Galatians 1:11 But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.
12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
13 For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it:
14 And profited in the Jews’ religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.
15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace,
16 To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:
17 Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus.
18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days.
19 But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord’s brother.
20 Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not.
21 Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia;
22 And was unknown by face unto the churches of Judaea which were in Christ:
23 But they had heard only, That he which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed.
24 And they glorified God in me.
Many people doubt the authority of God’s Word. That is very obvious by the number of professing Christians who use the perversions. Each perversion differs from the others. II Timothy 3:16 tells us that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. That Greek Word translated as “inspiration” means “God breathed”. When you speak, you exhale. You need to breathe to speak. If you speak, you are saying words. When God speaks He never contradicts Himself. He speaks with clarity and certainty. There cannot be over one hundred varying versions of what He said.
In our text, God directed Paul to remind the readers that his apostleship was ordained of God and thus the gospel that he was preaching was not according to man’s will.
We have many different religious groups each with their own idea of the gospel. The Catholics claim that you might be saved through faith in Mary, but you also need to go to purgatory and maybe over time, you can get out of there. Many religions tie their brand of “baptism” to their salvation.
At the time of this writing, the Judaizers, who were a brand of Pharisees, taught a works salvation. Most religions today still have a brand of works salvation. Their faith is not in the Jesus of the Bible. It is in a pseudo Jesus who caters to the whims of the people. It seems many religious people have removed Matthew 7:21-23 from their Bibles.
Matthew 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Paul reminded the readers that he did not receive his message from man, nor was he taught it by man. It was through the revelation of Jesus Christ that he received his message. The true Gospel is still found in the Bible. It is not complicated and it is not compromised.
In verse 12 Paul spoke of his record before he was saved. He demonstrated the miraculous nature of true salvation. He had been a persecutor of true believers. He spoke of the church of God. He sought to destroy the church of God. A true church is not a democratically constituted organization. It is built with Jesus Christ as its’ Head and the Word of God as its’ authoritative writings.
In verse 14 he stated that he was a big promoter of the Jews’ religion which was that of the Pharisees. He excelled in promoting that false religion. He was exceptionally zealous of the traditions of his fathers — the Pharisees. He was convinced that he was doing the work of God by trying to stop people from believing in the true Jesus. Again, there are many people today who think they are following God by believing in a fictitious Jesus.
God had other plans for Paul. It pleases God to expose heretics. Paul was raised and trained as a Pharisee. The “mother’s womb” here is a reference to the false religion he was steeped in. Notice that when Paul was saved, he was “separated from his mother’s womb”. He was no longer holding on to his false religion. Just as a baby is separated from the umbilical cord at birth, and must learn to survive outside of the mother’s womb, so too a person who is truly saved is separated from the false religion they have grown up with and they have been brought into the family of God by the grace of God. Ephesians 2:8-9 are two verses that make this very clear. Salvation is a gift of God, not of works. There is no room for boasting among born again Christians.
In verse 16 Paul spoke of how God revealed Jesus Christ to him. We know that happened when Paul/Saul was on the road to Damascus. We read of that in Acts 9. Paul/Saul was confronted directly by Jesus Christ as he was heading to Damascus, with letters from the chief priests, to arrest true saints.
Paul was told by Jesus Christ that he would preach the Gospel to the heathen. His main focus would be to the Gentiles, although he also preached to the Jews.
When he was saved he did not consult with men regarding salvation. Ananias was called of God to go and pray for Saul, that he might receive his sight. Ananias did not need to explain salvation to Saul. He was simply told to go and pray for him that he would receive his sight. God convinced Ananias that Saul was a new man and no longer a threat to true saints.
In verse 17 Paul went further and stated that he did not travel to Jerusalem, where the first church was, to speak with the other apostles. They were still in Jerusalem at that time. They were reluctant to go into all the world and preach the Gospel and would need persecution to get them to move out and do the work they were called to do.
Paul stated that He was led into Arabia for three years and then he returned to Damascus, not to Jerusalem. After three years he went to Jerusalem to see Peter. He already had his teaching confirmed in his heart. The Lord Jesus Christ taught him for those three years. Peter would need some correction in his theology and God would use Paul to do that.
Paul spent fifteen days with Peter in Jerusalem. No doubt they had some very good Bible studies during those fifteen days. Their work was far too important to waste it on frivolous activities.
In verse 19 Paul reminded the readers that besides Peter, he saw James, the Lord’s brother. This James would have been converted after the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. None of His brethren believed on Him during His earthly ministry. James became a strong believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.
In verse 20, Paul reminded the readers that he was not lying about what he was saying here. God was directing Paul to lay down his credentials so that the readers would have full confidence in him. God chooses Godly men for His Work. He saves them and He requires them to be faithful servants of His. There were fraudsters in Paul’s day and there are many fraudsters today.
After Paul spent those fifteen days in Jerusalem, he went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia. God directed Paul back to the region where he grew up. He first went to them, before he spent much time with the Jews in Judaea.
In verse 22 he stated that he was unknown by face unto the churches in Judaea. They had heard of his conversion, but they had not met him yet. God had a purpose in what He was doing.
The churches in Judaea knew that Paul had been a persecutor of the saints earlier in his life. Now they heard that he was preaching the faith which he had earlier tried to destroy. God’s salvation is a powerful gift. It is a life-changing gift.
When the saints in Judaea heard of Paul’s conversion, they glorified God with Paul. True saints will rejoice with those who are preaching the truth. They do not rejoice with those who are apostates.
God directed Paul to write these words to remind the readers, that his message was not corrupted by men. His message was different from that of the Judaizers, because it was the Truth. It was the Judaizers who were the false teachers. Any Godly preacher needs to demonstrate that their message is from God, not from man. Certainly, any true preacher today is taught by men. However, those who do the teaching need to be men of God. The preacher may quote some other man at times, but his message must be built from the sure Word of God.
True preachers are not men pleasers. They seek to glorify God. I heard a man talk about how he had been taught that before you can speak to people about the Lord you need to tell them some jokes to ease the tension. That is heresy. Jesus never told jokes. None of the apostles ever told jokes. What will ease the hearts and minds of people is the sure Word of God. When the listener submits to the Word of God, that will ease their minds. I have been in services where the preacher took the Word of God and clearly and boldly expounded the Word. That is such a refreshing thing. Having been raised in New Evangelicalism, it is a blessing to be able to follow along in the Bible and receive the preaching as authentic because it is firmly Bible-based. The true child of God hungers for that. He does not want story time. He wants to be challenged from the Word of God and be able to build upon other Truths he has received in the past.
Today is the Lord’s Day. You have the opportunity to go to a true local church to hear the preaching of God’s Word. God wants to bless you. He cannot do that with corrupt words. He will do that through His sure Word. It is up to you to determine that you will go to a good church to hear from the Lord.
If you are in our area, we would welcome you to our church. We are praying that each reader will be obedient to the will of God and seek His blessing today.
Pastor Bartel