Galatians 1:11-17

1:11-12 "Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. For I did not receive it or learn it from any human source; instead I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ."

 

These two verses reflect the purpose of Gal. 1:11-2:14. Paul's purpose here is to show that the gospel is not of human origin. It comes from God. (See Witherington, 90-1.)

Paul again proclaims that his authority is not from men, but from God. How did Paul receive his message and his authority? (Read Acts 9:1-22. Acts 9 )

 

Summary:

Paul is heading to Damascus. He has authority from the High Priest to cause trouble for the believers there.

Jesus appears in a vision. Notice, Paul, or Saul as he was known then, was so stubborn and convinced that he was right, that Jesus had to appear to him personally! “Saul, come on man! Stop opposing the gospel!”

After the vision, he is blind. For three days he sits in physical darkness, but his spiritual darkness has been pierced by the light of the vision he had experienced. He is so overcome by the truth that he won’t even eat or drink. He is blind, but it is only now that he is truly beginning to see.

Three days later, God sends a man to pray for Saul. His physical blindness is healed. Saul's salvation takes place here, or he was saved during his days of blindness.

Saul goes forth with the same determination he had before, but this time for the cause of the gospel.

"It is plain throughout Paul's letters that what happened on the Damascus road was no isolated mystical experience, no mere 'flash of insight or intellectual conviction, but a personal encounter, the beginning of a personal relationship which became the dominating passion of his life…'" (Bruce, 89).

“This is the most powerful argument, the main hinge on which the question turns, that he has not received the gospel from me, but rather it has been revealed to him by God” (Calvin).

"The family language which he [Paul] uses here is not just conciliatory but it makes clear a fundamental conviction of Paul's. That conviction is this - that the family of God is composed on the basis of faith, not heredity or other factors. Those whom Paul considers brothers and sisters in Christ are those who share the same faith in Christ and what he accomplished through his death and resurrection" (Witherington, 91).

1:13 "For you have heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how I was savagely persecuting the church of God and trying to destroy it."

Paul starts his story by re-iterating what the people already knew. Paul had begun as an opponent to the gospel! (Read Acts 8:1-3. Acts 8 )

At the time of Paul’s conversion, he was headed to Damascus, planning to spread persecution of the church to that city. He had already attended the stoning of Stephen. Paul was entering the houses of Christians all over Jerusalem, and dragging people off to prison. As we saw above, God had to do something pretty dramatic to get Paul’s attention.

“Paul’s converts might have heard something about his former career as a persecutor from his own lips, but it [is] plain from the sequel that others were circulating reports about him—reports which he regards as deliberately disparaging and which he rebuts from his own first-hand testimony” (Bruce, 90).

Also, we have here a distinction that will make itself known throughout this book, between Judaism and the church of God. "In Paul's view Jew and Gentile united in Christ are the assembly of God, not merely in continuity with the assembly of God. This entity must be distinguished from 'Judaism'" (Witherington, 99).

1:14 "I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my nation, and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my ancestors."

Paul recounts his life as a Pharisee. He was extremely dedicated to the traditions of Judaism. He was a Pharisee of the Pharisees. He did not lightly depart from this. (Read Phil 3:2-11. Phil 3 )

Summary:
Others are boasting in the flesh? Well, if that counts for anything, let’s see how I stack up.

Circumcised on the eighth day, in accordance with the Law.

Of Israel, from the tribe of Benjamin. Hebrew to the core.

I kept the Law as a Pharisee. You know how many additional regulations that entails, don’t you?

I was so zealous for the God of our fathers that I began to persecute the church, because I thought they were perverting Judaism.

I had all of the external regulations in line. I made sure that I didn’t mess that up.

But, all of that was worthless!

1:15 "But when the one who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace was pleased"

Paul was convinced that God had called him from birth and prepared him for the ministry that he would later have. This reminds me of the call of Jeremiah. (See Jeremiah 1:4- 10. Jer 1 ) Paul’s learning as a Pharisee gave him a great depth of understanding, once Jesus revealed to him the truth of the gospel.

Pharisee comes from the Aramaic word for “separated.” It is an interesting contrast here, Paul’s former separation which he advanced himself, with the separation that came by God’s will. However, it is unlikely that the Galatians would have caught this. (i.e. They probably didn’t speak Aramaic or Hebrew.)

“This language is strongly reminiscent of that in which some of the OT prophets relate their calls. Jer. 1:5, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations’” (Bruce, 92). The calling of Isaiah is in Is. 49:1-6 where he relates that he was called from the womb. (Is 49 )

1:16 "to reveal his Son in me so that I could preach him among the Gentiles, I did not go to ask advice from any human being"

Paul had received multiple revelations from the Lord, while the Judaizers could only depend upon human authority. Ironically, the authority that they claimed wasn’t theirs. We will deal with this more in the next chapter. But, people had come from James to Antioch. They were not sent by James to require the Gentiles to be circumcised, though!

He seems to be saying, “They think they have revelation. Let me tell you about revelation!”

“[T]he bankruptcy of the law and the all-sufficiency of Christ came home to him all at once. Knowledge of the law was the prerogative of the Jews, but if salvation was bestowed by grace (as it was now bestowed to Paul) and not on the ground of law-keeping, then it was accessible to Gentiles equally with Jews” (Bruce, 93).

After all, to truly follow the Law, one would have to be Jewish. However, since Salvation is “by Grace through Faith,” Gentiles can take advantage of it as well!

"[T]he distinctive aspects of Paul's Gospel were not received by consultation with any human beings" (Witherington, 116). But this is exactly where the Judaizers would have to have received their "gospel".

1:17 "nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before me, but right away I departed to Arabia, and then returned to Damascus."

After Paul had fled from Damascus, he did not go to Jerusalem to consult with the other apostles and elders. At that time, they probably wouldn’t have accepted him. It was only later, after he had established himself as a minister of the gospel and truly demonstrated his changed life that he gained acceptance in other places. (See Acts 9:23-30. Acts 19 )

“Apostleship for Paul is mission, with the implication of direct commissioning” (Bruce, 95). This would explain Paul’s inclusive use of the term apostle for many beyond the Twelve and himself.

 

All scripture quotations, except if embedded in another quote, are from the NET. This can be found online at http://net.bible.org/

Bruce, F. F. The Epistle to the Galatians. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1982.

Calvin, John. Commentary on Galatians and Ephesians. http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/calcom41.iii.iii.iii.html

 

Witherington III, Ben. Grace in Galatia. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1998.