And they praised God because of me. - ‭‭Galatians‬ ‭1‬:‭24‬ 

Paul wrote this to the Galatian church when he was recounting his testimony. Jesus got hold of his heart, then he spent some time with Peter and James, and then:

Then I went to Syria and Cilicia. I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only heard the report: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” And they praised God because of me.“ ‭‭Galatians‬ ‭1‬:‭21-24

Because of his former reputation as a persecutor of the church, these believers praised God when they saw Paul’s transformed life. 

I see four implications here about what Jesus purchased in his death:

1. Jesus died for our lives to be transformed.

He didn’t just make a way for us to be forgiven, pardoned and let off the hook - as great as those things are. He wants us transformed into his image. That’s what the believers saw in Paul - a transformed life. And that is what Jesus purchased for you and me. He died so our former lives could pass away, and he rose so we could live out of his resurrection power. 

2.Our transformation is for God’s glory.

It said they praised “God on account of me.” They didn't praise Paul. The point of our transformed lives is so that God gets praised. We don’t want people to applaud us for cleaning ourselves up; it is God who saves us and gives us the grace to change by his Spirit. He should get the glory. 

3.Our testimonies matter.

There is objective evidence for God. One could argue for the existence of God through creation, philosophy, and even history. There is also overwhelming objective evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. 

But there is also subjective evidence. There is our own personal experience of being changed, and others getting to witness the before and after (or at least hearing about it). 

This is one reason why it’s important to be part of a church, to be connected to the community, to build deep relationships. As we hear each other's stories, we get to praise God together. 

4.What people think of us actually does matter.

There is an unhealthy temptation to be a people pleaser, and many of us battle with that. This is often because the approval of humans is elevated over and above the acceptance of God.

This temptation must be resisted, but we cannot go so far as to arrogantly declare that what people think of us does not matter. 

There is a king we are called to represent. There is a kingdom that we must embody. We are filled with Christ’s spirit so that can be his witnesses “in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (‭‭Acts‬ ‭1‬:‭8‬).

This includes living with integrity in all we do, loving others with Christ's heart of compassion, being patient in affliction, and having a peace that does not come from this world. 

People should praise God because of our lives.