See What the Gospel Can Do!

3rd Sunday after Pentecost, 6/30/19
Galatians 1:11-24


See What the Gospel Can Do!
I. Because it comes from God
II. Because its power is God’s


For all our modern media gadgets and options, for all of the new methods we have to remain constantly and instantly connected with people who are literally around the world, before and after photos still remain an effective way of influencing people, especially in marketing situations. We hear and see, “Here’s how this person used to look. Here’s what this person looks like today after just 2 months on our weight-loss program.” Or we hear and see this first-person testimony: “This is what the skin on my face looked like 6 months ago. Here’s how my face looks today, and I owe it all to this amazing product.” The home improvement contractor tells us, “This is the problem you’re facing today with your home’s roof gutters. Here’s what they’ll look like with our amazing gutter-guard product.”

And the photos grab our attention. They effectively allow us to consider the difference these products will make in our lives if we simply decide to spend the money. And I’ll admit, some of the photos depict amazing results.

Photos didn’t exist in the life of the apostle Paul. We wish they did, because if there were ever a poster boy for what the divine product called the gospel of Jesus could do for a person’s life, Paul would be it.

Paul wrote these words of our text to people who were doubting the validity and the power of the gospel—that Jesus is the world’s Savior from sin. Specifically, they were tempted to believe that faith in Jesus is necessary for forgiveness and eternal life, but so are good works—things that God commands us to do. For these Galatian Christians, those good works meant things God had commanded his Old Testament people to do, things such as circumcision, observing Jewish ceremonies, and dietary restrictions. In the previous section of this letter, Paul told them that what they were believing was no gospel at all and it could potentially lead them to hell. In this section of his letter, he points them to what the pure gospel alone has done and can do.

As good Lutheran people, I’m sure we all agree that we are saved by faith and not by works. It might seem as if Paul is preaching to the choir this morning. But the truth is, we struggle with that truth due to our sinfully proud opinion of ourselves. So, let’s not take the gospel for granted! See what the gospel can do! That’s Paul’s encouragement for us. Let’s observe Paul’s “before and after” pictures.

Part I.

Perhaps you’re aware that, even among Christians, the belief that Satan actually exists is declining. To me, that’s hard to believe, given the overwhelming evil in our world.

Jesus once called Satan the Father of Lies. Lies are his number one weapon. It’s what he used in tempting our first parents, Adam and Eve. Even when he speaks the truth, he’s trying to get us to believe something that isn’t true.

And those lies revolve around two things. First, he lies about God. He tries to convince us that God isn’t loving towards us, at least in this instance. He tries to convince us that God is not looking out for us, but only for himself. He’s trying to keep something good from us, when nothing could be further from the truth. Satan lies constantly about God.

And he also lies about us. He tries to convince us that we should be calling the shots. He lies and tells us how good and wonderful we are all on our own. His lies try to convince us that following Jesus is unnecessary and burdensome. In the end, his lies try to convince us that we don’t need Jesus or the forgiveness he offers us.

In other words, his lies about God and about us attack the truth of Christianity—that Jesus is the eternal Son of God who lived and died and rose again from the dead to be our Savior from sin.

The gospel—the good news about Jesus as our Savior from sin—constantly attacks Satan’s lies. But recall how attractive Satan’s lies to the Galatians were—"Yes, to be saved you need to believe in Jesus, but you also must do what God commands.” Paul’s letter to the Galatians condemned that as Satan’s lie. The Galatians didn’t come up with that lie all on their own. There were preachers among them proclaiming that message. So which message should they believe?

Paul spends most of his time in these verses reminding the Galatians why his gospel was reliable and the one they were hearing was no gospel at all. Listen again to his opening words, “I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.” Is Paul stretching the truth even a little bit here? Not at all. He goes on to cite the facts. Jesus gave him the message he was to preach. Jesus was the one who shared the gospel with Paul and told him to proclaim it. Paul didn’t make his gospel up on his own, and he didn’t even receive it from one of the other apostles. His message was thoroughly apostolic and divinely reliable.

In short, it was the gospel truth. And because it came from God himself it was reliable. In fact, the Galatians could bank their eternity on it. Anything else that someone preached that was contrary to the gospel Paul preached was unreliable at best and a damning lie of Satan at worst. This wasn’t simply a difference of opinion or a slight variation in interpretation. The message of salvation was at stake here. Salvation comes only through the gospel, the gospel that Paul proclaimed. It does not come through Satan’s lies.

Only the gospel saves! See what the gospel can do because it comes from God.

This Letter to the Galatians is the harshest letter of all the letters of Paul that we have. And that’s because the truth of the saving gospel was at stake. Paul himself proclaimed to these people the truth but they chose to believe something else. As modern Christians who rightly admire St. Paul, that’s hard for us to imagine that, isn’t it? I mean, if Paul were preaching to us today, we’d take his words as gospel truth, wouldn’t we? We wouldn’t challenge him, would we?

We’d like to think so, but if you know the teachings of Paul, you probably have run into one or two that are hard for you to take. And the truth under attack in this section of his letter is one of them. Have you ever prayed to God about something bad that was happening in your life and your attitude was that you deserved better from God, that you shouldn’t be suffering the way you are? Has it ever been hard for you to take to heart the words of our confession of sins, that you are a poor, miserable sinner? After all, this world has some verifiable scum bags, but you’re not one of them. Is it difficult for you to think that, as far as sin goes, you’re no better than the people you work with every day? Those attitudes about yourself are simply the flipside of the lies that Paul was battling with God’s truth. God’s truth is that we are sinners who deserve hell, but we have a Savior from sin in Jesus, who died for our sins and was raised again to assure us of heaven. The gospel of Jesus rescues us from hell and saves us. See what the gospel can do because it comes from God.

Part II.

A convention was in session. The delegates at the convention were debating a topic hotly. One delegate, who was known for always weighing in on every topic of discussion was heard saying to another delegate, “I’ll only speak once, if I can speak last.” He was confident that his final words would influence the other delegates to agree with him. Words are powerful.

But human words pale in comparison to God’s. Just look at what God’s word had done in Paul’s life. He recounts for us, “For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.” Among Pharisees and persecutors of Christians, Paul’s record was second to none. He was fanatical regarding his religious beliefs. He was rock-solid in his opinion that he was going to heaven because he was so worthy to be there.

But Jesus himself rocked Paul’s spiritual world. You know the story of his conversion on the way to Damascus. Jesus literally turned Paul around 180 degrees. And in short order, this is what Paul was doing with his life, “They…heard the report: ‘This man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.’ And they praised God because of me.” Christians who once hid in fear of Paul were now praising God because of him. That’s nothing short of amazing! It was miraculous! See what the gospel can do!

But don’t stop looking there. See it in your life, too. Our worship focus is on the truth that our God has brought us from death to life. Have you ever considered how that’s true of you? The Bible states that we came into this world dead in sin and unbelief. We had no chance at true life—life with God—on our own. But our God in his great love and mercy for you brought you to life—spiritual life. His Holy Spirit brought you to faith in Jesus and led you to see the forgiveness and eternal life that Jesus won for you. I realize there are many things in this life that you wish our God would do for you, but don’t forget the one he has already done—he brought you from death to life with him. What else really matters?

And what he’s done for you, he deeply wants to do for others. So, consider this: what can God’s gospel do for others as I share the good news of Jesus with them? God promises amazing things. Trust him and see what the gospel can do! Amen.