Not everyone in the Galatian churches was impressed by the ministry of Paul. Some claimed he was not a genuine apostle, but a late-comer of inferior status (if an apostle at all), one who derived his gospel from the ‘real’ apostles. They claimed his preaching should not be treated with respect and they presented a ‘different gospel’. Paul must provide a strong response. We consider Galatians 1:11-24 Commissioned by the Lord.
1. Basic principle
Paul gets to the heart of the controversy in Galatia: ‘the gospel I preached is not something man made up’ (v11). This is clearly an accusation that was being made against Paul by opponents seeking to undermine his authority. Despite the problems in the churches, Paul still addresses them as ‘brothers’. He is angry but gracious. He reaffirms, ‘I did not receive it from any man nor was I taught it’ (v12) – none of the normal human channels was used. Instead ‘I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ’ (v12 ESV). The gospel has its origin in God. Note ‘of Jesus Christ’ – he is the Author of the revelation and also its content.
2. Misplaced zeal
Paul seeks to establish the divine origin of his message and his apostleship. He begins with his life before conversion – ‘in Judaism’, as a strict Pharisee (see Acts 26:5). Not only that, but Paul was an outstanding example – ‘advancing beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers’ (v14). This zealous lifestyle Paul later describes thus: ‘their zeal is not according to knowledge’ (Romans 10:2). The root problem is their reliance on their own good works to satisfy God (as Paul had sought to do – Philippians 3:6 ESV). Worst of all – ‘I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it’ (v13). Only God’s grace could change such a man.
3. Sovereign grace
The key to his transformation: ‘But when God’ (v15). The change in Paul can be explained only by God’s sovereign grace. God ‘set [him] apart from birth’ and also ‘called me by his grace’ to salvation and to service. Note God ‘was pleased to reveal his Son in me’ (v15-16) – the crucial realisation on the Damascus road (Acts 9:1ff) that Jesus is indeed the Son of God and the promised Messiah. God’s purpose was ‘that I might preach him among the Gentiles’ (v16). His mission and message flow from what God did once for all in his heart and life.
4. Independent service
Having been commissioned by the Lord, ‘I did not consult with any man’ (v16). Paul’s gospel ‘is not something that man made up’ – all he records in v17-23 is designed to show his independence from other apostles, yet also his consistency with them. First he went to Arabia and then Damascus – not mentioned in Acts – for spiritual retreat or evangelism? After 3 years he goes to Jerusalem, but not to receive his gospel. There is no conflict with the other apostles, but Paul has himself received God’s Word ‘by revelation’ (v12).