The Autobiography of the Apostle of Grace

One of the most powerful forms of witness for the Lord Jesus Christ is a person’s personal testimony. There is something powerful about sharing what Jesus Christ has done in our lives. As we tell others how He has changed us, we demonstrate the reality and power of the Gospel of grace.

This is the very truth Paul is defending in the book of Galatians. The Galatians had been influenced by the Judaizers, who taught that faith in Christ was not enough—that salvation required what we could do. But the true Gospel declares that salvation is not about what we do; it is about what Christ has already done.

In the passage before us, Paul uses his own testimony to demonstrate that the Gospel he preached was not a message invented by man, but a message that came directly from God. His life provides evidence that the Gospel is entirely of grace and not of works. To make that truth clear, Paul points us to three distinct periods of his life, each of which demonstrates the transforming power and divine origin of the Gospel of grace.