Truth That Changes Lives

JP Jones: Beginning to discover our spiritual gifts and serving and giving ourselves not to a consumptive lifestyle, but a lifestyle of giving away to others is getting out of our comfort zone.

Guest (Male): Thank you for joining us on Truth That Changes Lives. Pastor JP Jones is the Senior Pastor of Crossline Community Church in Laguna Hills, California, and a Professor in Biblical Studies at Biola University.

Today on Truth That Changes Lives, Pastor JP will be giving us a message from a series entitled Galatians. Bless us then as JP gives us part one of What Is Your Story.

JP Jones: Galatians chapter 1. We are in the book of Galatians talking about what it means to be set free by Jesus Christ. The plan of this book is real simple. It's grace plus faith equals salvation. The whole message of Galatians is a message of grace. In fact, everything in the Bible with respect to what God does in our lives is prompted by His grace towards us. And then in terms of what our response is, it's always one of faith.

So the pattern of life change in the Bible, the pattern of life change today happens this way: grace plus faith. And God does miraculous things in a person's life when they are touched by His grace and when they respond with an attitude of faith. As we get started this morning, I want to do something different. I want you all to just stand up right where you are. Stand up.

Just right near where you are standing, change places with someone and sit in a different seat. Just right now, just where you are, move your places and sit in a different seat. We're going to continue in our study in this book.

Let me tell you what I've just asked you to do. Obviously, I've asked you to change where you where you sit. But what I've asked you to do is to get out of your comfort zone. Because we're all creatures of habit, aren't we? We kind of get in habits in terms of when we get up, when we go to bed, our work routine, our relationships with people, how we get to work, the fast food restaurants we go to, what we order, where we come in and park at church, where we like to walk around within the auditorium, and where we sit.

I've asked you to get out of your comfort zone because that is exactly what God does for us all throughout our life experience.

Coming into a relationship with Jesus Christ is a step out of our comfort zone. Growing spiritually, becoming a person who is a committed follower of Jesus Christ is a series of steps out of our comfort zones. Beginning to discover our spiritual gifts and serving and giving ourselves not to a consumptive lifestyle, but a lifestyle of giving away to others is getting out of our comfort zone.

In Galatians chapter 1, Paul tells us his story, which is really God's story. And every time God builds something into a person's life, every time God calls someone to a new life, every time God wants to do something through someone's life, is a step out of our comfort zone.

This morning, I want to talk about how we can make our story God's story. I want to talk about becoming a world changer, but I want to prepare you and be upfront with you that if you're going to take God seriously and you're going to receive His word into your life and follow what He says, it is going to take you out of your comfort zone.

In the book of Galatians, the Apostle Paul is without apology defending the gospel of grace. He's telling us that there's only one message of good news and every other message is really bad news. The only message of good news is salvation by grace through faith.

God extends His love and mercy and forgiveness and hope of a new life and call to a kingdom purpose, all by His grace, and we receive that on the principle of faith. Salvation is by grace through faith. And Paul says this message is so important that I'm willing to stand toe-to-toe with anyone who tries to tell you a different message.

Now, Paul says the reason he can speak with ultimate authority is that he received this message by a revelation from Jesus Christ. And what he does in the rest of Galatians chapter 1 and into Galatians chapter 2 is make a case point for proving that by telling us his story. And the story of Paul is really a story of every one of us.

It's a story of how God takes us out of our comfort zone. It's a story of how God does something miraculous in our lives and it's a story of how God wants to use us to touch the lives of other people. Wherever you are this morning in your spiritual journey, God wants to call you to be a world changer.

Galatians chapter 1, verses 13 to 17 says this: "For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism. How intensely I persecuted the church of God and I tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the tradition 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."

Four phases in becoming a world changer. Here's the first phase: saved and called to ministry.

Saved and called to ministry. Paul tells us that he was not born into this faith as a follower of Jesus Christ. He tells us he didn't have an easy road in coming to a relationship with Christ. He tells us that his life story was not picture perfect. No, Paul had a past and he's really upfront about his past.

In fact, everybody has a past. Did you know that? In fact, look at the person next to you and point your finger at them and say, you have a past. Do that right now.

Paul says that his life was a life of devout and zealous commitment to Judaism. In fact, he says in in Galatians 1, "You've heard about my former way of life in Judaism." He didn't dabble in his religion. He was a zealot. It was a way of life for him, the way he thought, the way he spoke, the way he kept his schedule. Everything about his life was in his frame of reference a devout commitment to his understanding of the Jewish religion.

But Paul tells us that even though he was a religious zealot, he was separated from God and he was a candidate for grace. And he came into a relationship with Christ the same way everybody comes into a relationship with Christ, and it's on the basis of grace. You see, Paul is very careful to tell us that the only way to a relationship with God is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. And that's true whether you are a religious zealot, whether you're just a good moral person, or whether you're a total worldly pagan.

You got a past, and that means every person needs salvation. In fact, in Romans chapters 1 to 3, Paul says, you got to know the bad news before you can appreciate the good news. And the bad news is that every person is sinful and separated from God.

Paul says in Romans chapter 1, the worldly pagan, the person who is out there living in complete rebellion against God, the person who's breaking all the rules, the person who's indulging all the desires of their flesh, the person who's shaking their fist at God, denying God, that person is sinful and separated from God.

Romans chapter 2, Paul says, "But you know what? The good guy. The moral person. The person who never does any of that stuff." In fact, the person who actually thinks that's all wrong, that person is also sinful and separated from God. It's just a different kind of sin. It's a sin of the attitude, it's a sin of self-righteousness, it's a sin of arrogance, it's a sin of pride, it's a sin of hypocrisy.

And that sin causes them to be separated from God. Then at the end of Romans chapter 2 and Romans chapter 3, Paul takes on the religious person. The Jewish person, the the zealot, the person who with all their energy tries to keep all the rules and do all the religious things and be the most spiritual person they can be.

Paul says that person because they're doing it in their own power, their own way, they're really being independent from God, which is really the essence of sin, rather than being submissive and and dependent upon God, it's being independent. That's the essence of sin. Paul says, "Because of that, the religious person is also sinful and separated from God." And then he concludes in Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

Every person has a past. Paul says in Galatians chapter 1, "I was advancing in Judaism." In fact, I was setting the pace for everybody else, but I was lost. And God extended His grace towards me. And when the grace of God became real to me, I gave my life to Jesus Christ. The first step, the first phase for anyone to become a world changer is this phase of coming into salvation in Jesus Christ.

This phase of crossing the line and becoming a follower of Jesus Christ. And what Paul says is that is always a call to ministry. Well, you know, Jesus said it the same way in Matthew 4:19. He came to His first followers, His first disciples and said, "Follow me, and I'll make you fishers of men."

You may not realize this, but the call to follow Jesus is not only a step for personal salvation, it is also a step of becoming part of Jesus's kingdom program. It's a step of realizing that it's not just about me, it's about God, you see. In fact, that's the way Paul phrases it in Galatians chapter 1. He says, "For you've heard of my previous way of life, how intensely I persecuted the church of God. I was advancing in Judaism."

So he says, my life, I was advancing in Judaism, I was persecuting the church of God. It's all about me. Then he says, verse 15, "But when God who set me apart from birth called me by His grace and was pleased to reveal His son in me that I might preach Him among the Gentiles." That's all about God.

My life, I was advancing, I was persecuting. God set me apart. God called me. God revealed His son in me. Let me ask you, is your life all about you?

Or have you surrendered your life to God, realizing that life's all about God? That's the critical question in this phase. In this phase of becoming a world changer, that is the critical question. Is my life all about me or is my life about God? See, once we settle that life is about God, that's not only settled in understanding salvation, grace comes into our lives, our sins are forgiven, we have heaven as a guarantee, the Holy Spirit lives inside of us, we're sealed, we become new people in Christ, but it is also now I'm at God's disposal.

I'm part of His kingdom plan. God now has a plan for my life and life is about discovering what God wants me to do with my life in serving Him. And Paul realized for him that had to do with preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles. That may be similar to what He has planned for you, it may be different, but the point is God has a plan for your life.

And the call that God gives to save you is always coupled with God's call to use you in His kingdom service.

The first phase in becoming a world changer is being saved and called to ministry. Paul now tells us what the second phase is as he continues to tell his story, which is really God's story. Galatians chapter 1, verses 18-24.

"Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter and stayed with him 15 days. I saw none of the other apostles, only James, the Lord's brother. I assure you before God that what I'm writing to you is no lie. Later, when 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."

Here's the second phase in becoming a world changer: growth and discipleship in Christ.

Growth and discipleship in Christ. Paul says, there was a point in which I was lost, I was religious, I was advancing in Judaism, but it was all about me. And then God's grace became real to me, Christ was revealed to me, and I realized God had a call on my life. So I crossed the line and became a follower of Christ.

Having crossed the line, that first step was followed by a whole lot of other steps. And those other steps are characterized by this second phase in God's call on a person's life. It's the phase of growth. It's the phase of discipleship.

You know, discipleship is a process that's built off the idea of being a disciple. The Greek word for disciple is mathetes. It means a follower or a learner. It was a common term in the ancient world in the Greek writings of the philosophers, they described how various philosophers had disciples, mathetes. Political movements and ideologies had devotees, they had disciples. We even within the Bible there are described for us the disciples of Herod, the Herodians. There were the disciples of the Pharisees. There were the disciples of John the Baptist, and there are the disciples of Jesus. Being a disciple means you're a learner and you're a follower. It's never a static kind of commitment, it's always fluid and dynamic. And growing as a follower, learning more about what it means to be a follower, living more like a follower is discipleship.

Crossing the line, becoming a follower of Jesus, that's the first phase. Growing in that commitment, living that commitment out, experiencing more of what that means, that's the second phase. And that happened for the Apostle Paul. Paul says here in Galatians chapter 1 that there was a period of time where he he was focusing and experiencing the dynamic of what God was doing in his life. And he he says, "I I met the apostles, I was just there for a short visit." We're revealed this to us in in Acts chapter 9, is when we see where it happens. And he's just there for a couple of weeks, and then he's gone. In fact, he from a human perspective, it looks like he's living in obscurity, but from God's perspective, God's building stuff into his life.

God was growing him up. God was maturing him, which is a very necessary phase in every person's life. And he says in Galatians 1, "They didn't even know that much about me other than this."

They said, "The one who had been persecuting the church is now preaching Christ, and they glorified God because of me." Here's the major characteristic of this phase in a person's life: you, God, and others are witness to the fact that God is changing your life and God's getting the glory for it.

People are able to see and observe how you're changing. Your repentance is becoming real. The new life that you profess is getting lived out, and other people can see it and go, "Gosh, God's doing something in that person's life."

It's like what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 5 in the Sermon on the Mount, He said, "You are the salt of the earth, you are the light of the world. Now let your light shine before men that others may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." Paul was experiencing that reality. In Acts chapter 9, he had an experience on the Damascus Road where God's grace became real to him and he became a Christ follower. And now he's saying, there was a period of time, several years, where I was growing in understanding that and experiencing that and I was maturing in that.

Colossians 2:6 and 7 says, "As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, being firmly rooted and being established and overflowing in your life in Him."

So every follower of Jesus Christ is to be growing in that relationship with Jesus Christ. There is to be an increasing measure where the fruit of the Spirit is demonstrated in our life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. This is an evidence that God's life is within us and we're going to be growing and experiencing more and more of this life. In 1 John chapter 2, John is writing to his audience and he says, "I write to you children, you're strong, you've overcome the evil one. I write to you young men because the word of God abides in you. I write to you fathers because you have resisted the evil one." And he says again, "I write to you children, I write to you young men, I write to you fathers."

John is telling us there's a paradigm of growth. We start off as children, we grow to be young men and then we become fathers. We spiritually reproduce ourselves. So every new person in Christ is a child, they grow to be a young adult, and then they are to become a father, a reproducer, you see. That is a pattern that God has for every Christian. Crossing the line, that's the first step. Then there's a whole lot of steps that follow that.

Crossing the line is the first phase of becoming a world changer. It's experiencing grace and God's call on your life. And then you're to grow and mature in that, and that is a phase in the process that God has in making you the person He wants you to be for His kingdom purposes.

Guest (Male): What a great message for all of us today. Pastor JP provides us with great insight. That is why we'd like to make it available to you on CD. Just get in touch and mention today's date. We'll send it your way for just $5. Or if you'd like to support this ministry, you can write us at Truth That Changes Lives, 23331 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Hills, California 92653, or give us a call at 949-916-0250. That's 949-916-0250.

For your gift of $25 or more, we will send you a signed copy of JP's new book, *Facing Goliath*. Please join us every Sunday at 9 or 11:00 a.m. at Crossline Church in Laguna Hills. The address is 23331 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Hills, California 92653, or check us out on the web at crosslinechurch.com. We're going to get to the address and phone number again in a moment, but before we do that, Pastor JP, do you have any insight from today's message?

JP Jones: Thanks, Greg. We're in a study in the book of Galatians, and the book of Galatians is a study focusing on the grace of God. Everything that we receive from God is by grace. In fact, the Gospel is the power of God for salvation, Paul tells us in Romans chapter 1, and the Gospel is this: by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Everything that we have in our relationship with God comes to us by grace. We receive God's grace by faith, and the focus is on Jesus Christ.

Paul's telling us in Galatians chapter 1 that when we receive Jesus Christ by His grace, there is within us the beginning of a new life. Coming to Christ is the first step. Growing in Christ is a series of steps that follows our new birth. Transformation is what flows out of salvation. That would be the the formula that Paul tells us in Galatians chapter 1. We come to Christ through faith, we receive His grace, we are now saved people, and as saved people, we are to grow spiritually.

We're saved to be transformed. We're saved to be sanctified. We're saved to become more and more like Jesus Christ. Second Corinthians 3:17 and 18 says, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there's freedom. And we all with unveiled face behold as in a mirror the glory of the Lord. We are being transformed into that same image from glory to glory, even by the Lord, the Spirit."

You see, God transforms us. He changes us from the inside out. That change begins when we're born again spiritually. That's a function of God's grace in our life. Now, once that change has taken place and we have the life of Jesus within us, we're to grow in that life. We're to grow in our experience of God's grace. We're to walk the Christian walk.

In Galatians, Paul is talking about both the initial receiving of Christ by faith, which is a function of grace, and the growing in Christ by faith, which is also a function of grace. You see, the Gospel is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. So if you're a follower of Jesus Christ, you have a story. That story began when you received God's grace by putting your faith in Jesus Christ, but that story continues every day.

Every day that you follow Jesus Christ is a day to live in the power of God's transforming grace. Let me ask you a question. What's your story? What is God doing in your life right now? Your life began in Christ when you received His grace, whether that happened for you as a child or a teenager or as an adult. But you are to continue in that grace through walking with Jesus Christ every day, and that's a walk of grace by faith.

Every person has a story. We've been born to grow. We've been born to reproduce. We've been born to follow Christ, to grow in Christ, and to share Christ and to give our life in Christ away. As a young believer, I was spiritually formed through the ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ. And in that ministry, there were three words that characterized what we were all about: win, build, send.

Win had to do with winning people to Christ, sharing the Gospel and bringing lost people into salvation. Building had to do with discipleship, helping believers grow spiritually, helping believers mature, helping believers be transformed. Sending had to do with reproducing your faith, giving your faith away, going out as a laborer for Christ, and as a witness for Christ, and as a multiplying disciple for Christ.

Win, build, send is a paradigm not only for Campus Crusade for Christ. It's a pattern for every believer. We are to come to Christ, we are to grow in Christ, we are to reproduce ourselves in Christ. And all of that is a ministry of God's grace. Paul is telling us his story in Galatians chapter 1 of how he was saved by God's grace, how he grew up in that grace, and how that grace led him to give away his faith.

Paul had a story. I have a story, and you have a story. What's your story? Where are you right now in your spiritual journey? If you've yet to come to Jesus Christ, then by grace receive Him into your life. Ask Him to be your Lord and Savior. If you've crossed that line and you've been saved by God's grace, then today make steps of obedience so that by faith you continue to grow in God's grace. If you are growing in the grace of God, give your life away. Share your faith, communicate with others what God has done for you because you have a story to live and a story to tell.

Let's pray. God, thank you for Your grace, Your grace that saves us, Your grace that grows us up, and Your grace that leads us to give away our faith. Thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.

Guest (Male): We want to help you in your relationship with Christ. Please get in touch with us at Truth That Changes Lives, 23331 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Hills, California 92653, or call us at 949-916-0250. On the Internet, you will find us at crosslinechurch.com. We hope to see you at one of our services every Sunday at our new campus in Laguna Hills. For more information and directions, please go to crosslinechurch.com. Please join us next time on Truth That Changes Lives.