Galatians: Reading the Bible for Spiritual TransformationSample

An Encounter With the Risen Christ Changes Everything

Yesterday, we considered how remembering the details of our story before coming to know Christ as our Lord and Savior helps cultivate a heart of empathy for the people in our lives who are far from God. From this posture of empathy, we are driven by the Spirit into prayer for the souls of so many who are wandering through life without hope for the future.

In today's passage (see Galatians 1:15-16), Paul retells the story of his encounter with the risen Christ as he traveled on the road to Damascus. His encounter with Christ is the second of six components commonly seen in every spiritual journey toward freedom in Christ.

The ninth chapter of Acts provides a detailed account of Paul's dramatic conversion from a man who "violently persecuted the church of God" to one called by grace to proclaim the Good News among the Gentiles.

“Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ He asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ The reply came, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do." (Acts 9:3-6NRSV)

Friend, if you have put your trust in Jesus in response to your own encounter with the living Christ, then you too can take comfort in the multitude of promises that the Apostle Paul lays out in his letter to the Galatians. Here are just a few:

#1 - You Have Been Set Apart: Like Paul, you have been set apart and called through grace. You were created in the image of God (See Genesis 1:27). Before you were formed in your mother's womb, God knew you (See Jeremiah 1:5). And He has been pursuing a relationship with you all the days of your life.

#2 - You Have Been Justified by Faith: Galatians 2:16 says that you have been "justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. And [you] have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that [you] might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law."

#3 - The Spirit of Christ Lives in Your Heart: You are an adopted child of God. Your life was bought with a price (See 1 Corinthians 6:20). God has a unique mission and calling for your life, a calling to advance His kingdom here on earth and bring glory to His name.

Take a minute to rest in each of these promises as you reflect on your own personal encounter with Christ. Never forget all that He has saved you from, and know that He has also saved you for a unique kingdom purpose in the here and now.