Grace and Grit – Week 3

Welcome to Grace River Church online at home!

My name is Jacob and I get the privilege of being the Next Generations Pastor here at Grace River!
Today we are in week 3 of our series Grace and Grit.

If you watched week 1, Pastor Chris introduced this thought that SALVATION IS A
FREE GIFT THAT WILL COST YOU EVERYTHING. If this is your first time watching,
you’re probably thinking, what?  So what does that mean?

SALVATION IS A FREE GIFT: you can’t earn it. You can’t achieve it. You can’t lose it.

Ephesians 2:8 says, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t
take credit for this; it is a gift from God.” All that you have to do is believe!

But it’s a free gift THAT WILL COST YOU EVERYTHING. When you believe in Jesus
you are deciding that you are no longer the leader of your life. HE becomes the
leader of your life, and you change as a result of that!

2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has
begun!”  

When you give your life to Jesus, you are changed forever! Someone’s life who was changed forever because of Jesus was Paul!

Before Jesus, Paul was:
● Known as Saul of Tarsus
● Very religious person
● He was on the rise
● Worked for the Sanhedren. (similar to what the Supreme Court is today).

At this time, Judaism was the main religion, but there was a new religion coming
into the scene, which was Christianity. Saul was so against Christianity that he
committed to trying to wipe this new religion out by imprisoning and even killing
Christians!

But Jesus changed everything! Saul experienced the life changing power of
Jesus and his life was never the same!

So today we pick up on this part of Paul’s life where he is preaching that Jesus is
the true Messiah. Then something strange happens.

Paul disappears for 3 years! So, what happens during these 3 years in Paul’s life?
Paul was experiencing and learning that SALVATION IS A FREE GIFT THAT WILL
COST YOU EVERYTHING.

Today we will be in Galatians 1. Galatians is a letter that Paul wrote to the churches
in Galatia, warning them to STOP ADDING TO FAITH IN JESUS!
He was teaching that Jesus+Nothing=Everything.

This is something that the Galations were confused by. The Galation Christians at the
time were being influenced by Judaizers (from Judaism) that were saying
circumcision was required for salvation in Jesus! When Paul heard about this, he
was ticked that the Galation Christians were so quick to believe this false gospel that
was being preached!

Paul was quick to say, there is no other gospel! It’s Jesus+Nothing=Everything!
This is where we pick up in Galatians 1:11-24
11 Dear brothers and sisters, I want you to understand that the gospel message I
preach is not based on mere human reasoning. 12 I received my message from no
human source, and no one taught me. Instead, I received it by direct revelation from
Jesus Christ.

We learn that this message he is telling to the churches in Galatia does not come
from man. This message he is preaching comes directly from God.

13 You know what I was like when I followed the Jewish religion—how I violently
persecuted God’s church. I did my best to destroy it.

14 I was far ahead of my fellow Jews in my zeal for the traditions of my ancestors.

Paul points out who he was before Jesus! He was a big deal in the Jewish religion! He
was gaining power, and was even trying to destroy Christianity moving in!

15 But even before I was born, God chose me and called me by his marvelous grace.
Then it pleased him 16 to reveal his Son to me so that I would proclaim the Good
News about Jesus to the Gentiles. When this happened, I did not rush out to consult
with any human being.

How amazing is that! Even when Paul was a knucklehead in his life before Jesus, he
remembers that through his rebellion, God was still in control of the outcome of
his life!

Then verse 16 explains why Jesus was revealed to him! So that he would be the
messenger of the Gospel to the Gentiles!! Why is that so significant? Because Saul was a Jew who hated anyone who didn’t
believe like he did. Aka the gentiles!

And through God’s great love, mercy, and even humor, He calls the most devout
Jew to reach the Gentiles in this new life.

23 …“The one who used to persecute us is now preaching the very faith he tried to
destroy!” 24 And they praised God because of me.
What a powerful picture of GRACE!
You know what Christ is doing through the life of Paul at this moment? He’s
changing him! He’s changing his character!

Before the public platform, there’s private transformation.
We learn through the life of Paul, many other people in Scripture and even in our
own lives that character is built over time.

God is preparing you right now for whatever is coming in your life. So, grow through
what you are going through!

Later we learn that Paul would experience some major hardship!
● Beatings
● Imprisonment
● Riots
But I believe he was able to endure what he went through because of his private transformation.

So, what can we learn from Paul’s transformation period?

1. Talk Less and Listen More.
This is why he takes 3 years to get ready! He’s letting Jesus reshape his life. This was
a time for Paul to devote himself to:
● Prayer, Study, and Meditation, as he met with the Lord alone.
We too need to follow Paul’s example! I say talk less, listen more because often times
we want to tell God how to do his job in our life. Instead, we need to find moments of
silence, and listen to God, because it’s then that God transforms our life in a new way!

2. Rethink what you’ve always thought.
Some of us have this idea of who Jesus is through growing up in church or being told
what to believe as a kid. Some of us have this false theology of who Jesus is and what
he did, but it’s time that we examine the person of Jesus for ourselves!

This is the griddy part to faith! There’s a grace and grit to our faith. Grace is what
we receive. The grit is what changes us. So, it’s important that you not only talk
less, and listen more, but that you surrender to the gritty grace of God in your life!
God wants to change you!

When was the last time you allowed God to reshape your life?
Skeptic—Seeker— Conversion—Circumstantial—Self-Feeder

Every single person watching this, falls in one of these four categories. Where are
you? What does it look like for you to grow forward on this chart? Maybe it
means rethinking what you’ve always thought!

3. Go all in.
Can you imagine if Paul didn’t go all in on this whole Jesus thing? Paul got to
experience his full potential because he committed to going all in.
And YOU don’t get to experience the potential of what God can do in your life until
you go all in!

God doesn’t call us to play it safe.
I used to look at people and think God could never use me in a way that he is using
them. And maybe you can relate. The key to unlocking the potential of what God
can do in your life is by going all in!

Today as we close out, I wonder what your next step is.

Next Steps:
1. Listen to what God wants for you.
2. Examine Jesus for yourself.
3. Go all in.
I pray that you would have the courage to take the next step in your spiritual.