Freedom Is Here: A Study of Galatians | Donovan Rillion | Transformed by Grace

Martin Luther was a man who knew all about religion.

You've maybe heard about him in your history

classes growing up or maybe in a religion class.

But Martin Luther grew up in the faith. He was

well studied in the faith. He knew all about

religion. But Martin Luther knew nothing of freedom.

As a young man, he was a monk. Luther was very

zealous. He was very energetic and proud of the

life that he lived in his religion. He prayed

for hours. He would fast until his body grew

weak. He would confess every sin that he could

think of, sometimes for hours at a time. Martin

Luther knew everything and practiced. Martin

Luther actually once said, if ever a monk could

get to heaven by monkery, it was I. But no matter

how hard Martin Luther tried, he never could

find peace. He wasn't at peace with where he

was as a follower of Christ. He was never at

peace with his religion. Instead of feeling closer

to God, Martin Luther felt crushed by guilt,

by fear. He was always worried about, am I good

enough? Am I right? Am I doing things right?

Am I following the truth? In his own words, he

also once said, I did not love, yes, I hated

the righteous God who punishes sinners. I was

angry. You see, sometimes we get so focused on

religion, on being right, on checking every box,

dotting every I and crossing every T that we

forget. And sometimes it leads us to hate God.

We get so caught up in being right. that we forget

the peace that God wants us to know. And this

was the case for Martin Luther. But one day,

Martin Luther, while studying the book of Romans,

well, it's crazy that you have to say this about

somebody who was already a Christ follower, but

he discovered the gospel. He discovered that

righteousness isn't something that we can earn.

It's not something that we can pay for. It's

not something that we can work for. It's not

something that we can dig up out of the ground

and find as a treasure for ourselves. Righteousness

is not something that we can earn. It is something

freely given to us from God. And that truth transformed

Martin Luther. You see, Martin Luther then went

from being somebody bound by these rules and

these chains and bound by fear to being somebody

that was set free by the grace of God. Somebody

that was set free by the gospel. See, Martin

Luther's discovery not only changed his life,

it sparked a movement that would change the lives

of millions, that would bring the good news of

God, this freedom that God wants us to know.

It would bring the gospel to millions. And at

this point in life and in history, billions.

And we, we benefit here today in 2025. From Martin

Luther's discovery of the gospel. From his discovery

of the freedom that God wants us to experience.

And I tell you this because what happened to

Martin Luther echoes what happened to the Apostle

Paul. You see, Paul was just as zealous. He was

just as religious. He was also just as misguided.

The Apostle Paul was somebody that. knew everything

there was to know about religion. And he was

proud of it. He was confident in it. Until God

revealed Jesus to Paul. And that's exactly what

Paul tells us in Galatians chapter one, verses

11 through 24, that that true freedom doesn't

come from religion. It doesn't come from rules.

It will not ever come from our own effort. Freedom

is found when God reveals the gospel of his son,

when God reveals the good news of Christ to us.

And when we allow Jesus to transform our lives.

So let's start in verses 11 through 12 and we'll

kind of walk through this passage together. 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 a revelation

of Jesus Christ. See right there. Paul emphasizes

something that we need to understand, and that

is that the gospel that he preaches is not of

human origin. No man made this up. No man designed

it. No man wrote it. It is not man's gospel.

It is God's gospel revealed by Christ himself.

I believe Paul is emphasizing this divine source

of his message because, well, Paul realizes something

important. Last week, I told you that the messenger

matters, and this week I'll tell you that the

source matters. It matters where the gospel comes

from. You see, throughout history, people have

been claiming these new revelations or messages

from God, and you've heard them before. I mean,

we have entire religions built on people that

have said. I have a new message from God. You

hear it every day in churches today. God revealed

to me. And whenever we hear these things, when

somebody says God told me or I discovered this,

we have a responsibility as Christians. Well,

really, as just human beings with the ability

to critically think, we have a responsibility

to not follow blindly, but to ask ourselves,

is this true to test and verify? Because people

really love to say, I got this message from God,

but really it's a message from themselves. People

really love to say, I discovered this in Scripture.

I get videos sent to me all the time of people,

and they're saying, I was reading and I discovered

this, and I'd never seen this before, and I've

never heard this before. And then they'll say

the most outlandish thing about Scripture. We

have a responsibility to test and verify. Paul

knows. The source matters. Is it really from

God? Is it really God's message or is it my message?

That's exactly what the Galatian Christians were

failing to do. They were failing to verify where

these messages, these false gospels were coming

from, where these ideas were coming from. These

people were coming into the Galatian church and

they're preaching these Jesus plus. And the Galatian

Christians are falling victim to this because

they're not verifying that those messages line

up with what God has been teaching them. And

so Paul's first offense is very simple. He says,

my gospel comes directly from God. Can your false

teachers say the same thing? Think of it like

this. Two people have the same college degree.

But one of those degrees is from Harvard. And

the other one is from a small, unknown community

college that you've never even heard of. And

you're doing a job search, and you're looking

for somebody to fill a role in your business.

And you've got these two candidates, and one

has the degree from Harvard, and one has the

degree from unknown college X. Which one do you

think you're going to look at more seriously?

The one from Harvard. The source matters. The

origin matters. The degree alone doesn't tell

the whole story. Where it comes from matters.

In the same way, if these false teachers cannot

verify that their message is in fact from God,

then what Paul is saying is they are not valid.

They're not good enough. And when we're talking

about good news, I want the best news. I want

the true news. You see things come across your

timeline every day. You see things in the newspaper

every day. And sometimes those things are fake

news. We want the real. We want the truth. And

what Paul says is, I have the truth. I've got

the real good news because Paul's credentials

are divine. They're not his own. He didn't get

these messages from other apostles. Even he didn't

get these messages from other men. He didn't

go to rabbis. He got them from God. And you might

be asking, well, why does that matter for us?

Well, it matters because if Paul's gospel really

is from God, we can trust it completely. And

I don't know about you, but if I'm going to build

my life on this, this thing. called Christianity,

if I'm going to build my life on this thing called

the good news of Christ, I want it to be something

that I can trust completely. If I tell you I've

got an investment opportunity for you and all

I need is just a small donation of a million

dollars and you've got the million dollars and

I present this investment opportunity to you,

you're going to ask me, well, how sure are you

that I'm going to get a return on this investment?

And I'm going to say, well. there's a good chance

you're saying, no, no, no, no. What are the chances

of my return on investment? And if I say, well,

20%. No deal. But if I say I've got 100 % certainty

that you will get what you gave me and then some

back, you're all in. It is foolproof. And so

when I can say my gospel comes from God and God

alone, not man, I know it's the real. That's

why it matters. It's not shifting sand. It's

not a momentary thing. It's not something that

might be true. It is 100 % verifiably true. And

it is the foundation. of our freedom in Christ.

This is what Paul says about the power of this

gospel in verses 13 through 17. It's a little

lengthy, so we're going to read what Paul says

to remind the Galatian Christians of his former

life. He says, For you've 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 of my

own age among my people. So extremely zealous

was I for the traditions of my fathers. But when

he who had set me apart before I was born and

he who 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.

You see, Paul, he has a background so ironic

for what he was called to do. Paul was called

to be the apostle to the Gentiles, which if you're

familiar with that Gentile Jew history, Jews

didn't like Gentiles. They were enemies. But

see, Paul was a Jew. And so it's kind of ironic

that he's called to go and be apostle to the

Gentiles. Because Paul wasn't. Just a Jew. Actually,

Paul was a Pharisee. And you may not know what

a Pharisee is, so I'll explain it to you. Paul

was a part of a distinct set of Jewish officials

whose sole purpose was to uphold strict observance

of Jewish laws. Essentially, Paul was a Jewish

legalist. And what Paul says there in verse 14

is that he was advancing in Judaism beyond many

of his own age. And not just... among those of

his own age, but those of his own tribe. And

so Paul was pretty special at this whole being

a Jew thing. And not only was he... Good at it.

He loved it. He was zealous. Extremely zealous

is what Paul says for the traditions of his father.

So Paul was not just good at it. He loved it.

He loved being on the right side of things. He

loved being in the group that he was in. And

so Paul wasn't just religious. He was exceptionally

religious. But this is what he says in verse

15. God set him apart and called him by. Key

word here, grace. There's that word again. It

keeps popping up, doesn't it? Grace. Something

we don't deserve. When we're an enemy of the

gospel, even God says, I've got grace for you.

Grace. God interrupted Paul's life. He revealed

the good news of Jesus Christ directly to Paul.

And because of that revelation that came directly

from God, Paul's life was transformed completely.

Imagine a sculptor. And he's got this clay in

front of him, or I guess a sculptor would be

stone. And he's got the stone in front of him

and he's trying to he has this picture in his

mind, but the stone doesn't really work for the

picture that he's got in his mind of the statue

that he wants to sculpt. And so the sculptor

is is looking at the stone and he's like, it's

messed up, it's jagged, it's got chipped off

pieces here and it's kind of broken. And it's

not exactly the right marbling that I wanted

for my statue. And so he looks at this stone

and he says. I really probably shouldn't work

with this. But because of who God is, he does

work with it. And he sculpts this masterpiece

from it. God doesn't discard the broken stone.

He doesn't discard. Those that don't exactly

fit this model image of what a disciple should

be. He doesn't discard someone that is the model

image of what a minister should be or what a

shepherd should be or what a Christian should

be. God actually prefers to work with the messed

up. And you've seen it. When somebody takes something

that's really ugly and they turn it into something

that's really beautiful and you go. I'm so impressed

at what you've been able to do with this. Maybe

you've seen, I saw there was an artist and his

whole thing was what he liked to do was find

driftwood. Just these trash pieces of wood that

would float up on the gulf or on the shore from

the gulf. And he'd take these pieces of driftwood

and he'd make them into these beautiful sculptures.

And you look at it and you're like, how in the

world could he do that? I mean, he had to work

around all the knots in the wood and he had to

work with the dead pieces and some of it was

waterlogged and all this. But he makes these

beautiful pieces of art. God doesn't discard

us because we're not good enough pieces to work

with. He doesn't discard us because we're a little

too rough. Or our background's a little too messy.

Our families aren't exactly perfect. He doesn't

discard us because we look a certain way. He

doesn't discard us because we live in a certain

place. He doesn't discard us because we have

thought a certain way and we've been a certain

way. God looks at us and says, I can work with

that. And I can transform that into a powerful

message for my good. And Paul's story reminds

us that freedom is not about erasing. It's not

about ignoring our mistakes. It's about letting

God redeem everything for his glory. That's the

power of the gospel. And then in verses 18 through

24, Paul shows us the fruit of the gospel. Here's

what Paul says. Then after three years, I went

up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas, which 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'm writing to you before God,

I do not lie. I love that Paul says, I do not

lie. Exclamation point. Don't doubt me. I'm telling

the truth. You ever tell your kids that? Just

take my word for it. I promise I know better

than you. Paul is emphatic. I'm telling the truth.

And then I went into the regions of Syria and

Cilicia, and I was still unknown in person to

the churches of Judea that are in Christ. All

they knew, all they were hearing was that it

was said, he who used to persecute us is now

preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.

That's good news. Let me read that again. He

who used to persecute us is now preaching the

faith he once tried to destroy. And they glorified

God because of it. Because of me. Because of

my story. See, after this radical encounter with

Jesus, Paul doesn't run to Jerusalem and try

to get the apostles' approval. He doesn't go

to Peter and the other apostles and say, I need

you to tell me exactly what I need to know. I

mean, he meets with Peter and James for a little

bit, but he doesn't rely on them to validate

this message that's been revealed to him. He

doesn't rely on them to tell him, yes, that's

what you're being called to do. What Paul does

is he says, I've got this message and I've got

this calling that is straight from God. And look

at how the churches responded because of it.

I was still unknown in person to the churches

in Judea that are in Christ. They only heard

it said, he who used to persecute us is now preaching

the message that he once tried to destroy. And

they glorified God because of me. Maybe you've

been in the boat where maybe you weren't trying

to destroy the gospel and quench. This thing

that we've got going. But maybe you've been an

enemy of God. And you know what I mean. You've

rebelled against God. You've lived in a life

of sin. You turn your back on him. Maybe you

stopped coming to church for a little while.

Maybe you stopped reading your Bible. You just

gave up on praying because what has God ever

done for me? Maybe you've decided that instead

of trusting what God is trying to do, you're

going to take matters into your own hands. Instead

of being the hands and feet of Jesus, you're

going to be the fist of Jesus. Maybe you've decided

that I'm going to do what I want to do. And if

God likes it, that's cool. If he doesn't like

it, so be it. That's what Paul was doing. was

that he's now proclaiming the same gospel that

he was once an enemy of. And that is good news.

And they glorified God. Think about your life.

Think about the things you've done. The ways

you've made yourself an enemy of God. The people

you've hurt, the things you've said, the things

you've thought. Even as bad as those things may

have been, God can still and will still use you

for his glory. Because God is in the business

of transforming garbage into greatness. And not

your greatness, his greatness. He's in the business

of taking tragedy and telling amazing stories

of triumph. And what we see in Paul is a villain.

He was a villain. And it's okay to say that.

Paul says that. He was a villain. But God says,

you're going to be a hero of the faith. And we

told the story a few weeks ago. about John Newton,

the author of the song Amazing Grace. He was

a slave trader. He was a vulgar, disgusting human

being. And now in churches everywhere, all over

the world, Amazing Grace is sung. Somebody somewhere

right now is singing that song. Written. By an

awful, disgusting human being. But he didn't

write that song when he was awful. He wrote that

song after God transformed him. And Paul. He

didn't write his letters to the churches. He

didn't change people's lives. He didn't proclaim

the gospel when he was still an awful person.

He wrote it. After the gospel transformed him.

And what we have. In Galatians is a testimony

that we can take example from. A testimony that

glorifies God. See, notice the churches didn't

glorify Paul. They didn't say, wow, that is so

awesome. Paul is so amazing. They said, look

at God. They glorified God because of him. And

that. That is the mark of true transformation.

When grace takes hold, when God gets his hands

on a piece of junk and makes it into something

beautiful, the attention goes to God, not us.

When I look at a beautiful piece of art, I don't

look at it and say, man, that painting did such

an incredible job painting itself. I look at

it and I say, wow, that painter is really talented.

When I hear a song that's just so amazingly written,

I don't go, man, these words just fell together

and they became awesome. I think, wow, that songwriter

is so talented. And when I look at my life, There

is no place in my life where I look at myself

and say, wow. Donovan is so great. Because the

truth is, I'm like Paul. I'm just a disgusting

human being. But by God's grace, I'm able to

be a little bit more than that. A little bit

better than that. And hopefully. When my life

is through and people look back on my story,

they say, look at God. Let's put this together.

In verses 11 through 12, Paul shows us the source

of the gospel because the source matters. The

gospel, the good news comes directly from Christ.

In verses 13 through 17, Paul shows us the power

of the gospel, this power to completely transform

garbage into greatness, tragedy into triumph.

And in verses 18 through 24, Paul shows us the

fruit of the gospel. And that is that if God

takes hold and if you let God transform you,

it'll lead people to glorify God. That's what

grace does. Grace. comes from God, transforms

lives, and brings God glory. And here's the hope

for you and me today. Because I told you, Galatians

really is a hope -filled letter. The hope for

us today is the same grace that transformed Paul.

The same grace that could take a villain and

turn him into a hero. The same grace that transformed

Paul is still at work today. Earlier in the welcome,

I told you, Satan is working. He's fighting.

He is trying to divide us. He's trying to get

us away from our mission. He's trying to keep

us from understanding what our objective on this

earth is. Satan is working, but guess what? So

is God. And I think I know who's a little bit

more powerful. I think I know who wins. That

same God. That was working then is working now.

And that same grace that was working then is

working still today. So maybe your past feels

too broken. Maybe it feels a little too messy.

Maybe it feels just too weighed down by guilt.

Paul's story says God's grace is bigger. God's

grace is stronger. Maybe you've been trying to

earn your way to God with effort and with rules

and by checking every box, dotting every I, crossing

every T. Maybe you're like Martin Luther or like

Paul before he came to Christ and you feel like

it is by my effort and by my deeds and by my

good that I'm either going to be in Christ or

out of Christ. One of my favorite preachers,

he said the other day in a sermon, he said, I

used to preach a sermon about how. how to know

who's in Christ and who's not in Christ because

too many of us didn't know who was in Christ.

But now, I need to preach that sermon again because

too many of us don't know who's out of Christ.

And his point was, there was a time when the

church was so focused on the deeds and the rules

and the efforts of man that we didn't know if

any of us were saved. We would sit in a church

pew and we would be really contemplative at the

Lord's Supper because we didn't know if I were

to die right now, am I in Christ? What Paul says

is you don't have to wonder. If you've got the

gospel and if you've obeyed the gospel and if

you're walking in step with the Spirit, you're

in. We know that our God is not looking at the

boxes we check. He's looking at the Savior that

we follow. Paul's story tells us to stop trying

to earn what's freely given. Because if I give

you a gift, I don't expect you to come work for

me. It's free. Maybe you've been afraid to share

your faith. Maybe you've wondered if your story

is impressive enough. Well, I've never drank.

I've never smoked. I've never done all the bad

stuff. I don't know if I have a story. You do.

You do. Because Paul's story also says it's not

about impressing people. Nobody is looking at

you wondering. I wonder if they've got an awesome

testimony. It's not about impressing people.

It's just about pointing people to God, the God

who saves, the God who transforms. And please

hear this. The freedom that we have in Christ

doesn't mean we live however we want. Because

I know people are listening to this and they're

going to say, oh, well, Donovan's just saying

we don't have to follow the rules. We don't have

to listen to God's commands. We can just live

however we want to. Not what I'm saying. Please

do not ever think that of me. Because if you

know me, you know I feel very strongly about

the way things are supposed to be done. Just

ask Eliza how I feel about certain things. I'm

very particular. So it is not beyond me to think

that God also might be a little particular. We

do have to follow. His commands. We don't get

to just live however we want. Paul says, should

I just go on sinning? No. But what he tells us

is that grace, grace is not dependent on my deeds.

It's not dependent on my efforts. Also, true

grace, the gospel changes us from the inside.

And if I'm living a gospel -filled life, I'm

going to follow the rules. And so if I'm saved,

more than likely I'm going to look like it. And

what that looks like is not somebody doing whatever

they want to because they feel like it. You see,

when grace changes us, obedience and good works

naturally flow. Not to earn salvation, but as

Paul says, as the fruit of a life touched by

grace. Just as Paul's life was radically redirected

and used for God's glory, our freedom in Christ

should lead us to live differently, to love deeply,

and to serve faithfully. Because grace frees

us. from trying to earn God's favor. It frees

us from trying to do the right things to get

something. God's grace frees us from earning

favor, but empowers us to live in a way that

honors and glorifies him. See, at the end of

the day, Paul's message to the Galatians and

to us is very simple. Freedom isn't found in

religion. It isn't found in rules. It isn't found

in our effort. Freedom is found in Christ alone.

It's just Jesus. Not Jesus plus. Not Jesus minus.

It is just Jesus. Martin Luther discovered that

truth while reading the book of Romans. Paul

discovered it on the Damascus Road, and you and

I can discover it again and again when we trust

not in ourselves, but in the grace of God through

Jesus Christ. So this morning, if you're longing

for the freedom and the peace that comes only

from God's grace, or if you've been bound by

the chains of religion and you just need to embrace

the freedom found, in God's grace from the simple

Jesus gospel. Wherever you're at this morning,

we want you to experience the freedom that we

find in Christ. Whether that's you needing to

be baptized for the remission of your sins and

the gift of the Holy Spirit, whether that's you

needing prayers of the church to encourage you,

to push you on to good works, whatever it is

that you need this morning to experience and

to live in the freedom. found in Christ alone.

We're offering you an invitation to come and

be prayed for, to be loved on, to be baptized

here today. If you need anything, please come

as we stand and as we sing.