Galatians 1: The Gospel Transforms Lives

Pastor Steph Hall | January 11, 2026

Back to the Basics: Rediscovering the Pure Gospel

Have you ever bought something that looked real, only to discover later it was a cheap imitation? Maybe you've seen those videos where people try to guess if something is cake or not—the object looks completely authentic until someone cuts into it and reveals it's actually made of frosting and sponge. The counterfeit can be convincing, especially when we don't know the real thing well enough to spot the difference.

This is precisely what was happening in the early churches of Galatia, and it's a danger we still face today.

The Counterfeit Gospel

The Galatian Christians had encountered the transforming power of the gospel. They had experienced freedom, grace, and the love of God through Jesus Christ. But then something shifted. Teachers began infiltrating their communities, bringing a message that sounded spiritual and devout: "Yes, Jesus is wonderful, but you also need to follow all these additional laws and traditions. You need to be circumcised. You need to keep all the old customs."

It was Jesus plus something else.

And that's where everything went wrong.

The apostle Paul, writing to these churches, doesn't mince words. His tone is sharp, stern, protective—like a parent whose child is about to make a dangerous mistake. He's shocked, astonished, alarmed that they're turning away so quickly from the truth that set them free.

Why? Because Jesus plus anything else ruins everything.

The Pure Gospel: Four Simple Truths

Paul takes the Galatians back to the foundation, reminding them of the gospel in its purest form. There are four essential parts:

Who we are: We are sinners. We are hopeless without rescue. This is humbling to admit because we love to think we can save ourselves, that we can be good enough on our own.

What Jesus did: He gave His life as our substitute. He didn't just give us a second chance—He took our place completely. He did what we could never do for ourselves.

What God the Father did: He raised Jesus from the dead, validating the sacrifice and securing our victory over sin and death.

Why He did it: Because He loves us. Not because we deserved it, not because we earned it, but simply because He loves us.

That's it. That's the gospel. And it changes everything.

The Trap of Performance

So why were the Galatian Christians drawn to this "Jesus plus" message? For the same reason we're often drawn to it: we want something to measure.

We live in a performance-based culture. We understand chore charts, goal sheets, and achievement markers. We know how to earn raises, collect accolades, and stack up accomplishments. Religion appeals to our pride because it gives us something we can control, something we can check off, something that makes us feel like we're contributing to our salvation.

But that's not the gospel.

The Old Testament law was never meant to be a ladder we could climb to reach God. It was meant to show us we needed a Savior—someone to do for us what we could never do for ourselves. When Jesus came, He didn't abolish the law; He fulfilled it perfectly. He completed what it was always pointing toward.

Now, through grace, God's law is written on our hearts by the Holy Spirit. We don't follow Jesus to earn His love—we follow Him because we've already received it.

From "Have To" to "Get To"

This shift changes everything about how we approach our faith.

Worship? We don't have to—we get to.

Reading Scripture? Not an obligation—a privilege.

Prayer, fasting, gathering with other believers? These aren't boxes to check; they're invitations to deeper relationship with the One who loves us.

When we start measuring our spiritual disciplines as ways to earn God's favor, the enemy whispers shame, doubt, comparison, and guilt. But these voices are never from the Holy Spirit. The Spirit draws us near with love, not condemnation. He invites us to sit with Him, to know Him, to experience His presence—not because we've done enough, but because He delights in us.

Paul's Transformation: The Gospel in Action

Paul's own story is the clearest example of grace in action. Before encountering Jesus, he was a religious expert—devoted, zealous, and convinced of his righteousness. He violently persecuted Christians, believing he was serving God by destroying them.

Then Jesus met him on the road to Damascus.

In that encounter, everything changed. Paul didn't do anything to earn this moment. He didn't clean up his act first or prove himself worthy. Jesus simply revealed Himself, and Paul's life was transformed.

What did Paul do next? He spent three years in the desert, allowing the Holy Spirit to give him fresh revelation of who God really is. He knew Scripture intellectually, but now he was encountering the God of that Scripture personally. He had truth, but now he had Spirit too.

Paul's transformed life bore fruit. He didn't run from his past or pretend it didn't happen. Instead, his story became a trophy of God's grace—evidence that no one is beyond redemption, that God's love is more powerful than our worst mistakes.

What About You?

Where are you in this story?

Perhaps you've never truly received the gift of grace. You've heard about Jesus, maybe even grown up with religious knowledge, but you've never humbled yourself to say yes to Him. Today could be the day you stop trying to earn what's freely offered and simply receive.

Maybe you're holding onto chains of religion—traditions, checklists, or spiritual disciplines that have become more about your performance than about relationship with God. You need freedom from the bondage of measuring up to something you were never meant to achieve on your own.

Or perhaps your relationship with God has become transactional. You do certain things expecting to receive blessings in return. But the cross isn't a transaction—it's a gift.

Some of you need to extend the grace you've received to someone else. Like Ananias, who was called to minister to Paul despite every reason to fear him, you're being invited to forgive someone who doesn't deserve it, to love someone who has wronged you, to step into obedience even when it doesn't make sense.

The Power of Encounter

Knowledge alone doesn't transform us. Encounter does.

You can know everything about God without knowing God Himself. But when you encounter His presence, when you experience His love personally, everything changes. The scales fall from your eyes. You see clearly for the first time. And you're never the same.

The gospel isn't about what you can do for God. It's about what God has already done for you. It's not about your goodness, your holiness, or your performance. It's about His grace, His sacrifice, His love.

He saved you. He healed you. And nothing can separate you from His love.

That's the gospel—pure, simple, and powerful enough to change everything.