Today, we continue our series entitled “Living the Grace Life,” where we will learn to embrace and walk in God’s unmerited, unearned, and often undeserved favor throughout 2025.
As part of this series, I am teaching a verse-by-verse exposition of the book of Galatians. Let’s get into it.
Key scriptures for this year:
2 Corinthians? ?9?:?8? ?TPT??
“Yes, God is more than ready to overwhelm you with every form of grace, so that you will have more than enough of everything—every moment and in every way. He will make you overflow with abundance in every good thing you do.” ?? ??
Galatians? ?5?:?4? ?TPT??
“If you want to be made right with God by fulfilling the obligations of the law, you have cut off more than your flesh—you have cut yourselves off from Christ and have fallen away from the revelation of grace!”
Romans? ?6?:?14? ?ERV??
“Sin will not be your master, because you are not under law. You now live under God’s grace.” ??
1 Corinthians? ?15?:?10? ?NIV??
“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.”
Scripture(s) we will study today:
Galatians 1:17-19 TPT
“I had no desire to run to Jerusalem and try to impress those who had become apostles before me. Instead, I went away to Arabia and later returned to Damascus. It was not until three years later that I went up to Jerusalem to meet Cephas (Peter) and stayed with him for fifteen days. I saw no other apostle except James, the brother of our Lord.”
Galatians 1:17-19 ERV
“I did not go to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before me. But I went away to Arabia. Later I went back to Damascus. After three years I went to Jerusalem to meet Peter and stayed with him for fifteen days. I met no other apostles, except James, the brother of the Lord.”
Setting the Stage:
While I am talking about the life of the Apostle Paul, I want you to realize that we are discussing one of the most profound transformations in human history, but not in the way you might think. Yes, Paul’s conversion on the Damascus Road was sensational (with God knocking him off a horse and making him blind), but what happened after was even more critical. Paul didn’t immediately launch into ministry. Instead, he disappeared for three years.
Here’s what happened: After his encounter with Jesus, Paul went to Arabia, then returned to Damascus, and finally spent three years in his hometown of Tarsus. These weren’t years of active ministry—they were years of complete transformation. Paul had to unlearn everything he thought he knew about God and relearn everything through the lens of grace.
Think about this: Paul had built his entire identity around being Saul of Tarsus—the well-known passionate Pharisee, the zealous law-keeper, who was basically a religious superstar for the Jews. But that identity was a FAKE ID in God’s eyes. In order for him to become the man God called him to be, he had to die to the person he had become without God. He had to die to his identity as Saul of Tarsus so that he could live as the Apostle Paul.
This is exactly what each of us must do. When you discover Jesus, you discover yourself—your true self, your divine identity. But first, you have to be willing to let your old self die.
So, what does this mean to you today? A few things.
1. Transformation Requires Isolation Before Deployment.
Paul didn’t go straight from conversion to ministry. He spent three years in basic isolation, away from everything he was doing and everyone he knew. This wasn’t punishment—it was preparation. As I always say, “God develops greatness in obscurity.” Paul’s three years away from the spotlight were the foundation for his worldwide impact.
How this applies to you:
— Paul’s first attempts at ministry were disasters that nearly cost him his life. In Damascus, he preached so boldly that the Jews plotted to kill him, and he had to escape in a basket lowered through the city wall.
— Even in Jerusalem, when Paul tried to minister again, the same pattern repeated—opposition arose, and believers had to rush him out of the city to save his life. God was showing Paul that zeal without proper preparation leads to chaos, not Kingdom advancement.
— This is what happens when someone is newly Born-Again, and they try to launch out into what the Holy Spirit is revealing to them about their calling, but they have not been processed yet. You must be processed to the point where you can handle the weight of the anointing associated with the assignment.
— Before God can use you publicly, He often has to process you privately. Paul needed time alone with Jesus to unlearn decades of religious programming.
— The deeper your calling, the deeper your preparation. Or said another way, the greater your assignment, the longer the preparation period. Paul was called to reach the entire Gentile world. This was an assignment that required extensive inner transformation.
— You just can’t go out there before you are ready and before people are ready to receive you.
— God doesn’t just want to use your gifts; He wants to transform your character. Your gifts may be able to function without actual character transformation, but God has called you to do, in the long term, requires His giftings and Godly character!
— Isolation isn’t rejection—it’s divine education and preparation. When God separates you from familiar environments, He’s preparing to reveal things to you that you would not be able to see in the crowd or in your old environment.
— You can’t give what you don’t have. Paul had to receive grace before he could preach grace. He had to experience freedom before he could offer it to others.
— Sometimes, the greatest ministry preparation happens when you’re not in ministry. Paul’s three years of seeming inactivity were arguably the most productive years of his life.
— If God has you in a season of separation, don’t fight it—embrace it. He’s preparing you for something greater than what you left behind.
2. You Must Die to Your Old Identity to Live in Your True Identity.
Paul’s greatest challenge wasn’t learning about Jesus—it was unlearning everything he thought he knew about himself. Saul of Tarsus was his old identity, his FAKE ID. The Apostle Paul was his true identity in Christ. While people knew Saul of Tarsus, nobody knew Paul the Apostle. He had to prove himself faithful in his new identity before God could trust him with global ministry.
How this applies to you:
— Your old identity was built on what you could do for God; your new identity is built on what God has done for you. Paul had to stop trying to earn God’s favor and start receiving God’s grace.
— Everything you accomplished without Christ is part of your fake identity. Just like I shared in my testimony about being Dominican, American, or a Mason—these were all fake IDs compared to my identity in Christ.
— You can’t add Jesus to your old life; you have to let your old life die so your new life can be born. Paul couldn’t be Saul-plus-Jesus; he had to become Paul-in-Christ. Meditate on that for a minute.
— Your credentials, achievements, and reputation may need to die for your calling to live. Paul’s religious achievements became obstacles to his divine assignment.
— The person you were before Christ is not the person God intends to use. He’s not looking to improve your old self—He’s looking to resurrect your true self.
— Your divine identity has nothing to do with your history in the flesh. Once you are dead in Christ, you no longer define yourself by your past performance.
— When you find God, you have an opportunity to find yourself. When you discover Jesus, you discover yourself.
3. You May Not Be Able To Learn Your New Identity in Your Old Environment.
Paul couldn’t discover who he was in Christ while surrounded by people who knew him as Saul. He had to get away from everyone and everything that reinforced his old identity. As I often say, “If you can’t be faithful when no one knows your name, then God can’t trust you when everyone knows your name.” Paul had to learn to be faithful to his new identity when nobody was watching.
How this applies to you:
— The people who knew you “before” may have the hardest time accepting you “after.” They’re comfortable with your old identity and may resist your transformation.
— Divine breakthrough often requires a geographical or relational separation. God will separate you from people and places in order to transform you into the man/woman He called you to be. Paul couldn’t transform in Jerusalem because everyone there had expectations based on his past.
— God may isolate you from voices that reinforce your old identity. If everyone around you keeps calling you by your old name (spiritually speaking), you’ll struggle to embrace your new one.
— Your new identity needs space to develop without the pressure of old expectations. Paul needed time to become Paul without Saul’s reputation weighing him down.
— When I first got Born-Again, I was radical about my transformation. I changed the people I hung around. I changed what I listened to (I threw away hundreds of CDs). I changed who I called my “brother.” I cut off associations with anyone and anything that was not taking me towards Jesus. As an example, I severed my relationship with the Masonic Lodge. In short, I was willing to do whatever I needed to do to die to my old nature so I could become the man God was calling me to be. This type of “picking up your cross” is still required for true discipleship.
— God has never required any less than ALL OF YOU!
4. When You Discover Jesus, You Discover Yourself.
This is the most beautiful truth of all: the journey to knowing Christ is simultaneously the journey to knowing yourself. Paul spent three years getting to know Jesus, and in the process, he discovered who he really was. God was developing greatness in obscurity, preparing Paul for a ministry that would reach the known world.
How this applies to you:
— Your true identity is hidden in Christ. You can’t find out who you really are until you find out who He really is.
— The closer you get to Jesus, the clearer your purpose becomes. Paul’s calling became crystal clear only after intimate fellowship with Christ.
— You are not who your past says you are; you are who God says you are. Paul’s identity shifted from “Lead Persecutor for the Jews” to “Apostle to the Gentiles.”
— Your divine identity was established before the foundation of the world. Paul wasn’t becoming someone new—he was becoming who he always was in God’s mind.
— Your fake identity is exhausting; your true identity is energizing. Paul worked harder than all the other apostles, but it wasn’t Paul working—it was the grace of God in him.
— Every moment of intimacy with Jesus peels away another layer of false identity and reveals more of your true self. This is why time alone with God is not optional; it’s essential.
— You will never discover your true self if you are not willing to spend alone time with Jesus, discovering who He truly is!
— For you to become the man/woman God called you to be, you must be willing to DIE to the person you became on your own. You may be Born-Again, but if your mind is not renewed, your stinking thinking will cause you to tell everyone you moved, but they will keep finding you at your old address. You won’t be able to walk in the fullness of your divine assignment until you truly DIE TO SELF so you can LIVE as the person God intended for you to be from the foundations of the world!
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I thank You for teaching me that my transformation requires time with You.
I embrace the seasons of isolation because I know You’re preparing me for demonstration.
I choose to die to my old identity, so my true identity can live.
I will not cling to the fake ID the world gave me when You’re offering me my divine identity.
I trust You to separate me from environments that reinforce my old self.
When You relocate me, I know You’re creating space for my true self to emerge.
I declare that the closer I get to Jesus, the clearer my purpose becomes.
I am not who my past says I am—I am who You say I am.
My identity is hidden in Christ, and in Him, I discover my true self.
I am living THE GRACE LIFE, and GREATER IS COMING FOR ME!
I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen!
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
