Watch as Ray David unpacks Galatians 1:10-24 and shows us how the Gospel + Nothing = Everything.
Nothing Lacking
The moment you start adding to the Gospel, you are actually taking away from it. When we begin to add to the Gospel it exposes areas where we are not personally convinced and satisfied in the good news of Jesus. So we try to come up with other things to fill in what is lacking, but there’s nothing lacking in the Gospel. We need to go back and remind ourselves of the Gospel and how it is full, true and changes everything.
One Master
The Gospel sets us free from trying to and having to please other men. Christians may serve many other people, but they only have one master – the Lord Jesus Christ. And His is the only approval that matters.
Approval
The Gospel not only sets you free from seeking the approval of man, but it also sets you free from having to seek the approval of God, because the Gospel tells you that God already approves of you through Jesus Christ. There is nothing further that you need to do – He already approves of you. When God looks at you He doesn’t see your failures – He sees Jesus. He approves of you and loves you. God’s love for you is not a reward for cleaning up your life – it is on the front end. He loves you and approves of you and that creates the space for you to grow in relationship with Him and to thrive in holiness.
Before You Were Born
You might remember an altar call, or responding to an invitation at a Billy Graham crusade, but in a biblical sense you were saved 2000 years ago when Jesus died on a cross. You were not saved at St. George’s – you were saved at Calvary. Paul argues that you were saved before birth – before the foundation of the world. You were saved before you were born, but in your lived experience there was a moment where God was pleased to reveal His son to you. But the agency lies with God.
We all have moments where we doubt and fear, but what scripture tells us is that we are not saved by the consistency of our faith – we’re saved by the God who gave us the gift of faith – who was pleased to reveal to us His Son.
The Source of Belief
Belief plays a very important role in your conversion, but what is the source of your belief – where does it come from? Scripture teaches that if you believe today it is because God chose you before the foundation of the world. If you believe today, it is not because you were smart enough to figure it out, it is because God has gifted you with that belief by His grace. Even the desire to believe is a gift from God.
You did not come to faith because you chose to – you came to belief because God was pleased to reveal His Son to you.
Least Likely Candidates
If you had looked at Paul of Tarsus, you would have thought that he was the least likely candidate to come to faith in Jesus, and he never would have, but God in His grace revealed His Son to him. You may look at your loved ones and say that they are the least likely to come to faith in Christ, but the good news of the Gospel is that God will be pleased to reveal His Son to them – you can trust Him.
When you have the confidence that God has done the work beforehand, then all you have to do in evangelism is show up and pray that God uses you as the instrument to reveal His Son.
Everything is Useful to the Master
You may look at your life and think it is all about you, but the Gospel tells us that God is involved in our lives long before we know it. God orchestrates even the hardships and wrong-turns in our lives to bring us to a place where He is pleased to reveal his Son to us. Then God uses all of these experiences to form you into the person that He would have you be once the Gospel takes root in our life. God can take you at your worst and use it for His glory. Everything that has happened in your life is useful to the Master. Even the things that you are most ashamed of – God is redeeming and using for His good. The God who reveals His Son to you, uses everything in your life to shape and form you into the person He called you to be.
An Unique Work of God
The Gospel is all about God and His work in your life. Salvation is such an unique work of God that it really isn’t about us, but when people look at our lives it should point them to the grace of God.
It is not about me, but about the God who loves me – who set me apart before my birth. The God who was pleased to reveal His Son and who is still pleased to reveal Him.
Stealing Glory
Religion will come along and say that you have to earn your life. The voices of secular society will say that you have to create your life – form it by your will, but the Gospel says that Jesus stepped in and exchanged His life for yours. To add anything to this Gospel is actually to take everything away from it, because when you begin to add to the Gospel you strip it of its joy, confidence and beauty. You end up stealing glory that belongs only to God.
