Sunday Service 10/11/2026 | FREE — Week 2 | Nobody Taught Me This
FREE — Week 2 | Nobody Taught Me This | Pastor Daniel Kolson
Where did your faith actually come from? Not where did you learn about Jesus—but where did you meet Him?
In Week 2 of our series FREE, Pastor Daniel Kolson continues our journey through Galatians with a message titled “Nobody Taught Me This.”
In Galatians 1:11–2:10, Paul does something unexpected. In the middle of defending the gospel, he begins telling his personal story.
Why?
Because his opponents weren’t just questioning his message. They were questioning his authority.
Paul wasn’t one of the original twelve disciples. He hadn’t walked with Jesus during His earthly ministry. His opponents used that against him, suggesting that he had received the gospel secondhand and changed it.
But Paul’s answer changes everything:
“For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.” — Galatians 1:12 (ESV)
Paul didn’t simply learn about Jesus.
He encountered Him.
And that encounter transformed everything.
Before meeting Christ, Paul was a rising star in Judaism. He was educated, passionate, zealous, and convinced he was defending God.
But he was also violently persecuting the church.
He wasn’t an irreligious man looking for purpose. He was a deeply religious man who was absolutely convinced he was right.
Sincerity is not the same thing as accuracy.
Then God interrupted his life.
Paul describes it in Galatians 1:15–16: God had set him apart before he was born, called him by grace, and was pleased to reveal His Son to him.
Notice who was doing the work.
God was.
Grace didn’t reach Paul because he had improved his life.
Grace reached Paul while he was still fighting against Jesus.
And what happened next is just as important.
Paul didn’t immediately run to Jerusalem to receive his credentials. He went into Arabia, returned to Damascus, and only after three years visited Peter.
His encounter with Christ was dramatic, but his formation took time.
What looks like delay is often formation.
Years later, Paul went to Jerusalem and presented the gospel he had been preaching among the Gentiles.
He even brought Titus, a Greek believer who had not been circumcised.
The Jerusalem leaders didn’t require Titus to become Jewish to belong to Christ. They recognized the grace God had given Paul and extended the right hand of fellowship.
They added nothing to his gospel.
The gospel wasn’t something Paul invented, and it wasn’t something a committee had the authority to rewrite.
It came from Jesus Christ.
And Paul’s transformed life was evidence of that encounter.
The churches in Judea had never even met him, but they had heard his testimony:
“He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” — Galatians 1:23 (ESV)
And they glorified God because of him.
That’s what a real testimony does.
It doesn’t make people admire you. It makes them glorify God.
In this message, Pastor Daniel also shares his own journey of coming to faith after growing up outside the church and living as an atheist.
He didn’t inherit a religious system.
He encountered Jesus and fell in love with Him.
And that encounter became the foundation of his relationship with God.
Education, biblical understanding, and spiritual maturity matter. But none of those things can replace knowing Jesus personally.
Christianity has never been merely a collection of ideas we agree with.
It’s a Person we meet—and who then lives in us.
Maybe you grew up in church. You know the songs, the language, the traditions, and the expectations.
But have you actually encountered Jesus for yourself?
Or maybe you came to faith later in life, carrying a complicated past, and you’ve always felt like you’re behind everyone else.
Look at Paul.
The persecutor became the apostle.
The man who tried to destroy the church became one of its greatest messengers.
Your past does not disqualify you from God’s calling.
Grace reached Paul before he changed anything, and that same grace is still transforming lives today.
As we continue through FREE, we’re reminded of four powerful truths:
• The gospel was given by God, not constructed by people.
• Christianity is about encountering Jesus, not merely learning religious information.
• Your past does not disqualify you from God’s grace and calling.
• A transformed life points people toward the glory of God.
So here’s the question:
Have you met Him?
Not just heard about Him.
Not just grown up around Christianity.
Not just learned how to behave in church.
Have you personally encountered the living Jesus?
You cannot inherit that relationship from your family.
You cannot simply absorb it from a church.
You have to meet Him for yourself.
And the beautiful truth of the gospel is that Jesus is still revealing Himself to people today.
You don’t have to clean yourself up first.
You don’t have to earn His attention.
You don’t have to overcome your past before He can use you.
You are not earning it. Receive it. Now live like it.
📖 Key Scriptures:
• Galatians 1:11–12 — Paul received the gospel through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
• Galatians 1:13–16 — Paul’s past, God’s grace, and his calling.
• Galatians 1:22–24 — Paul’s transformed life caused others to glorify God.
• Galatians 2:1–3 — Paul presents the gospel in Jerusalem, and Titus is not required to be circumcised.
• Galatians 2:6–10 — The apostles recognize God’s grace and extend fellowship without adding to Paul’s gospel.
💬 Highlighted Quotes:
• “Where did your faith actually come from? Not where did you learn about Jesus. Where did you meet Him?”
• “Sincerity is not the same thing as accuracy.”
• “Grace got to Paul first, while he was still on the road with arrest warrants in his bag.”
• “God is not in a hurry with you. What looks like delay is often formation.”
• “The gospel is not the property of an institution.”
• “You did not get saved by a church. You got saved by Jesus.”
• “A real testimony does not make people admire you. It makes them glorify Him.”
• “Christianity has never been a set of ideas you agree with. It is a Person you meet, and who then lives in you.”
• “Your past does not disqualify you.”
• “You are not behind.”
🌟 Key Themes:
• Encountering Jesus personally
• The revelation of Jesus Christ
• Paul’s conversion and calling
• Grace before transformation
• The power of personal testimony
• Freedom from religious performance
• God’s calling despite our past
• Spiritual formation and preparation
• The authority of the gospel
• Unity in the early church
• Christ living in us
• The transforming power of grace
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