Your Word.
Refrain
Who is God but You, there’s no other Stone where we find the strength to stand.
Let my hands and feet be for You alone as I walk in Your commands.
Refrain
You have saved me, LORD, and Your gentleness holds me up and makes me strong.
You enlarge my steps as You guide and bless and preserve me all life long.
Refrain
T. M. and Susie Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
