Galatians 1:11-17

11: For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man.
12: For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

13: For you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it;
14: and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions.
15: But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, was pleased
16: to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood,
17: nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus.

*** 

Paul began to account for how he received the gospel of Jesus Christ to validate his legitimacy as an apostle. He told them he didn’t hear the gospel from any man. No one taught him, but he received it through a direct revelation of Jesus Christ. Paul didn’t walk with Jesus when he was here on the earth. His conversion was after His resurrection. Yet, the revelations he received of the Lord are in complete alignment with what Jesus taught.

He reminded the Galatians of his former life in Judaism. He was an extremely zealous Jew who followed his ancestral traditions very seriously and was advancing in Judaism beyond many of his contemporaries. He used to persecute the church of God “beyond measure and tried to destroy it.” Paul, then known as Saul, was a great enemy of the church prior to his conversion on the road to Damascus where he was headed to arrest more Christians (Acts 7:58, 8:1-3, 9). His former life wasn’t something Paul was proud of, but he reminded them to give credibility to his conversion and calling by the Lord Himself. There was an obvious transformation in Paul once he met the Lord.

Paul continued his story telling them that he was set apart and called before he was born through the grace of God. Then, God revealed His Son in him so he would preach Jesus to the Gentiles. But when this happened, he didn’t go to the apostles in Jerusalem for guidance or teaching. He preached independently of any instruction or direction from the other apostles. He began to preach immediately in Damascus and spent three years in Damascus and Arabia without having met the others. Paul was making the point that his commission as an apostle was not from men, but from God.


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