3) Galatians 1:11-24

Aug 3

For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.

Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother. (In what I am writing to you, ibefore God, I do not lie!) Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” And they glorified God because of me. (Galatians 1:11-24, ESV Bible)

Commentary

Man’s Gospel

As Paul began his epistle to the Galatians, he contrasted the gospel message he preached to what he called "man's gospel." What did Paul mean by "man's gospel"? He did not mean a false gospel, or corrupt gospel, or something fleshly and worldly. He meant to differentiate the way that he became a believer from the way that people ordinarily became believers in that day, and he wanted to differentiate between his gospel message and the one that other believers ordinarily proclaimed in his day.

In Paul's day, most of the people who became disciples of Yeshua of Nazareth were Jewish. All of the apostles were Jewish, and they told other Jewish people about Yeshua: his deeds, his words, his death, his resurrection, his ascension, his messianic claims, and his imminent return. That's how most people learned the gospel, and that is what Paul called "man's gospel." You heard the good news from someone, you believed it, and that's how you became a believer. It was a mostly Jewish phenomenon.

That was not how Paul became a believer. Instead, Paul once hated believers…

For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. (Galatians 1:13-14, ESV Bible)

At the time that Paul became a disciple of Yeshua of Nazareth, he hated all the disciples of Yeshua; he did not receive the gospel from men. Instead, he persecuted them and actually hunted them down.

Paul the Prodigy

He described himself as advancing in Judaism beyond many of his own age among his people. What does it mean to be "advancing in Judaism?" "I was," Paul explained, "extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers." The "traditions of the fathers" is the New Testament, apostolic-age term for what later came to be called the Oral Torah (i.e., the Mishnah, etc.) which, after several centuries, resulted in the voluminous literature of the Talmud. In those days, people did not call it the Oral Law (Torah shebe-al Peh); they called it "the traditions of the fathers," or sometimes just "the traditions." The religious party called the Pharisees adhered to those traditions and passed them on orally from teacher to disciple. When Paul said he was advancing in Judaism zealous for the traditions, he was not saying, "I used to be a legalistic, halachic, orthodox Jew, but after finding Jesus, I dumped all that." The Greek word translated as "advancing" is a term which originally meant "making headway at sea," but Josephus and contemporary literature used it to mean "making great progress in education." Paul was saying, "I was an important disciple of an important sage (Rabban Gamliel the Elder), and I was zealous to learn the Oral Law, i.e., the traditions, and I was advancing fast to the top of the class. I was headed for a big seat on the Sanhedrin; I was going to be one of the top scholars because I was a prodigy."

But this prodigy had a mean streak, and he despised the believers. They irritated him badly, especially that guy Stephen who hung out in his synagogue and argued with all the other Greek-speaking Jews who attended there. After Stephen's stoning, Paul even went so far as to break his allegiance with his teacher Gamliel, defying his ruling regarding the believers (Acts 9:1-2). He went over to the Sadducees, to Caiphas the high priest, for legal permission to hunt down believers, drag them out of the synagogues and publically punish them by flogging, perhaps by excommunication as well. Paul did not get the gospel from the believers or from the apostles. They were afraid of Paul.

Paul’s Revelation from Heaven

While Paul was on the road to Damascus to find more believers and persecute them, he had a revelation from Heaven. No one witnessed to Paul. No one argued him into the conclusion that Yeshua of Nazareth was the Messiah. It was not as if he read all the prophecies in the Tanach, or saw Isaiah 53 and said, "Oh, I was wrong!" He did not read a tract or listen to a preacher on the radio. He did not attend a Billy Graham crusade. He did not receive the gospel from men; it was not man's gospel; it came direct from above. As Paul said, "I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ." It dropped from Heaven.

This type of thing happens. Not often, so far as we know, but it does happen. On some occasions, Yeshua of Nazareth, the expression of HaShem himself, appears to a person, reveals himself to a person, speaks to a person, and announces himself.

Paul’s Gospel

Paul explained that he received the gospel through a revelation of Yeshua the Messiah. He claimed that the gospel message he preached to the Galatians was not man's gospel. It was not the normal gospel message. He received a different gospel. This is an important point a critical point for understanding Paul. The message of the gospel that Paul proclaimed was not precisely the same message of the gospel that the rest of the apostolic community proclaimed. In other places, Paul specifically refers to his unique gospel message as "my gospel."

[Gentile believers show that the work of the Torah] is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. (Romans 2:15-16)

[God] is able to strengthen you according to my gospel. (Romans 16:25)

As preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. (2 Timothy 2:8-9)

This should be troubling to us. What makes Paul's gospel his gospel? How is this gospel that he received by special revelation different from what he calls man's gospel? How is his gospel message different from that of the rest of the apostolic community?

Paul's gospel differs because Paul taught that salvation in Messiah is efficacious for both Jews and Gentiles. The other apostles also included Gentiles, but they expected that once a Gentile received the good news about the king of the Jews, he would become Jewish.

Scholars disagree about this point, but there is ample evidence to prove that Paul wrote his epistle to the Galatians before the Jerusalem Council reported in Acts 15. Before that counsel, the question of Gentile participation had not yet been resolved. Other Jewish believers taught that Gentiles who embraced Messiah would, should, and eventually must convert and become Jewish.

Paul disagreed. His gospel was not just good news for Israel, but for all of humanity. This is what made Paul so radical and put him outside the Jerusalem circle.

Paul's gospel taught that Gentiles can inherit eternal life, the kingdom of heaven, the resurrection of the dead, and standing among the people of God (i.e., Israel) without becoming Jewish-a radical idea.

Where did Paul get this information? Not from the teachings of Yeshua transmitted by his followers and disciples. Not from the teaching of Peter or John or James. Paul insisted, "I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ" (Galatians 1:12). He received it as "the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages, but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith" (Romans 16:25-26).

Paul explicitly links the special revelation of the gospel message he received with his commission from Messiah to "preach him among the Gentiles" (Galatians 1:15).

But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord's brother. In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!)(Galatians 1:15-20)

Paul in Damascus and Jerusalem

After receiving the revelation from heaven, Paul "went away into Arabia"-that is, the kingdom of the Nabataeans. Damascus was a large city within this Nabataean kingdom. When Paul wrote that he went away into Arabia, we should not imagine some monk-like retreat to Mount Sinai; rather, he was speaking of his sojourn in Damascus and that general area, a period of time well described in the book of Acts. When he first arrived in Damascus, he was blind and confused, fasting, praying, and seeking God. A disciple named Chananiah came to him and prayed over him and restored his sight. He underwent an immersion into Yeshua and remained among the disciples in Damascus.

Paul said he spent three years in Damascus and Arabia before returning to Jerusalem. He got in trouble in the synagogues of Damascus for preaching Messiah too boldly. Eventually, some enemies hatched a plot against him. His disciples had to lower him out of a window in the city wall, concealed in a basket. After that incident, he returned to Jerusalem and finally met the key apostles:

Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord's brother. In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!) (Galatians 1:18-20, ESV Bible)

When Paul first arrived in Jerusalem, the community and the apostles refused to welcome their persecutor; they did not trust him. They assumed he wanted to get inside information. Finally, Barnabas brought him before the apostles and vouched for his sincerity. He met James and Peter, and the community welcomed him.

He ended up staying with Peter's family in Jerusalem for fifteen days, probably spending three Sabbaths together. Why did Paul recount all of that for the Galatians? He wanted to emphasize that he did not get his unique gospel message from the apostles; he received it directly from the Master through a special revelation.

While with the apostles in Jerusalem, he received his commissioning. As he prayed in the Temple, he fell into a trance and saw a vision of the Master. Yeshua told him,

"Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles" (Acts 22:21).

Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” And they glorified God because of me. (Galatians 1:21-24, ESV Bible)

Paul left Jerusalem and spent fourteen years in Syria and Cilicia. The first eight years or so he spent in his home town of Tarsus. He passed his time preaching Messiah (and the faith he once tried to destroy) in the synagogues there. He worked as a tent maker, a tailor. He spent his time studying, learning, trying to grasp the commission he heard in the vision: "Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles." He spent his time looking for confirmation in the prophets that this was indeed the word of the LORD-that the salvation of Messiah extended even to the Gentiles.

While Paul sojourned in Tarsus, amazing things were happen-ing. In the city of Caesarea, the Apostle Peter brought the gospel to the home of a Gentile named Cornelius. He was a God-Fearer, "a devout man who feared God with all his household" (Acts 10:2). He and his household believed. The Apostle Peter declared, "Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him" (Acts 10:34-35).

Not long after that, the gospel began to reach other God-fearing Gentiles. Believers from Jerusalem "traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews" (Acts 11:19). They spoke the word to no one except Jews because the gospel was good news for the Jewish people. One would naturally assume that any Gentiles drawn into the kingdom of heaven movement would undergo conversion to become Jewish. Something else was afoot though. The book of Acts tells the story of how a large number of God-fearing Gentiles in Antioch came to faith:

There were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose, for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord. (Acts 11:20-24)

After about eight years, a remarkable thing happened. Joseph Barnabas, the disciple he knew from Damascus and Jerusalem, left Antioch and showed up in Tarsus looking for Paul. He explained, "Saul, the apostles in Jerusalem sent me to Antioch to see what's going on there. They heard a report from the synagogues in Antioch that large numbers of God-fearing Gentiles have joined the faith. I travelled to Antioch, and I saw the grace of God on the Gentiles, and I was glad, and I told them to remain faithful to the Master with steadfast purpose, and a great many of them have believed. That's why I've come looking for you. I need your help in Antioch." Barnabas must have also told Paul about Peter's experience with Cornelius (Acts 10), a story which would only confirm the revelation Paul had already received -the mystery of the gospel.

That's how Paul ended up in Antioch for the next five years or so. He came to Antioch to help Barnabas, and he found lots of Gentiles, the God-Fearers. His vision about the gospel going out to all nations was coming true. The only question was what to do with them. Barnabas needed Paul's help in overseeing the conversion of all those Gentiles. He wanted someone with Paul's standing and halachic credentials because this was not just a few, or a dozen, but probably hundreds of Gentiles.

When he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians. (Acts 11:26)

Paul’s Rule for the Churches

The conventional plan, naturally, would be to teach them about Judaism and usher them along the path to full conversion until they became proselytes. Paul did not follow the conventional model. Instead, he taught the new believers to remain as Gentiles. This radical change of program became Paul's rule for all the communities of faith:

This is my rule in all the churches. Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circum-cision. For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God. Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called. (1 Corinthians 7:17-20)

Paul wanted the Galatian believers to know that his gospel (the gospel that teaches that Gentile believers are also a part of the kingdom, not as proselytes, but as real Gentiles) was something he received directly from God-a special revelation, a special commission, confirmed by his studies, yes, but straight from God.

That was important for his readers to know because "the influencers" exerting an influence on them were not teaching Paul's gospel. They were telling the Galatian believers that salvation and faith in Yeshua should naturally lead to becoming Jewish through conversion-the same message proclaimed by the rest of the apostolic community. Paul needed to clarify: "What I have been telling you is different than what everyone else is teaching. The reason that it is different is because I did not get this gospel message from the other apostles. I got it straight from Heaven.

Gentiles would not be present in the community of faith today, nor in any church, if not for that revelation from Heaven that God gave to his servant Paul. God set him apart before he was born, called him by his grace, and was pleased to reveal his Son to him, in order that he might preach Messiah among the Gentiles.

If you are a Gentile believer in Yeshua, you should have a great debt of gratitude to the Apostle Paul, the servant of Christ. May his memory be for a blessing.

Referneces

This lesson was curated from teachings from First Fruits of Zion “Holy Epistle to the Galatians.”

Disciple X