STORY / CONTEXT

Paul uses his own life as evidence of the transforming power of God’s grace. Real transformation is difficult to hide; when Jesus changes someone, there should be a recognizable before and after.

SCRIPTURE READING — Galatians 1:11–12

• The gospel Paul preached did not originate with people but came through Jesus Christ.
• Spiritual transformation cannot be manufactured by human effort; it is the work of God.

1. ME BEFORE JESUS

Galatians 1:13–14

• Paul acknowledges who he was before Christ: deeply religious, zealous, accomplished—and still lost.
• Acts 22:3–4 / Philippians 3:4–6 — His impressive religious credentials could not save him.
• Lostness can take two very different forms:
  • Lostness in RELIGION — trusting religious activity, morality, or personal achievement.
  • Lostness in REBELLION — openly rejecting God and pursuing life apart from Him.
• Every believer has a “before Jesus.” Salvation creates a before and an after.

2. PAUL WAS CALLED BY JESUS

Galatians 1:15–16a

• Paul didn’t initiate his salvation; God called him by grace.
• God moves toward us in grace, and we respond in faith.
• Jesus is revealed both to us for salvation and in us for others to see.
• Grace works for us in salvation and through us in ministry.

3. MATURING IN JESUS

Galatians 1:16b–20

• Paul’s spiritual growth was no more man-made than his salvation.
• The God who saves us is also the God who grows us.
• Through His Word and the Holy Spirit, God continues shaping His people into who He created them to be.

4. EVIDENCE OF JESUS

Galatians 1:21–23

• People heard that the man who once persecuted Christians was now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.
• Genuine gospel transformation becomes visible in the way we live.
• Question: Spiritually speaking, what do people say about you?

5. GLORY IS TO GOD

Galatians 1:24

• The result of Paul’s transformation wasn’t that people were impressed with Paul—they glorified God.
• Paul wasn’t the hero of his story; Jesus was.
• God’s grace doesn’t erase our story; it redeems it.
• When grace rewrites a life, God gets the credit and God gets the glory.

SUMMARY / APPLICATION

Paul’s testimony shows the progression of transforming grace:

Me BEFORE Jesus → CALLED by Jesus → MATURING in Jesus → EVIDENCE of Jesus → GLORY to God

• What’s your story?
• What’s being told about you?
• Who’s the hero?
• Is there God-glorifying evidence of an “after Jesus”?