We get to hear devotional thoughts from Delaney Johnston this week! You can learn more about her on the contributors page.
Galatians 1:24 is one of those verses that never fails to prick my heart—no matter how many times I’ve read through it.
By way of context, throughout verses 11-21, Paul briefly summarizes his conversion story—how he, once shackled by the chains of staunch religiosity, persecuted the church of God and even “wasted,” or tried to destroy, it (v. 13) until he was eternally transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ.
He goes on to explain in verses 22-23 that, because of his pre-conversion background, believers marveled at the fact that he—the man who once persecuted churches that proclaimed the Good News of Christ—was now heralding the gospel message himself. He was preaching the “faith which once he destroyed” (v. 23), and it was ultimately this radical transformation that compelled onlookers to glorify God.
God’s grace is just that powerful.
But for those of us whose conversation stories aren’t as seemingly powerful as Paul’s, it’s easy for us to question whether our testimonies could still bring God glory.
You see, being raised in a Christian home, I—unlike Paul—was not redeemed from a life of murder, persecution, and traditional Judaism. By God’s grace, I had heard the gospel message from a young age and had been raised in the “nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4) throughout the entirety of my childhood.
But I—just like Paul—was still dead in my trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1) and had fallen embarrassingly short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). Though my background might not have been as blatantly bleak as that of the apostle Paul, I was still a sinner in need of rescuing—shackled by the chains of self-righteousness, legalistic mindsets, and a fallen sin nature.
Just as Paul, I needed grace.
Just as Paul, I needed forgiveness.
Just as Paul, I needed redemption,
Just as Paul, I needed reconciliation.
Just as Paul, I needed Christ.
And just as Paul, I can now proclaim the goodness of God in redeeming my soul from the sin that separated me from Him.
Because Salvation is not of works (Eph. 2:8-9), the grace of God is just as evident (and just as praiseworthy!) when a regular church attendee with squeaky-clean moralism turns to the true gospel as it is when someone who has been enslaved to addiction for thirty years breaks free and runs to Christ.
God’s grace is just as necessary for the legalist (one who strives to earn favor with God through obedience to the Law) as it is for the antinomian (one who flaunts a life of anti-law) because, ultimately, all sin separates from the Savior, and all men need rescuing.
“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
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