For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. 12 For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. 13 For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. 14 And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. 15 But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, 16 was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.
18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. 19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother. 20 (In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!) 21 Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22 And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23 They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they glorified God because of me.
My good friend, fellow photographer, and heading-for-the-seminary college classmate, Jerry, once said, “It’s pure grace, Dave. Pure grace.” He was talking about some of the silly, dumb, hair-brained, dangerous, and sinful things we did when we were in college. I wish I didn’t have to include sinful in that list. But there it is. Maybe you would have to include that word in describing some of your college shenanigans.
There’s just one problem with my description: I’ve placed them all in the past, my college days. As though I don’t do silly, dumb, hair-brained, dangerous, and sinful things anymore. Hopefully the degree of those various things are not as extreme as they were back then. What WAS I thinking? But there are yet some things I must admit to having done for which I am ashamed on the one hand, and thankful for God’s grace on the other hand.
Unless God’s word is in error, we must all admit to sin in it various forms: omission, commission, unknowing, and thought, word, or action. God’s grace is precious to those who acknowledge their sins. That’s true even though we would wish not really to need it. Yet there it is. Sometimes we marvel at the grace of God. Jerry and I were reflecting on the abundance of God’s grace toward us, and expressing our thanks to God for his pure grace. So many things could have done wrong. What were we thinking?
Paul testifies to the grace of God in regard to his election. He had been set apart before he was born, and called by God’s grace to serve Christ. He is writing to the church in Galatia to bring them back to the freedom we have in Christ. And he needed to establish his bonafides as a legitimate servant of God. He needed to pull rank over the people who had come into their church and caused confusion, even leading them away from faith in Jesus.
But he doesn’t do this apart from testifying to God’s grace. That’s the beauty of a true Christian witness. We don’t have to prove ourselves to be better than anyone else. We can point to God’s grace to us: his undeserved kindness, love and goodness toward us – in spite of the sinful, silly, dumb, hair-brained, and dangerous things we have done.
That’s a powerful witness and the only one worthy of a follower of Jesus: Pure grace!
David Bahn - Reflections 
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