July 23 - Galatians 1:11-2:10 - "Turned Around"

MPC 23rd July 2017.

Phil Campbell

Don't you just love a good turnaround story?

I still remember Mad Dog Mudford.

A former bikie. drug dealer. Tough guy. Mad Dog was a travelling preacher back in the nineties. He might still be around. Telling the story of how his life turned around when he came to faith in Jesus Christ. Tattoos all over the place; he came across as really tough. A bad guy. Whose life had been turned around.

Same on the world scale with Joshua Milton Blah-yi.

Who in the 1980s was one of Liberia's most feared warlords. Brutal in a way that made Mad Dog Mudford look like a tame pussy cat. Josh Blah-yi led an army of child soldiers; and they killed - by his own claims - thousands of people.

In a profile in the New Yorker magazine, one guy interviewed says, "Blah-yi was a notorious killer. He chopped up people. They don't stay alive."

And then. He came to faith in Christ.

After the war, he was called before the Liberian reconciliation commission. And he confessed everything. He apologised. He said "I've done terrible things. And I'm truly sorry." He said, "Even though it is impossible, I still know that Jesus love me. And if God can save me, He can save you, too."

Since then, he's been a preacher and a pastor. Putting right his wrongs. Running a rehab centre for the child soldiers whose lives he helped ruin.

There's a movie about him. There's a book called "The Redemption of an African Warlord"; and in the foreword it says... "Not since the conversion of Saul of tarsus on the road to Damascus has there been a conversion story more radically compelling."

It is, in fact, the conversion of Saul of Tarsus on the Road from Jerusalem to Damascus that we're focusing on this morning.

A story in some ways more remarkable than a bikie like Mad Dog Mudford or an African warlord like Joshua Milton Blah-yi.

Because there's a significant difference.

We Christians love a good conversion story. Lives turned around from drugs and crime; and that's good. Sells books.

But with Saul of Tarsus, who as part of the package even changes his name; to Paul; but with Saul of Tarsus; there's a difference that for some of us here this morning might be at least a little bit disturbing.

Because he's not turning around from a life of crime at all. But a life of religion. A life of morality. A life of absolute zeal for his Jewish Faith.

And even though at the time he's on a campaign to eradicate Christianity it's absolutely legal. He's not an outlaw at all. It's officially sanctioned. And he's got the paperwork to prove it.

Saul. Is a very decent guy. And upstanding citizen. A pillar of the Jewish Faith.

Saul knows every Old Testament law. And keeps it. Saul. Is at the top of his college year group. The envy of his classmates. The smart guy who knows all the answers. Saul is on the fast track to the celebrity speaker circuit; he's zealous. He's pious. He's incredibly religious.

See, the fascinating thing is... some people have to get converted to gospel Christianity from a life of crime. While other people have to get converted to gospel Christianity from a life of religion.

If you were here last week you'll remember the opening words of his letter. To these churches in the middle of Turkey that have grown out of his preaching of the gospel there. And now they're in danger of turning away.

The word gospel. Which literally translates as good news. Paul's good news that Jesus Christ gave his life for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age and God has raised him from the dead. And that sets us free to live under his grace. Rescued. From our sin. Not earned by our good behaviour.

And yet a message being challenged by others who are following Paul around and saying to his converts, you've gotta ignore Paul's good news, because he's missed out mentioning that you've gotta be Jewish first. That you've gotta be circumcised. If you're a bloke. And you've gotta follow our laws. And you've gotta clean yourselves up. You've gotta get our Jewish religion. Before you get our Jewish messiah. Even if he is meant to be ruler of all nations.

Paul says to them be careful of anyone who talks like that. Because if anyone comes to you with another gospel; it's not good news at all.

And it's at this point. That Paul launches his own conversion story. And the story of what's happened since. To make himself an example.

Now whenever you're reading someone else's mail like this, it's a bit like listening in to one end of a phone call.

I reckon if I walk into the room when Lou's on the phone to any of our kids, I can figure out which one she's talking to in about 30 seconds. You're just hearing one end of the conversation, but most times I can put together the pieces and figure out what's going on.

When you pick up the threads here in Galatians 1 from verse 11, when you work backwards from the sort of stuff Paul's saying to them, you can pretty much sense what he's defending against. It's a battle that's still going on; over whether the gospel carries the baggage of all the Old Testament laws or it doesn't.

And on the one side you've got these guys who are following Paul around, they've come from Jerusalem which is a bit like Christianity HQ, and they're saying that Paul's up to mischief. And that the original apostles like Peter and James and John aren't on board with him.

They're saying Paul's the only one with this crazy idea that gentiles, that non Jews are welcome in. Without circumcision. Without Jewishness.

They're saying, if only you knew what the big guns are saying back in Jerusalem. You'd know we're right. And Paul's wrong.

Which in days before Facebook, where you could just send off a message and get an answer quick; this is pretty scary stuff.

I mean, what if they're right. And Paul's wrong. And we gentiles are not right with God through Jesus at all?

Get it? Do you have to do more stuff? Or not?

So while this passage looks like a bunch of history and dates and places you've maybe never been to, we're actually betting our lives on it. And his point's simple. His message hasn't come from Jerusalem. But it's endorsed by Jerusalem. Because even though he's going to a different audience; it's the same gospel.

So first up, and here's where Paul's conversion story comes in, Paul wants to say, yep, sure. My gospel doesn't come from Jerusalem. And it doesn't come from Peter and James and John and the other Christian heavyweights back at head office. Because it's come independently. From Jesus Christ himself.

On the road to Damascus.

Now if you haven't heard the story before, you can read it back in Acts chapter 9.

Here's Saul of Tarsus, young gun religious hot head. Full of zeal. Full of law. Full of Jewish regulations.

Absolutely determined to stamp out this new Christianity. Absolutely determined to stamp out this stupid rumour of the resurrection of Jesus.

Absolutely committed to use whatever means necessary to stop it spreading.

When he's stopped in his tracks. It's worth listening to what happened. Acts 9.

Saul's on his way to Damascus. with official letters of authority. So that if he found any there who belonged to "the Way", whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

And as he gets near Damascus, look what happens. Acts 9 verse 3.

As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"5 "Who are you, Lord?"Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,"he replied 6 "Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."

The other guys with him are speechless. They hear the noise, but they haven't seen the vision. Paul gets up. Blind. Goes into Damascus. Sits there waiting three days. In the dark. Not eating.

Until a few days later Jesus says to a guy called Ananias... go and find him. Ananias says to the Lord Jesus, are you crazy? This guy's come to arrest us! And the Lord says to Ananias,

go anyway. Because this man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.

And so Ananias goes. Lays hands on Saul. Calls him brother. Gives Saul his sight back. And he's filled with the holy spirit. And baptised. A new man. Ready to go to the gentiles.

Now see, there's a conversion story. But you'll notice, not a Jerusalem apostle in sight. Not a peter or a James or a John anywhere.

Just the risen Jesus on the road. And a no-name ordinary Christian guy in town who was too scared at first to even go near him.

Totally turned around.

From absolutely decent and zealous and sincere religion. To being unavoidably convinced first and foremost that this Jesus he was persecuting was in fact risen and active. By Jesus himself.

So here's what he says in verses 11 to 14. Here's his summary to the Galatians.

He says, "I want you to know that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ."

He says, you've heard my story. You've heard of my previous way of life in Judaism; you've heard, verse 13, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. He says, the fact is, "I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers."

In other words, if it's Jewish laws you want, look no further. I was an expert. If it's Jewish traditions you want, I was a zealot. Absolutely passionate. For the traditions of my fathers. That these judaisers from Jerusalem are trying to push on you.

But I got the gospel instead. First hand. From Jesus.

And when that happened, he says, when God stepped in and turned me around, when God who set me apart from my mother's womb and then called me and revealed his son in me so I could preach him among the gentiles... my immediate response wasn't to go running up to Jerusalem to get validated by those other guys. I didn't consult any human being, verse 16; I didn't go up to Jerusalem to see the guys who were apostles before I was.

But I went to Arabia.

And then back to Damascus. Again.

But look, here's the thing. Point 2 in Paul's defence of his gospel. When I did finally go to Jerusalem. There was no problem.

It wasn't for three years. When he's run out of Damascus. For preaching about Jesus. But then he goes. And meets Peter. cephas. Stays a couple of weeks. And meets James. Brother of Jesus. Here's a little snapshot of the first century church. This famous out of town convert; in Jerusalem, Airbnb at Peter's place. Coffee with James.

It's there in verse 18. But at that stage, nobody else.

From there it's up to Cilicia. And Syria. Still not personally introduced to the churches back in Judea, verse 22, but he knows they're backing him.

See, just a reminder again of why he's saying this. Because teachers have turned up at his churches in Galatia saying the Jewish Christians back in Jerusalem and Judea are against him. Saying Paul's got it wrong. But everything on Paul's timeline is saying the opposite. He's saying sure I didn't start there; but at every point they've backed me.

Pick up his words from verse 23.

23 They only heard the report: "The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy."24 And they praised God because of me.

And then finally. After 14 years on the road.

It's back again to Jerusalem with Barnabas and Titus the Greek.

And look, let's be honest. It's not an easy visit. Because the Judaisers, the Christians who want to be Jewish first; by this time they're making noise back in Jerusalem. They're complaining about what Paul's been doing.

It's worth putting them on a chart. There are the Jews right over one side. On the right. There are the gentile Christians and Paul. Right over on the left. The gospel Christians. And there are these Jewish Christians in the middle. Are they Christian first. Or are they Jewish?

Are they happy to live and let live. Or are they going to pull everyone over their way. Jewish first. Then a bit of Jesus on top.

And Paul: maybe he's even doubting himself. Have I been wasting my time? Have I been running in vain? Chapter 2 verse 2. Will Titus, my Greek Christian mate, in the end have to be circumcised and take on all the Jewish laws? To be kosher?

So he has a private meeting with the leaders. Peter and James and John. And he talks through with them his gospel. That Christ died for our sins to rescue us from this evil age, and that God's raised him from the dead. And he died to rescue the gentiles from their sins as well.

And the good news is. especially for Titus. Is that he's safe from the knife.

They have their conference; the other guys say, Paul., you're absolutely right. no pressure.

Verse 3...

Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek.

Can you imagine the poor guy's relief.

Paul says in verse 4, it was only an issue because some false believers had infiltrated our ranks.

They're spies. Pretending to be part of Paul's gentile church. But they've got their secret cameras and their recording gear, they're taking copious notes. To spy, says Paul, on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus. And to make us slaves.

Now I'm wondering... if there were someone spying on you. Would they even see... freedom in Christ Jesus? Hope so.

Or would your freedom in Christ be covered by layers of slavery to superstitions or religious rules.

We admire it a bit sometimes. Oh, she's very religious, isn't she. The Roman Catholic way of chanting the rosary over and over again. The terrifying tedium or right words that have to be said in right ways. Islamic Prayer mats facing Mecca. Their commitment.

But it's not the way.

Paul says, these Judaisers, and he's looking back to the time fourteen years ago when they hammered this stuff out in Jerusalem; they wanted to add circumcision. They wanted to add food rules. They wanted to add rituals. They wanted to add the law.

And you know what? The leaders in Jerusalem... Paul says the ones held in high esteem, I don't care if they were important or not - he says those guys. You know what. They added nothing. To my message.

They're the key words. Chapter 2, the end of verse 6.

... they added nothing to my message.

Yeah but surely they need to be - no!

Yeah but surely they need to start - no!

See, here's the thing. If Jesus has died for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age; if he in his righteousness has stepped in and substituted for our punishment; if he's come to the rescue...

... isn't it kind of offensive to the rescuer to say, yeah but you've gotta add something? To save yourself? Especially if it's cost him everything. And you say, "Ah yeah, I was pretty right. I swam most of the way back myself." Look, I know that's what we're inclined to do to save face. But this isn't like that. And there's nothing to add.

This is drive away no more to pay. No dealer overheads. No small print. No "tyres are optional extra".

Paul says, as for those held in high esteem in Jerusalem, the big guns; they added nothing. They recognised... verse 7 ... that Jesus has given me the job of preaching to the Uncircumcised. To the gentiles. The same way Peter's been commissioned to go to the Jews.

And so he says we shook hands, gave each other a hug. And off we went. All good. James. Cephas. The Aramaic Jewish version of Peter's name. And John. All theologically on exactly the same page. He says in verse 9, the guys they called the pillars of the Jerusalem Church - the gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship... shook our hands... when they recognised the grace given to me. And agreed that we should go to the Gentiles. And they should go to the circumcised. The Jews. Without adding anything. Except the request, verse 10, that we keep on remembering the poor. By which he's referring to the Jerusalem Christians hit by a huge famine. That you might remember Paul's been collecting money for from all the gentile churches.

Astonishing isn't it. The gentile churches have been sending financial aid back to Jerusalem. And in return, Jerusalem is sending out these guys telling them to keep the rules.

Peter and James and John, they say, please keep supporting us. And Paul says in verse 10, that's exactly what I want to do.

Now we do love a good conversion story, don't we? I get that. The bikie drug dealer. The African war-lord. They repent. They call on Jesus. And they're rescued. Turned around.

But I hope some of you are maybe just a little bit disturbed today. When you realise Saul who became Paul.; he wasn't like that at all.

If anyone deserved to be right with God already... he did. If you get there by being religious - top of the class. And yet he needed to start again. And recognise the gospel of the generous risen Jesus is at the centre of everything.

The New York Pastor Tim Keller says that getting a grip on the difference between gospel and religion makes all the difference in the world. To everything.

God's Acceptance. Religion says: "I obey; therefore, I'm accepted."

Gospel says: "I'm accepted; therefore, I obey from the heart."

Our motivation. Religion: It's based on fear and insecurity.

Gospel: We're motivated by grateful joy.

Our circumstances. Religion: When circumstances in my life go wrong, I struggle and I'm angry at God; because deep down I think that anyone who's good deserves a comfortable life.

Gospel: When circumstances in my life go wrong, I struggle, but I know my punishment fell on Jesus; and I trust God's fatherly love in the midst of trials.

Tim Keller says, criticism. That changes too.

Religion: When I'm criticised, I'm either angry or devastated because it attacks my basic view of myself as a good person.

Gospel: When I'm criticised, I struggle, but I'm secure. Because I know my identity isn't built on my record. But on God's love for me in Christ.

And finally confidence. Religion: Swinging between two poles. When I'm living up to my standards, I'm feeling confident and a little bit arrogant. But if I slip up and don't live up to my own standards, I feel like a failure.

But Gospel: My self-view isn't based on my moral performance. As Martin Luther put it 500 years ago, I'm at the same time a sinner and yet justified. So bad that he had to die for me; so loved that he was glad to die for me. Which leads me as a gospel person when I fail to both deep humility and unshakeable confidence at the same time.

It's a beautiful balance isn't it? The gospel. Changes everything. It's great news. Freedom! The gospel plus a bunch of rules... not good news at all.

And the Apostles in Jerusalem, even though they were going to target their preaching to the Jews... added nothing. To Paul's gospel message.

We mustn't either. If you're one of those people who tends to, and you use that as a way to measure other people please take this message to heart.

But most especially this morning, if you're one of those people and you use that to measure yourself and you always end up feeling a lousy insecure failure; friends, will you most of all take this to heart. Because the gospel really is... good news.