June 26, 2022
Galatians 1:11-24
The Gospel is a Hill Worth Dying On!
I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus. Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter and stayed with him fifteen days. I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother. I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie. Later I went to Syria and Cilicia. I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only heard the report: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” And they praised God because of me. (NIV1984)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
What do you consider to be a hill that is worth dying on? In other words, what is so important to you that you will do whatever is necessary to defend it? Does your house fall under this category? Do you consider your car or your job to be so important to you that you would do whatever is necessary to defend it? How about your family? Ah, now we are talking about a hill that is definitely worth dying on! If anyone or anything threatens our family we would definitely do whatever we could to defend them!
Here in our sermon text for today we get a glimpse into the heart of the apostle Paul. While Paul was willing to forfeit his own salvation— if it meant that all of his fellow Jews would be brought to faith in Jesus as the Promised Messiah (See Romans 9:1-5) and while Paul was willing to become “all things to all men, so that by all possible means I might save some” (1 Corinthians 9:19-23) Paul most definitely had a hill he was willing to die on. Paul most definitely had something that was so important to him that he was willing to do whatever was necessary to defend it. The hill that Paul was willing to die on, the truth that Paul was willing to defend at all costs was— the message of the Gospel! Today let’s listen closely as Paul comes to us through these inspired words of our text and assures us that: The Gospel is a Hill Worth Dying On! Why is the Gospel a hill that is worth dying on? Why is the Gospel so important that we need to do whatever is necessary to defend it? Paul gives us two reasons.
The first reason as to why the Gospel is a hill that is worth dying on is because it is God’s Gospel! Paul emphasizes this truth very clearly when he says to the Galatians and to us, “I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ…I did not consult any man, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter and stayed with him fifteen days. I saw none of the other apostles— only James, the Lord’s brother. I assure you before God that what I am writing to you is no lie”
The false teachers who had infiltrated the churches in Galatia were working very hard to convince the people that Paul was not a “real” apostle— someone who had been “sent out” by Jesus Christ Himself. Since Paul was not a “real” apostle these false teachers were claiming that Paul was not proclaiming the “real” Gospel. At best, they said that Paul was proclaiming an “incomplete” Gospel, a Gospel that leaves out what God requires us to do before we can be saved.
Paul demolishes the claims of these false teachers by reminding the Galatians that the Gospel message which Paul proclaimed to them was not something that Paul received from any human source. The Gospel message that Paul proclaimed to them was not the result of some instruction that he had received from others. The Gospel message that Paul proclaimed to them was not enlarged upon or scrutinized by any human being— not even Peter, not even James, the Lord’s brother. No, the Gospel message that Paul proclaimed to the Galatian Christians was God’s Gospel! The Gospel message that Paul proclaimed to the Galatian Christians was the Gospel message that Paul received directly “by revelation from Jesus Christ.”
We would do well to remember that the Gospel message that Paul proclaims to us is indeed God’s Gospel! That perspective will have a powerful impact on the way that we read Paul’s words, on the way that we understand Paul’s words, on the way that we apply Paul’s words to our own hearts and to our own lives. Don’t let anyone convince you that the writings of Paul are simply his own personal opinion— and opinion that was influenced by the norms of his day and age, an opinion that now needs to be adjusted and tweaked so that it conforms with the standards that are acceptable to our more “modern” and “enlightened” world today. Because the Gospel message which Paul proclaimed was— and still is!— God’s Gospel, this message is a hill worth dying on. This is a truth that is worth defending at any and every cost!
The second reason as to why the message of the Gospel is a hill worth dying on is because this is God’s Gospel! The key to understanding the point I’m trying to emphasize here is found in Romans 1:16. There the apostle Paul says, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God— i.e. the “power” that belongs to God, the “power” that comes from God— it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.”
The Gospel is the “power” of the God who said, “Let there be light”— and there was light! (Genesis 1:3) The Gospel is the “power” of the God who promised father Abraham that he would have a child with his wife Sara— even though Abraham was 100 years old and Sara was 90 years old— God promised Abraham that he would have a Son and through this Son “all nations on earth will be blessed” (Genesis 22:18). The Gospel is the “power” of the God who promised great King David, “your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever” (2 Samuel 7”16). The Gospel is the “power” of the God who sent His servant Gabriel to say to a young virgin named Mary, “You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end” (Luke 1:31=33). The Gospel is the “power” of the God who said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:25, 26). The Gospel is the “power” of the God who said, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days” (John 2:19). The Gospel is the “power” of the God who on Easter Sunday showed His frightened disciples His hands and His side and said, “Peace be with you!” (John 20:1`9). The Gospel is the “power” of the God who changes people from the inside out, the God who uses the water of Baptism to wash away all of our sins and adopt us to be His own dearly beloved children, the God who says to us, “Take and eat, this is my Body; Take and drink this is My Blood.” Just as Paul understood that the message he was given to proclaim was God’s Gospel, so also Paul rejoiced in knowing that the message he was given to proclaim was God’s Gospel, the “power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.” This is the Gospel that Paul was not “ashamed of.” This was the Gospel that Paul was willing to defend no matter what the cost.
Paul’s conviction concerning the powerful Gospel message he was given to proclaim was a conviction he openly shared with others— by using himself as an example of the “power” of the Gospel. Look at what Paul says concerning himself here in our text, “For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.”
Ever since his youth Saul was trained to follow God’s Law as a Pharisee. He studied under the guidance of a man named Gamaliel— the most honored rabbi of the first century. (See Acts 22:3) As a Pharisee Saul was “extremely zealous” when it came to following the “traditions” of his fathers. As a Pharisee Saul was convinced that he was able to get himself into heaven by keeping not only God’s Law, but by also keeping the hundreds of laws God’s people had added to God’s Law. That is why Saul dedicated himself to persecuting the Church. That is why Saul’s goal in life was to destroy anyone and everyone who belonged to “The Way.” Paul’s devotion to Jesus was not because he was unaware of God’s Law. No, my friends, Paul’s devotion to Jesus and to the pure, sweet, simple message of the Gospel he was given to proclaim was the result of the “power of God” working in both his heart and his life!
For Paul the message of the Gospel was indeed a hill worth dying on. Paul knew from personal experience that no one — not even the most dedicated zealous Pharisee— no one could do enough works to earn their own way into heaven. Paul knew that anytime the message of the Gospel is made conditional— “You can be saved if you do this; You will be saved when you do that”— the Gospel is turned into Law. That’s why earlier in this letter Paul said to the Galatians, “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which is really no gospel at all…But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!” (Galatians 1: 6, 8).
Do you see the message of the Gospel as a hill that is worth dying on, my friends? Do you see the message of the Gospel as God’s message to you? Do you see the message as God’s Gospel? I pray that each and every one of us will answer these questions with a resounding, Yes! Why? Because there are far too many preachers and far too many churches which either consciously or unconsciously answer, No! to these questions! If someone does not see the message of the Gospel as God’s message, the message that contains the “power” of God Himself, then they will try to change the message of the Gospel as they see fit. This almost always results in making the message of the Gospel conditional— “You can be saved if…You will be saved when….”
If the message of the Gospel is not seen as a hill that is worth dying on, if the message of the Gospel is not seen as God’s message, if the message of the Gospel is not seen as God’s Gospel— the only message that contains the “power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes,” then the devil, the world and our own sinful flesh are going to easily exploit our natural sinful condition and rob us of the confidence of our salvation. We may think that we are not a Pharisee like Saul, we may think that we are not counting on our own works to get into heaven, but by nature we are. Since “work-righteousness” makes absolutely perfect sense to our old sinful nature we easily march in lockstep with those who say that if we live a “good enough” life, if we go out of our way to help lift up those less fortunate than us then we will be saved— hopefully! We may think that we could never follow Saul’s example of persecuting God church and striving to destroy God’s Church— until we hear the church stand up to defend a God-given truth that we think is outdated, old-fashioned, and completely out of step with our modern understanding of everything from science to morality.
So my friends, what do you consider to be a hill worth dying on? My prayer is that before you answer that question in your own heart and in your own mind that you lift up your eyes to the hill called Calvary. (Pointing to the cross) When the eyes of our faith are focused on the hill that Jesus considered worth dying on then we will know the only correct answer to that question. The message of the Gospel is a hill that is worth dying on because the message of the Gospel is not only God’s message, but the message of the Gospel is God’s Gospel— the only message that contains the “power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes”!
To God be the glory!
Amen
