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JESUS WAS THE SOURCEOF THE GOSPEL
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Galatians 1:11-1211I want you to know, brothers and
sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human
origin. 12I did not receiveit from any man, nor was I
taught it; rather, I receivedit by revelationfrom Jesus
Christ.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Paul's PersonalGraspOf The Gospel
Galatians 1:11-24
R.M. Edgar
Paul, as we have seen, is so certain of the gospelof grace being the only gospel
for sinful men, that he is prepared to pronounce an anathema on all who
preach any other gospel. Lestit might be supposed that he took up this
intolerant positionrashly, he now proceeds to give us a short autobiography,
in which he shows how he had receivedthe gospel, and what a hold it had
upon him. Let us notice the salientpoints in this narrative.
I. HIS LIFE AS A JEW. (Vers. 13, 14.)Paul, before his conversion, was the
most zealous persecutorof Christianity. A strict Pharisee, he added to his self-
righteousness anuncommon zeal for the old religion, and hesitatednot to
persecute to the death those who had embraced the new. He was zealous, but
not according to knowledge.
II. THE REVELATION OF JESUS TO HIM AND IN HIM. (Vers. 11, 12, 15,
16.)It was Jesus himself who undertook Saul's conversion. There was no
intermediate instrument. On the way to Damascus Jesusappearedto him in
dazzling, overwhelming radiance, and compelled the persecutorto recognize,
not only his existence, but his sovereignauthority. That manifestationof Jesus
to him revolutionized his life. Henceforthhe could have no doubt regarding
the reign of Jesus Christ. This was the revelationof Jesus to him - the historic
interview which made Paul's careerso different and so glorious. But next
there was the revelation of Jesus in Paul. This was by the Holy Spirit entering
into him and giving him Christ's mind, Christ's heart, Christ's compassions,
so that Paul became a revelationof Christ to other men. Henceforwardhe was
a "Christophor," carrying Christ in him, not only as his Hope of glory, but as
his animating, regulating, ruling power. Paul was from that hour" possessed,"
but it was by the Spirit of Christ. His personality became a new centre of
spiritual force and power.
III. THUS POSSESSED BYJESUS, HE BECAME INDEPENDENTOF
MEN. (Vers. 16, 17.)Now, this independence of Paul had two sides.
1. He became independent of popular opinion "Immediately I conferrednot
with flesh and blood" Now it must have been very trying to surrender all his
hopes as a Jew. The fact is, he was the foremostman of his nation just when
Jesus convertedhim. The nation would gladly have followed his leadership.
There was no man who had so much weightand force of characteras Saul. To
renounce all these hopes, and the friendships of his early years, and to face the
world a lonely man was trying. Yet he was enabledby God's grace to do so.
He made no truce with flesh and blood, but renouncedall for Christ.
2. He felt independent of apostolic recognition. He never thought of hurrying
off to Jerusalemto stand an examination at the hands of the apostles, and
receive their imorimatur. He dealt at first hand with the Fountain of
authority. Hence he passedto Arabia soonafter his conversion, and in the
solitudes of the desert, in the places associatedwith such masterspirits as
Moses,Elijah, and Christ, he communed with Christ, and pondered and laid
the foundations of his theology. He calledno man master; he felt that he had
but one Master, and he was Christ. Now, this independence of characteris
what we should all seek.It can only be securedwhen we have renouncedself-
confidence and betakenourselves to the feetof our Lord. There at the
fountain of life and powerwe canrise up our own masters and his faithful
servants, prepared to do battle, if need be, againstthe world.
IV. PAUL'S INTERVIEW AT JERUSALEM WITH CEPHAS AND JAMES.
(Vers. 18, 19.)While Paul was properly independent in spirit, this does not
imply that he was in any way morose or unsocial. His internment in Arabia,
his earneststudy of the whole plan of the gospel, only made him long for an
interview with Cephas, the recognizedleader at Jerusalem. Hence he passed
from solitude to society, and had an interview of fifteen days with the apostle
of the circumcision. James, who had ministerial oversight of the Jerusalem
Church, sharedhis societytoo. It must have been a blessedmeeting between
the two mighty apostles. The meeting of two generals before some important
campaignwas never so momentous in its consequencesas the meeting of these
two humble men, Saul and Cephas. They were setupon the conquestfor
Christ of the world. Now, we have every reasonto believe that the interview
was simply one for conference.It was not that Saul might receive any
authority from the hands either of Cephas or of James. He had his authority
directly from Christ.
V. HIS EVANGELISTIC WORK. (Vers. 20-24.)Perhaps through mutual
agreementwith Peter, Paulleaves Jerusalemand Judaea and confines himself
to the districts beyond. Syria and Cilicia, territories beyond the bounds of
Palestine proper, where the apostles were operating, were selectedby the
apostle to the Gentiles for his first evangelistic efforts. He did not seek the
acquaintance of the Churches in Judaea. He kept to his ownprovince. They
heard gladly that the arch-persecutorhad become a chief preacherof the once
despisedfaith. They accordinglypraised God for the monument of his mercy
he had raised up in Paul. But his knowledge ofthe gospeland his authority in
proclaiming it were not, he wishes these Galatians to understand, derived
from men. We should surely learn from this autobiography of Paul the secret
of personalindependence and power. It consists in going to the sources
themselves. If we refuse to depend upon men and depend on the Lord only, we
shall secure a graspof his holy gospeland an efficiencyin proclaiming it
which are impossible otherwise. Whatthe world needs now is what it needed
then - men pervaded like Paul by the Spirit of Christ, and so radiating the
true ideas about Christ all around. - R.M.E.
Biblical Illustrator
That the gospelwhich was preachedof me is not after man.
Galatians 1:11, 12
The inspiration of St. Paul
Prebendary Griffith.
The greaterpart of our knowledge must always rest on the authority of
others. No single man is able to ascertainfor himself the innumerable facts, in
all the various fields of human investigation, out of which alone a personal
conviction cangrow. Nor can we always reasonout the conclusions that we
accepton others' testimony. We must take them on faith. False teachers in
Galatia attempted to weakenPaul's authority by asserting that he, having
never been a personaldisciple of Jesus, andnot therefore included in the
original commission, was to be lookedon as no more than a self-appointed
proclaimer of a self-invented doctrine, or as the agentonly of other persons
who employed his zeal and talents to diffuse their error, or perhaps as the
ignorant perverter of the truths which he had at first been taught by the
apostles atJerusalem, and from which he had gone aside. St. Paul here refutes
these accusationsand insinuations.
I. HIS PRINCIPLES OF CHRISTIANITY WERE NOT DERIVED FROM
HUMAN AUTHORITY. He was not the retailer of other men's notions, and
proclaimer of what others had invented for him and enjoined on him. He had
not been drilled in any human school, and then sent forth to talk — to
distribute the materials which had been put into his hands, and to hawk about
the goods whichothers had manufactured for him. Far higher than this was
his authority; far deeperhis knowledge andconvictions.
II. NOR THROUGH HUMAN INSTRUCTION. Notmerely conviction
arrived at by self-study of others' opinions.
III. BUT FROM DIVINE DISCLOSURE. Godunveiled His hidden things to
the mental vision of the apostle. His inspiration is a revelation, disclosure,
communication from God. Therefore he speaks withauthority.
(Prebendary Griffith.)
The nature of revelation
B. Jowett, M. A.
Revelationis distinguished from ordinary moral and spiritual influences by its
suddenness. It shows us in an instant, what, under ordinary circumstances,
would grow up gradually and insensibly. In the individual it is accompanied
by a sudden transition from darkness to light; in the world at large it is an
anticipation of moral truth and of the course of human experience. Reducible
to no natural laws, it is to our ordinary moral and spiritual nature what
peculiar cataleptic conditions are to our bodily, constitution. It seems to come
from without, and is not; to be confounded with any inward emotion, any
more than a dream or the sight of a painting. As compared with prophecy, it
is nearer to us, representing as in a picture the things that shall shortly come
to pass, and yet embracing a wider range; not, like the prophets of old,
describing the fortunes of an individual nation, as it may have crossedthe
path of the Jewishpeople, but lifting up the veil from the whole invisible
world. In all its different senses it retains this external, present, immediate
character. Whetherit be the future kingdom of Christ, or the fall of
Jerusalemor of Rome, or the world lying in wickedness, thatis described, all
is displayed immediately before us as on some mount of transfiguration — the
figures near to us, and the colours bright.
(B. Jowett, M. A.)
The gospelno work of man
J. P. Lange, D. D.
1. As a word of doctrine, it did not spring from men, nor was it taught by men,
but by Christ Himself, who brought it Himself, and through whom alone His
people have it.
2. As a word of comfort, only through Him can we commit ourselves to it.
3. As a word of power, in which there should be no change, from which no
departure.
(J. P. Lange, D. D.)
A solemn avowalconcerning the gospel
Richard Nicholls.
I. THE GOSPELTHAT PAUL PREACHED. The purport of his ministry and
the faith he proclaimed are given in Acts 26:22, 23.
II. THE GOSPELWHICH PAUL PREACHED WAS NOT OF MAN.
1. His gospelwas not after man. It did not originate with man. Human
schemes ofsalvation have everbeen imperfect in theory and worthless in
practice.
2. Paul's gospelwas not communicated by man. "I neither receivedit of
man."
3. The gospelwhich Paul preached was not explained to him by man. "Neither
was I taught it."
III. THE GOSPELTHAT PAUL PREACHED WAS REVEALED TO HIM.
IV. PAUL'S TESTIMONYIN RELATION TO THE GOSPELWAS
DELIVERED WITH GREAT IMPRESSIVENESSAND SOLEMNITY. "I
declare unto you, brethren." Lessons:
1. Paul and the other apostles preachedwhat had been revealedto them; there
cannot, therefore, be in the true sense, any successors to the apostles now.
2. The gospelbeing a revelation, should be receivedwith reverent trust.
(Richard Nicholls.)
I certify you
W. Perkins.
Observe —
I. THAT MEN MAY BE CERTIFIED THAT THE GOSPELIS NOT OF
MAN BUT OF GOD, by —
1. The evidences of God's Spirit imprinted on and expressedin it.
2. The testimony of its promulgators who were neither knaves nor fools.
3. The assurance ofobedience and experience (John 7:17).
II. THAT CHRIST IS THE GREAT TEACHER OF THIS GOSPEL.
1. He is the Revealerofthe will of the Father touching the redemption of
mankind (John 1:18; John 8:26).
2. He calls and sends the preachers of this gospel(John 20:21;Ephesians
4:11).
3. He gives the Spirit who illuminates the mind and guides into all truth.
III. THAT CHRIST TEACHES THE TEACHERS OF THIS GOSPEL.
1. By immediate revelation,
2. By ordinary instruction in the schools.
IV. THAT THOSE WHO ARE TEACHERS MUST BE FIRST TAUGHT,
AND MUST THEN TEACH WHAT THEY HAVE LEARNED. (2 Timothy
3:14).
(W. Perkins.)
Preaching the gospel
T. T. Lynch.
To preach is to announce by heralding. We have to reiterate as new and
happy tidings in the ear of a strangerthat God's kingdom is come, is to come,
and that we can help it to come, I ask any man, if this be true and not
romance, is it not an honour to proclaim it, although it be with us as with
Paul, againstdifficulties and calumnies.
(T. T. Lynch.)
The inspiration of St. Paul
M. Laurie, D. D.
In an important sense the inspiration of St. Paul is the highestin Holy
Scripture; for while Moses laid a foundation, and prophets brought together
the Divine materials, and evangelists built up the walls of the glorious temple
of God's truth, it was reservedfor Paul to complete the structure and bring
out its beauties to be seenof the whole earth. There are magnificent temples in
Bible lands that have served for quarries for the structures the Turks have
built under their shadow. Yet even in ruin their greatness is more conspicuous
from the contrast. So the ablest theologians have gone to Paul for the choicest
stones of their goodlystructures, and still the temple he was commissionedto
complete looks down on them all, not a ruin but perfect as at the first. His
Epistles form the crowning glory of that Word of God that abideth for ever.
(M. Laurie, D. D.)
Certificationof Divine revelation
R. A. Redford.
Can a revelationbe certified? The answermay be divided into three parts.
1. The method of the revelation, by individual men, and by writings handed
down from age to age, is not unreasonable.
2. The anterior probability of such a revelationas is given in Scripture is
undoubtedly strong.
3. The test of time being applied to the revelation actually given, sufficiently
approves the Divine authority which is claimed for it.
(R. A. Redford.)
Divine revelationfrom above
S. Pearson, M. A.
I. IT OCCUPIES A HIGHER REGION than that which is physical, mental,
or moral.
II. IT COMES DOWN UPON the intellect, not out of it.
1. It is sublimely authoritative.
2. By the side of it the most advanced knowledge is halting and immature.
III. PAUL INSISTED ON HIS APOSTLESHIP BECAUSE THIS
REVELATION WAS COMMITTED TO HIM.
(S. Pearson, M. A.)
It is an historicalfact that human nature is always below revelation
J. B. Walker, M. A.
Greatdiscoveries are usually the product of preceding ages ofthought. One
mind developes the idea; but it is the fruitage of the ages ripened in that mind.
A pearl is found; but the locationhas been indicated by previous researches.
But revealedreligion is something different from this. It is separate from and
superior to the thought of the age. It calls the wisdomof the world foolishness,
and introduces a new standpoint and starting-point around which it gathers
what was valuable in the old, and destroys the remainder. Hence it will always
be found true that a struggle is necessaryto bring up the human mind and
keepit up to the level of revealedreligion, anti that revealedreligion produces
the struggle. Eventhose who profess to be its friends retrograde as soonas its
powerabates, and new applications of that power have to be made to bring
them up again.
(J. B. Walker, M. A.)
Revelationby Christ
DeanGoulburn.
Revelationseems usually to be ascribed to the Son of God in consistencywith
His characteras the Word, the declarer of God's will who has manifested God
in the flesh (see also 1 Corinthians 11:23;Revelation1:1; Revelation5:9).
Whereas Inspiration is usually connectedwith the Holy Spirit (2 Peter1:21;
Acts 1:16; Hebrews 7:8). But Luke 2:26 is an exceptionto the rule. And,
doubtless as on the one hand it is from the Son that the Spirit proceeds, being
indeed the waterwhich flows out of the rock of our salvation: so, on the other,
no revelation can be made without the Spirit who opens the inward eye to
what is outwardly communicated.
(DeanGoulburn.)
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(12) ForI neither receivedit.—The first “neither” in this verse does not
answerto the second, but qualifies the pronoun “I.” The connectionin the
thought is perhaps something of this kind: “The gospelis not human as it
comes to you; neither was it human as it first came to me.”
Taught.—There is an antithesis betweenthis word and “revelation” in the
next clause. “Idid not receive my doctrine from man by a process ofteaching
and learning, but from Christ Himself by direct revelation.”
By the revelation.—Itis better to omit the article:“by,” or “through the
medium of,” revelation. What was this revelation, and when was it given? The
context shows that it must have been at some time either at or near the
Apostle’s conversion. This would be sufficient to exclude the laterrevelation
of 2Corinthians 12:1. But can it be the vision on the way to Damascus itself
alone? At first sight it would seemas if this was too brief, and its objecttoo
special, to include the kind of “sum of Christian doctrine” of which the
Apostle is speaking. But this at least containedthe two main points—the
MessiahshipofJesus, and faith in Jesus, from which all the restof the
Apostle’s teaching flowed naturally and logically. When once it was felt that
the death of Christ upon the cross was not that of a criminal, but of the Son of
God, the rest all seemedto follow. Putting this togetherwith the sense, which
we may well believe had been growing upon him, of the inefficacyof the Law,
we can easilysee how the idea would arise of a sacrifice superseding the Law,
and in the relegationofthe Law to this very secondarypositionthe main
barrier betweenJew and Gentile would be removed. St. Paul himself, by
laying stress upon his retreat to the deserts of Arabia, evidently implies that
the gospel, as taught by him in its complete form, was the result of gradual
development and prolonged reflection;but whether this is to be regarded as
implicitly contained in the first revelation, or whether we are to suppose that
there were successive revelations, ofwhich there is no record in the Acts,
cannot be positively determined.
Of Jesus Christ—i.e., given by Jesus Christ; of which Jesus Christ is the
Author.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
1:10-14 In preaching the gospel, the apostle soughtto bring persons to the
obedience, not of men, but of God. But Paul would not attempt to alter the
doctrine of Christ, either to gain their favour, or to avoid their fury. In so
important a matter we must not fear the frowns of men, nor seek their favour,
by using words of men's wisdom. Concerning the manner wherein he received
the gospel, he had it by revelation from Heaven. He was not led to
Christianity, as many are, merely by education.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
For I neither receivedit of man - This is very probably said in reply to his
opponents, who had maintained that Paul had derived his knowledge ofthe
gospelfrom other people, since he had not been personallyknown to the Lord
Jesus, orbeen of the number of those whom Jesus calledto be his apostles. In
reply to this, he says, that he did not receive his gospelin any way from man.
Neither was I taught it - That is, by man. He was not taught it by any written
accountof it, or by the instruction of man in any way. The only plausible
objectionto this statement which could be urged would be the fact that Paul
had an interview with Ananias Acts 9:17 before his baptism, and that he
would probably receive instructions from him. But to this it may be replied:
(1) That there is no evidence that Ananias went into an explanation of the
nature of the Christian religion in his interview with Paul;
(2) Before this, Paul had been taught what Christianity was by his encounter
with the Lord Jesus onthe way to Damascus Acts 9:5; Acts 26:14-18;
(3) The purpose for which Ananias was sent to him in Damascus was thatPaul
might receive his sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit, Acts 9:17. Whatever
instructions he may have receivedthrough Ananias, it is still true that his call
was directly from the Lord Jesus, and his information of the nature of
Christianity from Jesus'revelation.
But by the revelationof Jesus Christ - On his way to Damascus, and
subsequently in the temple, Acts 22:17-21. Doubtless, he received
communications at various times from the Lord Jesus with regardto the
nature of the gospeland his duty. The sense here is, that he was not indebted
to people for his knowledge ofthe gospel, but had derived it entirely from the
Saviour.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
12. Translate, "Fornot even did I myself (any more than the other apostles)
receive it from man, nor was I taught it (by man)." "Receivedit," implies the
absence oflabor in acquiring it. "Taughtit," implies the labor of learning.
by the revelationof Jesus Christ—Translate, "byrevelation of [that is, from]
Jesus Christ." By His revealing it to me. Probably this took place during the
three years, in part of which he sojourned in Arabia (Ga 1:17, 18), in the
vicinity of the scene ofthe giving of the law; a fit place for such a revelationof
the Gospelofgrace, which supersedes the ceremoniallaw (Ga 4:25). He, like
other Pharisees who embracedChristianity, did not at first recognize its
independence of the Mosaic law, but combined both together. Ananias, his
first instructor, was universally esteemedforhis legalpiety and so was not
likely to have taught him to severChristianity from the law. This severance
was partially recognizedafter the martyrdom of Stephen. But Paul receivedit
by specialrevelation (1Co 11:23;15:3; 1Th 4:15). A vision of the Lord Jesus is
mentioned (Ac 22:18), at his first visit to Jerusalem(Ga 1:18); but this seems
to have been subsequent to the revelation here meant (compare Ga 1:15-18),
and to have been confined to giving a particular command. The vision
"fourteenyears before" (2Co 12:1) was in A.D. 43, still later, six years after
his conversion. Thus Paul is an independent witness to the Gospel. Though he
had receivedno instruction from the apostles, but from the Holy Ghost, yet
when he met them his Gospelexactlyagreedwith theirs.
Matthew Poole's Commentary
Not of man, as my first and sole instructor, not only at second-hand, from
Peter, James, orJohn, as the false teachers had suggested, norwas I taught it
otherwise than by the immediate revelation of Jesus Christ.
Revelationsignifieth the discoveryof something which is secret(as the gospel,
and doctrine of it, is calleda mystery hid from ages). It may be objected, that
Paul was instructed by Ananias, Acts 9:17. But this prejudiceth nothing the
truth of what the apostle saith in this place, neither do we read of much that
Ananias said to him in a way of instruction; it is only said, that he laid his
hands on him, and he was filled with the Holy Ghost. When, or where, he had
these revelations, the apostle saith not; probably while he lay in a trance,
blind, and neither eating nor drinking for three days, Acts 9:9. Others think it
was when he was caught up into the third heaven, 2 Corinthians 12:2. Certain
it is, that St. Paul had revelations from Christ, Acts 22:17,18 26:15-18.
Revelationsignifies an immediate conveying of the knowledge ofDivine things
to a person, without human means; and in that Paul ascribes the revelation of
the gospelto Jesus Christ, he plainly asserts the Divine nature of the Lord
Jesus Christ.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
For I neither receivedit of man,.... Not from Gamaliel, at whose feethe was
brought up; he receivedthe law from him, and knowledge in the Jews'
religion, and in the traditions of the elders, but not a whit of the Gospel;on
the contrary, he received prejudices againstit from him, or was strengthened
in them by him; no, nor from the apostles ofChrist neither, whom he saw not,
had no conversationwith for some years, after he was a preacherof the
Gospel, and therefore did not receive it at their hands; no, nor from Ananias,
nor any other man:
neither was I taught it: that is, by man; he did not learn it of men, as men
learn law, physics, logic, rhetoric, natural philosophy, and other things at
school:
but by the revelationof Jesus Christ; meaning, not through Christ being
revealedto him by the Father, as in Galatians 1:16 though it is a sense not to
be overlooked;but by Christ, the revealerof it to him; and regards either the
time of his rapture into the third heaven, when he heard words not to be
uttered; or rather since that is not so certainwhen it was, the time of his
conversion, when Christ personally appearedunto him, and made him a
minister of his Gospel;and immediately from himself, without the
interposition, or use of any man, or means, gave him such light into it, and
such a furniture of mind for the preaching of it, that he directly, as soonas
ever he was baptized, setabout the ministration of it, to the admiration of the
saints, and confusionof the enemies of Christ. These words furnish out
another proof of the deity of Christ; for if the Gospelis not after man, nor
receivedof, or taught by man, but by Christ, then Christ cannot be a mere
man, or else being by him, it would be by man; and which also confirms the
authority and validity of the Gospel, and carries in it a strong reasonfor the
apostle's anathematizing all such as preach any other.
Geneva Study Bible
For I neither receivedit of man, neither was I taught it, but by the {i}
revelation of Jesus Christ.
(i) This passageis about an extraordinary revelation, for otherwise the Son
revealedhis Gospelonly by his Spirit, even though by the ministry of men,
which Paul excludes here.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT Commentary
Galatians 1:12. Proofof the statement, τὸ εὐαγγέλιον… οὐκ ἔστι κατὰ
ἄνθρωπον.
οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐγώ] for neither I, any more than the other apostles. Onοὐδὲ γάρ,
for neither, which corresponds with the positive καὶ γάρ, comp. Bornemann,
ad Xen. Symp. p. 200;Hartung, Partikell. I. p. 211. The earlierexpositors
(also Morus, Koppe, and others) neglectboth the significationof οὐδέ and the
emphasis on ἐγώ, which is also overlookedby de Wette, “for also I have not,”
etc.;and Ewald, “I obtained it not at all.” Comp., on the contrary, Matthew
21:27;Luke 20:8; John 8:11. Rückert, Matthies, and Schottunderstand οὐδέ
only as if it were οὔ, assuming it to be used on accountof the previous
negation;and see in ἐγώ a contrastto those, quibus ipse tradiderit
evangelium, in which case there must have been αὐτός instead of ἐγώ. This
remark also applies to Hofmann’s view, “that he himself has not received
what he preached through human instruction.” Besides, the supposed
reference of ἐγώ would be quite unsuitable, for the apostle had not at all in
view a comparisonwith his disciples; a comparisonwith the other apostles
was the point agitating his mind. Lastly, Winer finds too much in οὐδέ, “nam
ne ego quidem.” This is objectionable, not because, as Schottand Olshausen,
following Rückert, assume, οὐδʼἐγὼ γάρ or καὶ γὰρ οὐδʼ ἐγώ must in that
case have been written, for in fact γάρ would have its perfectly regular
position (Galatians 6:13; Romans 8:7; John 5:22; John 7:5; John 8:42, et al.);
but because ne ego quidem would imply the concessionof a certainhigher
position for the other apostles (comp. 1 Corinthians 15:8-9), which would not
be in harmony with the apostle’s presenttrain of thought, where his argument
turned rather on his equality with them (comp. 1 Corinthians 9:1).
παρὰ ἀνθρώπου]from a man, who had given it to me. Not to be confounded
with ἀπʼ ἀνθρώπου (see on 1 Corinthians 11:23, and Hermann, ad Soph. El.
65). Here also, as in Galatians 1:1, we have the contrastbetweenἄνθρωπος
and Ἰησ. Χριστός.
αὐτό]viz. τὸ εὐαγγέλιοντὸ εὐαγγελισθὲν ὑπʼ ἐμοῦ.
οὔτε ἐδιδάχθην]As οὔτε refers only to the οὐκ containedin the preceding
οὐδέ, and δέ and τέ do not correspond, οὔτε is here by no means
inappropriate (as Rückertalleges). See Hand, De part. τέ diss. II. p. 13;
Hartung, Partikell. I. p. 101 f.; Buttmann, neutest. Gr. p. 315. Comp. on Acts
23:8. Forneither have I receivedit from a man, nor learned it. Παρέλαβον
denotes the receiving through communication in general(comp. Galatians
1:9), ἐδιδάχθηνthe receiving speciallythrough instruction duly used.
ἀλλὰ διʼ ἀποκαλύψ. Ἰ. Χ.] The contrastto παρὰ ἀνθρώπου;Ἰησοῦ Χ. is
therefore the genitive, not of the object(Theodoret, Matthies, Schott), but of
the subject(comp. 2 Corinthians 12:1; Revelation1:1), by Jesus Christ giving
to me revelation. Paul alludes to the revelations[25]receivedsoonafterthe
event at Damascus, andconsequenttherefore upon his calling, which enabled
him to comply with it and to come forward as a preacherof the gospel. Comp.
Galatians 1:15-16;Ephesians 3:3. The revelation referred to in 2 Corinthians
12:1 ff. (Thomas, Cornelius a Lapide, Balduin, and others) cannotbe meant;
because this occurredat a subsequent period, when Paul had for a long time
been preaching the gospel. Normust we (with Koppe, Flatt, and Schott)refer
it to the revelations which were imparted to him generally, including those of
the later period, for here mention is made only of a revelationby which he
receivedand learned the gospel.
How the ἀποκάλυψις took place (according to Calovius, through the Holy
Spirit; comp. Acts 9:17), must be left undecided. It may have takenplace with
or without vision, in different stages, partly even before his baptism in the
three days mentioned Acts 9:6; Acts 9:9, partly at and immediately after it,
but not through instruction on the part of Ananias. The ἘΝ ἘΜΟΊ in
Galatians 1:16 is consistentwith either supposition.
[25] Of which, however, the book of Acts gives us no account;for in Acts
22:17, Christ appeared to him not to revealto him the gospel, but for the
purpose of giving a specialinstruction. Hence they are not to be referred to
the event at Damascus itself, as, following Jerome and Theodoret, many
earlier and more recent expositors (Rückert, Usteri, Olshausen, Baumgarten-
Crusius, Hofmann, Wieseler)assume. The calling of the apostle, by which he
was convertedat Damascus, is expresslydistinguished in ver. 16 from the
divine ἀποκαλύψαι τὸνυἱὸν ἐν ἐμοί, so that this inward ἀποκάλυψις followed
the calling;the calling was the fact which laid the foundation for the
ἀποκάλυψις (comp. Möller on de Wette)—the historical preliminary to it. In
identifying the ἀποκάλυψις ofour passagewith the phenomenon at Damascus,
it would be necessaryto assume that Paul, to whom at Damascus the
resurrectionof Jesus was revealed, had come to add to this fundamental fact
of his preaching the remaining contents of the doctrine of salvation, partly by
means of argument, partly by further revelation, and partly by information
derived from others (see especiallyWieseler). This idea is, however,
inconsistentwith the assuranceofour passage, whichrelates without
restriction to the whole gospelpreachedby the apostle, consequentlyto the
whole of its essentialcontents. The same objectionmay be speciallyurged
againstthe view, with which Hofmann contents himself, that the wonderful
phenomenon at Damascus certifiedto Paul’s mind the truth of the Christian
faith, which had not been unknown to him before. Such a conceptionof the
matter falls far short of the idea of the ἀποκάλυψις ofthe gospelthrough
Christ, especiallyas the apostle refers specificallyto his gospel.
Expositor's Greek Testament
Galatians 1:12. ἐγὼ. The personalpronoun is inserted, because the author is
here laying stress on the specialeducationhe had receivedfor his ministry of
the GospelHe had not learnt it, like his converts, from human teaching, but
by direct communion with God in spirit, as the Twelve had learnt it from
Christ’s own teaching. This independence of older Christians is a marked
feature in the history of his life. The agencyof Ananias was necessaryfor his
admission into the Church, but after his baptism no older Christian appears
on the scene atDamascus.
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
12. For I neither receivedit of man] ‘I’ is emphatic: I receivednot the Gospel,
any more than did the other Apostles, from man.
neither was I taught it] St Paul might have receivedthe Gospelfrom God, and
yet have been more fully instructed by men. This was not the case, comp. ch.
Galatians 2:6. He both receivedand was taught it by direct revelation. The
commissionto Ananias (Acts 9:10, &c.)is not at variance with this
declaration. It does not appear that he made any communication of religious
knowledge to St Paul (Galatians 1:18-19).
by the revelationof Jesus Christ] Rather, through the revelation. ‘Jesus
Christ’ may be either the subject or the object, the Revealeror the Revealed;
but probably the latter is primarily intended, see Galatians 1:16. Different
opinions are held as to the time when this revelationwas made. Certainly it
took place at the time of his conversion, and probably on other subsequent
occasions.In 2 Corinthians 12:7 he speaks of“the abundance of the
revelations” which he had received;comp. 2 Corinthians 12:1.
Bengel's Gnomen
Galatians 1:12. Παρέλαβον, I received) This differs from I was taught it
[ἐδιδάχθην];for the one is accomplishedwithout labour; the other is acquired
by the labour of learning.—διʼἀποκαλύψεως, by revelation)viz., I received.
Pulpit Commentary
Verse 12. - For I neither receivedit of man, neither was I taught it (οὐδὲ γὰρ
ἐγὼ παρὰ ἀνθρώπου παρέλαβοναὐτό οὔτε ἐδιδάχθην);for neither at the hand
of man did I myself receive it or was taught it. The "for" introduces a
considerationfortifying the foregoing affirmation, that the apostle's gospel
was not in its characteristic complexionhuman; it was no wonder that it was
not; for neither was it human in its origin. The "neither" (οὐδὲ)points
forward to the whole subsequent clause, "atthe hand of men did I myself
receive it." In a similar manner does "for neither" (οὐδὲ γὰρ) point to the
whole subsequent clause in John 5:22; John 8:42; Acts 4:34. The ἐγὼ ("I
myself")is inserted in the Greek, as contrasting the preacherwith those to
whom the gospelhad been preached (ver. 11), in the same way as it is inserted
in 1 Corinthians 11:23, "I myself received(ἐγὼ παρέλαβον) of the Lord that
which also I delivered unto you." Some expositors (as Meyer, Alford) connect
the "forneither" with the pronoun "I myself" only; as if the meaning were,
"Forneither did I, any more than Cephas or James, receive the gospelfrom
men." This restriction of the "neither" to the noun or pronoun only which
follows, is grammatically, of course, not inadmissible (comp. John 7:5). But
there is nothing in the immediate contextto suggestthe idea that the writer is
just now thinking of the other apostles, andthe sentence is perfectly clear
without our introducing it. It is quite clearthat the apostle means in the words
οὔτε ἐδιδάχθηνto affirm that man did not teachhim the gospelany more than
deliver it to him. But the verb "was taught," takenby itself, does not convey
the idea of merely human instruction, being used continually in the Gospels of
our Lord's teaching, and John 14:26 of the "teaching" ofthe Holy Spirit. We
must, therefore, conclude that the passive verb "I was taught it" is, in the
writer's intention, conjoinedwith the active verb "I receivedit," as both alike
depending upon the first words in the sentence,"atthe hand of man." If so,
we have here another instance of the use of the figure zeugma (see above on
ver. 10); for while the preposition παρὰ is used in its proper sense, when, as
here, it is connectedwith παρέλαβον, it is only in a strained, improper sense
that it could be employed, like ὑπό, with a passive verb, to simply denote the
agent. Some difficulty is felt in determining in what way the writer regards
the notion of "receiving the gospel" as distinguishable from that of "being
taught it." It is possible that the latter is added merely, as BishopLightfoot
supposes, to explain and enforce the former. But another view is descrying of
consideration. We may suppose "the gospel" to be regarded, in the one case,
as a kind of objective creedor form of doctrine,"received" by a man on its
being put before him, in considerationof the authority with which it comes
invested, as a whole and so to speak enbloc, before ever its details have been
definitely graspedby him. But in addition to this, and subsequently to this,
this same gospelrosybe regardedas brought within the range of the
recipient's distinguishing consciousness, by means of a "teacher" from
without, whether Divine or human, instilling into his mind successivelythe
various severaltruths which compose it. Now, it was conceivable that the
apostle may, in the sense above supposed, have "received" the gospeldirect
from God or from Christ, while, however, man may to a large extent have
been the "teaching" instrument, through which its truths were brought home
to his understanding. But in the present passageSt. Paulaffirms that in actual
fact man had no more to do with his receptionof the gospelin the latter sense
than in the former. And this affirmation tallies closelywith what we read in
the sixteenth verse of this chapter, and againwith the sixth verse of the next
chapter, both of which passages were written, no doubt, with an eye to the
very notion respecting the source ofhis knowledge ofthe gospelwhich he is
here concernedto negative. Textualcritics differ among themselves whether
πὔτε ("nor") or οὐδὲ ("nor yet") should be read before ἐδιδάχθην. The only
difference is that "nor yet" would of the two the more clearly mark a
distinction subsisting betweenthe notions expressedby the two preceding
verbs. If we acquiescein the reading of the receivedtext, which is "nor," then,
since the negative has been already expressed, the idiom of our language
would here suppress the negative in "nor," and substitute the simple "or."
But (ἀλλά); but only. The strongly adversative sense which marks this form of
"but" requires that in thought we supply after it the words, "I received it and
was taught it;" for which, in translating, we may put, as an adequate
substitute, the word "only." Bishop Wordsworthtranslates this ἀλλὰ
"except," citing in justification Matthew 20:23. But the grammatical
constructionof that passage is not sufficiently clearto justify us in giving to
ἀλλὰ a sense whichdoes not appear conformable with its ordinary usage. The
apostle, then, affirms that it was not from or by man that he had receivedthe
gospelor been taught it. From whom, then, does he mean that he had received
and by whom been taught it? Are we to say, God the Father? or, Jesus Christ?
Just at present, it should seem, the apostle is not concerneddefinitely or
contradistinctively to present to view either one of these Divine personalities.
As has been re, marked above with reference to the words in ver. 3, "from
God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ," the two conceptions appear
blended togetherto the apostle's view, when he thinks of the Source flora
which spiritual gifts accrue to us. His immediate purpose is to assertthat his
gospelwas in its origin Divine, and not human. For this it is enough to saythat
it came to him "through the revelation of Jesus Christ." But in preparation
for the discussionof these words, it may be here remarked that the supreme
agencyof God the Father, as in all else, so also in particular in the
communication to the world of the gospel, is an idea very distinctly put forth
in a greatmany passagesofthe New Testament, and is in fact the dominant
representation. As examples of this, we may refer to Colossians 1:26, 27;
Ephesians 1:9; 2 Corinthians 5:18, 20; Hebrews 1:2. "The words" which "the
Son spake" were those which"he had heard of the Father," as were also those
which the promised Paraclete was to "speak." The first verse of the Book of
the Revelationfurnishes a striking illustration of this truth. It runs thus: "The
revelation of Jesus Christ, which Godgave him to show unto his servants,
even the things which must shortly come to pass:and he [i.e. Jesus Christ]
sent and signified it by his angelunto his servant John." Of course, the verse
refers to that disclosure of future events which forms the subject-matter of the
particular book which it prefaces. Nevertheless, whatis written here is no
exceptional statement, but one . simply exemplary; it is true in this particular
reference, just because it is true also with reference to the whole of that
disclosure of spiritual facts which through the gospelis made knownto the
Church. By the revelationof Jesus Christ (δι ἀποκαλύψεως Ἰησοῦ Ξριστοῦ);
through the revelationof Jesus Christ. This genitive clause, "ofJesus Christ,"
has by most interpreters been understood subjectively; that is, as denoting the
subject or agentimplied in the verbal noun "revelation;" in other words, they
suppose St. Paul herein presents Jesus Christ as having revealedto him the
gospelThis does indeed appear to be the meaning of the phrase, "the
revelation of Jesus Christ" in Revelation1:1, just now referred to. Taken
thus, the words put before us explicitly the agencyof only Christ in the
revelation spokenof, leaving the agencyof God without specific reference.
None the less, however, does evenin this case the thought of God's agency
naturally recur to our minds as implied in connectionwith the mention of
Jesus Christ, even as in the first verse of the chapter where it is explicitly
named therewith. But we have to observe that in every other passage in which
the Apostle Paul uses a genitive with the noun "revelation" (ἀποκάλυψις),the
genitive denotes the object which is revealed. These are Romans 2:5,"
Revelationof the righteous judgment of God;" 8:19, "Revelationofthe seas of
God;" 16:25, "Revelationof the mystery;" and the passages in which he
designates ourLord's second coming as "his revelation;" 1 Corinthians 1:7; 2
Thessalonians 1:7; with which comp. 1 Peter1:7, 13; 1 Peter4:13. That in
these five last passagesthe genitive is objective and not subjective, if it could
otherwise be calledin question, is indicated by the circumstance that in 1
Timothy 6:14, 15;where the apostle uses the word "appearing"(ἐπιφάνεια)
instead of "revelation," he adds, "which in its own times he shall show who is
the blessedand only Potentate," etc., manifestlymeaning the Father. One
other passageremains to be mentioned, namely, 2 Corinthians 12:1, "visions
and revelations of the Lord," which many critics take as meaning
"vouchsafedby the Lord," and which in consequenceis commonly referred to
in support of a similar interpretation of the passagenow before us. But it may
be questioned whether the apostle does not there denote by "visions"
(ὀπτασίας)a somewhatdifferent class ofspiritual phenomena from those
denoted by "revelations of the Lord;" by the former intending such visions as
those, e.g. in which he seemedto himself to be transported into Paradise, or
into the third heaven;and by the latter, appearances vouchsafedto him of the
Lord Jesus in personalpresence. Theselatter, it is true, might be also fitly
styled" visions" (ὀπτάσιαι), as, in fact, the most important of them all is styled
in the speechbefore Agrippa (Acts 26:19); whilst on the other hand, the
former may be justly supposed to be included under the term "revelations,"
as employed presently after in ver. 7. But the addition, "of the Lord," has at
leastmuch more point, if we assume the above-stateddiscrimination to have
been intended betweenthe two classesofphenomena; if, indeed, it is not a
quite superfluous adjunct on the other view; tot the "visions and revelations"
referred to would be, of course, conceivedofas coming from "the Lord,"
without the apostle's saying so. Instead of being available in support of the
subjective view of the genitive before us, the passage2 Corinthians 12:1 rather
favours the other interpretation. And this interpretation of the words, "of
Jesus Christ," as objective is favoured by the subsequent context. For
comparing this twelfth verse with the five verses whichfollow, we observe that
in this verse the apostle affirms that his gospelwas not human in its character,
because that he had not received it from man nor been taught it by man, but
only "through the revelationof Jesus Christ." Then in the five verses which
follow, to make this affirmation good, he states that up to the time of his
conversionhe had been wholly averse to the Christian doctrine and intensely
devoted to PhariseanJudaism, and that when God, calling him by his grace,
"revealedhis Son in him that he might preach him among the Gentiles," he
applied to no human being for mental direction, but kept himself alooffrom
even those who were apostles before him. Now, in setting the statementof ver.
12 over againstthe professedlyillustrative statement which follows, we
observe that "the revelationof Jesus Christ" in the former occupies precisely
the same position in the line of thought which in the latter is held by "God's
revealing his Son in him;" for the apostle attributes his possessionofthe truth
of the gospelin the one to "the revelationof Jesus Christ," and in the other to
God's revealing his Son in him, and in eachcase to nothing else. Surely it
follows "that the revelation of Jesus Christ" which gives him the gospelin the
one ease, is identicalwith "God's revealing his Son in him' which gives him
the gospelin the other. Thus both the sense in which the genitive is ordinarily
found when joined with the word "revelation," andthe guidance of the
context, concur in determining for the genitive in the present case the
objective sense. This interpretation seems atfirst sight to labour under the
inconvenience that, so construed, the sentence lacks the clearly expressed
antithethon to the foregoing noun "man," which we might naturally expect to
find. But in reality the required antithesis is quite distinctly though implicitly
indicated in the very term "revelation;"for this essentiallycarries with it the
notion of an agencynot merely superhuman, but Divine. It would be an
altogethercontractedand indeed erroneous view of this "revelation" to
suppose that it means no more than the manifestationto Saul's bodily senses
of the personalpresence and glory of Christ. Beyond question this was of itself
sufficient to convince Saul of the truth that Jesus, though once crucified, was
now both living and highly exalted in the supersensuous world, and by
consequence to furnish the necessarybasis for further discoveries oftruth.
But more was required than the mere bodily sight of the glorified Jesus. This
might confound and crush down his antagonism, but would not of itself'
impart converting and healing faith. Men might "see" andyet "notbelieve"
(John 6:36). There was required also the true and just perception of the
relation which this exalted Jesus bore to individual human souls, in particular
to Saul's own soul; and further, of the relationwhich he bore to the
dispensations of God as dealing with his people, and as dealing with mankind
at large; - a perception of these things which would then only be true and just
when accompaniedwith a duly appreciative, satisfying, adoring sense ofthe
infinite excellencyof what was thus disclosedto him, and of its perfect
adaptation to the wants of man as sinful. In short, this "revelation" to Saul
"of Jesus Christ" involved that spiritual transformation which, in 2
Corinthians 4:6, the apostle describes in the following words: "It is God, that
said, Light shall shine out of darkness, who shined in our hearts, to give the
light [or, illumination] of the knowledge ofthe glory of God in the face of
Jesus Christ." Forin that passage,though in the form in which he clothes his
thought he speaks as if conjoining others with himself, it appears almost
certain that he is describing there, as further on in vers. 7-12, his own
personalexperiences (see beginning of note on ver. 8). and also that he is
describing that first introduction into his own understanding and heart of the
truths of the gospel, which qualified him thenceforwardto fulfil his mission to
proclaim it. This appears confessedlyto have been in a very marked degree a
miracle - a moral and spiritual miracle. In truth, the new birth of a human s y
accountedfor by these or those conditions of his foregoing psychological
history. These lastmay have prepared a favourable field of development; but
he knew for a surety that the product itself was no natural offspring of any
spontaneous operations ofhis own mind. The very phrase in the verse before
us, "the revelationof Jesus Christ," as well as the comparisonwhich in 2
Corinthians 4:6 he draws between his spiritual transformation and the
supernatural operation of the Almighty's fiat, "Let there be light," plainly
shows that he would have refused to allow the cause discoverable anywhere
else save in the unexplainable operations of sovereign, almighty grace. And in
all prudence we should be content to be herein not wiserthan he.
Vincent's Word Studies
Of man (παρὰ ἀνθρώπου)
Better, from man. Παρὰ from emphasizes the idea of transmission, and marks
the connectionbetweengiverand receiver. Comp. 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 1
Thessalonians 4:1; 2 Timothy 3:14; Acts 10:22. In the Gospels andActs
παραλαμβάνεινusually means to take, in the sense ofcausing to accompany,
as Matthew 4:5; Matthew 17:1; Mark 4:36, etc. Scarcelyeverin the sense of
receive:see Mark 7:4. In Paul only in the sense ofreceive, and only with παρὰ,
with the single exceptionof 1 Corinthians 11:23 (ἀπὸ). The simple λαμβάνω
usually with παρὰ, but with ἀπὸ, 1 John 2:27; 1 John 3:22.
By the revelation of Jesus Christ (δἰ ἀποκαλύψεως Ἱησοῦ Χριστοῦ)
Not, by Jesus Christ being revealedto me, but, I receivedthe gospelby Jesus
Christ's revealing it to me. The subjectof the revelation is the gospel, not
Christ. Christ was the revealer. Rev. (it came to me) through revelationof
Jesus Christ.
PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES
BRUCE HURT MD
Galatians 1:12 For I neither receivedit from man, nor was I taught it, but [I
receivedit] through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
Amplified - For indeed I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but
[it came to me] through a [direct] revelation [given] by Jesus Christ(the
Messiah).
Wuest - For, as for myself, neither did I receive it directly from man, nor was
I taught it, but I receivedit through a revelationgiven me by Jesus Christ.
NET Galatians 1:12 For I did not receive it or learn it from any human
source;insteadI receivedit by a revelationof Jesus Christ.
GNT Galatians 1:12 οὐδὲ γὰρἐγὼ παρὰ ἀνθρώπου παρέλαβον αὐτὸ οὔτε
ἐδιδάχθηνἀλλὰ δι᾽ ἀποκαλύψεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ.
NLT Galatians 1:12 I receivedmy messagefrom no human source, and no
one taught me. Instead, I receivedit by direct revelationfrom Jesus Christ.
KJV Galatians 1:12 For I neither receivedit of man, neither was I taught it,
but by the revelationof Jesus Christ.
ESV Galatians 1:12 For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it,
but I receivedit through a revelationof Jesus Christ.
ASV Galatians 1:12 For neither did I receive it from man, nor was I taught it,
but it came to me through revelationof Jesus Christ.
CSB Galatians 1:12 For I did not receive it from a human source and I was
not taught it, but it came by a revelation from Jesus Christ.
NIV Galatians 1:12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it;
rather, I receivedit by revelationfrom Jesus Christ.
NKJ Galatians 1:12 For I neither receivedit from man, nor was I taught it,
but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.
NRS Galatians 1:12 for I did not receive it from a human source, nor was I
taught it, but I receivedit through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
YLT Galatians 1:12 for neither did I from man receive it, nor was I taught it,
but through a revelationof Jesus Christ,
NAB Galatians 1:12 For I did not receive it from a human being, nor was I
taught it, but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
NJB Galatians 1:12 It was not from any human being that I receivedit, and I
was not taught it, but it came to me through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
GWN Galatians 1:12 I didn't receive it from any person. I wasn'ttaught it,
but Jesus Christrevealedit to me.
BBE Galatians 1:12 For I did not getit from man, and I was not given
teaching in it, but it came to me through revelationof Jesus Christ.
Galatians 1 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries
John Brown's exposition of Gal 1:12
John Eadie's exposition of Gal1:12)
THE GOSPEL:
RECEIVED NOT CONCEIVED!
For I neither receivedit from man, nor was I taught it, but I receivedit
through a revelation of Jesus Christ - This verse is straightforward.
Regarding the GospelPaul preached, no man gave it to him or taught him,
but it came from a direct "CoramDeo" (before the face of God) encounter.
I - This is the specific pronoun ego which adds emphasis (because a separate
pronoun was not neededfor the verb receivedwhich by itself is translated "I
received.")(More discussionby John Brown) Wuestadds that "Pauluses the
personalpronoun here to show that he is laying emphasis upon the special
educationhe had receivedfor his ministry of the gospel. He had not, like his
converts, learnt it from human teachers (THEY HAD LEARNED IT FROM
HIM), but by direct communion with God, as the Twelve had learnt it from
Christ’s teaching. Paul is studiously carefulto show his independence of the
Twelve....The entire tenor of this sectionindicates that Paul’s commissionhad
been declaredinferior to that of the Twelve, and that he had this in view when
he was defending his apostleshipfrom the attacks ofthe Judaizers. (Word
Studies from the Greek New Testamentonline)
John Stott - This is why Paul dared to callthe gospelhe preached‘my gospel’
(cf. Ro 16:25). It was not ‘his’ because he had made it up but because it had
been uniquely revealedto him. The magnitude of his claim is remarkable. He
is affirming that his messageis not his messagebut God’s message,that his
gospelis not his gospelbut God’s gospel, that his words are not his words but
God’s words.
Neither (oude)...Nor(oute) are the strongestGreek words for negating what
follows. He absolutelydenied receptionfrom a man (e.g., he had heard
Stephen's sermon in Acts 7) or teaching by a man. The gospelof Christ is not
a gospel"afterman."
Harrison comments on the contrasting "but" - Paul's repeated "but" carries
the antithesis of a crisis experience. No trends here; no groping for something
better. He knows himself takenout of the column of self-effort(Php 3:3) and
flesh-confidence to the column of God's beneficiaries in the bestowmentof His
righteousness. Itwas a clear-cutbreak with OUR SIDE over to HIS SIDE.
Comment: As an aside, always take time to study the terms of contrast(but,
yet, on the other hand) - Observe carefully and interrogate the text
(interrogate with the 5W/H questions), asking questions like what the writer is
contrasting? why now? how does it impact the flow of the argument? when
does it occur? who is being contrasted? etc.
Received(3880)(paralambano)speaksofcommunication receiveddirectly
from another. - See otheruse of paralambano in Gal 1:9.
For this reason(Stop! Always ask "What reason?"whichwill force you to re-
read preceding context) I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of
you Gentiles--if indeed you have heard of the stewardship(Paul was
"appointed manager" overthe Gospeland knew he would be held
accountable one day by the "Owner", his Master, Jesus Christ!Talk about
motivation!) of God's grace (The Messageofthe Gospelof Grace, the same
one he had preachedin Galatia)which was given to me for you; that by
revelation there was made knownto me the mystery (believing Jews and
Gentiles would be equal heirs in the one body of Christ, the Church), as I
wrote before in brief. (Eph 3:1-3)
Vincent notes that from is the preposition para which "emphasizes the idea of
transmission, and marks the connectionbetweengiver and receiver. Cp. 1 Th
2:13; 4:1; 2 Ti 3:14; Acts 10:22."
Taught (1321)(didaskofrom dáo= know or teach;English = didactic) means to
provide instruction or information in a formal or informal setting. While the
receptionof specific teaching was the primary means most of the believers as
well as the Christian teachers ofPaul's day receivedthe Gospelof Grace, such
was NOT the case with Paul.
John MacArthur makes the excellentpoint that Paul's receptionof the Gospel
from Jesus was "in contrastto the Judaizers, who receivedtheir religious
instruction from rabbinic tradition. MostJews did not study the actual
Scriptures; instead they used human interpretations of Scripture as their
religious authority and guide. Many of their traditions not only were not
taught in Scripture but also contradictedit (Mk 7:13). (MacArthur New
TestamentCommentary – Galatians)
Comment: Dr MacArthur's preceding explanation begs the question, beloved
student of God's Word -- Do I go directly to the Word of God to be taught
Truth by the Holy Spirit, the Author of the Holy Word? If not, how canI
honestly, accuratelycomment on the veracity of the commentaries? I am
thankful you are reading these notes. I try to be as diligent as possible in
rightly dividing the Word of Truth (because I have a strong fear of doing
otherwise - all teachers read2Ti2:15-note, 2Cor 5:10-note, Jas 3:1+, Pr 30:6-
note), but only the Word is inerrant and infallible (these note ARE NOT!). So
be sure to perform your owninductive study of the Scriptures so that you can
discern whether these or any other commentator's notes are an accurate
interpretation of the inspired inerrant Word!
THE GOSPELOF GRACE:
NOT REASONING BUT REVELATION
But (alla) is a strong term of contrast. Paulis clearlystating that the Gospelis
not of human origin, but is a divine revelation, which is about as dramatic a
contrastas he could have presented!
I receivedit through a revelation of Jesus Christ - Note that "I receivedit"
has been added to the NAS (and also by severalother translations like ESV).
Literally it reads "but through a revelationof Jesus Christ." Through is dia
which is a prepositionexpressing the intermediate agentof an action, in this
case the "intermediate agent" is Jesus Christ and the "action" is Paul's
receptionof the revelation. To reiterate, human beings had nothing to do with
Paul's reception of the Gospel, evenas they had nothing to do with his
appointment as an apostle (Galatians 1:1+)! So both his calling (apostle)and
his message(Gospel)were from Heaven, not earth!
Revelation(602)(apokalupsis from apó = from + kalúpto = cover, conceal,
English = apocalypse)literally means "cover from" and so the idea is to
remove that which concealssomething. Apokalupsis conveys the idea of
"taking the lid off," removing the cover and exposing to open view that which
was heretofore not visible, known or disclosed. In all its uses, revelationrefers
to something or someone, once hidden, becoming visible and now made fully
known. In this case it was the Gospelwhich had been a mystery to Paul until
he had been regeneratedand given specific revelation from Jesus, the Highest
Authority! The gospelwas notan invention, or a tradition, but a revelation.
How then could the Galatians questionhis own authority and the authenticity
of the Gospelhe proclaimed?
Vine says Paul got"a direct communication of the mind of God."
Wuest - Revelationtherefore is the act of God the Holy Spirit uncovering to
the Bible writers truth incapable of being discoveredby man’s unaided
reason, this revelation being accompaniedby the imparted ability to
understand what is uncovered.
Criswell:"This messageis a sermon on dogmatism, on finality, on
authoritarianism, which is an unusual message to heartoday in the midst of
our studied broad-minded liberalism... The revelationof the Lord is not
double-facednor is it deceptively speculative. It is not as though we were
selecting opinions. It is not as though we were in dilemmas choosing theories.
It is not as though we were listening to blind, metaphysicalgropings. The
sound of the trumpet is clearin the Word of God. It is final. It is superlative,
never comparative. The authoritarianism of the Gospel!'My brethren, though
I or an angelfrom heaven preachany other gospelunto you than ye have
heard, anathama 'Let him be accursed.'One faith, one Lord, one baptism, one
God and Fatherfor us all, one Book, one way -- just one!" (Quote from Paul
Apple)
Luther says:This passageconstitutes Paul’s chiefdefense againstthe
accusationsofhis opponents. He maintains under oath that he receivedhis
Gospelnot from men, but by the revelationof Jesus Christ. (Galatians 1
Commentary)
Of Jesus Christ - That is to say Jesus Christ was the One who did the
revealing of the Gospelto Paul (but see the technicalnote below). Paul
attributes his Gospelto the highest authority possible, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Yes, he had heard Stephen's greatspeechin Acts 7 and he had had contact
with other believers like Ananias and Barnabas but he did not credit them
with having revealedthe Gospelto him.
TECHNICAL NOTE ON OF JESUS CHRIST - If it ("of Jesus Christ") is a
subjective genitive, the meaning is "a revelation from Jesus Christ" but if
objective genitive, it is "a revelation about Jesus Christ." Mostlikely this is
objective since the explanation in Galatians 1:15–16 mentions God revealing
the Sonto Paul so that he might preach, although the idea of a direct
revelation to Paul at some point cannot be ruled out. (NET Note)
ADDENDUM - I would add that it is notable that severaltranslations are
rendered in a waythat favors this revelation coming FROM Jesus Christ,
rather than being a revelationABOUT Jesus Christ. (See these translations
above - Amplified, Wuest, NLT, CSB, NIV). So we cannotbe dogmatic and in
a sense both "from" and "about" are true.
Martin Luther - “Paul did not receive instruction from Ananias. Paul had
already been called, enlightened, and taught by Christ in the road. His contact
with Ananias was merely a testimonial to the fact that Paul had been called by
Christ to preachthe gospel.” (Galatians 1 Commentary)
The question naturally arises when did Paul receivedthis revelation from
Jesus? Mostcommentators favorthat the time of this revelationof the gospel
of grace to Paul was during his sojournin Arabia (Gal 1:17) which servedto
supplement his initial revelationon the Damascus Road(Acts 9:3-22+). Recall
that in Gal 1:1 Paul had assertedthe divine origin of his apostolic missionand
now adds that his message wasalso ofdivine origin. Neitherhis mission nor
his messagehadbeen from man, but both were from God! God also spoke to
Paul at Corinth (Acts 18:9+), at Jerusalem(Acts 23:11+), and even in the
instructions concerning the Lord's Supper (1 Cor. 11:23).
John Phillips comments on Paul's Damascus Roadencounterwith Jesus "Iam
Jesus!" the voice had said (Acts 9:5+). His instant response had been to
enthrone Him. "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" (Acts 22:10+)He was
already a savedman when he saidthat, savedand ready to serve his new
found Lord to the end. It had all been of grace. The risen Jesus had extended
unmerited favor to him, the chief of sinners. That was what had savedhim!
Grace and grace alone!In a flash, the light dawned. It was not law;it was
grace. It was not works;it was simple faith. It was not Moses;it was Christ. It
was not Sinai; it was Calvary. It was not to be earned; it was to be received. It
was not trying; it was trusting. It was not by means of the rules and rituals of
religion, howeverhedgedabout with both truth and tradition; it was by means
of the undeserved, undiluted, undying grace ofGod. His gospelwas received
on the Damascus road"by the revelationof Jesus Christ." (Exploring
Galatians:An Expository Commentary)
De Haan says "How precious the song by the late Dr. James M. Gray, former
president of the Moody Bible Institute. If it is not all of grace, then we are
without a shred of hope or light for eternity.
Naught have I gottenbut what I received;
Grace hath bestowedit since I have believed;
Boasting excluded, pride I abase;
I’m only a sinner savedby grace!
Suffer a sinner whose heart overflows,
Loving his Saviour to tell what he knows;
Once more to tell it would I embrace—
I’m only a sinner savedby grace.
NoelDue - It came not through the agencyof man, but through a revelation of
the Man, Jesus Christ. We must allow the word ‘revelation’ to have its full
force. The gospelwas notapprehended by Paul’s intellect, or attained by his
moral power. Ratherit was a revelation, a sovereignwork of God in unveiling
the truth to him. (Galatians Commentary)
KJV Bible Commentary on the phrase of Jesus Christ - This can mean either
Christ is revealing or Christ is revealed;both interpretations make good
sense....ChristrevealedHimself to Paul. Christ was the subject, sum, and
substance of that revelationwith the result that Paul became a new man with
a new messageto proclaim. Paul was not a man-made apostle. He receivedhis
commissionand his message fromChrist.
Puritan John Brown saidthat "Jesus Christtook him (Paul) under His own
immediate tuition (instruction)."
Ryken - Not surprisingly, the religions that human beings invent always end
up glorifying human beings. There is some law to keep, some teaching to
follow, some ritual to perform, some penance to endure, or some state of
consciousnessto achieve that will bring salvation. One way or another, we can
climb up to heaven and reach God. Christianity is different. What
distinguishes it from other world religions is that it actually comes from God.
The one true gospelis not man-made, which is why it gives all the glory to
God. The goodnews of the cross and the empty tomb could come only from
God because it is about what God has done to save us through Jesus Christ. It
does not teachthat we can reachup to heaven; it teaches thatGod has come
down to earth. In Christ, God has entered human history and the human
heart. (Reformed ExpositoryCommentary – Galatians)
Irving Jensenhas an well done summary of the sometimes confusing
Chronologyof Paul's "autobiography" in Galatians and the parallel passages
in Acts...
Click ChronologicalDiagramto enlarge
John MacArthur's offers a caveatregarding revelationwhich is occasionally
claimed by preachers and teachers in our day "It is one thing to claim direct
revelation from God but another to prove it. Throughout the history of the
church many people have falselyclaimed such revelation, as many do today.
But Paul was not content merely to make the claim. Nor did he expect his
readers to believe him simply on the basis of personal assertions. In the next
12 verses (Gal 1:13-24), therefore, the apostle proceeds to substantiate his
claim by presenting irrefutable evidence of that divine revelationand of his
apostolic credentials. (MacArthur New TestamentCommentary – Galatians)
The writer of Hebrews substantiates that there is no need for new revelation...
God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions
and in many ways, in these last days has spokento us in His Son, Whom He
appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.(Hebrews
1:1-2+)
Swindoll - Paul assertedthat Christ directly revealedredemptive truth to him
(Gal. 1:11–12). Paulhad instantaneous understanding of this imparted
wisdom. (Understanding Christian theology)
Don Anderson - In SUMMARY of the Galatians 1:11-12 then, the Apostle
Paul uses the NEGATIVE and the POSITIVE approach. NEGATIVELY—we
can see THREE THINGS:1. The message whichhe preachedis “not after
man,” 2. “NEITHER DID [HE] RECEIVE IT FROM MAN,” and 3. “NOR
WAS [HE] TAUGHT IT [BY MAN].” From a POSITIVE point of view: “the
messagewhichwas preached by [him is] . . . THROUGH A REVELATION
OF JESUS CHRIST.” (Notes)
In short Paul received his appointment as an apostle "through Jesus Christ
and God the Father" (Galatians 1:1) and his message"througha revelation of
Jesus Christ." (Galatians 1:12)
John Bunyan - A little from God is better than a greatdeal from men. What is
from men is often tumbled over and over; things that we receive at God’s
hand come to us as things from the minting house. Old truths are always new
to us if they come with the smell of heavenupon them.
If God has calledyou, do not spend time
Looking over your shoulder to see Who is following you.
––Corrie ten Boom
Norman Harrison - The chief enemy of the Gospelis human nature. Man is
proud. Especiallyis he proud of his own thinking. He does not want to be told
what to do or believe! He dislikes having a supernatural revelation handed to
him; it leaves to room for speculation. He likes to "discovertruth"; then it is
HIS truth, something he canbe proud of.
Many of us who willingly acknowledge thatman's MORAL nature is
perverted by sin -- the evidence is incontrovertible -- still refuse to realize that
man's MENTAL processes are likewisewarped, biasedand undependable
because ofsin. The Corinthians prided themselves on their thinking. Read1
Corinthians 1-2 for God's estimate of human thinking that setaside divine
wisdom, climaxing in a statement of man's utter incapacity for spiritual
things: unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually
discerned" (1Corinthians 2:14).
It is to be fearedthat the average preacherofour day is feeding his mind
upon human thoughts; and, naturally, these mould his own thinking and
preaching, when the charge is, "Preachthe Word."
I was in a metropolitan preachers'meeting when the visiting speaker,a
popular pastor, advocatedpreachers reading a BOOK A DAY (preparation
for book reviews). Only a sense of courtesyrestrained me from asking what he
would advise as to habits of reading the Bible.
On a transcontinentaltrip I was thrown in with a preacher who had just
pocketeda call to a pulpit under the eaves ofan outstandingly modern
university. He had with him a case containing a dozen to a score of books.
From them he was busy gleaning the latest"trends" of thought. Later I came
to know his ministry. His people testified that it lackedthe Gospel. Human
thought crowdedit out.
The reasonmen of our day repudiate Paul's theologyand turn with
preponderant emphasis to the teachings ofJesus is crystalclear. By ridding
themselves of a supernatural interpretation of those teachings, climaxing in
His death and resurrection -- an interpretation which is rigidly unsusceptible
of alteration -- they leave themselves free to give their own interpretation.
They are free to speculate as to what those "teachings ofJesus" SHOULD
mean for "the modern mind."
What Christendom needs is a renewedfear of God's anathema upon all
perversions of the pure Gospel. It seems that nothing but such fear will bring
us back to its unadulterated purity. (Amen!)
And we, with our very bestintentions, need to exercise greatcare lestour
ministry be but Galatianizing our people, through exhorting them to a
goodness oflife which is not definitely the expressionof an inliving Presence.
(Galatians 1:11, 12, 2:2 A Revelationversus a Reasoning)
TODAY IN THE WORD - Towards the end of his secondterm, President
George W. Bush seta record for the highest disapproval rating in the 70-year
history of the Gallup poll. But in his recently published memoir, the former
president resolutely affirms, “I had always done what I believed was right.”
Being popular and being principled don’t always go hand-in-hand. The
apostle Paul realized this in the context of his own ministry. To be faithful to
the callof God and the truth of the gospelwould make him wildly unpopular
in most places. Early on, Paul had to settle in his mind the answerto these all-
important questions:Whom am I trying to please? Whose approvaldo I seek?
As a faithful minister of the gospel, his answerhad to be Christ and Christ
alone. He could not simultaneously seek the approval of people and of God.
He had to surrender the desire to be liked, to be understood, and to be
approved. This, as we’ll see later in the letter, was not true of the false
teachers.
Paul’s ministry is accreditedby the fact not only that he exclusively soughtthe
approval of Christ, but also that he receiveda divine messageand call. The
gospelPaulpreached is not of “human origin.” That is to say, Paul hadn’t
learned the gospelsecondhandfrom Peteror any other leaders of the early
Christian church. He was not making it up to suit his own purposes, either.
Paul receivedhis commissiondirectly from Jesus Christ, the crucified
Messiah. His Damascus Roadexperience made him a true Apostle.
If the gospelPaulhad receivedwere of human origin, it would weakenhis
messageand his authority. The gospelwould be subject to human ratification
or amendment. And it would put Paul under the authority of his teachers. But
because Paulreceivedthe gospeldirectly from Jesus, the message was
guaranteedto be true. As such, it would be protected. As well, Paul could
claim a divine authority in his ministry.
TODAY IN THE WORD - One of the greatleaders of the Protestant
movement in late nineteenth and early twentieth century Russia was Ivan
Prokhanov. His careerin ministry was not unlike that of the apostle Paul.
Ivan consciouslyfollowedPaul's "tent -making" example, earning a living as
an engineer but using all of his remaining time to evangelize and teach. Like
Paul, Ivan suffered persecutionfor his faith under both Czarist and
Communist governments. And like Paul, Ivan's achievements were enormous,
in areas including publishing, education, and even hymn-writing! As Paul
reviews his careerin ministry for the Galatians, he moves into a defense of his
right to preach the gospelofgrace and Christian liberty. He must clearly
vindicate his apostleshipbefore he canvindicate his message.
He has already made it clearthat salvationis by grace alone and that one can
enjoy true Christian liberty by the powerof Christ alone. As was to be very
clearfrom Paul's experience, preaching of that sortwould not please men
(Gal 1:10) and would not lead to an easylife. Paul insists that his presentation
of the gospelis not "something that man made up" (Gal 1:11), nor does man
give the gospelits authority. Furthermore, Paul did not receive his message
from man--that is, he had not learned it from human teaching as his converts
had. He obtained his messageby direct revelation from Jesus Christ (Gal
1:12).
TODAY IN THE WORD - “You may not run in the hall!” shouted the
teacher. “Says who?” the defiant ninth-grader retorted. “Says the principal,
and if you don’t obey, you’ll spend time in detention!” Challenge authority,
and you’ll face the consequences. We don’t know exactlywhat was saidby
those to whom Paul is responding in this epistle, but it seems likelythat they
were challenging his authority. We can imagine them saying something like,
“Who gave Paul the authority to spreada gospelthat extends salvation to
Gentiles apart from obedience to the Law?” Theymight have added, “Isn’t
Paul’s gospeljust a compromise intended to please people by making
salvationavailable without requiring them to follow the practices prescribed
in the Law?”
Paul’s pointed response appeals to the highest authority–he is doing what he is
doing and saying what he is saying because ofhis direct encounterwith Jesus.
His radicaltransformation in attitude and action (he changedfrom one who
persecuted, to one who propagatedthe churches of Jesus)showedbeyond
doubt that his appealto the authority of Christ was genuine and not a human
fabrication (Gal 1:11–12, 20–23). In the end, his encounter with Jesus resulted
in praising God (Gal 1:24), a sure mark that God was at work.
Paul’s appeal to Jesus is important not only because it helps him establishhis
authority, but also because itbuilds up the confidence of those who read his
letter, both then and now. As Christians we are committed to the belief that
God speaks in all of Scripture. We are committed to the authority and truth of
what we now call the Old Testament. Yet a little reading in the Old Testament
raises the issue of how Gentiles can be acceptable to God apart from
obedience to the Law prescribed there.
Dr. Jack L. Arnold
Equipping Pastors International, Inc.
GALATIANS
Lesson3
The Divine Origin of the Gospel
Galatians 1:11-24
INTRODUCTION
Where did the Apostle Paul getthe messageofthe gospelofgrace? Was it a
product of his own mind? Was it a device of his wild imagination? Was it
mere tradition based on myth and legend? Did Paul gethis messagefrom
someone else?
In Galatians 1:11-24, the Apostle Paul defends his apostolic message
and office, claiming they both had their origin in God, not man. He defends
the supernatural origin of his apostleship, showing his gospeland position
were given to him by Christ Himself.
THE GOSPELIS OF DIVINE ORIGIN 1: 11-12
“I want you to know, brothers, that the gospelI preachedis not something
that man made up.”
Paul dogmaticallyasserts the gospelofgrace which he preached does not have
any human source at all. The form, content and source of his gospelare in no
way influenced by men. Paul’s gospelis not measured by any human rules or
standards and is not human in its character.
“I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I receivedit by
revelation from Jesus Christ.”
Paul claims his gospeldid not derive its contentfrom men nor was he taught it
from any man, including the original Twelve Apostles. Paul’s gospelwas not a
tradition handed down from previous generations but it was given to him
directly from Christ. Neither his mission nor his message was derivedfrom
man; both came to him directly from Jesus Christ. We are not told how Paul
was taught by Christ but we assume Christ revealedHimself to Paul.
For Paul to state he receivedthe gospeldirectly from God is a fantastic claim.
He is saying his gospelis God’s messageandhis words are God’s words.
The burden of proof is on the Apostle Paul to prove his gospelwas apart from
any human means and was given directly from God. He will prove this from
the history of his own life, giving a sketchyautobiographyof his first fourteen
years of ministry.
PAUL’S CONDUCT BEFOREHIS CONVERSIONPROVES THE DIVINE
ORIGIN OF THE GOSPEL1:13-14
“Foryou heard of my previous life in Judaism.”
Before his conversionto Christ, Paul was a Pharisee and wholeheartedly
committed to the Jewishreligionof that day which was corrupt and apostate.
The Jews addedmany man-made traditions in the Halacha to the Old
Testamentteaching. The supernatural Jewishreligionof the Old Testament
was degeneratedbecauseofritualism and was corrupt and dead. Paul knew
nothing of a supernatural religion. Judaism in Paul’s time was apostate,
basing salvationon goodworks and the Old Testamentconceptof salvationby
grace through faith was a lost concept.
Paul’s previous educationwould in no way enable him to think up the gospel
of grace through faith in Christ, for Judaism as he believed it, was opposedto
the liberty of the gospel.
“How intensely I persecutedthe church of God and tried to destroy it.”
Paul had such zeal for Judaism that he persecutedChristians in the name of
God, being fully persuaded he was doing God’s will. He went from house to
house in Jerusalem, seizing any Christians he could find, dragging them to
prison (Acts 8:3 “But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to
house, he draggedoff men and womenand put them in prison.”). Paul even
voted for the death of Christians (Acts 26:10 “And that is just what I did in
Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the saints in
prison, and when they were put to death, I castmy vote againstthem.”). He
was determined to destroy the church and wipe it off the face of the earth.
Paul, in his pre-conversiondays, could not have receivedhis gospelfrom the
church because he was persecuting it.
“I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews ofmy own age and was
extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.”
Paul, in his fanatical zealfor Judaism, outstripped his Jewishcontemporaries
in Jewishreligion, culture, zeal and activity.
Paul was better acquainted with Judaism than most men of his day. He
certainly did not get the gospelofgrace from his Jewish contemporaries, who
were steepedin legalism.
Paul was in no mental or emotional state to change his mind about
Christianity. So deeply was he brainwashedwith Jewishtraditions that no
conditioned reflex or other psychologicaldevicescouldconvert him to Christ.
Only God could reach him—and God did! When Paul was converted to Christ
and given his appointment of apostle, he broke completely with all his Jewish
background, traditions and religion. When he made this break, it costhim
everything in the Hebrew culture: fame, power, influence, wealth.
As Christians, we often have to break with our paganor religious-works past
which was not Christian. It is never easyto make this break, but it is
necessaryif we are to be effective for Christ.
PAUL’S CONDUCT AT CONVERSIONPROVES THE DIVINE ORIGIN
OF THE GOSPEL1:15-16a
“But when God, who setme apart from birth.”
Now Paul begins to talk about what God did for him at his conversion. God
intervened into Paul’s life in a supernatural way so as to change the whole
course of his life.
God’s dealings with Paul here are related to God’s eternal counsel, which no
human completelygrasps. It was God in His good pleasure who overruled
Paul’s Jewishbackground, education, fanaticism and blindness to Christ. God
can and does do the impossible every time a person is convertedto Christ, and
Paul was an extra difficult nut to crack.
Paul could only explain his conversionby tracing it back to God’s sovereign
purposes. At birth, or even while he was still in his mother’s womb, Godset
him apart to salvation and apostleship. Before Paulmade any human choices,
God had a plan for his life. The word “setapart” means “to, put a boundary
around” or “to mark out.” From God’s standpoint, Paul’s whole life was
marked out from the moment of his birth, and we must conclude that his
conversionand apostleshipwere planned by God.
BecausePaul’s conversionand conversionwere planned by God, he was
independent of all men in the receiving his apostolic messageandoffice.
“And called me by his grace”
God’s prenatal choice ofPaul led to his historical call. It was the pure grace of
God that calledPaul to salvation and to his apostleship. Paul in his pre-
conversionstate deservednothing from God. He was an enemy of God, Christ
and Christians. He neither deserved grace noraskedfor it. Yet grace found
him and savedhim. Paul’s conversionwas supernatural from beginning to the
ending (Acts 9:3-6 “And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus:and
suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven. And he fell to the
earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutestthou
me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom
thou persecutest:it is hard for thee to kick againstthe pricks. And he
trembling and astonishedsaid, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the
Lord said unto him, arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what
thou must do.”)
Paul had no problem understanding the grace of God (1 Cor. 15:10 “But by
the grace ofGod I am what I am: and his grace whichwas bestowedupon me
was not in vain: but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but
the grace ofGod which was with me.”).
Paul’s historical conversionand commissionwere supernatural and he in no
way was dependent on man for his messageandoffice.
“Was pleasedto reveal his Son in me”
Paul saw the resurrectedChrist and this was an objective revelationto him,
but he also had an inward revelationwhere in a subjective sense he
understood the spiritual meaning of Christ, His death and resurrection. When
his eyes were openedby God, he saw Christ as the Sonof Godflashed the
truth into his heart.
Paul, in his unsaved state, had the basic facts about Christ. He surely knew
the centraltruths of the gospelas he heard them from Stephen and other
Christian martyrs in whose persecutionand death Paul had a leading role.
Paul regardedthe facts of Christ’s death and resurrectionas blasphemous
and foolish. He rejectedthe truth. He knew Christians claimed Jesus was the
Son of God and the Savior of sinners but these were just facts with no validity
or authority to Paul. It was not until God supernaturally intervened and Paul
really believed that he had spiritual understanding of Christ.
Notice the contrastbetweenverses 13-14 and 15-16. PaulsaidI persecutedthe
church, I advanced in Judaism and I tried to destroy the church. He had a life
built on self rather than God. But then, after his conversion, he says, Godset
me apart, God called me and God revealedHis Sonin me. His life became
God-centeredrather than self-centered.
“ThatI might preachhim among the Gentiles”
There was a purpose for the conversionand commissionof Paul and that was
that Paul should preach Christ to the Gentiles. Paul’s personalrelationship
with Christ was so great that he was able to make it known to others. He
receivedhis gospeldirectly from Christ and preached it directly to the
Gentiles.
The end of conversionis service for Christ. God has savedus not to sit, soak
and sour but to serve.
PAUL’S CONDUCT AFTER CONVERSION PROVESTHE DIVINE
ORIGIN OF THE GOSPEL1:16b-24
“I did not consultany man, nor did I go up to Jerusalemto see those who
were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later
returned to Damascus.”
The Judaizers might still accuse Paulof receiving his messageofgrace from
other men after being converted to Christ, so Paul gives a brief history of his
first 14 years of ministry after his conversionto show that this was impossible.
As soonas Paul was saved, he talkedto no man but went into Arabia for quiet
and solitude. Paul had a lot of wrong thinking to undo so God put him in
solitary confinement for three years. Arabia is for the most part a desolate
area. It was in Arabia that God revealedhimself to Israel through Moses, and,
also in that region, Elijah received his revelation of the grace and power of
God. It was to this region Paul went that he might give himself to meditation
and prayer.
In this three years of solitude, Paul was learning the gospelofgrace from
Christ. In this time of seclusion, he meditated on the Old Testament
scriptures, on the life and death of Christ and on the experiences ofhis
conversion. He was forming a new theology, for all his learning of the past
about works had been shatteredby his new discoveryof grace. He had been
steepedin law, legalismand goodworks for salvationand it took teaching by
Christ Himself to change his mind.
Before any Christian canhave an effective ministry, he must spend time
learning the gospelofgrace. Grace is the key to really understanding and
appreciating salvation and is the greatmotivator for service for Christ. Since
God took three years to teach Paul the doctrines of grace, how canwe justify
putting up new converts as elders, deacons, preachers andteachers? It takes
time to be an effective instrument of grace.
“Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalemto get acquaintedwith Peter
and stayedwith him fifteen days. I saw none of the other apostles—only
James, the Lord’s brother. I assure you before Godthat what I am writing
you is no lie.”
After three years, Paul finally went to Jerusalem, but his stay was only for
fifteen days and he saw only two of the apostles. It was therefore ludicrous to
suggestthat he obtained his gospelfrom the Jerusalemapostles.
Paul put himself under oath to show he was telling the truth. Biblically to
break an oath has serious consequences. Paultook this drastic stepto prove
he was not lying.
“Later I went to Syria and Cilicia.”
For the next ten years, Paul ministered in the areas of Syria and Cilicia and
had no contactwith any of the Apostles from Jerusalem. He was completely
isolatedfrom the JerusalemChurch. Therefore, his message couldnot have
come from any person in the Jerusalemarea.
Ten years of Paul’s life are passedby in silence. Yet they were important
years in God’s plan for the Apostle Paul. We know that Barnabas went to
Cilicia and contactedPaul and brought him to Antioch of Syria to do ministry
among the Gentiles there. Actually Barnabas was discipling Paul for ten
years, getting him ready to become the greatestevangelistthe church has ever
known.
Paul’s ministry for the first fourteen years was not very significant in the eyes
of men, but God was using these years to train and teachthis man many
things about grace and life. Paul’s main ministry came when he was about
forty f’ive years old, and he would be used mightily because Godhad taught
him much in the schoolof hard knocks.
“I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They
only heard the report: ‘The man who formerly persecutedus is now
preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.’And they praised God because of
me.”
None of the JewishChristians in Jerusalemknew the Apostle Paul by face,
but they heard of Paul’s changedlife and his preaching of the gospelof grace
and glorified God because ofit. It is impossible to calculate the powerand
influence of a changedlife.
JewishChristians loved Paul and did not disagree with what he was teaching
in the doctrines of grace. It was important for the Judaizers to understand
that Paul did not have a different gospelthan the Apostles, but he got his
gospeldirectly from Christ not the Apostles.
Notice carefully that these early Christians did not glorify Paul but they
glorified God who did a greatspiritual work in Paul’s life. We must be careful
about exalting men in Christian circles.
CONCLUSION
Since the gospelofgrace came from God and not man, it is authoritative and,
therefore, to be obeyed. The gospelgoodnews is that Jesus Christ died for
men and was resurrectedfrom the dead to declare men righteous. Christ’s
death was a substitution for sins and sinners. All who receive Jesus Christby
faith shall have their sins forgiven and be granted eternal life.
It is possible to have an intellectual understanding of the facts of the gospel
and still not be born of the Spirit of God. You must be inwardly committed to
Jesus Christ and only the Holy Spirit can enable you in grace to have a
genuine commitment to Christ. Ask God to grant you the grace to receive
Christ as your Lord and Savior. The Bible says, “He who has the Son has life;
he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (l John 5:12).
WILLIAM BARCLAY
THE ARRESTING HAND OF GOD (Galatians 1:11-17)
1:11-17 As for the gospelthat has been preached by me, I want you to know,
brothers, that it rests on no human foundation. for, neither did I receive it
from any man, nor was I taught it, but it came to me through direct revelation
from Jesus Christ. If you want proof of that you heard of the kind of life I
once lived when I practised the Jewishfaith, a life in which I persecutedthe
Church of God beyond all bounds and devastatedit. I was making strides in
the Jewishfaith beyond many of my contemporaries in my nation, for I was
zealous to excess forthe traditions of my fathers. It was then that God who
had setme apart for a specialtask before I was born, and who calledme
through his grace, decidedto revealhis Son through me. that I might tell the
goodnews of him amongstthe Gentiles. ThereuponI did not conferwith any
human being, nor did I go up to Jerusalemto see those who were apostles
before I was;but I went awayto Arabia; and then I went back againto
Damascus.
It was Paul's contention that the gospelhe preached was no second-handtale;
it had come to him direct from God. That was a big claim to make and it
demanded some kind of proof. For that proof Paul had the courage to point to
himself and to the radical change in his own life.
(i) He had been a fanatic for the law; and now the dominant centre of his life
was grace. This man, who had with passionate intensity tried to earn God's
favour, was now content in humble faith to take what he lovingly offered. He
had ceasedto glory in what he could do for himself; and had begun to glory in
what God had done for him.
(ii) He had been the arch-persecutorof the Church. He had "devastated" the
Church. The word he uses is the word for utterly sacking a city. He had tried
to make a scorchedearth of the Church and now his one aim, for which he
was prepared to spend himself even to death, was to spreadthat same Church
over all the world.
Every effect must have an adequate cause. When a man is proceeding
headlong in one direction and suddenly turns and proceeds headlong in the
opposite direction; when he suddenly reverses all his values so that his life
turns upside down; some explanation is required. For Paul the explanation
was the direct intervention of God. He had laid his hand on his shoulder and
arrestedhim in mid-career. "That," saidPaul, "is the kind of effectwhich
only God could produce." It is a notable thing about Paul that he is not afraid
to recount the recordof his own shame in order to show God's power.
He has two things to sayabout that intervention.
(i) It was no unpremeditated thing; it was in God's eternalplan. A. J. Gossip
tells how Alexander Whyte preachedthe sermon when he was ordained to his
first charge. Whyte's message wasthat all through time and eternity God had
been preparing this man for this congregationand this congregationforthis
man and, prompt to the minute, he had brought them together.
God sends every man into the world with a part to play in his purpose. It may
be a big part or it may be a small part. It may be to do something of which the
whole world will know or something of which only a few will everknow.
Epictetus 2: 16 says, "Have courage to look up to God and to say, 'Dealwith
me as thou wilt from now on. I am as one with thee; I am thine; I flinch from
nothing so long as thou dost think that it is good. Leadme where thou wilt;
put on me what raiment thou wilt. Wouldst thou have me hold office, or
eschew it, stay or fly, be rich or poor? For all this I will defend thee before
men.'" If a pagan philosopher could give himself so wholly to a God whom he
knew so dimly, how much more should we!
(ii) Paul knew himself to be chosenfor a task. He thought of himself as chosen
not for honour but for service, not for ease but for battles. It is for the hardest
campaigns that the generalchooseshis best soldiers and for the hardest
studies that the teacherchooseshis best students. Paul knew that he had been
savedto serve.
Revelationfrom JESUS to Paul (verses 11,12)
"But I certify you, brethren, that the gospelwhich was preachedof me is not
after man" (Galatians 1:11). In the expression, "the gospelwhich was
preachedof men," Paul has particularly in mind those distinctive principles
which were just the opposite of the teachings ofthe errorists - such principles
as freedom from the bondage of the law and justification by faith entirely
apart from works. The apostle assures his readers that this Gospelwhich he
made known to them while in their midst was "not, as to its nature, human"
(K.S. Wuest). In short, he certifies its divine origin.
"Certify" is a word of potency. We buy with confidence food and drug
products bearing this label. There are times when, as in the purchase of a
home, for example, an ordinary check will not be acceptedin payment; it
must be certified. And yet how easily men and women who pride
themselves upon their shrewdness in business matters are takenin by all sorts
of fantastic isms and vagaries in the realm of religion. With eternal destiny
hanging in the balance, it is assuredly the most arrant folly to accepta so-
calledgospelwhich is not divinely accredited.
"ForI neither receivedit of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation
of Jesus Christ" (Galatians 1:12). In the words, "by the revelation of Jesus
Christ," the apostle is referring, not to the appearance ofthe LORD to him on
the road to Damascus -although that, of course, is necessarilyinvolved - but
to the communication of the Gospelto him by none other than the LORD
JESUS, in its basic features or structural framework at the time of his
conversion, and in fuller details afterwards. While obviously none of us today
are, or canbe, the recipients of revelation as were Paul and the other writers
of the New Testament, letus never waverin our conviction that the Word of
Life entrusted to us to make known to the world is the truth of GOD and not a
dream of man. What we believe of the Gospelgoverns whatwe achieve with it.
We must have a convictionof authority to witness with the authority of
conviction. If we are going after men with a gospelthat is "afterman," we
may as well turn back before we getstarted.
It may not be out of place, while we are still on this subjectof the apostle's
independence of human authority, to add one or two further observations. We
make a very serious mistake if we construe verse 12 as affording Scriptural
warrant for little or no training for the ministry or for lowering the
educationalrequirements for ordination. Revelationclosedwith the Apostolic
Age. The young man or woman calledof the LORD into full-time Christian
service today needs and should seek the best scholastic preparation
obtainable; but let it be under teachers who, in addition to their scholarship
and intellectual competence, have a firm and deep-rootedbelief in the Bible as
the authoritative and inerrant Word of GOD. Teachers ofthe Word should be
learners on the Word. There is in our day altogethertoo much wresting of
Scripture instead of a resting on Scripture.
Revelationfrom JESUS in Paul (verses 13-17)
"Forye have heard of my conversation(manner of life) in time past in the
Jews'religion." The apostle in verses 13 and 14 takes occasionto remind his
readers of his course oflife prior to his conversion, a careermarked by
brilliant promise of advancement and by intense zealfor the religion of the
fathers. What he thus writes of his prospects as a future leader in the religious
life of his own people is not an overstatementbut an understatement of facts;
for, in the opinion of not a few scholars bestqualified to pass judgment, Paul
possessedthe greatestmind of his generationand could undoubtedly have
risen to the loftiestheights of eminence in any one of severalfields he might
Jesus was the source of the gospel
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Jesus was radical
Jesus was radicalJesus was radical
Jesus was radical
 
Jesus was laughing
Jesus was laughingJesus was laughing
Jesus was laughing
 
Jesus was and is our protector
Jesus was and is our protectorJesus was and is our protector
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Jesus was not a self pleaser
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Jesus was to be our clothing
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Jesus was the source of unity
Jesus was the source of unityJesus was the source of unity
Jesus was the source of unity
 
Jesus was love unending
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Jesus was our liberator
Jesus was our liberatorJesus was our liberator
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Jesus was the source of the gospel

  • 1. JESUS WAS THE SOURCEOF THE GOSPEL EDITED BY GLENN PEASE Galatians 1:11-1211I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. 12I did not receiveit from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I receivedit by revelationfrom Jesus Christ. BIBLEHUB RESOURCES Paul's PersonalGraspOf The Gospel Galatians 1:11-24 R.M. Edgar Paul, as we have seen, is so certain of the gospelof grace being the only gospel for sinful men, that he is prepared to pronounce an anathema on all who preach any other gospel. Lestit might be supposed that he took up this intolerant positionrashly, he now proceeds to give us a short autobiography, in which he shows how he had receivedthe gospel, and what a hold it had upon him. Let us notice the salientpoints in this narrative. I. HIS LIFE AS A JEW. (Vers. 13, 14.)Paul, before his conversion, was the most zealous persecutorof Christianity. A strict Pharisee, he added to his self- righteousness anuncommon zeal for the old religion, and hesitatednot to persecute to the death those who had embraced the new. He was zealous, but not according to knowledge.
  • 2. II. THE REVELATION OF JESUS TO HIM AND IN HIM. (Vers. 11, 12, 15, 16.)It was Jesus himself who undertook Saul's conversion. There was no intermediate instrument. On the way to Damascus Jesusappearedto him in dazzling, overwhelming radiance, and compelled the persecutorto recognize, not only his existence, but his sovereignauthority. That manifestationof Jesus to him revolutionized his life. Henceforthhe could have no doubt regarding the reign of Jesus Christ. This was the revelationof Jesus to him - the historic interview which made Paul's careerso different and so glorious. But next there was the revelation of Jesus in Paul. This was by the Holy Spirit entering into him and giving him Christ's mind, Christ's heart, Christ's compassions, so that Paul became a revelationof Christ to other men. Henceforwardhe was a "Christophor," carrying Christ in him, not only as his Hope of glory, but as his animating, regulating, ruling power. Paul was from that hour" possessed," but it was by the Spirit of Christ. His personality became a new centre of spiritual force and power. III. THUS POSSESSED BYJESUS, HE BECAME INDEPENDENTOF MEN. (Vers. 16, 17.)Now, this independence of Paul had two sides. 1. He became independent of popular opinion "Immediately I conferrednot with flesh and blood" Now it must have been very trying to surrender all his hopes as a Jew. The fact is, he was the foremostman of his nation just when Jesus convertedhim. The nation would gladly have followed his leadership. There was no man who had so much weightand force of characteras Saul. To renounce all these hopes, and the friendships of his early years, and to face the world a lonely man was trying. Yet he was enabledby God's grace to do so. He made no truce with flesh and blood, but renouncedall for Christ. 2. He felt independent of apostolic recognition. He never thought of hurrying off to Jerusalemto stand an examination at the hands of the apostles, and receive their imorimatur. He dealt at first hand with the Fountain of authority. Hence he passedto Arabia soonafter his conversion, and in the solitudes of the desert, in the places associatedwith such masterspirits as Moses,Elijah, and Christ, he communed with Christ, and pondered and laid the foundations of his theology. He calledno man master; he felt that he had but one Master, and he was Christ. Now, this independence of characteris
  • 3. what we should all seek.It can only be securedwhen we have renouncedself- confidence and betakenourselves to the feetof our Lord. There at the fountain of life and powerwe canrise up our own masters and his faithful servants, prepared to do battle, if need be, againstthe world. IV. PAUL'S INTERVIEW AT JERUSALEM WITH CEPHAS AND JAMES. (Vers. 18, 19.)While Paul was properly independent in spirit, this does not imply that he was in any way morose or unsocial. His internment in Arabia, his earneststudy of the whole plan of the gospel, only made him long for an interview with Cephas, the recognizedleader at Jerusalem. Hence he passed from solitude to society, and had an interview of fifteen days with the apostle of the circumcision. James, who had ministerial oversight of the Jerusalem Church, sharedhis societytoo. It must have been a blessedmeeting between the two mighty apostles. The meeting of two generals before some important campaignwas never so momentous in its consequencesas the meeting of these two humble men, Saul and Cephas. They were setupon the conquestfor Christ of the world. Now, we have every reasonto believe that the interview was simply one for conference.It was not that Saul might receive any authority from the hands either of Cephas or of James. He had his authority directly from Christ. V. HIS EVANGELISTIC WORK. (Vers. 20-24.)Perhaps through mutual agreementwith Peter, Paulleaves Jerusalemand Judaea and confines himself to the districts beyond. Syria and Cilicia, territories beyond the bounds of Palestine proper, where the apostles were operating, were selectedby the apostle to the Gentiles for his first evangelistic efforts. He did not seek the acquaintance of the Churches in Judaea. He kept to his ownprovince. They heard gladly that the arch-persecutorhad become a chief preacherof the once despisedfaith. They accordinglypraised God for the monument of his mercy he had raised up in Paul. But his knowledge ofthe gospeland his authority in proclaiming it were not, he wishes these Galatians to understand, derived from men. We should surely learn from this autobiography of Paul the secret of personalindependence and power. It consists in going to the sources themselves. If we refuse to depend upon men and depend on the Lord only, we shall secure a graspof his holy gospeland an efficiencyin proclaiming it which are impossible otherwise. Whatthe world needs now is what it needed
  • 4. then - men pervaded like Paul by the Spirit of Christ, and so radiating the true ideas about Christ all around. - R.M.E. Biblical Illustrator That the gospelwhich was preachedof me is not after man. Galatians 1:11, 12 The inspiration of St. Paul Prebendary Griffith. The greaterpart of our knowledge must always rest on the authority of others. No single man is able to ascertainfor himself the innumerable facts, in all the various fields of human investigation, out of which alone a personal conviction cangrow. Nor can we always reasonout the conclusions that we accepton others' testimony. We must take them on faith. False teachers in Galatia attempted to weakenPaul's authority by asserting that he, having never been a personaldisciple of Jesus, andnot therefore included in the
  • 5. original commission, was to be lookedon as no more than a self-appointed proclaimer of a self-invented doctrine, or as the agentonly of other persons who employed his zeal and talents to diffuse their error, or perhaps as the ignorant perverter of the truths which he had at first been taught by the apostles atJerusalem, and from which he had gone aside. St. Paul here refutes these accusationsand insinuations. I. HIS PRINCIPLES OF CHRISTIANITY WERE NOT DERIVED FROM HUMAN AUTHORITY. He was not the retailer of other men's notions, and proclaimer of what others had invented for him and enjoined on him. He had not been drilled in any human school, and then sent forth to talk — to distribute the materials which had been put into his hands, and to hawk about the goods whichothers had manufactured for him. Far higher than this was his authority; far deeperhis knowledge andconvictions. II. NOR THROUGH HUMAN INSTRUCTION. Notmerely conviction arrived at by self-study of others' opinions. III. BUT FROM DIVINE DISCLOSURE. Godunveiled His hidden things to the mental vision of the apostle. His inspiration is a revelation, disclosure, communication from God. Therefore he speaks withauthority. (Prebendary Griffith.) The nature of revelation B. Jowett, M. A. Revelationis distinguished from ordinary moral and spiritual influences by its suddenness. It shows us in an instant, what, under ordinary circumstances, would grow up gradually and insensibly. In the individual it is accompanied by a sudden transition from darkness to light; in the world at large it is an anticipation of moral truth and of the course of human experience. Reducible to no natural laws, it is to our ordinary moral and spiritual nature what peculiar cataleptic conditions are to our bodily, constitution. It seems to come from without, and is not; to be confounded with any inward emotion, any
  • 6. more than a dream or the sight of a painting. As compared with prophecy, it is nearer to us, representing as in a picture the things that shall shortly come to pass, and yet embracing a wider range; not, like the prophets of old, describing the fortunes of an individual nation, as it may have crossedthe path of the Jewishpeople, but lifting up the veil from the whole invisible world. In all its different senses it retains this external, present, immediate character. Whetherit be the future kingdom of Christ, or the fall of Jerusalemor of Rome, or the world lying in wickedness, thatis described, all is displayed immediately before us as on some mount of transfiguration — the figures near to us, and the colours bright. (B. Jowett, M. A.) The gospelno work of man J. P. Lange, D. D. 1. As a word of doctrine, it did not spring from men, nor was it taught by men, but by Christ Himself, who brought it Himself, and through whom alone His people have it. 2. As a word of comfort, only through Him can we commit ourselves to it. 3. As a word of power, in which there should be no change, from which no departure. (J. P. Lange, D. D.) A solemn avowalconcerning the gospel Richard Nicholls. I. THE GOSPELTHAT PAUL PREACHED. The purport of his ministry and the faith he proclaimed are given in Acts 26:22, 23. II. THE GOSPELWHICH PAUL PREACHED WAS NOT OF MAN.
  • 7. 1. His gospelwas not after man. It did not originate with man. Human schemes ofsalvation have everbeen imperfect in theory and worthless in practice. 2. Paul's gospelwas not communicated by man. "I neither receivedit of man." 3. The gospelwhich Paul preached was not explained to him by man. "Neither was I taught it." III. THE GOSPELTHAT PAUL PREACHED WAS REVEALED TO HIM. IV. PAUL'S TESTIMONYIN RELATION TO THE GOSPELWAS DELIVERED WITH GREAT IMPRESSIVENESSAND SOLEMNITY. "I declare unto you, brethren." Lessons: 1. Paul and the other apostles preachedwhat had been revealedto them; there cannot, therefore, be in the true sense, any successors to the apostles now. 2. The gospelbeing a revelation, should be receivedwith reverent trust. (Richard Nicholls.) I certify you W. Perkins. Observe — I. THAT MEN MAY BE CERTIFIED THAT THE GOSPELIS NOT OF MAN BUT OF GOD, by — 1. The evidences of God's Spirit imprinted on and expressedin it. 2. The testimony of its promulgators who were neither knaves nor fools. 3. The assurance ofobedience and experience (John 7:17). II. THAT CHRIST IS THE GREAT TEACHER OF THIS GOSPEL.
  • 8. 1. He is the Revealerofthe will of the Father touching the redemption of mankind (John 1:18; John 8:26). 2. He calls and sends the preachers of this gospel(John 20:21;Ephesians 4:11). 3. He gives the Spirit who illuminates the mind and guides into all truth. III. THAT CHRIST TEACHES THE TEACHERS OF THIS GOSPEL. 1. By immediate revelation, 2. By ordinary instruction in the schools. IV. THAT THOSE WHO ARE TEACHERS MUST BE FIRST TAUGHT, AND MUST THEN TEACH WHAT THEY HAVE LEARNED. (2 Timothy 3:14). (W. Perkins.) Preaching the gospel T. T. Lynch. To preach is to announce by heralding. We have to reiterate as new and happy tidings in the ear of a strangerthat God's kingdom is come, is to come, and that we can help it to come, I ask any man, if this be true and not romance, is it not an honour to proclaim it, although it be with us as with Paul, againstdifficulties and calumnies. (T. T. Lynch.) The inspiration of St. Paul M. Laurie, D. D. In an important sense the inspiration of St. Paul is the highestin Holy Scripture; for while Moses laid a foundation, and prophets brought together
  • 9. the Divine materials, and evangelists built up the walls of the glorious temple of God's truth, it was reservedfor Paul to complete the structure and bring out its beauties to be seenof the whole earth. There are magnificent temples in Bible lands that have served for quarries for the structures the Turks have built under their shadow. Yet even in ruin their greatness is more conspicuous from the contrast. So the ablest theologians have gone to Paul for the choicest stones of their goodlystructures, and still the temple he was commissionedto complete looks down on them all, not a ruin but perfect as at the first. His Epistles form the crowning glory of that Word of God that abideth for ever. (M. Laurie, D. D.) Certificationof Divine revelation R. A. Redford. Can a revelationbe certified? The answermay be divided into three parts. 1. The method of the revelation, by individual men, and by writings handed down from age to age, is not unreasonable. 2. The anterior probability of such a revelationas is given in Scripture is undoubtedly strong. 3. The test of time being applied to the revelation actually given, sufficiently approves the Divine authority which is claimed for it. (R. A. Redford.) Divine revelationfrom above S. Pearson, M. A. I. IT OCCUPIES A HIGHER REGION than that which is physical, mental, or moral. II. IT COMES DOWN UPON the intellect, not out of it.
  • 10. 1. It is sublimely authoritative. 2. By the side of it the most advanced knowledge is halting and immature. III. PAUL INSISTED ON HIS APOSTLESHIP BECAUSE THIS REVELATION WAS COMMITTED TO HIM. (S. Pearson, M. A.) It is an historicalfact that human nature is always below revelation J. B. Walker, M. A. Greatdiscoveries are usually the product of preceding ages ofthought. One mind developes the idea; but it is the fruitage of the ages ripened in that mind. A pearl is found; but the locationhas been indicated by previous researches. But revealedreligion is something different from this. It is separate from and superior to the thought of the age. It calls the wisdomof the world foolishness, and introduces a new standpoint and starting-point around which it gathers what was valuable in the old, and destroys the remainder. Hence it will always be found true that a struggle is necessaryto bring up the human mind and keepit up to the level of revealedreligion, anti that revealedreligion produces the struggle. Eventhose who profess to be its friends retrograde as soonas its powerabates, and new applications of that power have to be made to bring them up again. (J. B. Walker, M. A.) Revelationby Christ DeanGoulburn. Revelationseems usually to be ascribed to the Son of God in consistencywith His characteras the Word, the declarer of God's will who has manifested God in the flesh (see also 1 Corinthians 11:23;Revelation1:1; Revelation5:9). Whereas Inspiration is usually connectedwith the Holy Spirit (2 Peter1:21;
  • 11. Acts 1:16; Hebrews 7:8). But Luke 2:26 is an exceptionto the rule. And, doubtless as on the one hand it is from the Son that the Spirit proceeds, being indeed the waterwhich flows out of the rock of our salvation: so, on the other, no revelation can be made without the Spirit who opens the inward eye to what is outwardly communicated. (DeanGoulburn.) COMMENTARIES Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers (12) ForI neither receivedit.—The first “neither” in this verse does not answerto the second, but qualifies the pronoun “I.” The connectionin the thought is perhaps something of this kind: “The gospelis not human as it comes to you; neither was it human as it first came to me.” Taught.—There is an antithesis betweenthis word and “revelation” in the next clause. “Idid not receive my doctrine from man by a process ofteaching and learning, but from Christ Himself by direct revelation.” By the revelation.—Itis better to omit the article:“by,” or “through the medium of,” revelation. What was this revelation, and when was it given? The context shows that it must have been at some time either at or near the Apostle’s conversion. This would be sufficient to exclude the laterrevelation of 2Corinthians 12:1. But can it be the vision on the way to Damascus itself alone? At first sight it would seemas if this was too brief, and its objecttoo special, to include the kind of “sum of Christian doctrine” of which the Apostle is speaking. But this at least containedthe two main points—the MessiahshipofJesus, and faith in Jesus, from which all the restof the Apostle’s teaching flowed naturally and logically. When once it was felt that the death of Christ upon the cross was not that of a criminal, but of the Son of God, the rest all seemedto follow. Putting this togetherwith the sense, which
  • 12. we may well believe had been growing upon him, of the inefficacyof the Law, we can easilysee how the idea would arise of a sacrifice superseding the Law, and in the relegationofthe Law to this very secondarypositionthe main barrier betweenJew and Gentile would be removed. St. Paul himself, by laying stress upon his retreat to the deserts of Arabia, evidently implies that the gospel, as taught by him in its complete form, was the result of gradual development and prolonged reflection;but whether this is to be regarded as implicitly contained in the first revelation, or whether we are to suppose that there were successive revelations, ofwhich there is no record in the Acts, cannot be positively determined. Of Jesus Christ—i.e., given by Jesus Christ; of which Jesus Christ is the Author. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary 1:10-14 In preaching the gospel, the apostle soughtto bring persons to the obedience, not of men, but of God. But Paul would not attempt to alter the doctrine of Christ, either to gain their favour, or to avoid their fury. In so important a matter we must not fear the frowns of men, nor seek their favour, by using words of men's wisdom. Concerning the manner wherein he received the gospel, he had it by revelation from Heaven. He was not led to Christianity, as many are, merely by education. Barnes'Notes on the Bible For I neither receivedit of man - This is very probably said in reply to his opponents, who had maintained that Paul had derived his knowledge ofthe gospelfrom other people, since he had not been personallyknown to the Lord Jesus, orbeen of the number of those whom Jesus calledto be his apostles. In reply to this, he says, that he did not receive his gospelin any way from man. Neither was I taught it - That is, by man. He was not taught it by any written accountof it, or by the instruction of man in any way. The only plausible objectionto this statement which could be urged would be the fact that Paul
  • 13. had an interview with Ananias Acts 9:17 before his baptism, and that he would probably receive instructions from him. But to this it may be replied: (1) That there is no evidence that Ananias went into an explanation of the nature of the Christian religion in his interview with Paul; (2) Before this, Paul had been taught what Christianity was by his encounter with the Lord Jesus onthe way to Damascus Acts 9:5; Acts 26:14-18; (3) The purpose for which Ananias was sent to him in Damascus was thatPaul might receive his sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit, Acts 9:17. Whatever instructions he may have receivedthrough Ananias, it is still true that his call was directly from the Lord Jesus, and his information of the nature of Christianity from Jesus'revelation. But by the revelationof Jesus Christ - On his way to Damascus, and subsequently in the temple, Acts 22:17-21. Doubtless, he received communications at various times from the Lord Jesus with regardto the nature of the gospeland his duty. The sense here is, that he was not indebted to people for his knowledge ofthe gospel, but had derived it entirely from the Saviour. Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary 12. Translate, "Fornot even did I myself (any more than the other apostles) receive it from man, nor was I taught it (by man)." "Receivedit," implies the absence oflabor in acquiring it. "Taughtit," implies the labor of learning. by the revelationof Jesus Christ—Translate, "byrevelation of [that is, from] Jesus Christ." By His revealing it to me. Probably this took place during the three years, in part of which he sojourned in Arabia (Ga 1:17, 18), in the vicinity of the scene ofthe giving of the law; a fit place for such a revelationof the Gospelofgrace, which supersedes the ceremoniallaw (Ga 4:25). He, like other Pharisees who embracedChristianity, did not at first recognize its independence of the Mosaic law, but combined both together. Ananias, his first instructor, was universally esteemedforhis legalpiety and so was not likely to have taught him to severChristianity from the law. This severance was partially recognizedafter the martyrdom of Stephen. But Paul receivedit
  • 14. by specialrevelation (1Co 11:23;15:3; 1Th 4:15). A vision of the Lord Jesus is mentioned (Ac 22:18), at his first visit to Jerusalem(Ga 1:18); but this seems to have been subsequent to the revelation here meant (compare Ga 1:15-18), and to have been confined to giving a particular command. The vision "fourteenyears before" (2Co 12:1) was in A.D. 43, still later, six years after his conversion. Thus Paul is an independent witness to the Gospel. Though he had receivedno instruction from the apostles, but from the Holy Ghost, yet when he met them his Gospelexactlyagreedwith theirs. Matthew Poole's Commentary Not of man, as my first and sole instructor, not only at second-hand, from Peter, James, orJohn, as the false teachers had suggested, norwas I taught it otherwise than by the immediate revelation of Jesus Christ. Revelationsignifieth the discoveryof something which is secret(as the gospel, and doctrine of it, is calleda mystery hid from ages). It may be objected, that Paul was instructed by Ananias, Acts 9:17. But this prejudiceth nothing the truth of what the apostle saith in this place, neither do we read of much that Ananias said to him in a way of instruction; it is only said, that he laid his hands on him, and he was filled with the Holy Ghost. When, or where, he had these revelations, the apostle saith not; probably while he lay in a trance, blind, and neither eating nor drinking for three days, Acts 9:9. Others think it was when he was caught up into the third heaven, 2 Corinthians 12:2. Certain it is, that St. Paul had revelations from Christ, Acts 22:17,18 26:15-18. Revelationsignifies an immediate conveying of the knowledge ofDivine things to a person, without human means; and in that Paul ascribes the revelation of the gospelto Jesus Christ, he plainly asserts the Divine nature of the Lord Jesus Christ. Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible For I neither receivedit of man,.... Not from Gamaliel, at whose feethe was brought up; he receivedthe law from him, and knowledge in the Jews' religion, and in the traditions of the elders, but not a whit of the Gospel;on
  • 15. the contrary, he received prejudices againstit from him, or was strengthened in them by him; no, nor from the apostles ofChrist neither, whom he saw not, had no conversationwith for some years, after he was a preacherof the Gospel, and therefore did not receive it at their hands; no, nor from Ananias, nor any other man: neither was I taught it: that is, by man; he did not learn it of men, as men learn law, physics, logic, rhetoric, natural philosophy, and other things at school: but by the revelationof Jesus Christ; meaning, not through Christ being revealedto him by the Father, as in Galatians 1:16 though it is a sense not to be overlooked;but by Christ, the revealerof it to him; and regards either the time of his rapture into the third heaven, when he heard words not to be uttered; or rather since that is not so certainwhen it was, the time of his conversion, when Christ personally appearedunto him, and made him a minister of his Gospel;and immediately from himself, without the interposition, or use of any man, or means, gave him such light into it, and such a furniture of mind for the preaching of it, that he directly, as soonas ever he was baptized, setabout the ministration of it, to the admiration of the saints, and confusionof the enemies of Christ. These words furnish out another proof of the deity of Christ; for if the Gospelis not after man, nor receivedof, or taught by man, but by Christ, then Christ cannot be a mere man, or else being by him, it would be by man; and which also confirms the authority and validity of the Gospel, and carries in it a strong reasonfor the apostle's anathematizing all such as preach any other. Geneva Study Bible For I neither receivedit of man, neither was I taught it, but by the {i} revelation of Jesus Christ. (i) This passageis about an extraordinary revelation, for otherwise the Son revealedhis Gospelonly by his Spirit, even though by the ministry of men, which Paul excludes here. EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
  • 16. Meyer's NT Commentary Galatians 1:12. Proofof the statement, τὸ εὐαγγέλιον… οὐκ ἔστι κατὰ ἄνθρωπον. οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐγώ] for neither I, any more than the other apostles. Onοὐδὲ γάρ, for neither, which corresponds with the positive καὶ γάρ, comp. Bornemann, ad Xen. Symp. p. 200;Hartung, Partikell. I. p. 211. The earlierexpositors (also Morus, Koppe, and others) neglectboth the significationof οὐδέ and the emphasis on ἐγώ, which is also overlookedby de Wette, “for also I have not,” etc.;and Ewald, “I obtained it not at all.” Comp., on the contrary, Matthew 21:27;Luke 20:8; John 8:11. Rückert, Matthies, and Schottunderstand οὐδέ only as if it were οὔ, assuming it to be used on accountof the previous negation;and see in ἐγώ a contrastto those, quibus ipse tradiderit evangelium, in which case there must have been αὐτός instead of ἐγώ. This remark also applies to Hofmann’s view, “that he himself has not received what he preached through human instruction.” Besides, the supposed reference of ἐγώ would be quite unsuitable, for the apostle had not at all in view a comparisonwith his disciples; a comparisonwith the other apostles was the point agitating his mind. Lastly, Winer finds too much in οὐδέ, “nam ne ego quidem.” This is objectionable, not because, as Schottand Olshausen, following Rückert, assume, οὐδʼἐγὼ γάρ or καὶ γὰρ οὐδʼ ἐγώ must in that case have been written, for in fact γάρ would have its perfectly regular position (Galatians 6:13; Romans 8:7; John 5:22; John 7:5; John 8:42, et al.); but because ne ego quidem would imply the concessionof a certainhigher position for the other apostles (comp. 1 Corinthians 15:8-9), which would not be in harmony with the apostle’s presenttrain of thought, where his argument turned rather on his equality with them (comp. 1 Corinthians 9:1). παρὰ ἀνθρώπου]from a man, who had given it to me. Not to be confounded with ἀπʼ ἀνθρώπου (see on 1 Corinthians 11:23, and Hermann, ad Soph. El. 65). Here also, as in Galatians 1:1, we have the contrastbetweenἄνθρωπος and Ἰησ. Χριστός.
  • 17. αὐτό]viz. τὸ εὐαγγέλιοντὸ εὐαγγελισθὲν ὑπʼ ἐμοῦ. οὔτε ἐδιδάχθην]As οὔτε refers only to the οὐκ containedin the preceding οὐδέ, and δέ and τέ do not correspond, οὔτε is here by no means inappropriate (as Rückertalleges). See Hand, De part. τέ diss. II. p. 13; Hartung, Partikell. I. p. 101 f.; Buttmann, neutest. Gr. p. 315. Comp. on Acts 23:8. Forneither have I receivedit from a man, nor learned it. Παρέλαβον denotes the receiving through communication in general(comp. Galatians 1:9), ἐδιδάχθηνthe receiving speciallythrough instruction duly used. ἀλλὰ διʼ ἀποκαλύψ. Ἰ. Χ.] The contrastto παρὰ ἀνθρώπου;Ἰησοῦ Χ. is therefore the genitive, not of the object(Theodoret, Matthies, Schott), but of the subject(comp. 2 Corinthians 12:1; Revelation1:1), by Jesus Christ giving to me revelation. Paul alludes to the revelations[25]receivedsoonafterthe event at Damascus, andconsequenttherefore upon his calling, which enabled him to comply with it and to come forward as a preacherof the gospel. Comp. Galatians 1:15-16;Ephesians 3:3. The revelation referred to in 2 Corinthians 12:1 ff. (Thomas, Cornelius a Lapide, Balduin, and others) cannotbe meant; because this occurredat a subsequent period, when Paul had for a long time been preaching the gospel. Normust we (with Koppe, Flatt, and Schott)refer it to the revelations which were imparted to him generally, including those of the later period, for here mention is made only of a revelationby which he receivedand learned the gospel. How the ἀποκάλυψις took place (according to Calovius, through the Holy Spirit; comp. Acts 9:17), must be left undecided. It may have takenplace with or without vision, in different stages, partly even before his baptism in the three days mentioned Acts 9:6; Acts 9:9, partly at and immediately after it, but not through instruction on the part of Ananias. The ἘΝ ἘΜΟΊ in Galatians 1:16 is consistentwith either supposition.
  • 18. [25] Of which, however, the book of Acts gives us no account;for in Acts 22:17, Christ appeared to him not to revealto him the gospel, but for the purpose of giving a specialinstruction. Hence they are not to be referred to the event at Damascus itself, as, following Jerome and Theodoret, many earlier and more recent expositors (Rückert, Usteri, Olshausen, Baumgarten- Crusius, Hofmann, Wieseler)assume. The calling of the apostle, by which he was convertedat Damascus, is expresslydistinguished in ver. 16 from the divine ἀποκαλύψαι τὸνυἱὸν ἐν ἐμοί, so that this inward ἀποκάλυψις followed the calling;the calling was the fact which laid the foundation for the ἀποκάλυψις (comp. Möller on de Wette)—the historical preliminary to it. In identifying the ἀποκάλυψις ofour passagewith the phenomenon at Damascus, it would be necessaryto assume that Paul, to whom at Damascus the resurrectionof Jesus was revealed, had come to add to this fundamental fact of his preaching the remaining contents of the doctrine of salvation, partly by means of argument, partly by further revelation, and partly by information derived from others (see especiallyWieseler). This idea is, however, inconsistentwith the assuranceofour passage, whichrelates without restriction to the whole gospelpreachedby the apostle, consequentlyto the whole of its essentialcontents. The same objectionmay be speciallyurged againstthe view, with which Hofmann contents himself, that the wonderful phenomenon at Damascus certifiedto Paul’s mind the truth of the Christian faith, which had not been unknown to him before. Such a conceptionof the matter falls far short of the idea of the ἀποκάλυψις ofthe gospelthrough Christ, especiallyas the apostle refers specificallyto his gospel. Expositor's Greek Testament Galatians 1:12. ἐγὼ. The personalpronoun is inserted, because the author is here laying stress on the specialeducationhe had receivedfor his ministry of the GospelHe had not learnt it, like his converts, from human teaching, but by direct communion with God in spirit, as the Twelve had learnt it from Christ’s own teaching. This independence of older Christians is a marked feature in the history of his life. The agencyof Ananias was necessaryfor his
  • 19. admission into the Church, but after his baptism no older Christian appears on the scene atDamascus. Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges 12. For I neither receivedit of man] ‘I’ is emphatic: I receivednot the Gospel, any more than did the other Apostles, from man. neither was I taught it] St Paul might have receivedthe Gospelfrom God, and yet have been more fully instructed by men. This was not the case, comp. ch. Galatians 2:6. He both receivedand was taught it by direct revelation. The commissionto Ananias (Acts 9:10, &c.)is not at variance with this declaration. It does not appear that he made any communication of religious knowledge to St Paul (Galatians 1:18-19). by the revelationof Jesus Christ] Rather, through the revelation. ‘Jesus Christ’ may be either the subject or the object, the Revealeror the Revealed; but probably the latter is primarily intended, see Galatians 1:16. Different opinions are held as to the time when this revelationwas made. Certainly it took place at the time of his conversion, and probably on other subsequent occasions.In 2 Corinthians 12:7 he speaks of“the abundance of the revelations” which he had received;comp. 2 Corinthians 12:1. Bengel's Gnomen Galatians 1:12. Παρέλαβον, I received) This differs from I was taught it [ἐδιδάχθην];for the one is accomplishedwithout labour; the other is acquired by the labour of learning.—διʼἀποκαλύψεως, by revelation)viz., I received. Pulpit Commentary Verse 12. - For I neither receivedit of man, neither was I taught it (οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐγὼ παρὰ ἀνθρώπου παρέλαβοναὐτό οὔτε ἐδιδάχθην);for neither at the hand of man did I myself receive it or was taught it. The "for" introduces a considerationfortifying the foregoing affirmation, that the apostle's gospel
  • 20. was not in its characteristic complexionhuman; it was no wonder that it was not; for neither was it human in its origin. The "neither" (οὐδὲ)points forward to the whole subsequent clause, "atthe hand of men did I myself receive it." In a similar manner does "for neither" (οὐδὲ γὰρ) point to the whole subsequent clause in John 5:22; John 8:42; Acts 4:34. The ἐγὼ ("I myself")is inserted in the Greek, as contrasting the preacherwith those to whom the gospelhad been preached (ver. 11), in the same way as it is inserted in 1 Corinthians 11:23, "I myself received(ἐγὼ παρέλαβον) of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you." Some expositors (as Meyer, Alford) connect the "forneither" with the pronoun "I myself" only; as if the meaning were, "Forneither did I, any more than Cephas or James, receive the gospelfrom men." This restriction of the "neither" to the noun or pronoun only which follows, is grammatically, of course, not inadmissible (comp. John 7:5). But there is nothing in the immediate contextto suggestthe idea that the writer is just now thinking of the other apostles, andthe sentence is perfectly clear without our introducing it. It is quite clearthat the apostle means in the words οὔτε ἐδιδάχθηνto affirm that man did not teachhim the gospelany more than deliver it to him. But the verb "was taught," takenby itself, does not convey the idea of merely human instruction, being used continually in the Gospels of our Lord's teaching, and John 14:26 of the "teaching" ofthe Holy Spirit. We must, therefore, conclude that the passive verb "I was taught it" is, in the writer's intention, conjoinedwith the active verb "I receivedit," as both alike depending upon the first words in the sentence,"atthe hand of man." If so, we have here another instance of the use of the figure zeugma (see above on ver. 10); for while the preposition παρὰ is used in its proper sense, when, as here, it is connectedwith παρέλαβον, it is only in a strained, improper sense that it could be employed, like ὑπό, with a passive verb, to simply denote the agent. Some difficulty is felt in determining in what way the writer regards the notion of "receiving the gospel" as distinguishable from that of "being taught it." It is possible that the latter is added merely, as BishopLightfoot supposes, to explain and enforce the former. But another view is descrying of consideration. We may suppose "the gospel" to be regarded, in the one case, as a kind of objective creedor form of doctrine,"received" by a man on its being put before him, in considerationof the authority with which it comes invested, as a whole and so to speak enbloc, before ever its details have been
  • 21. definitely graspedby him. But in addition to this, and subsequently to this, this same gospelrosybe regardedas brought within the range of the recipient's distinguishing consciousness, by means of a "teacher" from without, whether Divine or human, instilling into his mind successivelythe various severaltruths which compose it. Now, it was conceivable that the apostle may, in the sense above supposed, have "received" the gospeldirect from God or from Christ, while, however, man may to a large extent have been the "teaching" instrument, through which its truths were brought home to his understanding. But in the present passageSt. Paulaffirms that in actual fact man had no more to do with his receptionof the gospelin the latter sense than in the former. And this affirmation tallies closelywith what we read in the sixteenth verse of this chapter, and againwith the sixth verse of the next chapter, both of which passages were written, no doubt, with an eye to the very notion respecting the source ofhis knowledge ofthe gospelwhich he is here concernedto negative. Textualcritics differ among themselves whether πὔτε ("nor") or οὐδὲ ("nor yet") should be read before ἐδιδάχθην. The only difference is that "nor yet" would of the two the more clearly mark a distinction subsisting betweenthe notions expressedby the two preceding verbs. If we acquiescein the reading of the receivedtext, which is "nor," then, since the negative has been already expressed, the idiom of our language would here suppress the negative in "nor," and substitute the simple "or." But (ἀλλά); but only. The strongly adversative sense which marks this form of "but" requires that in thought we supply after it the words, "I received it and was taught it;" for which, in translating, we may put, as an adequate substitute, the word "only." Bishop Wordsworthtranslates this ἀλλὰ "except," citing in justification Matthew 20:23. But the grammatical constructionof that passage is not sufficiently clearto justify us in giving to ἀλλὰ a sense whichdoes not appear conformable with its ordinary usage. The apostle, then, affirms that it was not from or by man that he had receivedthe gospelor been taught it. From whom, then, does he mean that he had received and by whom been taught it? Are we to say, God the Father? or, Jesus Christ? Just at present, it should seem, the apostle is not concerneddefinitely or contradistinctively to present to view either one of these Divine personalities. As has been re, marked above with reference to the words in ver. 3, "from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ," the two conceptions appear
  • 22. blended togetherto the apostle's view, when he thinks of the Source flora which spiritual gifts accrue to us. His immediate purpose is to assertthat his gospelwas in its origin Divine, and not human. For this it is enough to saythat it came to him "through the revelation of Jesus Christ." But in preparation for the discussionof these words, it may be here remarked that the supreme agencyof God the Father, as in all else, so also in particular in the communication to the world of the gospel, is an idea very distinctly put forth in a greatmany passagesofthe New Testament, and is in fact the dominant representation. As examples of this, we may refer to Colossians 1:26, 27; Ephesians 1:9; 2 Corinthians 5:18, 20; Hebrews 1:2. "The words" which "the Son spake" were those which"he had heard of the Father," as were also those which the promised Paraclete was to "speak." The first verse of the Book of the Revelationfurnishes a striking illustration of this truth. It runs thus: "The revelation of Jesus Christ, which Godgave him to show unto his servants, even the things which must shortly come to pass:and he [i.e. Jesus Christ] sent and signified it by his angelunto his servant John." Of course, the verse refers to that disclosure of future events which forms the subject-matter of the particular book which it prefaces. Nevertheless, whatis written here is no exceptional statement, but one . simply exemplary; it is true in this particular reference, just because it is true also with reference to the whole of that disclosure of spiritual facts which through the gospelis made knownto the Church. By the revelationof Jesus Christ (δι ἀποκαλύψεως Ἰησοῦ Ξριστοῦ); through the revelationof Jesus Christ. This genitive clause, "ofJesus Christ," has by most interpreters been understood subjectively; that is, as denoting the subject or agentimplied in the verbal noun "revelation;" in other words, they suppose St. Paul herein presents Jesus Christ as having revealedto him the gospelThis does indeed appear to be the meaning of the phrase, "the revelation of Jesus Christ" in Revelation1:1, just now referred to. Taken thus, the words put before us explicitly the agencyof only Christ in the revelation spokenof, leaving the agencyof God without specific reference. None the less, however, does evenin this case the thought of God's agency naturally recur to our minds as implied in connectionwith the mention of Jesus Christ, even as in the first verse of the chapter where it is explicitly named therewith. But we have to observe that in every other passage in which the Apostle Paul uses a genitive with the noun "revelation" (ἀποκάλυψις),the
  • 23. genitive denotes the object which is revealed. These are Romans 2:5," Revelationof the righteous judgment of God;" 8:19, "Revelationofthe seas of God;" 16:25, "Revelationof the mystery;" and the passages in which he designates ourLord's second coming as "his revelation;" 1 Corinthians 1:7; 2 Thessalonians 1:7; with which comp. 1 Peter1:7, 13; 1 Peter4:13. That in these five last passagesthe genitive is objective and not subjective, if it could otherwise be calledin question, is indicated by the circumstance that in 1 Timothy 6:14, 15;where the apostle uses the word "appearing"(ἐπιφάνεια) instead of "revelation," he adds, "which in its own times he shall show who is the blessedand only Potentate," etc., manifestlymeaning the Father. One other passageremains to be mentioned, namely, 2 Corinthians 12:1, "visions and revelations of the Lord," which many critics take as meaning "vouchsafedby the Lord," and which in consequenceis commonly referred to in support of a similar interpretation of the passagenow before us. But it may be questioned whether the apostle does not there denote by "visions" (ὀπτασίας)a somewhatdifferent class ofspiritual phenomena from those denoted by "revelations of the Lord;" by the former intending such visions as those, e.g. in which he seemedto himself to be transported into Paradise, or into the third heaven;and by the latter, appearances vouchsafedto him of the Lord Jesus in personalpresence. Theselatter, it is true, might be also fitly styled" visions" (ὀπτάσιαι), as, in fact, the most important of them all is styled in the speechbefore Agrippa (Acts 26:19); whilst on the other hand, the former may be justly supposed to be included under the term "revelations," as employed presently after in ver. 7. But the addition, "of the Lord," has at leastmuch more point, if we assume the above-stateddiscrimination to have been intended betweenthe two classesofphenomena; if, indeed, it is not a quite superfluous adjunct on the other view; tot the "visions and revelations" referred to would be, of course, conceivedofas coming from "the Lord," without the apostle's saying so. Instead of being available in support of the subjective view of the genitive before us, the passage2 Corinthians 12:1 rather favours the other interpretation. And this interpretation of the words, "of Jesus Christ," as objective is favoured by the subsequent context. For comparing this twelfth verse with the five verses whichfollow, we observe that in this verse the apostle affirms that his gospelwas not human in its character, because that he had not received it from man nor been taught it by man, but
  • 24. only "through the revelationof Jesus Christ." Then in the five verses which follow, to make this affirmation good, he states that up to the time of his conversionhe had been wholly averse to the Christian doctrine and intensely devoted to PhariseanJudaism, and that when God, calling him by his grace, "revealedhis Son in him that he might preach him among the Gentiles," he applied to no human being for mental direction, but kept himself alooffrom even those who were apostles before him. Now, in setting the statementof ver. 12 over againstthe professedlyillustrative statement which follows, we observe that "the revelationof Jesus Christ" in the former occupies precisely the same position in the line of thought which in the latter is held by "God's revealing his Son in him;" for the apostle attributes his possessionofthe truth of the gospelin the one to "the revelationof Jesus Christ," and in the other to God's revealing his Son in him, and in eachcase to nothing else. Surely it follows "that the revelation of Jesus Christ" which gives him the gospelin the one ease, is identicalwith "God's revealing his Son in him' which gives him the gospelin the other. Thus both the sense in which the genitive is ordinarily found when joined with the word "revelation," andthe guidance of the context, concur in determining for the genitive in the present case the objective sense. This interpretation seems atfirst sight to labour under the inconvenience that, so construed, the sentence lacks the clearly expressed antithethon to the foregoing noun "man," which we might naturally expect to find. But in reality the required antithesis is quite distinctly though implicitly indicated in the very term "revelation;"for this essentiallycarries with it the notion of an agencynot merely superhuman, but Divine. It would be an altogethercontractedand indeed erroneous view of this "revelation" to suppose that it means no more than the manifestationto Saul's bodily senses of the personalpresence and glory of Christ. Beyond question this was of itself sufficient to convince Saul of the truth that Jesus, though once crucified, was now both living and highly exalted in the supersensuous world, and by consequence to furnish the necessarybasis for further discoveries oftruth. But more was required than the mere bodily sight of the glorified Jesus. This might confound and crush down his antagonism, but would not of itself' impart converting and healing faith. Men might "see" andyet "notbelieve" (John 6:36). There was required also the true and just perception of the relation which this exalted Jesus bore to individual human souls, in particular
  • 25. to Saul's own soul; and further, of the relationwhich he bore to the dispensations of God as dealing with his people, and as dealing with mankind at large; - a perception of these things which would then only be true and just when accompaniedwith a duly appreciative, satisfying, adoring sense ofthe infinite excellencyof what was thus disclosedto him, and of its perfect adaptation to the wants of man as sinful. In short, this "revelation" to Saul "of Jesus Christ" involved that spiritual transformation which, in 2 Corinthians 4:6, the apostle describes in the following words: "It is God, that said, Light shall shine out of darkness, who shined in our hearts, to give the light [or, illumination] of the knowledge ofthe glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." Forin that passage,though in the form in which he clothes his thought he speaks as if conjoining others with himself, it appears almost certain that he is describing there, as further on in vers. 7-12, his own personalexperiences (see beginning of note on ver. 8). and also that he is describing that first introduction into his own understanding and heart of the truths of the gospel, which qualified him thenceforwardto fulfil his mission to proclaim it. This appears confessedlyto have been in a very marked degree a miracle - a moral and spiritual miracle. In truth, the new birth of a human s y accountedfor by these or those conditions of his foregoing psychological history. These lastmay have prepared a favourable field of development; but he knew for a surety that the product itself was no natural offspring of any spontaneous operations ofhis own mind. The very phrase in the verse before us, "the revelationof Jesus Christ," as well as the comparisonwhich in 2 Corinthians 4:6 he draws between his spiritual transformation and the supernatural operation of the Almighty's fiat, "Let there be light," plainly shows that he would have refused to allow the cause discoverable anywhere else save in the unexplainable operations of sovereign, almighty grace. And in all prudence we should be content to be herein not wiserthan he. Vincent's Word Studies Of man (παρὰ ἀνθρώπου) Better, from man. Παρὰ from emphasizes the idea of transmission, and marks the connectionbetweengiverand receiver. Comp. 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Thessalonians 4:1; 2 Timothy 3:14; Acts 10:22. In the Gospels andActs
  • 26. παραλαμβάνεινusually means to take, in the sense ofcausing to accompany, as Matthew 4:5; Matthew 17:1; Mark 4:36, etc. Scarcelyeverin the sense of receive:see Mark 7:4. In Paul only in the sense ofreceive, and only with παρὰ, with the single exceptionof 1 Corinthians 11:23 (ἀπὸ). The simple λαμβάνω usually with παρὰ, but with ἀπὸ, 1 John 2:27; 1 John 3:22. By the revelation of Jesus Christ (δἰ ἀποκαλύψεως Ἱησοῦ Χριστοῦ) Not, by Jesus Christ being revealedto me, but, I receivedthe gospelby Jesus Christ's revealing it to me. The subjectof the revelation is the gospel, not Christ. Christ was the revealer. Rev. (it came to me) through revelationof Jesus Christ. PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES BRUCE HURT MD Galatians 1:12 For I neither receivedit from man, nor was I taught it, but [I receivedit] through a revelation of Jesus Christ. Amplified - For indeed I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but [it came to me] through a [direct] revelation [given] by Jesus Christ(the Messiah). Wuest - For, as for myself, neither did I receive it directly from man, nor was I taught it, but I receivedit through a revelationgiven me by Jesus Christ. NET Galatians 1:12 For I did not receive it or learn it from any human source;insteadI receivedit by a revelationof Jesus Christ. GNT Galatians 1:12 οὐδὲ γὰρἐγὼ παρὰ ἀνθρώπου παρέλαβον αὐτὸ οὔτε ἐδιδάχθηνἀλλὰ δι᾽ ἀποκαλύψεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ.
  • 27. NLT Galatians 1:12 I receivedmy messagefrom no human source, and no one taught me. Instead, I receivedit by direct revelationfrom Jesus Christ. KJV Galatians 1:12 For I neither receivedit of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelationof Jesus Christ. ESV Galatians 1:12 For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I receivedit through a revelationof Jesus Christ. ASV Galatians 1:12 For neither did I receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came to me through revelationof Jesus Christ. CSB Galatians 1:12 For I did not receive it from a human source and I was not taught it, but it came by a revelation from Jesus Christ. NIV Galatians 1:12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I receivedit by revelationfrom Jesus Christ. NKJ Galatians 1:12 For I neither receivedit from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ. NRS Galatians 1:12 for I did not receive it from a human source, nor was I taught it, but I receivedit through a revelation of Jesus Christ. YLT Galatians 1:12 for neither did I from man receive it, nor was I taught it, but through a revelationof Jesus Christ, NAB Galatians 1:12 For I did not receive it from a human being, nor was I taught it, but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ. NJB Galatians 1:12 It was not from any human being that I receivedit, and I was not taught it, but it came to me through a revelation of Jesus Christ. GWN Galatians 1:12 I didn't receive it from any person. I wasn'ttaught it, but Jesus Christrevealedit to me. BBE Galatians 1:12 For I did not getit from man, and I was not given teaching in it, but it came to me through revelationof Jesus Christ. Galatians 1 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries
  • 28. John Brown's exposition of Gal 1:12 John Eadie's exposition of Gal1:12) THE GOSPEL: RECEIVED NOT CONCEIVED! For I neither receivedit from man, nor was I taught it, but I receivedit through a revelation of Jesus Christ - This verse is straightforward. Regarding the GospelPaul preached, no man gave it to him or taught him, but it came from a direct "CoramDeo" (before the face of God) encounter. I - This is the specific pronoun ego which adds emphasis (because a separate pronoun was not neededfor the verb receivedwhich by itself is translated "I received.")(More discussionby John Brown) Wuestadds that "Pauluses the personalpronoun here to show that he is laying emphasis upon the special educationhe had receivedfor his ministry of the gospel. He had not, like his converts, learnt it from human teachers (THEY HAD LEARNED IT FROM HIM), but by direct communion with God, as the Twelve had learnt it from Christ’s teaching. Paul is studiously carefulto show his independence of the Twelve....The entire tenor of this sectionindicates that Paul’s commissionhad been declaredinferior to that of the Twelve, and that he had this in view when he was defending his apostleshipfrom the attacks ofthe Judaizers. (Word Studies from the Greek New Testamentonline) John Stott - This is why Paul dared to callthe gospelhe preached‘my gospel’ (cf. Ro 16:25). It was not ‘his’ because he had made it up but because it had been uniquely revealedto him. The magnitude of his claim is remarkable. He is affirming that his messageis not his messagebut God’s message,that his gospelis not his gospelbut God’s gospel, that his words are not his words but God’s words. Neither (oude)...Nor(oute) are the strongestGreek words for negating what follows. He absolutelydenied receptionfrom a man (e.g., he had heard Stephen's sermon in Acts 7) or teaching by a man. The gospelof Christ is not a gospel"afterman."
  • 29. Harrison comments on the contrasting "but" - Paul's repeated "but" carries the antithesis of a crisis experience. No trends here; no groping for something better. He knows himself takenout of the column of self-effort(Php 3:3) and flesh-confidence to the column of God's beneficiaries in the bestowmentof His righteousness. Itwas a clear-cutbreak with OUR SIDE over to HIS SIDE. Comment: As an aside, always take time to study the terms of contrast(but, yet, on the other hand) - Observe carefully and interrogate the text (interrogate with the 5W/H questions), asking questions like what the writer is contrasting? why now? how does it impact the flow of the argument? when does it occur? who is being contrasted? etc. Received(3880)(paralambano)speaksofcommunication receiveddirectly from another. - See otheruse of paralambano in Gal 1:9. For this reason(Stop! Always ask "What reason?"whichwill force you to re- read preceding context) I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles--if indeed you have heard of the stewardship(Paul was "appointed manager" overthe Gospeland knew he would be held accountable one day by the "Owner", his Master, Jesus Christ!Talk about motivation!) of God's grace (The Messageofthe Gospelof Grace, the same one he had preachedin Galatia)which was given to me for you; that by revelation there was made knownto me the mystery (believing Jews and Gentiles would be equal heirs in the one body of Christ, the Church), as I wrote before in brief. (Eph 3:1-3) Vincent notes that from is the preposition para which "emphasizes the idea of transmission, and marks the connectionbetweengiver and receiver. Cp. 1 Th 2:13; 4:1; 2 Ti 3:14; Acts 10:22." Taught (1321)(didaskofrom dáo= know or teach;English = didactic) means to provide instruction or information in a formal or informal setting. While the receptionof specific teaching was the primary means most of the believers as well as the Christian teachers ofPaul's day receivedthe Gospelof Grace, such was NOT the case with Paul.
  • 30. John MacArthur makes the excellentpoint that Paul's receptionof the Gospel from Jesus was "in contrastto the Judaizers, who receivedtheir religious instruction from rabbinic tradition. MostJews did not study the actual Scriptures; instead they used human interpretations of Scripture as their religious authority and guide. Many of their traditions not only were not taught in Scripture but also contradictedit (Mk 7:13). (MacArthur New TestamentCommentary – Galatians) Comment: Dr MacArthur's preceding explanation begs the question, beloved student of God's Word -- Do I go directly to the Word of God to be taught Truth by the Holy Spirit, the Author of the Holy Word? If not, how canI honestly, accuratelycomment on the veracity of the commentaries? I am thankful you are reading these notes. I try to be as diligent as possible in rightly dividing the Word of Truth (because I have a strong fear of doing otherwise - all teachers read2Ti2:15-note, 2Cor 5:10-note, Jas 3:1+, Pr 30:6- note), but only the Word is inerrant and infallible (these note ARE NOT!). So be sure to perform your owninductive study of the Scriptures so that you can discern whether these or any other commentator's notes are an accurate interpretation of the inspired inerrant Word! THE GOSPELOF GRACE: NOT REASONING BUT REVELATION But (alla) is a strong term of contrast. Paulis clearlystating that the Gospelis not of human origin, but is a divine revelation, which is about as dramatic a contrastas he could have presented! I receivedit through a revelation of Jesus Christ - Note that "I receivedit" has been added to the NAS (and also by severalother translations like ESV). Literally it reads "but through a revelationof Jesus Christ." Through is dia which is a prepositionexpressing the intermediate agentof an action, in this case the "intermediate agent" is Jesus Christ and the "action" is Paul's receptionof the revelation. To reiterate, human beings had nothing to do with Paul's reception of the Gospel, evenas they had nothing to do with his appointment as an apostle (Galatians 1:1+)! So both his calling (apostle)and his message(Gospel)were from Heaven, not earth!
  • 31. Revelation(602)(apokalupsis from apó = from + kalúpto = cover, conceal, English = apocalypse)literally means "cover from" and so the idea is to remove that which concealssomething. Apokalupsis conveys the idea of "taking the lid off," removing the cover and exposing to open view that which was heretofore not visible, known or disclosed. In all its uses, revelationrefers to something or someone, once hidden, becoming visible and now made fully known. In this case it was the Gospelwhich had been a mystery to Paul until he had been regeneratedand given specific revelation from Jesus, the Highest Authority! The gospelwas notan invention, or a tradition, but a revelation. How then could the Galatians questionhis own authority and the authenticity of the Gospelhe proclaimed? Vine says Paul got"a direct communication of the mind of God." Wuest - Revelationtherefore is the act of God the Holy Spirit uncovering to the Bible writers truth incapable of being discoveredby man’s unaided reason, this revelation being accompaniedby the imparted ability to understand what is uncovered. Criswell:"This messageis a sermon on dogmatism, on finality, on authoritarianism, which is an unusual message to heartoday in the midst of our studied broad-minded liberalism... The revelationof the Lord is not double-facednor is it deceptively speculative. It is not as though we were selecting opinions. It is not as though we were in dilemmas choosing theories. It is not as though we were listening to blind, metaphysicalgropings. The sound of the trumpet is clearin the Word of God. It is final. It is superlative, never comparative. The authoritarianism of the Gospel!'My brethren, though I or an angelfrom heaven preachany other gospelunto you than ye have heard, anathama 'Let him be accursed.'One faith, one Lord, one baptism, one God and Fatherfor us all, one Book, one way -- just one!" (Quote from Paul Apple) Luther says:This passageconstitutes Paul’s chiefdefense againstthe accusationsofhis opponents. He maintains under oath that he receivedhis Gospelnot from men, but by the revelationof Jesus Christ. (Galatians 1 Commentary)
  • 32. Of Jesus Christ - That is to say Jesus Christ was the One who did the revealing of the Gospelto Paul (but see the technicalnote below). Paul attributes his Gospelto the highest authority possible, the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, he had heard Stephen's greatspeechin Acts 7 and he had had contact with other believers like Ananias and Barnabas but he did not credit them with having revealedthe Gospelto him. TECHNICAL NOTE ON OF JESUS CHRIST - If it ("of Jesus Christ") is a subjective genitive, the meaning is "a revelation from Jesus Christ" but if objective genitive, it is "a revelation about Jesus Christ." Mostlikely this is objective since the explanation in Galatians 1:15–16 mentions God revealing the Sonto Paul so that he might preach, although the idea of a direct revelation to Paul at some point cannot be ruled out. (NET Note) ADDENDUM - I would add that it is notable that severaltranslations are rendered in a waythat favors this revelation coming FROM Jesus Christ, rather than being a revelationABOUT Jesus Christ. (See these translations above - Amplified, Wuest, NLT, CSB, NIV). So we cannotbe dogmatic and in a sense both "from" and "about" are true. Martin Luther - “Paul did not receive instruction from Ananias. Paul had already been called, enlightened, and taught by Christ in the road. His contact with Ananias was merely a testimonial to the fact that Paul had been called by Christ to preachthe gospel.” (Galatians 1 Commentary) The question naturally arises when did Paul receivedthis revelation from Jesus? Mostcommentators favorthat the time of this revelationof the gospel of grace to Paul was during his sojournin Arabia (Gal 1:17) which servedto supplement his initial revelationon the Damascus Road(Acts 9:3-22+). Recall that in Gal 1:1 Paul had assertedthe divine origin of his apostolic missionand now adds that his message wasalso ofdivine origin. Neitherhis mission nor his messagehadbeen from man, but both were from God! God also spoke to Paul at Corinth (Acts 18:9+), at Jerusalem(Acts 23:11+), and even in the instructions concerning the Lord's Supper (1 Cor. 11:23). John Phillips comments on Paul's Damascus Roadencounterwith Jesus "Iam Jesus!" the voice had said (Acts 9:5+). His instant response had been to
  • 33. enthrone Him. "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" (Acts 22:10+)He was already a savedman when he saidthat, savedand ready to serve his new found Lord to the end. It had all been of grace. The risen Jesus had extended unmerited favor to him, the chief of sinners. That was what had savedhim! Grace and grace alone!In a flash, the light dawned. It was not law;it was grace. It was not works;it was simple faith. It was not Moses;it was Christ. It was not Sinai; it was Calvary. It was not to be earned; it was to be received. It was not trying; it was trusting. It was not by means of the rules and rituals of religion, howeverhedgedabout with both truth and tradition; it was by means of the undeserved, undiluted, undying grace ofGod. His gospelwas received on the Damascus road"by the revelationof Jesus Christ." (Exploring Galatians:An Expository Commentary) De Haan says "How precious the song by the late Dr. James M. Gray, former president of the Moody Bible Institute. If it is not all of grace, then we are without a shred of hope or light for eternity. Naught have I gottenbut what I received; Grace hath bestowedit since I have believed; Boasting excluded, pride I abase; I’m only a sinner savedby grace! Suffer a sinner whose heart overflows, Loving his Saviour to tell what he knows; Once more to tell it would I embrace— I’m only a sinner savedby grace. NoelDue - It came not through the agencyof man, but through a revelation of the Man, Jesus Christ. We must allow the word ‘revelation’ to have its full force. The gospelwas notapprehended by Paul’s intellect, or attained by his moral power. Ratherit was a revelation, a sovereignwork of God in unveiling the truth to him. (Galatians Commentary)
  • 34. KJV Bible Commentary on the phrase of Jesus Christ - This can mean either Christ is revealing or Christ is revealed;both interpretations make good sense....ChristrevealedHimself to Paul. Christ was the subject, sum, and substance of that revelationwith the result that Paul became a new man with a new messageto proclaim. Paul was not a man-made apostle. He receivedhis commissionand his message fromChrist. Puritan John Brown saidthat "Jesus Christtook him (Paul) under His own immediate tuition (instruction)." Ryken - Not surprisingly, the religions that human beings invent always end up glorifying human beings. There is some law to keep, some teaching to follow, some ritual to perform, some penance to endure, or some state of consciousnessto achieve that will bring salvation. One way or another, we can climb up to heaven and reach God. Christianity is different. What distinguishes it from other world religions is that it actually comes from God. The one true gospelis not man-made, which is why it gives all the glory to God. The goodnews of the cross and the empty tomb could come only from God because it is about what God has done to save us through Jesus Christ. It does not teachthat we can reachup to heaven; it teaches thatGod has come down to earth. In Christ, God has entered human history and the human heart. (Reformed ExpositoryCommentary – Galatians) Irving Jensenhas an well done summary of the sometimes confusing Chronologyof Paul's "autobiography" in Galatians and the parallel passages in Acts... Click ChronologicalDiagramto enlarge John MacArthur's offers a caveatregarding revelationwhich is occasionally claimed by preachers and teachers in our day "It is one thing to claim direct revelation from God but another to prove it. Throughout the history of the church many people have falselyclaimed such revelation, as many do today. But Paul was not content merely to make the claim. Nor did he expect his readers to believe him simply on the basis of personal assertions. In the next
  • 35. 12 verses (Gal 1:13-24), therefore, the apostle proceeds to substantiate his claim by presenting irrefutable evidence of that divine revelationand of his apostolic credentials. (MacArthur New TestamentCommentary – Galatians) The writer of Hebrews substantiates that there is no need for new revelation... God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spokento us in His Son, Whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.(Hebrews 1:1-2+) Swindoll - Paul assertedthat Christ directly revealedredemptive truth to him (Gal. 1:11–12). Paulhad instantaneous understanding of this imparted wisdom. (Understanding Christian theology) Don Anderson - In SUMMARY of the Galatians 1:11-12 then, the Apostle Paul uses the NEGATIVE and the POSITIVE approach. NEGATIVELY—we can see THREE THINGS:1. The message whichhe preachedis “not after man,” 2. “NEITHER DID [HE] RECEIVE IT FROM MAN,” and 3. “NOR WAS [HE] TAUGHT IT [BY MAN].” From a POSITIVE point of view: “the messagewhichwas preached by [him is] . . . THROUGH A REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST.” (Notes) In short Paul received his appointment as an apostle "through Jesus Christ and God the Father" (Galatians 1:1) and his message"througha revelation of Jesus Christ." (Galatians 1:12) John Bunyan - A little from God is better than a greatdeal from men. What is from men is often tumbled over and over; things that we receive at God’s hand come to us as things from the minting house. Old truths are always new to us if they come with the smell of heavenupon them. If God has calledyou, do not spend time Looking over your shoulder to see Who is following you. ––Corrie ten Boom
  • 36. Norman Harrison - The chief enemy of the Gospelis human nature. Man is proud. Especiallyis he proud of his own thinking. He does not want to be told what to do or believe! He dislikes having a supernatural revelation handed to him; it leaves to room for speculation. He likes to "discovertruth"; then it is HIS truth, something he canbe proud of. Many of us who willingly acknowledge thatman's MORAL nature is perverted by sin -- the evidence is incontrovertible -- still refuse to realize that man's MENTAL processes are likewisewarped, biasedand undependable because ofsin. The Corinthians prided themselves on their thinking. Read1 Corinthians 1-2 for God's estimate of human thinking that setaside divine wisdom, climaxing in a statement of man's utter incapacity for spiritual things: unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1Corinthians 2:14). It is to be fearedthat the average preacherofour day is feeding his mind upon human thoughts; and, naturally, these mould his own thinking and preaching, when the charge is, "Preachthe Word." I was in a metropolitan preachers'meeting when the visiting speaker,a popular pastor, advocatedpreachers reading a BOOK A DAY (preparation for book reviews). Only a sense of courtesyrestrained me from asking what he would advise as to habits of reading the Bible. On a transcontinentaltrip I was thrown in with a preacher who had just pocketeda call to a pulpit under the eaves ofan outstandingly modern university. He had with him a case containing a dozen to a score of books. From them he was busy gleaning the latest"trends" of thought. Later I came to know his ministry. His people testified that it lackedthe Gospel. Human thought crowdedit out. The reasonmen of our day repudiate Paul's theologyand turn with preponderant emphasis to the teachings ofJesus is crystalclear. By ridding themselves of a supernatural interpretation of those teachings, climaxing in His death and resurrection -- an interpretation which is rigidly unsusceptible of alteration -- they leave themselves free to give their own interpretation.
  • 37. They are free to speculate as to what those "teachings ofJesus" SHOULD mean for "the modern mind." What Christendom needs is a renewedfear of God's anathema upon all perversions of the pure Gospel. It seems that nothing but such fear will bring us back to its unadulterated purity. (Amen!) And we, with our very bestintentions, need to exercise greatcare lestour ministry be but Galatianizing our people, through exhorting them to a goodness oflife which is not definitely the expressionof an inliving Presence. (Galatians 1:11, 12, 2:2 A Revelationversus a Reasoning) TODAY IN THE WORD - Towards the end of his secondterm, President George W. Bush seta record for the highest disapproval rating in the 70-year history of the Gallup poll. But in his recently published memoir, the former president resolutely affirms, “I had always done what I believed was right.” Being popular and being principled don’t always go hand-in-hand. The apostle Paul realized this in the context of his own ministry. To be faithful to the callof God and the truth of the gospelwould make him wildly unpopular in most places. Early on, Paul had to settle in his mind the answerto these all- important questions:Whom am I trying to please? Whose approvaldo I seek? As a faithful minister of the gospel, his answerhad to be Christ and Christ alone. He could not simultaneously seek the approval of people and of God. He had to surrender the desire to be liked, to be understood, and to be approved. This, as we’ll see later in the letter, was not true of the false teachers. Paul’s ministry is accreditedby the fact not only that he exclusively soughtthe approval of Christ, but also that he receiveda divine messageand call. The gospelPaulpreached is not of “human origin.” That is to say, Paul hadn’t learned the gospelsecondhandfrom Peteror any other leaders of the early Christian church. He was not making it up to suit his own purposes, either. Paul receivedhis commissiondirectly from Jesus Christ, the crucified Messiah. His Damascus Roadexperience made him a true Apostle.
  • 38. If the gospelPaulhad receivedwere of human origin, it would weakenhis messageand his authority. The gospelwould be subject to human ratification or amendment. And it would put Paul under the authority of his teachers. But because Paulreceivedthe gospeldirectly from Jesus, the message was guaranteedto be true. As such, it would be protected. As well, Paul could claim a divine authority in his ministry. TODAY IN THE WORD - One of the greatleaders of the Protestant movement in late nineteenth and early twentieth century Russia was Ivan Prokhanov. His careerin ministry was not unlike that of the apostle Paul. Ivan consciouslyfollowedPaul's "tent -making" example, earning a living as an engineer but using all of his remaining time to evangelize and teach. Like Paul, Ivan suffered persecutionfor his faith under both Czarist and Communist governments. And like Paul, Ivan's achievements were enormous, in areas including publishing, education, and even hymn-writing! As Paul reviews his careerin ministry for the Galatians, he moves into a defense of his right to preach the gospelofgrace and Christian liberty. He must clearly vindicate his apostleshipbefore he canvindicate his message. He has already made it clearthat salvationis by grace alone and that one can enjoy true Christian liberty by the powerof Christ alone. As was to be very clearfrom Paul's experience, preaching of that sortwould not please men (Gal 1:10) and would not lead to an easylife. Paul insists that his presentation of the gospelis not "something that man made up" (Gal 1:11), nor does man give the gospelits authority. Furthermore, Paul did not receive his message from man--that is, he had not learned it from human teaching as his converts had. He obtained his messageby direct revelation from Jesus Christ (Gal 1:12). TODAY IN THE WORD - “You may not run in the hall!” shouted the teacher. “Says who?” the defiant ninth-grader retorted. “Says the principal, and if you don’t obey, you’ll spend time in detention!” Challenge authority, and you’ll face the consequences. We don’t know exactlywhat was saidby
  • 39. those to whom Paul is responding in this epistle, but it seems likelythat they were challenging his authority. We can imagine them saying something like, “Who gave Paul the authority to spreada gospelthat extends salvation to Gentiles apart from obedience to the Law?” Theymight have added, “Isn’t Paul’s gospeljust a compromise intended to please people by making salvationavailable without requiring them to follow the practices prescribed in the Law?” Paul’s pointed response appeals to the highest authority–he is doing what he is doing and saying what he is saying because ofhis direct encounterwith Jesus. His radicaltransformation in attitude and action (he changedfrom one who persecuted, to one who propagatedthe churches of Jesus)showedbeyond doubt that his appealto the authority of Christ was genuine and not a human fabrication (Gal 1:11–12, 20–23). In the end, his encounter with Jesus resulted in praising God (Gal 1:24), a sure mark that God was at work. Paul’s appeal to Jesus is important not only because it helps him establishhis authority, but also because itbuilds up the confidence of those who read his letter, both then and now. As Christians we are committed to the belief that God speaks in all of Scripture. We are committed to the authority and truth of what we now call the Old Testament. Yet a little reading in the Old Testament raises the issue of how Gentiles can be acceptable to God apart from obedience to the Law prescribed there. Dr. Jack L. Arnold Equipping Pastors International, Inc. GALATIANS Lesson3
  • 40. The Divine Origin of the Gospel Galatians 1:11-24 INTRODUCTION Where did the Apostle Paul getthe messageofthe gospelofgrace? Was it a product of his own mind? Was it a device of his wild imagination? Was it mere tradition based on myth and legend? Did Paul gethis messagefrom someone else? In Galatians 1:11-24, the Apostle Paul defends his apostolic message and office, claiming they both had their origin in God, not man. He defends the supernatural origin of his apostleship, showing his gospeland position were given to him by Christ Himself. THE GOSPELIS OF DIVINE ORIGIN 1: 11-12 “I want you to know, brothers, that the gospelI preachedis not something that man made up.” Paul dogmaticallyasserts the gospelofgrace which he preached does not have any human source at all. The form, content and source of his gospelare in no way influenced by men. Paul’s gospelis not measured by any human rules or standards and is not human in its character.
  • 41. “I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I receivedit by revelation from Jesus Christ.” Paul claims his gospeldid not derive its contentfrom men nor was he taught it from any man, including the original Twelve Apostles. Paul’s gospelwas not a tradition handed down from previous generations but it was given to him directly from Christ. Neither his mission nor his message was derivedfrom man; both came to him directly from Jesus Christ. We are not told how Paul was taught by Christ but we assume Christ revealedHimself to Paul. For Paul to state he receivedthe gospeldirectly from God is a fantastic claim. He is saying his gospelis God’s messageandhis words are God’s words. The burden of proof is on the Apostle Paul to prove his gospelwas apart from any human means and was given directly from God. He will prove this from the history of his own life, giving a sketchyautobiographyof his first fourteen years of ministry. PAUL’S CONDUCT BEFOREHIS CONVERSIONPROVES THE DIVINE ORIGIN OF THE GOSPEL1:13-14 “Foryou heard of my previous life in Judaism.” Before his conversionto Christ, Paul was a Pharisee and wholeheartedly committed to the Jewishreligionof that day which was corrupt and apostate.
  • 42. The Jews addedmany man-made traditions in the Halacha to the Old Testamentteaching. The supernatural Jewishreligionof the Old Testament was degeneratedbecauseofritualism and was corrupt and dead. Paul knew nothing of a supernatural religion. Judaism in Paul’s time was apostate, basing salvationon goodworks and the Old Testamentconceptof salvationby grace through faith was a lost concept. Paul’s previous educationwould in no way enable him to think up the gospel of grace through faith in Christ, for Judaism as he believed it, was opposedto the liberty of the gospel. “How intensely I persecutedthe church of God and tried to destroy it.” Paul had such zeal for Judaism that he persecutedChristians in the name of God, being fully persuaded he was doing God’s will. He went from house to house in Jerusalem, seizing any Christians he could find, dragging them to prison (Acts 8:3 “But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he draggedoff men and womenand put them in prison.”). Paul even voted for the death of Christians (Acts 26:10 “And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were put to death, I castmy vote againstthem.”). He was determined to destroy the church and wipe it off the face of the earth. Paul, in his pre-conversiondays, could not have receivedhis gospelfrom the church because he was persecuting it. “I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews ofmy own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.”
  • 43. Paul, in his fanatical zealfor Judaism, outstripped his Jewishcontemporaries in Jewishreligion, culture, zeal and activity. Paul was better acquainted with Judaism than most men of his day. He certainly did not get the gospelofgrace from his Jewish contemporaries, who were steepedin legalism. Paul was in no mental or emotional state to change his mind about Christianity. So deeply was he brainwashedwith Jewishtraditions that no conditioned reflex or other psychologicaldevicescouldconvert him to Christ. Only God could reach him—and God did! When Paul was converted to Christ and given his appointment of apostle, he broke completely with all his Jewish background, traditions and religion. When he made this break, it costhim everything in the Hebrew culture: fame, power, influence, wealth. As Christians, we often have to break with our paganor religious-works past which was not Christian. It is never easyto make this break, but it is necessaryif we are to be effective for Christ. PAUL’S CONDUCT AT CONVERSIONPROVES THE DIVINE ORIGIN OF THE GOSPEL1:15-16a “But when God, who setme apart from birth.” Now Paul begins to talk about what God did for him at his conversion. God intervened into Paul’s life in a supernatural way so as to change the whole course of his life.
  • 44. God’s dealings with Paul here are related to God’s eternal counsel, which no human completelygrasps. It was God in His good pleasure who overruled Paul’s Jewishbackground, education, fanaticism and blindness to Christ. God can and does do the impossible every time a person is convertedto Christ, and Paul was an extra difficult nut to crack. Paul could only explain his conversionby tracing it back to God’s sovereign purposes. At birth, or even while he was still in his mother’s womb, Godset him apart to salvation and apostleship. Before Paulmade any human choices, God had a plan for his life. The word “setapart” means “to, put a boundary around” or “to mark out.” From God’s standpoint, Paul’s whole life was marked out from the moment of his birth, and we must conclude that his conversionand apostleshipwere planned by God. BecausePaul’s conversionand conversionwere planned by God, he was independent of all men in the receiving his apostolic messageandoffice. “And called me by his grace” God’s prenatal choice ofPaul led to his historical call. It was the pure grace of God that calledPaul to salvation and to his apostleship. Paul in his pre- conversionstate deservednothing from God. He was an enemy of God, Christ and Christians. He neither deserved grace noraskedfor it. Yet grace found him and savedhim. Paul’s conversionwas supernatural from beginning to the ending (Acts 9:3-6 “And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus:and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven. And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutestthou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest:it is hard for thee to kick againstthe pricks. And he
  • 45. trembling and astonishedsaid, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.”) Paul had no problem understanding the grace of God (1 Cor. 15:10 “But by the grace ofGod I am what I am: and his grace whichwas bestowedupon me was not in vain: but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace ofGod which was with me.”). Paul’s historical conversionand commissionwere supernatural and he in no way was dependent on man for his messageandoffice. “Was pleasedto reveal his Son in me” Paul saw the resurrectedChrist and this was an objective revelationto him, but he also had an inward revelationwhere in a subjective sense he understood the spiritual meaning of Christ, His death and resurrection. When his eyes were openedby God, he saw Christ as the Sonof Godflashed the truth into his heart. Paul, in his unsaved state, had the basic facts about Christ. He surely knew the centraltruths of the gospelas he heard them from Stephen and other Christian martyrs in whose persecutionand death Paul had a leading role. Paul regardedthe facts of Christ’s death and resurrectionas blasphemous and foolish. He rejectedthe truth. He knew Christians claimed Jesus was the Son of God and the Savior of sinners but these were just facts with no validity or authority to Paul. It was not until God supernaturally intervened and Paul really believed that he had spiritual understanding of Christ.
  • 46. Notice the contrastbetweenverses 13-14 and 15-16. PaulsaidI persecutedthe church, I advanced in Judaism and I tried to destroy the church. He had a life built on self rather than God. But then, after his conversion, he says, Godset me apart, God called me and God revealedHis Sonin me. His life became God-centeredrather than self-centered. “ThatI might preachhim among the Gentiles” There was a purpose for the conversionand commissionof Paul and that was that Paul should preach Christ to the Gentiles. Paul’s personalrelationship with Christ was so great that he was able to make it known to others. He receivedhis gospeldirectly from Christ and preached it directly to the Gentiles. The end of conversionis service for Christ. God has savedus not to sit, soak and sour but to serve. PAUL’S CONDUCT AFTER CONVERSION PROVESTHE DIVINE ORIGIN OF THE GOSPEL1:16b-24 “I did not consultany man, nor did I go up to Jerusalemto see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus.” The Judaizers might still accuse Paulof receiving his messageofgrace from other men after being converted to Christ, so Paul gives a brief history of his first 14 years of ministry after his conversionto show that this was impossible.
  • 47. As soonas Paul was saved, he talkedto no man but went into Arabia for quiet and solitude. Paul had a lot of wrong thinking to undo so God put him in solitary confinement for three years. Arabia is for the most part a desolate area. It was in Arabia that God revealedhimself to Israel through Moses, and, also in that region, Elijah received his revelation of the grace and power of God. It was to this region Paul went that he might give himself to meditation and prayer. In this three years of solitude, Paul was learning the gospelofgrace from Christ. In this time of seclusion, he meditated on the Old Testament scriptures, on the life and death of Christ and on the experiences ofhis conversion. He was forming a new theology, for all his learning of the past about works had been shatteredby his new discoveryof grace. He had been steepedin law, legalismand goodworks for salvationand it took teaching by Christ Himself to change his mind. Before any Christian canhave an effective ministry, he must spend time learning the gospelofgrace. Grace is the key to really understanding and appreciating salvation and is the greatmotivator for service for Christ. Since God took three years to teach Paul the doctrines of grace, how canwe justify putting up new converts as elders, deacons, preachers andteachers? It takes time to be an effective instrument of grace. “Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalemto get acquaintedwith Peter and stayedwith him fifteen days. I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother. I assure you before Godthat what I am writing you is no lie.”
  • 48. After three years, Paul finally went to Jerusalem, but his stay was only for fifteen days and he saw only two of the apostles. It was therefore ludicrous to suggestthat he obtained his gospelfrom the Jerusalemapostles. Paul put himself under oath to show he was telling the truth. Biblically to break an oath has serious consequences. Paultook this drastic stepto prove he was not lying. “Later I went to Syria and Cilicia.” For the next ten years, Paul ministered in the areas of Syria and Cilicia and had no contactwith any of the Apostles from Jerusalem. He was completely isolatedfrom the JerusalemChurch. Therefore, his message couldnot have come from any person in the Jerusalemarea. Ten years of Paul’s life are passedby in silence. Yet they were important years in God’s plan for the Apostle Paul. We know that Barnabas went to Cilicia and contactedPaul and brought him to Antioch of Syria to do ministry among the Gentiles there. Actually Barnabas was discipling Paul for ten years, getting him ready to become the greatestevangelistthe church has ever known. Paul’s ministry for the first fourteen years was not very significant in the eyes of men, but God was using these years to train and teachthis man many things about grace and life. Paul’s main ministry came when he was about forty f’ive years old, and he would be used mightily because Godhad taught him much in the schoolof hard knocks.
  • 49. “I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only heard the report: ‘The man who formerly persecutedus is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.’And they praised God because of me.” None of the JewishChristians in Jerusalemknew the Apostle Paul by face, but they heard of Paul’s changedlife and his preaching of the gospelof grace and glorified God because ofit. It is impossible to calculate the powerand influence of a changedlife. JewishChristians loved Paul and did not disagree with what he was teaching in the doctrines of grace. It was important for the Judaizers to understand that Paul did not have a different gospelthan the Apostles, but he got his gospeldirectly from Christ not the Apostles. Notice carefully that these early Christians did not glorify Paul but they glorified God who did a greatspiritual work in Paul’s life. We must be careful about exalting men in Christian circles. CONCLUSION Since the gospelofgrace came from God and not man, it is authoritative and, therefore, to be obeyed. The gospelgoodnews is that Jesus Christ died for men and was resurrectedfrom the dead to declare men righteous. Christ’s death was a substitution for sins and sinners. All who receive Jesus Christby faith shall have their sins forgiven and be granted eternal life.
  • 50. It is possible to have an intellectual understanding of the facts of the gospel and still not be born of the Spirit of God. You must be inwardly committed to Jesus Christ and only the Holy Spirit can enable you in grace to have a genuine commitment to Christ. Ask God to grant you the grace to receive Christ as your Lord and Savior. The Bible says, “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (l John 5:12). WILLIAM BARCLAY THE ARRESTING HAND OF GOD (Galatians 1:11-17) 1:11-17 As for the gospelthat has been preached by me, I want you to know, brothers, that it rests on no human foundation. for, neither did I receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but it came to me through direct revelation from Jesus Christ. If you want proof of that you heard of the kind of life I once lived when I practised the Jewishfaith, a life in which I persecutedthe Church of God beyond all bounds and devastatedit. I was making strides in the Jewishfaith beyond many of my contemporaries in my nation, for I was zealous to excess forthe traditions of my fathers. It was then that God who had setme apart for a specialtask before I was born, and who calledme through his grace, decidedto revealhis Son through me. that I might tell the goodnews of him amongstthe Gentiles. ThereuponI did not conferwith any human being, nor did I go up to Jerusalemto see those who were apostles before I was;but I went awayto Arabia; and then I went back againto Damascus. It was Paul's contention that the gospelhe preached was no second-handtale; it had come to him direct from God. That was a big claim to make and it demanded some kind of proof. For that proof Paul had the courage to point to himself and to the radical change in his own life.
  • 51. (i) He had been a fanatic for the law; and now the dominant centre of his life was grace. This man, who had with passionate intensity tried to earn God's favour, was now content in humble faith to take what he lovingly offered. He had ceasedto glory in what he could do for himself; and had begun to glory in what God had done for him. (ii) He had been the arch-persecutorof the Church. He had "devastated" the Church. The word he uses is the word for utterly sacking a city. He had tried to make a scorchedearth of the Church and now his one aim, for which he was prepared to spend himself even to death, was to spreadthat same Church over all the world. Every effect must have an adequate cause. When a man is proceeding headlong in one direction and suddenly turns and proceeds headlong in the opposite direction; when he suddenly reverses all his values so that his life turns upside down; some explanation is required. For Paul the explanation was the direct intervention of God. He had laid his hand on his shoulder and arrestedhim in mid-career. "That," saidPaul, "is the kind of effectwhich only God could produce." It is a notable thing about Paul that he is not afraid to recount the recordof his own shame in order to show God's power. He has two things to sayabout that intervention. (i) It was no unpremeditated thing; it was in God's eternalplan. A. J. Gossip tells how Alexander Whyte preachedthe sermon when he was ordained to his first charge. Whyte's message wasthat all through time and eternity God had been preparing this man for this congregationand this congregationforthis man and, prompt to the minute, he had brought them together. God sends every man into the world with a part to play in his purpose. It may be a big part or it may be a small part. It may be to do something of which the whole world will know or something of which only a few will everknow. Epictetus 2: 16 says, "Have courage to look up to God and to say, 'Dealwith me as thou wilt from now on. I am as one with thee; I am thine; I flinch from nothing so long as thou dost think that it is good. Leadme where thou wilt; put on me what raiment thou wilt. Wouldst thou have me hold office, or eschew it, stay or fly, be rich or poor? For all this I will defend thee before
  • 52. men.'" If a pagan philosopher could give himself so wholly to a God whom he knew so dimly, how much more should we! (ii) Paul knew himself to be chosenfor a task. He thought of himself as chosen not for honour but for service, not for ease but for battles. It is for the hardest campaigns that the generalchooseshis best soldiers and for the hardest studies that the teacherchooseshis best students. Paul knew that he had been savedto serve. Revelationfrom JESUS to Paul (verses 11,12) "But I certify you, brethren, that the gospelwhich was preachedof me is not after man" (Galatians 1:11). In the expression, "the gospelwhich was preachedof men," Paul has particularly in mind those distinctive principles which were just the opposite of the teachings ofthe errorists - such principles as freedom from the bondage of the law and justification by faith entirely apart from works. The apostle assures his readers that this Gospelwhich he made known to them while in their midst was "not, as to its nature, human" (K.S. Wuest). In short, he certifies its divine origin. "Certify" is a word of potency. We buy with confidence food and drug products bearing this label. There are times when, as in the purchase of a home, for example, an ordinary check will not be acceptedin payment; it must be certified. And yet how easily men and women who pride themselves upon their shrewdness in business matters are takenin by all sorts of fantastic isms and vagaries in the realm of religion. With eternal destiny hanging in the balance, it is assuredly the most arrant folly to accepta so- calledgospelwhich is not divinely accredited. "ForI neither receivedit of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ" (Galatians 1:12). In the words, "by the revelation of Jesus Christ," the apostle is referring, not to the appearance ofthe LORD to him on
  • 53. the road to Damascus -although that, of course, is necessarilyinvolved - but to the communication of the Gospelto him by none other than the LORD JESUS, in its basic features or structural framework at the time of his conversion, and in fuller details afterwards. While obviously none of us today are, or canbe, the recipients of revelation as were Paul and the other writers of the New Testament, letus never waverin our conviction that the Word of Life entrusted to us to make known to the world is the truth of GOD and not a dream of man. What we believe of the Gospelgoverns whatwe achieve with it. We must have a convictionof authority to witness with the authority of conviction. If we are going after men with a gospelthat is "afterman," we may as well turn back before we getstarted. It may not be out of place, while we are still on this subjectof the apostle's independence of human authority, to add one or two further observations. We make a very serious mistake if we construe verse 12 as affording Scriptural warrant for little or no training for the ministry or for lowering the educationalrequirements for ordination. Revelationclosedwith the Apostolic Age. The young man or woman calledof the LORD into full-time Christian service today needs and should seek the best scholastic preparation obtainable; but let it be under teachers who, in addition to their scholarship and intellectual competence, have a firm and deep-rootedbelief in the Bible as the authoritative and inerrant Word of GOD. Teachers ofthe Word should be learners on the Word. There is in our day altogethertoo much wresting of Scripture instead of a resting on Scripture. Revelationfrom JESUS in Paul (verses 13-17) "Forye have heard of my conversation(manner of life) in time past in the Jews'religion." The apostle in verses 13 and 14 takes occasionto remind his readers of his course oflife prior to his conversion, a careermarked by brilliant promise of advancement and by intense zealfor the religion of the fathers. What he thus writes of his prospects as a future leader in the religious life of his own people is not an overstatementbut an understatement of facts; for, in the opinion of not a few scholars bestqualified to pass judgment, Paul possessedthe greatestmind of his generationand could undoubtedly have risen to the loftiestheights of eminence in any one of severalfields he might