A Gospel Changed Life

Have you ever been accused of something?

Maybe you've been accused of being a coward before.

And if you've been accused of being a coward before,

it doesn't take much, something like that, to get on the defensive pretty quick.

Well, this morning we're going to look at a passage in which the Apostle Paul

is defending himself against a charge of cowardice.

It comes in the phrase of a man-pleaser.

There were a certain group of people in the southern region of Galatia

at this time when this letter was written

that were seeking to distort the gospel that Paul preached.

And they were troubling these recent converts to Christ,

these recent Gentile converts to Christ.

And one of the things that they were saying was this.

Hey, it's okay to believe in Jesus,

but in order to be right with God,

not only do you have to believe in Jesus,

but you need to be circumcised if you're a guy,

and you need to observe all the Jewish dietary restrictions,

plus you need to get time off for Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah and Hanukkah

just to make sure you're observing all of the Jewish holy days,

and then you'll be right with God.

And out of that, they were saying of the Apostle Paul,

Paul is preaching a watered-down gospel to you.

He's not telling the whole truth of the gospel

because he's not preaching circumcision.

And the charge was he's doing that

because he's trying to curry favor with you Gentiles.

And so Paul responds to this charge in 110.

He says,

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.

Essentially, this passage is the Apostle Paul

defending his ministry from an accusation

that he's watering down the gospel out of the fear of man.

And so the way that he lays this out is,

in verse 10, he makes a claim.

If I were still trying to please man,

I would not be a servant of Christ.

That's the claim.

And then in 11-12, he offers his first line of evidence,

the gospel itself.

And then in verses 13-24,

he offers a second line of evidence.

He's no man-pleaser because of the gospel

and what the gospel has done in his life.

And so the point of this passage is this.

The gospel of Jesus Christ,

the one true gospel,

sets us free from the snare of the fear of man

so that we can live as servants of Christ among men.

The gospel sets us free from the fear of man

so that we can live as Christ's servants among men.

So let's look at this claim.

Let's look at the two different lines of evidence

that support this claim.

And the claim, again, is found in 110

where he says,

if I were still trying to please man,

I would not be a servant of Christ.

Now, if you weren't here last week,

the apostle Paul lays out the one true gospel

in verses 1-5 of chapter 1.

And then 6-9 is this apostolic rumble strip

in which he's saying to these Galatians,

why are you departing the gospel?

And then he goes on as far as to say,

hey, if there's someone preaching the gospel to you

that is contrary to the gospel I preach,

that's adding to faith in Christ alone,

let that person be damned.

And then he turns to verse 10 and says,

hey, do you think that me,

speaking God's damnation on people,

do you think that I'm now in doing that

seeking the approval of man or of God?

Or am I trying to please man with what I'm saying?

If I were still trying to please man,

I would not be a servant of Christ.

Three times in verse 10,

he raises this issue of the fear of man.

He says,

the approval of man,

am I seeking that?

Am I trying to please man?

If I'm still trying to please man?

The fear of man

is when you're more concerned

what people think about you

than what God thinks about you.

You're ruled by people's opinions

of who you are,

how you're living,

instead of God.

And so what we see going on

in verse 10

is the apostle Paul

responding to this accusation.

Man pleaser?

Seriously?

If I were still trying to please man,

I would not be a servant of Christ.

Do you see what he's doing there?

He's saying,

it's one or the other, baby.

You're either going to live

for what people think about you,

or you're going to live

as a servant of Christ.

You can only have one master.

Let me try to illustrate this.

Let's pretend you have a friend

who claims to be a Packers fan.

He invites you over,

you go down into his man cave,

and when you go down

into his man cave,

you can't help but notice

all the bears paraphernalia on the wall.

In fact,

he has a giant big screen TV,

and there is this perpetual loop

of the 1985 Bears Super Bowl shuffle

being played.

Now, according to the rules of fandom,

you can't have it both ways.

You're either a fan of the Bears,

or you're a fan of the Packers.

All in, baby.

One or the other.

Jesus says something very similar

in the Sermon on the Mount,

where he says,

you can't serve both God and mammon.

It's one or the other.

You can only live for one God.

And here, the Apostle Paul is saying,

you can only live for either

what people think about you,

the approval of man,

or Christ.

Christ.

Being a servant of Christ.

If you are in this room right now,

and you find yourself

regularly ruled or controlled

by what people think about you,

here's what you need to understand

about that.

That's just not a psychological issue.

That's just not a result

of the way you were raised

with an overbearing mother

or an absentee father.

At the core

of the fear of man

is a worship issue.

It's idolatry.

It's living for a false god.

And when you're ruled

by the fear of man,

you live a miserable life.

I know.

I've been there often.

In this book by Ed Welch,

he is a member of the

CCEF staff,

the Christian Counseling

and Education Foundation

out of Philadelphia.

Excellent group of people.

He penned this book in 1997,

When People Are Big

and God Is Small.

It's a book about the fear of man

and overcoming the fear of man.

And at the beginning of the book,

he says this,

however you put it,

the fear of man

can be summarized this way.

We replace God with people.

Instead of biblically guided

fear of the Lord,

we fear others.

Of course,

the fear of man

goes by other names.

When we are in our teens,

it's called peer pressure.

When we are older,

it's called people pleasing.

Recently,

it's been called codependency.

With these labels in mind,

we can spot the fear

of man everywhere.

And he then lists

a bunch of descriptions

of the fear of man.

Let me share with you a few.

Have you ever struggled

with peer pressure?

Peer pressure is just a euphemism

for the fear of man.

Being more concerned

with what people think about you

than what God thinks about you.

It's idolatry.

Are you overcommitted?

Did you find,

do you find it hard to say no

when wisdom indicates

that you should?

You are a people pleaser.

Another euphemism

for the fear of man.

Being more concerned

with what people think about you

than what God thinks about you.

Do you need something

from somebody

to fill your love tank?

Is self-esteem

a critical concern for you?

Do you ever feel

as if you might be exposed

as an imposter?

Are you always

second-guessing decisions

because of what other people

think about you?

Do you feel empty

or meaningless?

Do you get easily embarrassed?

Do you ever lie,

especially the little white lies?

What about the cover-ups

where you are not technically

lying with your mouth,

you're just trying

to cover your shame

before people?

Are you jealous

of other people?

Maybe it's because

you're controlled

by what they think,

what they have.

Do other people

often make you angry

or depressed?

Do they make you crazy?

If so,

maybe they're the controlling

center of your life.

Do you avoid people?

Isn't a hermit

dominated by the fear of man?

Aren't most diets,

even when they are

ostensibly under

the heading of health,

dedicated to impressing others?

And then he sums it up

by saying,

have all these descriptions

missed the mark?

When you compare yourself

with other people,

do you feel good

about yourself?

Perhaps the most dangerous

form of the fear of man

is the successful fear of man.

Such people think

they've made it.

They have more

than other people.

They feel good

about themselves,

but their lives

are still defined

by other people

rather than God.

At its core,

being a man pleaser,

the fear man

is idolatry.

And it's something

that we don't just

get therapy for,

it's something

we need to

repent of.

What Paul is saying here

is he's saying,

I am no man pleaser.

I can't be.

Otherwise,

I wouldn't be

a servant of Christ,

living all of who I am

for Him.

And so in one sense,

Paul is saying here,

hey,

this charge doesn't stick.

But maybe you're

in the room

and you're thinking

that charge sticks.

Because I'm ruled

by what other people

think about me.

I spend a lot of time

replaying conversations

I've had with others.

Could it be that

you are enslaved

by the snare

of the fear of man?

Proverbs 29, 25.

This morning,

what you need to know

is that the gospel

of Jesus Christ

frees us

from the snare

of the fear of man

in order for us

to live as servants

for Christ

before man.

So Paul begins

by making this claim,

if I were still

trying to please man,

I would not be

a servant of Christ.

And then he moves on

in verse 11 and 12

to support that claim.

And the first place

he goes,

his first line

of defense

is pointing to

the gospel itself,

the very nature

of the gospel.

What he doesn't do

is this.

He says,

okay,

I've been accused

of being a man pleaser,

so I wrote

the apostles

in Jerusalem

and they wrote back

and I've got this letter

and this letter says

it's signed by Paul

or Peter

and by James

and John

and they say,

yeah,

this guy's not a man pleaser.

See?

See what they say?

He doesn't do that.

He points to the gospel.

He says in verse 11,

for I would have you know,

brothers,

that the gospel

that was preached by me

is not man's gospel.

You see,

he's not a man pleaser

because of the gospel.

What the gospel is.

What does he mean

by this?

This gospel preached by me

is not man's gospel.

It didn't start with man.

The gospel of Jesus Christ

that Paul proclaimed

to these Galatians,

the gospel of Jesus Christ

that you yourself have heard,

this gospel

is not a result

of human ingenuity.

Nobody thought this up

on a whiteboard.

The source of the gospel

is not human.

The source of this gospel

that Christ

delivered himself

for our sins

in order to deliver us

from this present evil age,

this gospel

comes from God.

What Paul is

correcting here

is this idea

that somehow

he thought up the gospel

or that he somehow

tweaked it

or he was given

a tweaked version

of the gospel.

He's saying,

no, no, no.

This gospel

is not human invention.

I didn't get online

and get licensed

on this gospel

by men.

Remember in

The Wizard of Oz,

Dorothy and her gang

shows up

at the gold castle

and they walk in

and there's Oz

and the big head

and then something

goes wrong

on the sides

and then they realize

that Oz

is actually

this itty-bitty

professor from Kansas

with a big

self-esteem problem.

Paul is saying,

no, no, no.

The gospel

isn't that.

I'm not behind

the gospel.

Someone else is.

In verse 12,

he says,

for I did not receive

it from any man

nor was I taught it

but I received it

through a revelation

of Jesus Christ

and here is the

origin story

of the gospel.

the gospel

is not born

of man.

The gospel

comes from God.

I received it,

the gospel,

through a revelation

of Jesus Christ.

That word revelation

is this sense

of disclosure,

God pulling back

the curtain

of being able

to see something

that God alone

allows you to see.

here's the gospel

and what Paul

is talking about

in verse 12

but I received it

through a revelation

of Jesus Christ,

he's talking about

that moment in his life

on the road to Damascus

in Acts chapter 9

Acts 9 · chapter mention

where the risen Christ

intersects his life

and dramatically

reorients Paul

from being a man pleaser

to a servant of Christ.

Paul's saying

this message

that I preach

to you

I received it

as a revelation

from Jesus Christ

from God.

This is God's message

to you.

I'm no man pleaser

because the message

I preach

is God's message.

God's message

to save

sinful humanity

from the consequences

of their sin.

Now here's the connection

I want to help you see.

Because the gospel

is God's message

to save

it's a message

about the death

and resurrection

of Jesus.

That's the power of it.

because this

is God's message

about what God

had done

on the cross

it's God's

power

to change

sinners.

Because it's

from God

it's

God's power

to change.

That's why

in Romans 1.16

the apostle Paul says

I am not ashamed

of the gospel.

I fear no man.

I'm not ashamed

of the gospel

for

it

is

God's

power

unto salvation

for

all

who believe.

Because

this

message

that the risen

Christ

had entrusted

to Paul

himself

is

God's

message

it

is

able

to do

things

that

no

human

can

do.

So here's the line

of argument

so far.

Paul makes a claim

hey I'm no man

pleaser

I'm a servant

of Christ

I live for

him now.

Because of

the gospel

what this gospel

is

it's

it's

God's

message

to sinful

humanity

it alone

has the power

to change

people.

so let's

apply it

this way.

Two things

first is this

what you need

to understand

is that

this gospel

is God's

revelation.

I don't know

about you

but sometimes

you can hear

the word gospel

so much

you can forget

what it actually

is.

God's

message

to us

God

making his

appeal

to us

to be

reconciled

to him

God's

power

to us

to change

us

from beginning

to end

to save

from beginning

to end

so the first

question I want

to ask you

this morning

is this

have you

forgotten

the nature

of the gospel

that it's

God's

message

and his

power

the second

way to apply

it is to

realize

like Paul

that the gospel

is our

first line

of defense

we go to

the gospel

daily

to inform

who we

are

in Christ

the gospel

frees us

from slavery

to sin

and enslaves

us

to Christ

you see

the blood

of Jesus

not just

set us

free

to do

whatever

we wanted

to do

the blood

of Jesus

set us

free

from sin

so that

now

we can

live

for Christ

and his

will

the gospel

is God's

ongoing

provision

of power

for us

to rescue

us

from the

fear of

man

it reminds

us again

and again

we are not

our own

in just

a few

verses

Paul is

going to

say this

I have

been

crucified

with

Christ

and

I've

been

crucified

Christ

how does

it go

I've

been

crucified

with

Christ

I hear

all that

I'm not

hearing it

though

I've been

crucified

it's no

longer I

who live

but Christ

lives in

me

in the

life I

now live

in the

flesh

I live

by faith

in the

son of

God

who

loved

me

and gave

himself

up for

me

that's

how Paul

is saying

I'm a

servant

of Christ

now

maybe you

remember

Philippians

1 21

for me

to live

is Christ

and to

die is

gain

maybe you

remember

1 Corinthians

5 15

and he

died for

all that

those who

live

may no

longer

live for

themselves

but for

him

who for

their

sake

died

and was

raised

the

gospel

doesn't

free us

to do

anything

we want

to do

the gospel

frees us

from slavery

to sin

from the

fear of

man

so that

we would

serve

Christ

this

gospel

is

God's

message

and God's

power

that's the

first line

of Paul's

argument

of his

support

the second

line

of Paul's

support

is found

in 13

verses 13

through 24

again

Paul is

saying

hey I'm

not a

man

pleaser

I am

a servant

of Christ

because of

what this

gospel

is

and

13

through 24

what this

gospel has

done in

my life

see

in verses

13

through 24

Paul begins

to lay out

his life

for us

he shares

his testimony

with us

he says

look

in verses

13

through 14

he shows

us

what he

was like

before

his

conversion

and then

in verses

15

through 17

he shows

us what

happened

at his

conversion

and then

in verses

18

through 24

he shows

us

what happened

three years

after his

conversion

and it's

all there

to help

us see

about

what the

gospel

is

and the

effect

on this

man

he's no

man pleaser

he's

Christ's

servant

so in

verses

13

and 14

he tells

us

what he

was like

before

his

before

his

conversion

he says

for you

have heard

of my

former

life

in

Judaism

and two

things

come out

I was a

persecutor

of the

church

you see

that in

verse 13

violently

tried to

destroy it

in verse

14

he says

I was

extremely

zealous

for the

traditions

of my

father

so much

so I

was

advancing

in

Judaism

beyond

many

of my

own

age

among

my

people

he was

a

persecutor

of the

church

if you

look at

the book

of Acts

when Paul

comes on

the scene

he comes

on the

scene

as one

who is

causing

great harm

to the

people

Jesus

has bought

with his

own

blood

he throws

in his

lot

to put

someone

to death

he's

saying

oh yeah

you deserve

to die

Christian

he was

breathing

out

lies

and

violence

he was

having

people

rounded

up

and

bound

in

Acts

9

he is

given

official

authorization

by the

Jewish

high

priest

to go

to

Damascus

and bring

back

any

Christian

bound

he was

a persecutor

of the

church

he was

not

loving

his

neighbor

and

what

seems

to have

been

fueling

that

we see

in

verse

14

he was

a

zealot

extremely

zealous

for the

traditions

of my

fathers

notice

he wasn't

extremely

jealous

for God's

name

for the

traditions

of men

he was

moving up

in the

pharisaical

ladder

advancing

more

than

other

people

his age

if

he would

have

been

in

the

Jerusalem

the

Shalom

magazines

top

40

at

40

he's

been

very

impressive

what

seems

to have

been

controlling

the

apostle

Paul

before

he was

converted

by

Christ

is a

fear

of

man

he

was

a

man

pleaser

he

was

so

zealous

for

the

traditions

of

his

fathers

and

he

was

seeking

to

impress

a

small

group

of

people

he

was

so

driven

by

this

he

was

willing

to

do

violence

to

other

people

cast

his

vote

to

see

them

killed

we

got

to

ask

a

question

here

what

drives

a

person

to

such

extreme

measures

to

do

things

like

this

in

110

for

I am

now

seeking

the

approval

of

man

or

God

or

am

I

trying

to

please

man

if

I

were

still

trying

to

please

man

I

would

not

be

a

servant

of

Christ

ironically

Paul's

saying

hey

I'm

no

man

pleaser

now

but

15

20

years

ago

before

I

was

converted

oh

yeah

I

was

a

man

pleaser

the

successful

fear

of

man

guy

I

was

moving

up

in

the

world

isn't

it

scary

how

our

fear

of

a

small

group

of

people

can

result

in

our

hurting

other

people

maybe

you're

here

this

morning

and

you're

just

being

honest

with

yourself

and

you're

thinking

you know

what

this

sounds

a lot

like

me

I

am

willing

to

hurt

others

for

the

sake

of

my

reputation

in

the

eyes

of

a

few

if

that's

you

you

have

a lot

in

common

with

Paul

before

he

encountered

Jesus

on the

road

to

Damascus

and

it

begs

the

question

what

do

you

think

it

takes

to

change

a

person

who's

driven

by

man

pleasing

to

become

something

other

what

do

you

think

it

takes

it

takes

an

act

of

God

an

act

of

God's

grace

so

we

move

from

what

Paul

was

like

before

his

conversion

to

15

16

and

17

Paul

at

his

conversion

in

verse

15

we

read

but

when

he

who

had

set

me

apart

before

I

was

born

that

but

is

God's

grace

God

interrupting

God's

sovereign

grace

interrupting

the plans

of this

man

pleaser

it's

God's

grace

butting

in

so to

speak

the

apostle

Paul

says

but

he

who

set

me

apart

before

I

was

born

that's

prophet

talk

it's

like

Jeremiah

1

5

it

reveals

that

God

had

a

plan

for

Paul

even

before

he

was

born

that

God's

plan

for

Paul

in

his

big

scheme

of

salvation

included

having

to

rescue

Paul

from

being

a

persecutor

and a

zealot

it was

all part

of

God's

plan

he

called

me

by

his

grace

who

called

me

by

his

grace

was

pleased

to

reveal

his

son

to

me

do

you

see

that

in

verse

verse

15

excuse

me

16

was

pleased

to

reveal

his

son

to

me

literally

the

original

language

says

pleased

to

reveal

his

son

in

me

here's

what

here's

what

I

think

Paul's

getting

at

when

he

was

on

the

road

to

Damascus

he

was

moving

to

Damascus

driven

by

this

persecution

of

this

zeal

to

please

win

the

approval

of

man

and

then

he

meets

the

risen

Christ

says

Saul

Saul

why

are

you

persecuting

me

and

Jesus

reveals

to

Paul

his

plan

what

he

has

done

for

Paul

and

at

that

moment

on

the

road

to

Damascus

God's

gracious

calling

in the

form

of

this

revelation

of

Jesus

it

had

this

immediate

and

internal

impact

on

the

apostle

Paul

it's

called

conversion

he

was

immediately

and

internally

changed

by the

grace

of

God

in

the

appearing

of

Jesus

God's

grace

flipped

Paul

flipped

him

from being

a

persecutor

of

Christ

to

a

proclaimer

of

Christ

and

it

happened

in

moments

at

this

moment

I

I

have

a

sneaky

suspicion

that

that

for

the

first

time

in

Paul's

life

he

realized

this

he

realized

the

scope

and

scale

of

God's

love

for

him

he

realized

that

there

is

nothing

that

he

could

do

to

make

God

love

him

more

nor

was

there

anything

that

he

had

done

that

would

make

God

love

him

less

this

was

God's

grace

on

Paul

on

the

road

to

Damascus

it's

his

conversion

and

his

calling

for

many

of

us

in

this

room

it

is

hard

for

us

to

believe

how

deep

and

wide

and

ongoing

is

the

grace

of

God

for

us

to

fathom

that

there's

nothing

that

we

can

do

to

make

God

love

us

more

nor

is

there

anything

that

we've

done

to

make

him

love

us

less

seems

crazy

to

us

but

that's

the

crazy

love

of

God

that's

his

grace

that's

gospel

that's

what

Jesus

purchased

for

us

and

so

what

we

see

here

in

these

few

verses

is

Paul

referring

to

that

moment

in

time

where

Christ

the

risen

Christ

flipped

him

by

his

grace

he

freed

him

from

his

man

pleasing

and

bound

him

to

himself

the

grace

that

freed

Paul

bound

Paul

the

grace

that

freed

Paul

from

sin

and

man

pleasing

bound

him

to

Christ

and

here's

what

this

means

for

us

the

risen

Christ

in

his

glory

revealed

in

the

gospel

is

the

cure

for

our

people

pleasing

our

fear

of

man

in

all

of

its

forms

the

gospel

frees

us

from

the

fear

from

the

snare

of

the

fear

of

man

and

it

sets

us

free

to

serve

Christ

among

men

he

flips

us

he

flips

us

from

wanting

to

advance