Not Man's Gospel!
I probably won’t call you or me perverts today (see last post), but I hope this post is equally challenging. If it’s not, I’m not above going back to name-calling. Half joking. On a serious note, let’s check out Paul answering his own question…
Gal 1:10 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.
Gal 1:11 For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel.
Gal 1:12 For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
—Galatians 1:10-12
Paul goes on in this passage to describe how God called him (Galatians 1:13-24). It’s easy to look at Paul’s radical conversion on the road to Damascus and say, “Wow, that was really miraculous!” Looking at the remainder of Paul’s life post-conversion, there’s no doubt he was a committed servant of Christ. But what about us? I think it’s important to consider how we received the gospel and the gospel we preach. Some folks may think it’s pointless and even quarrelsome to debate the importance of how we describe our salvation or how we share the gospel. I used to be in this camp to some extent. I thought certain Christians spent too much time debating free will vs predestination or Calvinism vs Arminianism. I would even say, “All this time we spend debating these things amongst ourselves could be spent actually sharing the gospel. It’s ultimately God’s sovereignty anyways.” These may still be valid points, but there is certainly value in examining the gospel we believe and preach. Is it man’s gospel? Therefore, instead of an either/or approach to debate & sharing, I think a both/and approach is much more useful. It’s a good way to guard against preaching man’s gospel, which is exactly what Paul is doing here. Let’s take a look at a few more verses in the passage…
Gal 1:13 For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it.
Gal 1:14 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.
Gal 1:15 But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace,
Gal 1:16 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;
—Galatians 1:13-16
Paul doesn’t say ‘when God strong-armed me into believing Him on a road one day,’ or ‘when I realized there was no better option,’ which both would have been at least fairly accurate descriptions of the moment Paul realized he was being saved/called. Rather, he attributes his conversion to God setting him apart before he was born, by His grace, doing something He pleases by revealing Jesus to him. Not man’s gospel! He recognizes it was a revelation of Jesus Christ (v12). Again, it’s easy to say this about Paul who was physically stopped by Jesus on the road to Damascus. But is our salvation any less miraculous? Is the gospel we received any less from God? You better answer ‘No’ to those questions, or else you’ve got a real problem. It’s a miracle any time someone comes to Christ! It’s a person realizing he has gone from death to life; something he admits he neither deserved, nor could have done on his own. It’s something God decided before we were born and He did it because He was simply pleased to do so (not because He was pleased with us — BIG distinction!). Not man’s gospel!
Paul also notes how he was a former persecutor of the church as he was attacking Christians. If you haven’t been saved, that’s who you are right now. (Is a persecutor any better than a pervert?) That’s who I used to be too. Upon hearing of Paul’s conversion, Christians didn’t say, “It’s so great Paul made that decision to turn his life around,” but rather had this reaction —
Gal 1:22 And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ.
Gal 1:23 They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.”
Gal 1:24 And they glorified God because of me.
—Galatians 1:22-24
Upon hearing of Paul’s repentance and the fruit his salvation has produced, they glorified God! Not man’s gospel!
What gospel do you believe? Is it God’s gospel? Does God get ALL the credit and glory for the choice HE made before you were born and could even make choices? Do you see your salvation as a miracle God did? Do you see how God called you and personally revealed Himself to you, and that the moment you ‘accepted’ Him was really you just becoming aware of the calling He already had prepared for you? Do you see that it was by God’s grace alone and not a result of anything you did? Has your life become about doing God’s will? OR, is it man’s gospel? Do you want some/all of the credit for making the choice to accept and follow Him? Do you see your salvation as less miraculous than Paul’s or someone else who was seemingly saved in a more ‘intense’ way, perhaps as merely a choice of your own free will? Do you think your life began to change because you finally saw God differently and you knew the decision you had to make? Perhaps you feel like there is at least something good in you and/or you deserve to be saved? Is your life driven by following the things you desire? I hope in response you are saying, “Not man’s gospel!” If you realize in some way you have embraced man’s gospel, at least in part, that too can be repented of. I don’t know many professing Christians who haven’t embraced man’s gospel to some extent, simply because it’s our human nature to claim credit for ourselves and follow our selfish desires. Additionally, it’s far too common that we preach man’s gospel, so it’s not surprising that the ‘gospel’ we heard was man’s gospel and not God’s gospel. So, do you see the importance of examining ourselves now? Is some debate warranted amongst Christians to make sure we are preaching a biblical gospel? I hope you answer ‘Yes’ to both of these questions. Not man’s gospel!