Galatians 1:15-16 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace,… I. CONVERSION DESCRIBED. Paul writes of the change through which he had passed in brief but forcible terms. "It pleased God to reveal His Son in me." 1. The change in Paul was a spiritual one. 2. God's great work is done in the soul, because the fountain of evil is there. 3. Conversion is a clear, definite recognition of Christ as the Saviour. He was revealed in Paul, so that he had no doubt of His Divinity or of His Messiahship. He believed Him to be the Christ, the Son of God. II. CONVERSION EXPLAINED. 1. Conversion is an act of God's grace. It pleased God to reveal His Son in Paul. 2. Conversion is preceded by means which are altogether of God's arrangement. Paul here refers to plans, remote and immediate, and both are of God. "He separated him from his mother's womb." III. CONVERSION MANIFESTED. 1. By his renouncing that which he had formerly sought after. 2. His voluntary exile and solitude was a further manifestation of his conversion. 3. His conversion was manifest by his return to Damascus, and engaging in active service.Lessons: 1. The methods by which men are brought to Christ vary, but conversion is in every instance the same, the revealing of the Son of God to the heart. 2. All who have been renewed by the power of God, manifest in themselves the reality of the change. Conversion is regeneration realized in the heart and life. (R. Nicholls.) Parallel Verses KJV: But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, |
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