Grace Changes Everything, October 19, 2025

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Well, good morning, church. This is the day that the Lord has made, and we will rejoice and be glad in it. It is a good thing to be together in the house of the Lord. I want to say good morning to those of you here in the worship center, to those of you in the chapel, good morning to you as well. To those of you a part of our virtual family, thank you so much for connecting with us wherever you're watching from this morning or today if you're watching the playback. Do me a favor. I like to do this every time. I preach and share at any one of our campuses, one church in six, soon to be seven locations, and so would you do me a favor both here in the room and in the chapel, would you turn to a person next to you or around you and just say, I'm glad you're here this morning? Just tell them, I'm glad you're here this morning. Amen. Amen. Thank you for doing that, and I always believe it is important that we do that because anytime we come to the house of the Lord, not only are we coming to learn of God's word,

to worship him, we're also coming to be encouraged and be an encouragement, so you never know who you're sitting next to or who needs to hear those words, and so I'm excited that we get to dive into God's word together today. My name is Justin Bilson. If I haven't met you yet, I'm one of the four teaching pastors here at Fellowship, and we are in week two of our series, Walking Through the Book of Galatians, and so I want to invite you to join me in Galatians chapter one. My teammate, Ben Parkinson, last week, he walked us through the intro to the series, walked us through verses one through nine, and so we're going to pick up today where he left off in verse 10 of Galatians chapter one, so if you turn there with me today. I also want to make you aware, if you haven't already gotten one, we do have some reading plans. If you want to read ahead with us the week prior to to know where we're reading and to soak in the scriptures in your personal time, Galatians is a wonderful letter, and so you can grab this reading plan that our media team did a great job creating in both of our venues. If you're watching at home, you can go to our website and connect there, but again, we would love for you, if you want to know where we're going to be each week, you can grab one of those reading guides as well, all right? So Galatians chapter one, verse 10 through 24

is where I want to read this morning. Galatians chapter one, verse 10 through 24. This is the continuation of a discussion, a discourse that the Apostle Paul has already begun, so we're stepping into the middle of him already speaking, but here in verse 10, look at where he starts, or rather he continues. Verse 10, he says, 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. For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many in my own age among my people. So extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. Verse 15, but when he who had set me apart for I was born and called me by his grace, 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,

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. Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas, that is Peter, and remained with him 15 days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord's brother. And what I am writing to you before God, I do not lie. The regions of Syria and Cilicia and I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ They only were hearing it said he who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith He once tried to destroy and they glorified God because of me It's the Word of the Lord to us this morning Galatians chapter 1 verse 10 through 24 a very unique and intriguing passage that I'm excited we get to walk through Together today. So as we consider this series this grace changes everything series I want to talk today from this thought or title if you will It's on a book on the bulletin if you have it in front of you on our app as well But I want to talk about being called by grace today I'm gonna talk about what it means the implications the weight in the beauty of being called by Grace, let's pray together father. Thank you But the joy that is ours today to gather in this space Of here in the worship center in the chapel and even those gathered online wherever they're watching from Thank you For the opportunity that we get to sing of your praises that we get to celebrate your goodness and now we approach your word Thank you that your word is life and light to us. It is not dead. It is not dormant It's not irrelevant as some would say no it speaks directly to our lives today And Lord, we need your word

So would you speak to us with this word come alive in our hearts? Would it leap off the pages would it change us? Would it convict us in the areas that we need to grow would it challenge us would it confirm some things Lord? Thank you for the time we get to spend in your word We're all in different places and stages on our journey with you Some may not even be have begun a journey with you They were invited or came to church and they don't even know who you are But thank you they get to hear the message of the gospel today And so father, I pray we pray that you would speak boldly to us Speak to our hearts. We need your word and we thank you for what you will say in Jesus name. Amen Our text this morning church contains What I would call a corrective conversation Between the Apostle Paul and believers living in the Roman province of Galatia now the reason as we learned last week been shared with us last week the reason why Paul writes to them is because Many of the Galatian believers had been deceived by false teaching They'd abandoned the truth to pursue what Paul called in chapter 1 verse 6 a different gospel So he writes to them in this letter as An apostolic leader if you're writing in the the fill-in-the-blanks Here's the first fill-in-the-blank Paul in this text is writing as an apostolic leader who is deeply concerned about the spiritual state of his readers and He is also writing as a humble man who offers his life story as evidence of God's transforming work of grace I know that's a weighted statement. But again, I want you to see Paul is writing as an Apostolic leader and a humble man who offers his life story as an evidence of God's transforming work of grace Now the reason I point to this duality in the text is because Paul on one hand. Yes He is the apostolic leader. He speaks with authority not from man But from God Paul says in verse 1 that I am an apostle of God and and he does so because he is deeply concerned That both the glory of Christ and the good of men souls are at stake Why do you say that Justin I say that because there is nothing church more dangerous to the advancement of the kingdom of God as when? false doctrine invades from outside or

Rises within the community of believers and seeks to lead them astray from the truth It's that theologian John Stott who I love he argues this look at this quote He says the devil disturbs the church as much by error as by evil When he cannot entice Christian people into sin, he deceives them with false doctrine Deception of false doctrine church was taking place among the believers in Galatia Just as it is taking place within the world today That's why Paul wrote this corrective letter to guide them back to the truth And so now that we understand the heart behind his words we approach verse 10 a conversation already in Progress Paul begins there in verse 10 or continues rather in verse 10 and he raises three rhetorical questions Notice what he says in verse 10. He says for am I now seeking the approval of man or of God or am I trying to? please Man He asked the reader these rhetorical questions hoping believing that they would say no to that question Why now now without proper context we would miss what Paul is saying here We would we would breeze past these questions. But as I studied the text this week I discovered that Paul is asking these rhetorical questions because in many ways he's speaking to the Accusations of his critics the critics the Judaizers will talk about them throughout the series the Judaizers who claimed that Paul was Adjusting his teaching because he wanted to gain favor with the Gentiles. He wanted to please them He wanted to flatter them. He wanted to persuade them so they would do what he said they also said that Paul sought to gain favor in the eyes of God through his persuasive preaching and influential ministry Church, I need you to know that Paul's credibility here is on the line They're being caught they're calling his credibility into question and the truth of the gospel is at stake So that's why Paul is addressing the rumors of his critics by reminding the reader. Here's the motivation for my ministry It's not to flatter or persuade men It's not to gain favor with God through good words or works or even to preach in a way that Pleases the ears of my audience Paul says my aim above all else is to please God

I'm a servant of Christ That's why at the end of verse 10 He says if I was still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ Because I cannot serve Christ and please men at the same time So instead I have chosen Paul says to serve Christ alone That's my motivation. That's the motivation for my ministry and friends I believe that is a healthy and dare I say a holy perspective to have Because at the end of the day our aim should be above all else to serve God And not to live for the affirmation or approval of other people So so Paul says I have this ministry then in verse 11 and 12 He says I did not receive this ministry from the Jerusalem apostles But no this mission this message came from God in other words. He's saying I didn't invent this I didn't create it in my mind. It wasn't even handed down to me as a tradition No, this was a revelation that came to me from God in Christ Jesus His distinction is important. Why Justin? It's important because Paul is speaking against those who would argue that his gospel is too good to be true It's it's it's too good to be true. Paul is preaching that works do not save us from sin He's proclaiming that faith in Christ alone Saves us from sin and declares us righteous before God That was his message. That was what he believed That was what he lived But there were some who were deserting the truth and living according to what the Judaizers taught who said that in addition to one's faith You have to join the Jewish nation You have to observe the laws and customs of Moses and you have to refuse to eat with Gentiles That simply means that in the minds of the Judaizers those who criticized Paul those who taught a different gospel Here's what they said They said that salvation and security in the kingdom of God meant accepting Christ and Moses faith and circumcision grace and

Law, this is what they preached which is not the gospel It's not the gospel and that's why Paul is writing to correct and to remind them No, you were saved by grace through faith. Not your works And as an interesting church that we even centuries ago read this letter But even still today we live in a society where there are people who think it's Jesus and it's Jesus and my good works It's Jesus and my obedience. I get to heaven through Jesus and my perfect behavior That's what some believe but we know the truth of the gospel. It's not Jesus and it's Jesus only It's it's it's Jesus only and Paul is suggesting Paul is arguing that this idea that this belief that it is Jesus and Calls into question the sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice If you say that it's Jesus and then are you saying his sacrifice is not enough? Paul is clear. He is crystal clear that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is enough It is not Jesus and it is Jesus alone And so Paul wrote to remind them this is there's only one gospel There's only one true gospel and that is the gospel. He proclaimed and not only does He proclaim it. He says my life is an example of the gospel My life is what lee strobel would call a case for grace paul offers three Three things in in the story that we see about his life The first thing that we see is that paul is honest about his life before christ That this is the apostle paul that we love and celebrate and he is honest about his life before christ Verse 10 through 14. He recounts his life Before conversion. It's interesting if you notice the text he mentions two details notice. He says I persecuted the church violently I tried to destroy it and I was zealous for the traditions Of my father's he even says in verse 13 Notice the phrase for you have heard of my former life in judaism It's interesting to me. He says that how would they have heard it? Well, there are varying beliefs and perspectives around how they may have heard it

But but we don't need to dive into all of them today. But here's what I do want you to know church I want us to know that who paul was and what paul did before he was converted Was well known He was once saul of tarsus Acts chapter 8 lets us know saul of tarsus approved of the execution of stephen It was also saul of tarsus during that great time of persecution against the church who said to have been Ravaging the church paul said that he was ravaging the church Entering house to house and dragging men and women to commit them to prison As saul of tarsus in acts 26, he says that I was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of jesus In his own words in his own words in acts 26 and acts 8 This is the state of paul's past before he encountered the resurrected christ on the road to damascus And the beauty of the gospel is that only a god Like our god could change a man like that and according to acts chapter 26. That's exactly what happened That by the grace of god paul was transformed That saul became paul by god's grace paul was honest about his life before christ. This is who I was But not only was he honest the the second thing I see is that paul provides personal evidence Of god's sovereign plan and redeeming grace His own life story. He is literally telling his testimony here Verse 15 and 16 He says when he would set me apart before I was born called me by his grace was pleased to reveal his son to me I love the fact that we see that god Chose paul and set him apart for a special purpose before he was born He also called him by his grace And revealed himself to him so that he would then give him a new mission and a new message and that Displays god's redeeming grace how justin i'm glad you asked it It redeems the redeeming grace is displayed in the fact that paul. Do you realize that paul?

is the same one Who was once guilty of persecuting the church and god now uses him to build the same church that he was once guilty of persecuting Look at the grace in his life He was once guilty of dragging christians believers in jesus christ to prison and approving of their execution And now the very one he preached against Is the very one that he preaches about? The very one that he talked against the very one that he professed to not believe in is now the very one that he is building up the church in the light of his glory that is A beautiful and abundant grace in paul's life And I think just like in paul's life you and I can say today that we also are a case For grace because if god can work in his life, we see that he's also been working in ours Because if god can change him he can change anybody and some of us can say that same thing as well in our lives If god can transform me, he can transform anybody Paul was honest paul provides personal evidence paul also number three shows us I'm, just walking us through the text before we get to personal practical application paul shows us number three How his story became a testimony? I love that that brought glory to god Paul shows how his story became a testimony that brought glory to god Verses 18 through 24. I won't walk us through that too too long. But but paul is is is describing his life after his conversion. He's talking about the early formation of his ministry. He says, I went into the Arabian desert before I went to Jerusalem and then I visited Peter and I saw James and what is interesting to me is at the end in verse 23 and 24, he says that I wasn't known at that time, but what they did say about me was that he who used to persecute us

is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy. That's a Testament, I don't know about you, but I see that as a Testament of God's work of grace because Paul's story does bring glory to God. Paul's story just like you and mine, we have a story, you have a story, I have a story and our story should bring glory to God. That's what we see in the text. Paul is honest, Paul shows his life as an example of God's redeeming grace and how we see God working in and through his story and I love the story of Paul's conversion and his calling, but can I be honest, church? I wrestled with this text this week, I struggled because I wonder how do I relate to this? Because as beautiful as Paul's calling and conversion is, as beautiful of the story of Paul being transformed and meeting the resurrected Jesus on the road to Damascus that day, it is a beautiful encounter, but how do I relate to this? Because at the end of the day, I have not seen, I did not meet the resurrected Christ on a dirt road, I have not been called to be an apostle and neither have you. And let me just say this just as an aside, but I do think this is important. When it comes to this idea or this prevalence that we see in our society, especially on social media, we would be very careful and beware, church, to listen to anyone or to follow anyone

that claims 21st century apostolic authority and to suggest that they have new revelation outside of the scripture. I'm gonna be very careful in discerning of who we are listening to and following and encourage especially our children and younger people in the faith to be cautious and careful and mindful of who they are listening to. So at the end of the day, Paul here is sharing his story, but I struggle to relate to this. How do I relate to this? And as I read the verse again and I read it again, and sometimes, I don't know if you're like me, sometimes I read too fast in the scripture, so I gotta slow down and read it again. And when I read it again, I saw a hidden treasure in verses 15 and 16. When Paul said that he set me apart, he called me by his grace, he was pleased to reveal his son to me. And then I realized, church, that's the central truth of the sermon. The central truth of the sermon is that the same God who was at work in Paul's story has been at work in mine since the beginning. Same God who was at work in Paul's story has been at work in mine, mine being yours and mine has been work in our story since the beginning. Justin, how do you know that? Well, the text is clear.

Paul is talking about himself, but I believe the same that he is saying for him is also true for us that he, God, set us apart before we were born. I love that Ephesians chapter one, it's not on the screen, but Ephesians one, four through five confirms it. Paul says that he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him in love. He predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Christ according to the purpose of his will. What does it mean, Justin? Here's what it means, church. It means that before we knew him, he knew us and he drew us to himself. He drew us to himself. Some of you, he drew you as a child. Some, he drew you as an adult. Some, you're here today and you don't know him yet, but he's been drawing you all along. He drew you to himself. As I think about that, I cannot help but think about my story and how God drew me even as a child born and raised by a single mother and two praying grandparents. And you've heard my testimony, my story. My parents were not believers when I was born. My mother came to faith after I was born, but I came to faith because of the influence and the godly characteristics

and the way Christ was modeled in my grandparents who prayed for me and covered me in prayer and took me to church when I wanted to go and didn't want to go. I thank God for their example and my mother's example in my life. And because of that, I came to. Faith as a child. And when I got to high school, my mother challenged me to take my faith seriously because I remember her saying, if I die tomorrow, you have to have a faith of your own. And from that moment until now, the journey with Jesus has been sweet. Has it been easy? No, but it's been sweet because I realized how he's been drawing me to himself. I celebrate the fact that he's been drawing me and I think about that prophet, the prophet Jeremiah, and I believe it's true for me as it is for you that like Jeremiah, we can say that he knew us before he formed us in our mother's womb. So what does that mean? That means that you've been set apart. That means that your life is meaning. That means that you are not a mistake. Your life has meaning, your life has purpose. God loves you and he has a purpose that is bigger than you can imagine. He set me apart.

But I love Paul also says he called me by his grace. He called me by his grace. Not only was I chosen, Paul says I'm called. He called me by his grace. He called us, church, from death to life. Why? Because scripture says that we were dead in our trespasses and sins when Jesus rescued us. Maybe your story is that you didn't grow up in a Christian home just because you're in church and you're actively serving and connected to this church doesn't mean that you have the story like everybody else. Maybe your story is that I didn't grow up in a Christian home. I didn't grow up in church. Maybe you found the Lord, came to faith later on in life. And maybe your reality is, Justin, when I profess faith in Jesus Christ, the truth is I was drowning in the sinful choices of my life. I was drowning when Jesus found me. Maybe that's your story. Or maybe your story is like mine that I grew up in a Christian home with grandparents and a single mom. I went to church and all of those things. And I did Sunday school and Bible study and all the things and had faith in Jesus as a child. But all somewhere along the line, my story is that I started to convince myself

and believe that Jesus was impressed by my perfection. He's impressed by my perfection. And the reality is I started to drift in my own self-righteousness and pride. And that was my reality that I was drifting. But here's the good news of the gospel. Thank God that we have a God who saves the drowning and the drifting. He saves the drowning and the drifting. Some of us have testimonies of life was horrible and you were doing all these crazy things before you came to faith. You did not grow up in church, but others would say, yeah, I grew up in church and did all the things and went to camp and did everything right. But in my heart, I knew there was self-righteousness and pride. And if I'm honest, I was drifting. But thank God that he saves the drowning and the drifting. He rescued us. We were dead in our trespasses and sins and he saved us. And if you're here today and you don't know the saving grace of Jesus Christ, he can save you today. And he wants to do that. So not only does Paul say that he set me apart before I was born at all, only does he say that he called me by his grace, which we can also say that we've been called by grace.

But here's the last thing that I love in the text. I love that Paul says to us, and I believe we can say the same thing, that he, God, was pleased, I love that word, pleased to reveal his son to me. Not only does, and I believe every word in scripture is intentional, it's not wasted. Paul doesn't just say he revealed his son to me. No, he says he was pleased. He was pleased. This special revelation of Jesus Christ, Christ revealing himself to Paul in his resurrected body, he's revealing himself. And this revelation is important, why? Because it's beyond Paul's academic understanding. It's beyond his academic knowledge. It is an undeniable experience of Jesus. And while you may sit here saying like I did this week when I read the story there in Acts 26, and I praise God for it, but you and I didn't have the same experience that Paul had. We didn't have that Damascus road moment where we physically saw the resurrected Christ. But here's what I can take, what we can take from the story. What I love is that we see God's unconditional love on display in the text, in the fact that he is pleased to reveal Jesus to us. He was pleased to reveal Jesus, not as if Jesus was hiding, or if God was hiding Jesus from us

like we hide gifts from our kids when we buy them early for Christmas. I know I'm not the only one that does that. He's not hiding Jesus, but he's saying that your eyes are not open to see him. Your eyes could not see the truth. You could not see. You were blinded by your sin. And so he reveals him through scripture, through the preaching of the gospel, through the influence of the local church, through those who discipled us. God was pleased to reveal Jesus to us. And when we saw him, our lives were changed. Our lives were forever changed. And here's what I know, when Jesus was revealed to us, what was revealed was not meant to be kept secret. What was revealed was not meant to be kept secret, because now that you see, and now that you know, what are you supposed to go do? I am called now to understand that I've been chosen. I've been commissioned. I have a message. I have a mission. What is it? My mission is to go share the message of the gospel, just that I'm not a preacher. I'm not a pastor. I've never been to seminary. I'm not saying that, what I'm saying is that all of us have been given, have been commissioned to go make disciples, to share the good news that Jesus died and rose again, and he saves. He saves. And to tell others how grace captured our heart, because when grace captures our heart, it changes us. Why?

Because grace changes everything. And if we believe that, if we truly believe that grace changes everything, then it changes how we live. It changes how we behave. It changes how we think. It changes the things that we say, because when we've been changed by grace, we are new. We're new. So here's where I want to leave you today. I want to leave you not with a statement, but rather with a question, with a question. Here's my question. And I wrote this question and rewrote it and wrote it and rewrote it, because I believe words matter. And so here's the question specifically I want to ask you. How will I live differently today in response to this truth? Initially, when I wrote the question, it was, how will I live differently in response to the truth? But if you're like me, sometimes when you hear all of this information and you're thinking and you're processing, and then you hear a question, how am I going to live differently? Maybe your mind is flooded with all of these things. So that's why I want to narrow the question to say, how will you live differently today? Don't worry about tomorrow. Let tomorrow worry about itself. Don't worry about next week, next year. How will you live differently today? How will you live differently today? As a matter of fact, I would say, I would challenge you this week, reflect on one area that you want to live differently in, in response to this truth. What is the truth? Knowing that you've been set apart. You've been called by His grace, that you have been given this new mission and message.

Christ has been revealed to you through the gospel, and now you were called to share that message with others. That grace changes everything. So here's where I want to leave this, church. As we look at this question, there's two things that I do want to say. These are not sermon points. You don't even have to write them down, but just a point of observation. Remember as you look at this question, at the foundation of this question, at the foundation of this question is the truth that I cannot live differently today or tomorrow or the next day or the day after without the help of the Holy Spirit. Because for those of us who are strivers by nature and say, okay, I want to live differently. I'm going to create my list. I'm going to do all the things. Let's go do it. I cannot live differently in my own power. I need the Holy Spirit. I need His help every day. That's why Paul says in Romans 12, I need a transformed mind. I need a renewed mind. So Holy Spirit help me to live differently today. And then the other thing I would say is that remember God's work of grace in our lives is a transforming process of learning and growing. Why? Because our sin nature, we're always going to feel this tension. Our sin nature always wants to earn, always wants to earn love, always wants to earn grace, always wants to earn salvation. And so there's going to be this tension within us to always want to try to earn. But God says, no, rest in my grace and let it continue to work and transform your heart as your mind is renewed. Because church, here's what I know.

And here's what Paul is saying. It's not grace and works. It's all grace. Let's pray. Father, thank you. Thank you. That the reason we're here today is not because we've worked hard. It's not because we've been perfect people Thank you that we are saved today Not because of Jesus and But because of Jesus alone. I Think about that quote by Jonathan Edwards that the only thing we contribute to our salvation is the sin that made salvation necessary Thank you Lord. We brought nothing to the table And yet in your love and your grace You redeemed us through Jesus Thank you that we've been set apart for purpose our lives have meaning and have a purpose Thank you that we've been called by your grace Thank you that you were pleased to reveal Jesus to us And when he was revealed us He was not revealed pointing a finger at us with shame and frustration and anger But with arms open wide saying I love you come to me find salvation in me So father, thank you And like Paul we have been given a new mission and a new message. No, we're not called to go be Apostles No That's not what we're saying But we've been given a new mission and a new message to carry the good news to a lost and dying world Holy Spirit help us to be more intentional with how we spend our time Because Jesus is soon to come and more and more our world needs the truth of the gospel To help us Holy Spirit to live differently today in light of this truth That we've been set apart

we've been called by grace and Jesus has been revealed to us and what was revealed should not be kept secret Thank you, and we praise you Jesus name Amen Thanks again for listening to the Word of God We are blessed to reach you throughout the week through whatever platform you're listening on if you're needing prayer Or you want to talk to someone about your walk with Jesus reach out to us at fellowship Ar.com slash contact. Have a great week