How can I tell if someone is really speaking for God?

Last week we started a short series at Neighborhood Church called "The Good Life." We looked at how Jesus describes a good life very differently than we do. We tend to picture comfort: quiet homes, full bank accounts, no conflict, nobody raising their voice. Jesus instead points to character, the kind of person we are becoming, and he says that we grow best in spiritual community with other people. Not by ourselves in an isolated bubble, but shoulder to shoulder with people who are also trying to follow him.

But that raises a hard question. What if community has not gone well for you? What if you have trusted people before, maybe even people who claimed to speak for God, and it ended badly? Does community still matter? And what does the good life look like when the people around us have let us down?

To answer that, we turn to the final verses of Galatians, chapter 6. These verses come at the very end of Paul's letter, where he wraps up several thoughts at once without repeating everything he had already said earlier. They may look at first like they have nothing to do with your life, especially since they are about a very old and unfamiliar controversy. Stick with it. There is more here than it seems.

God's word comes through real problems

The church in Galatia was dealing with a specific issue. A group of leaders was teaching that new believers needed to follow Jewish law, including circumcision, in order for their faith to really count. Paul writes:

See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. (Galatians 6:11-13, ESV)

Paul likely dictated most of this letter to someone else, but here he picks up the pen himself. He wants the Galatians to know he sees what is happening to them and cares enough to address it directly.

This matters because it shows us something important. Rather than preventing every problem that we might face, God's word comes to us through real problems. We sometimes imagine that God only speaks into perfectly calm situations, a kind of laboratory where nothing ever goes wrong, and we get discouraged when our own lives feel messy and complicated instead. But this letter exists precisely because real people were facing a real, painful problem. Into that mess, God sent his word.

These particular leaders were not acting out of love for the Galatians. They wanted to avoid persecution from their own religious community back home, so they pushed new believers to adopt a practice that had nothing to do with what Jesus actually required. Paul calls this out plainly: it was a misuse of leadership and authority.

It also helps to remember that this letter did not appear out of nowhere. Paul likely dictated much of it to someone else, then took the pen himself for these final words so the Galatians would know he personally stood behind what was written. That letter was then copied by hand, over and over, and circulated to other churches. Over time, the church recognized these copies as authoritative not because a group of leaders simply decided so, but because God's Spirit had clearly been at work through them in people's lives. That process, messy and human as it was, is part of how we ended up with a reliable Bible today.

Not everyone who talks about God is working for God

This leads to a hard but important truth. Not everyone who talks about God is working for God. Some people use spiritual language to build themselves up or to avoid accountability rather than to genuinely point others toward Jesus.

That does not mean we should treat everyone with suspicion, holding people at arm's length until they prove themselves. Suspicion pushes people away and works against real relationship. Instead, Scripture calls us toward discernment, which means staying close enough to actually see what is going on in someone's life and asking honest questions about whether their words match God's heart.

If you have been hurt by someone who claimed to speak for God, that pain is real, and it makes sense to be cautious. But the answer is not to give up on community altogether. It is to grow in discernment while still staying open to the people God brings into your life. Discernment is not a wall we build to keep everyone out. It is a way of paying close enough attention to love people well.

The world has been crucified to me

Paul then makes one of the most striking statements in this letter.

But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. (Galatians 6:14-15, ESV)

The leaders pushing circumcision wanted something measurable. Did you have the procedure or not? It is easy to check a box. But how do you measure whether someone is more loving than they were two years ago? How do you measure real growth in patience or self-control? Anything God is truly doing in a person tends to resist that kind of measurement.

Paul says none of those outward markers matter. What matters is new creation. Has Jesus actually changed you from the inside out? The world he used to live for, the approval he used to chase, is dead to him now, and he is dead to it. That is not a small thing to say. It means the old scorecard, the one built on what other people can see and measure, no longer applies to him at all.

That leads us to an important question: Do we hide behind outward signs of faith, going to church, posting the right things, saying the right words, or are we actually being transformed by Jesus? Are we more concerned with looking spiritual than with actually spending time with him? It is worth asking ourselves honestly which one matters more to us, because only God can truly see the difference.

Security in Christ means blessing to others

Paul closes the letter this way:

And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God. From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. (Galatians 6:16-18, ESV)

Paul points to the physical scars he carries from being beaten for preaching the gospel. He has embraced hardship for the sake of proclaiming Jesus. This echoes something the Lord said through the prophet Jeremiah generations earlier:

Thus says the Lord: "Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight," declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 9:23-24, ESV)

Paul has nothing to boast about except the cross. He is not claiming to be especially wise or gifted. He is simply secure in what Jesus has done for him, and that security frees him to be a blessing to others, even when it costs him comfort and safety.

That is really the heart of the good life Jesus offers. It is not a life free from problems. It is a life where God works through the problems, using real people, real community, and real hardship to make us new. Our security in Jesus, knowing we are fully forgiven and fully loved, is what frees us to bless the people around us instead of guarding ourselves from them.

So here are two questions worth sitting with. What insecurities still keep you from fully trusting Jesus? And what insecurities keep you from being a blessing to the people around you? Those two questions are more connected than they might seem.

If you are local to Ocala and want to talk more about any of this, or want to find a community where you can walk this out with others, reach out to us at ocala@weareneighborhood.church or text us at 352-236-2211. If you live outside our area, we would encourage you to find a local church nearby where you can keep asking these questions and grow together with others who are following Jesus.

Editor note: This blog summary was generated from a sermon transcript processed by AI and reviewed by a human editor. It is provided for convenience and engagement but may not fully reflect all of the original sermon emphases or explanation. The original writing and delivery of the sermon were done without the input of AI. Please refer to the full message and more importantly the Scripture for complete context and teaching.