Galatians 1:10-2:16
Title: Vertical Living in a Horizontal World
* 1 Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the
Father, who raised him from the dead— 2 and all the brothers who are with me, To the churches
of Galatia: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave
himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and
Father, 5 to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
* 6 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— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who
trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven
should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As
we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the
one you received, let him be accursed.
* 10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I
were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. 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. 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, and who called me by his grace, 16 was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in
order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone;
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.
* 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.
* 1 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along
with me. 2 I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before
those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make
sure I was not running or had not run in vain. 3 But even Titus, who was with me, was not
forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek.
* 4 Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom
that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— 5 to them we did not
yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for
you. 6 And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to
me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me.
* 7 On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the
uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised 8 (for he
who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through
me for mine to the Gentiles), 9 and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be
pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to
Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 Only, they
asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.
* 11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood
condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but
when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. 13 And the
rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by
their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the
gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a
Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”
* 15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person is not
justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in
Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by
works of the law no one will be justified.
As we further our time in Galatians, we’re looking to better understand - What’s it Mean to Be Saved?
As was illustrated this morning, the Apostle Paul is defending the gospel that he preached to the Galatians.
The church had been visited by respected Jewish teachers from Jerusalem that claimed to be Christians.
They may very well have been some of those that Paul calls “false brothers” in 2:4.
This would mean that whether they thought they were Christians or were playing a part, they weren’t born
again believers.
I think that Paul was safe to assume this because, if they were denying the gospel of Christ, they didn’t
know Christ.
As Paul defends himself as an Apostle and the gospel he preached, there’s much for us to learn.
There’s the question of who’s approval should matter most to us.
There’s the issue of whether we have been accepted by God and given a significance that no one can ever
diminish.
There’s the opportunity that every Christian has to make their life about their Savior rather than themselves.
I sum up all of these principles from our verses as -
Have you ever watched what happens to people when their phone hits 5%?
Grown adults turn into desperate scavengers.
They beg strangers for chargers.
They crawl under restaurant tables looking for outlets.
They huddle by the wall outlet like it's a campfire.
I've seen people calmer during a tornado warning than a low-battery warning.
Isn't it funny how panicked we get about losing our connection to the world?
And how calm we stay when we've gone days without connecting with God?
Or think about what you do after a bad day.
Some people pray.
Other people open the freezer.
You don't grab a bowl, because a bowl implies limits.
You grab the carton and the big spoon.
Twenty minutes later, the ice cream is gone, and the problem is still there.
We all run somewhere for comfort.
But the comfort this world offers melts fast.
Or picture yourself on a plane when it hits turbulence.
What does everybody do?
We look at the flight attendant's face.
If she's calmly pouring coffee, we relax.
If she sits down and buckles in, we start reviewing the safety placard.
We're reading the face of someone strapped into the same plane we are.
Meanwhile, the one who actually knows what's going on is up front flying it.
So many of us get our peace from looking at the faces around us instead of from the One who's in control.
We worry about our connection to the world.
We run to the world for comfort.
We look to the world for peace.
And all the while, the God who holds everything is right there.
God calls us to something better.
To be more concerned with our connection to Him than our connection to anything else.
To be more comforted by His presence than by anything this world can offer.
To look up instead of looking around.
That's what it means to live vertical in a horizontal world.
These are small examples of living vertical.
And we’re learn from some pretty big scenarios that the Apostle Paul lived within.
The first take away from Paul’s example of living vertical in a horizontal world is to -
1. CHOOSE GOD’S APPROVAL OVER PEOPLE-PLEASING.
* 10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I
were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ… 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.
The legalists that had come from Jerusalem were telling the Galatian church that they had to do certain
actions before God would accept them into His family.
In their thinking, because the Jewish people were God’s covenant people through the OT, Gentiles needed
to become Jews before they could become Christians.
They accused Paul of teaching a false gospel - adapting it to be what the Galatians would want to accept.
At this point in his letter, Paul is reminding us that he is not preaching the gospel for people but for God.
Paul defended himself to the Corinthians, telling them that he wasn’t concerned about
their opinions about Him since God had accepted him.
* 1 Corinthians 4:3-4 3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any
human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. 4 For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am
not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me.
These are amazing statements that show how powerful it should be when we’re accepted by God.
When we receive Jesus as our Savior, we receive His righteousness in place of our sin.
This should leave us in a place where we needn’t care if someone else judges us because we’ve been
acquitted by the most important judge.
The late Tim Keller wrote a booklet based off of Paul’s words here called the Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness.
“So Paul does not look to the Corinthians for his identity. He does not go to them for the verdict that he is a
‘somebody’. He does not get that sense of identity from them. But he does not get it from himself either. He
knows that trying to find self-esteem by living up to a certain set of standards is a trap.”
Paul will go on to say this to the Corinthians about those who get sucked into people
pleasing.
2 Corinthians 10:12 - “But when they measure themselves by one another and compare
themselves with one another, they are without understanding.”
Contrast this with his description of himself when he was pursuing his own righteousness through the Law.
He says in v. 14, he was advancing in Judaism, beyond the other men his age.
It was all about how he rated in comparison to others.
Quote - C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity - “It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being
above the rest.”
I can hear Jesus describe the prayer of the Pharisee in Luke 18:11 -
“God, I thank you that I am not like other men.”
I read a story about a young man who was sick of his self-image being based on comparison with others.
His solution was to join a monastery in a remote part of the world.
After about 6 months, his parents read a letter in which he talked about how happy he’d become.
He shared how he’d let go of all connection to self-promotion and ambition to succeed.
He was excited to share how his teachers were pleased with his progress in self-enlightenment.
At the end of his letter he wrote,
“My mentor tells me that he’s amazed at my progress as I let go of all pursuit of achievement.
I was pleased to hear that the monastic council considers me to be the 2 nd most humble monk here.
And I think I might be able to be #1 by the end of the year.”
Quote ― Timothy Keller - “Do you realize that it is only in the gospel of Jesus Christ that you get the
verdict before the performance? The atheist might say that they get their self-image from being a good
person. They are a good person and they hope that eventually they will get a verdict that confirms that they
are a good person. Performance leads to the verdict. For the Buddhist too, performance leads to the verdict.
If you are a Muslim, performance leads to the verdict. All this means that every day, you are in the
courtroom, every day you are on trial. That is the problem. But Paul is saying that in Christianity, the verdict
leads to performance.”
When God accepts you into His family, you have all the acceptance you need.
We can stop hoping that people will accept us
We can stop changing in order to be accepted.
Even if your earthly family were to reject you, Your heavenly Father will never forsake you.
When God declared you secure in His love, you have all the security you need
We can stop trying to save enough for a rainy day.
You can stop doing what you think will make you secure by making that person stay in your life.
The most important being will never leave you.
When God tells you that you’re significant to Him, you have all the significance you need.
We can stop pursuing accolades or acknowledgement.
Your name is written on the most important guest list that has ever been written.
And it’ll never be revoked.
The saddest sight I see today is among those people who don’t know Christ as their Savior.
They describe themselves as having woken to the truth.
But why does their truth seem to keep changing.
They end up controlled to the point where they’ll redefine family, gender, and love.
They’ll recite the same talking points about the environment and capitalism and Israel and abortion and
immigration.
And it all just seems to be so that they can stay out of the crosshairs - to be accepted by the cool crowd or
just not shunned.
It’s truly sad.
And I know that if these people could find their approval from God by trusting in His Savior, Jesus, they will
find what they’re truly looking for.
The second take away from Paul’s example of living vertical in a horizontal world is to -
2. TRUST THE GOSPEL OVER PEOPLE’S INSTRUCTIONS.
* 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… 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.
?- Why’s Paul making this point that he didn’t consult with anyone else?
Recall, his argument here is all about defending himself against being a people pleaser and defending the
gospel he preached as being from God.
He’s arguing that no one in Jerusalem told him what to preach.
While, previously, we read that Paul is not preaching a particular gospel FOR people, here he’s showing that
the gospel he preached didn’t come FROM people.
We’ll get into this more next week as we look at the church’s acceptance of Gentiles in the book of Acts.
For now, understand that Paul was put in a tough spot.
On the one hand, these teachers who’d come from Jerusalem were saying that the gospel Paul preached
was his own concoction.
One other hand they were saying that Paul wasn’t his own man but was propped up by the important
people in the Jerusalem church.
Everyone knows what Mt. Rushmore looks like.
Without seeing it personally, we’ve all seen it thousands of times.
I remember the first time I saw Mt. Rushmore in person.
When we came around the bend in the Black Hills, my jaw dropped.
There just wasn’t any way for a picture to do it justice.
?- What if, when we lived in Rapid City, I never went to see it because I wasn’t’ impressed with the pictures
or because someone told me it’s not that impressive?
How sad would that have be.
Or what if I didn’t go because someone told me that it cost more than I could pay to see it.
That’s kind of like what these teachers were doing.
They were telling the Galatians that they had it wrong because they needed to get themselves cleaned up
before God would have a relationship with them.
As a born again Christian, if you ever feel like you don’t have a right to come before God to find grace and
help, you need to remind yourself of the gospel.
There might be some list of do’s and don’ts out there that people treat like there’s no recovering from them.
Divorce is a devastating event to go through.
And it can be a very sinful decision to make.
But divorce isn’t some unforgiveable sin that sidelines a repentant Christian for the rest of their lives.
Unwed pregnancy is something that has affected our culture dramatically.
And it shouldn’t be thought of lightly or swept under the rug.
But it’s not something that should make a child illegitimate or the person that bore that child an outcast.
These are just two sins that the American tradition has told us are ones for which there’s no redemption.
That’s not what the gospel tells us
The gospel tells us that we’ve traded the penalty and shame of our sin for Christ’s righteousness.
The third take away from Paul’s example of living vertical in a horizontal world is to -
3. GLORIFY GOD WITH YOUR STORY OVER ELEVATING SELF.
* 13 For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God
violently and tried to destroy it… 15 But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and
who called me by his grace, 16 was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach
him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone;.. 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.
Paul takes the Galatian readers back to his life before his conversion as a persecutor of Christians.
Paul was cruel toward those who claimed Jesus as their Messiah.
The first time Paul appears in the book of Acts, he’s still called Saul, and it was at the
stoning of the humble Christian man named Steven
Acts 7:58 58 Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their
garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
Soon after this, we’re told that Saul/Paul exceeded in his hatred as a leader of the inquisition against the
Christians.
Acts 8:3 3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and
women and committed them to prison.
The difference was made when Saul was born again by Jesus Himself visibly appearing to him.
?- Don’t you love Paul’s description of God’s gracious salvation in v. 15-16?
15 But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, 16 was pleased to
reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles
Yesterday, our Men’s Bible Study covered Saul’s conversion on the road to Damascus in Acts 9.
This morning, we look at the description Paul gave in sharing his testimony for King Agrippa in Acts 26:9-18
9 “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, ‘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.’
I love how Jesus described the two areas of truth that Paul was going to give witness to.
“the things in which you have seen me”
“those in which I will appear to you”
Jesus had been revealing Himself to Paul and He would continue to show Him what he was to share with
others.
And Paul is an excellent example of what it looks like to glorify God rather than exalting ourselves.
This is why he said this about the gospel and himself -
* 1 Timothy 1:15 15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.
Picture the donkey Jesus rode into Jerusalem.
The crowds are shouting.
People are throwing their coats on the road.
Palm branches are waving everywhere.
And what if that little donkey is thinking, "Wow. They really love me."
He lifts his head a little higher.
He puts a little strut in his step.
Now take Jesus off his back and walk the donkey down that same road the next day.
No shouting.
No coats.
No palm branches.
Just a donkey.
The applause was never for him.
It was for the One he was carrying.
And that's true for every one of us who have been born again.
Your story draws attention only because of who your life should be lifting up.
The moment you think the praise is for you, you've missed the whole point.
John Newton understood that.
He was the slave-ship captain who wrote "Amazing Grace."
He became one of the best-known preachers in England.
And when it came time to write his own epitaph, he didn't list his accomplishments.
He didn't mention his hymns.
He didn't mention his fame.
Instead, he wrote this:
JOHN NEWTON, Clerk,
Once an infidel and libertine,
A servant of slaves in Africa,
Was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Saviour
JESUS CHRIST,
Preserved, restored, pardoned,
And appointed to preach the faith
He had long labored to destroy.
Newton knew who he was carrying.
Paul knew who he was carrying.
The question is, do you?
The simplest way to explain your story is answering these three descriptions:
Who I was before I was born again or who I would’ve been.
How I became born again.
What God has done in my life as a result of being born again.
Our series asks a simple question: What does it mean to be saved?
This morning, Paul gives us part of the answer.
Being saved means God's approval matters more than anyone else's.
Being saved means trusting what God has said over what people say.
Being saved means your life becomes a story about His grace instead of your greatness.
But maybe you're here this morning and you've never been saved.
You've been living horizontal your whole life.
Chasing approval.
Following instructions.
Trying to be somebody.
And you're exhausted.
Paul was too, until Jesus met him on the road to Damascus.
If Jesus could save the man who tried to destroy His church, He can save you.
You don't have to clean yourself up first.
You just have to look up.
