God’s Grace – Galatians 1:15-16a
But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me
Wild with rage against Christians, committed to stamping out these devotees of Jesus, Paul carried the torch of zealotry for Judaism, but when God called him through grace, his life radically changed. He went from ruthless persecutor of the church to chosen instrument,[1] from hater of Christ to faithful bondservant.[2] When it pleased God to touch his heart and open his eyes, Paul became a new creation in Christ. By God’s grace, through God’s grace, in His chosen time, God took this man who watched in hearty agreement as the men of the synagogue stoned Stephen[3] and gave him so profound a love for Christ that he counted all else as worthless in view of the surpassing value of knowing Jesus as His Lord.[4]
When it pleased God to bring Paul out of his hatred and self-righteousness, God did not lead him from the total darkness of spiritual depravity into a place of partial healing with minimal change. Rather, He brought him into the fullness of Christ’s glory where light shown into his heart, changing him dramatically and conforming his old convictions and aspirations to His will. He caused Paul to look with distain upon his flawed thinking and to shun old associations born in pride, and God made him a follower of Jesus and a member of His household.
Jesus transformed Paul, delivering him from his sorrowful state of hostility toward God, making him valuable for the kingdom. He became the air Paul breathed, the food he ate. He caused Paul to turn from his sins and lay down all the accoutrements of position and status to make Jesus his truest friend and fellowship with Him his most ardent desire. Paul suffered rejection, beatings, shipwreck, abandonment, and imprisonment for the joy set before him in gaining Jesus’ righteousness and in entering into His eternal life.[5] Having fallen in love with Jesus, he gave all he possessed for the reward he gained by serving Him.[6]
When it pleases God to touch a
life, His grace abounds in that life as it did with Paul. Blinded eyes see, and deaf ears hear. The crippled walk and the lost find their way
back home. Therefore, as one saved by
grace, walk in the light, for God was pleased to bring you into the light, into
the place with no darkness, the place where He resides,[7] the place where He is pleased to make your joy complete.[8]
[1] Acts 9:15
[2] Romans 1:1
[3] Acts 8:1
[4] Philippians 3:8
[5] John 12:25
[6] Matthew 13:44
[7] 1 John 1:5
[8] Romans 15:13
