INTRODUCTION: Paul's largely autobiographical section of Galatians (chs.1 and 2) was skillfully designed to sustain his claim to be an apostle of Christ (1: 1; 11-12). False teachers had attacked his authority as an apostle in order to successfully bind their own perverted doctrine on these Gentile Christians. Paul's line of self defense exposes their line of argument against him.
THE HISTORICAL NATURE OF THE DEFENSE: Merely denying the charges would not disprove them. Evidence for his apostleship would have to be couched in a context which could be verified as genuine. Paul chose to argue his case by contrasting those particular events of his life with the charges against him. It had to survive the acid test of any historical writing – that of being written at a time when the very people involved in Paul's evidence were still alive to either verify or deny its reliability. These events had to be verified in the following areas:
1. TIME ELEMENT: The first event transpired while he was yet in Judaism before his conversion (1: 13-14). The second followed immediately upon his conversion to three years after conversion (1: 15-24). The third event took place 17 years after his conversion (2: 1-10), and the fourth happened yet some time later (2: 11-21).
2. PERSONS INVOLVED: In his first argument (1: 13-14) refers to the entire church as a witness to the fact that he persecuted Christians up to the time of his conversion. The second argument (1: 15-24) focuses on Peter and the Lord's brother James and the churches of Judea. The third argument (2: 1-10) spotlights Titus and the total number of the apostles at Jerusalem. The final argument (2: 11-21) centers on Peter and Barnabas and certain ones who came from James.
3. GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION: The places where the events of Paul's evidence happened includes the regions of Arabia, Syria and Cilicia, and specifies the cites of Damascus, Jerusalem and Antioch of Syria.
4. THE EVENTS THEMSELVES are embedded within this (aforementioned) historical framework which at the moment of writing could easily have been verified or exposed as false.
AIM OF THIS LESSON: This is a second in a series of four arguments to prove that Paul was an apostle sent from Christ (1: 11-12). This lesson shows that Paul, contrary to the false claims of the Judaizers against him,” conferred not with flesh and blood” after conversion and, therefore, could not have been further taught in the gospel by any human beings.
I. PAUL HAD NO CONTACT WITH THE ORIGIANAL APOSTLES (Galatians 1:15-19). After three years of preaching from the time of his conversion he saw only Peter and James for the short space of 15 days. A visit of no special consequence.
II. PAUL HAD NO CONTACT WITH THE CHURCHES OF JUDAEA (Galatians 1:20-24). He was known to them only by reputation, not by face.
CONCLUSION: Therefore, Paul learned nothing of the gospel from these sources. This lends credence to his claim (1: 11-12) that he received his gospel, all of it, from Jesus and not from a man. This was essential for an apostle.
OBSERVATIONS:
1. Paul's life was one of destiny. God chose him from his mother's womb to be a gospel preacher and an apostle (Gal. 1:15-16).
2. King Josiah was also a man of destiny (I Kings 13: 1-2; 2 Kings 22-23).
3. Jeremiah was also a man of destiny (Jer. 1: 4-5).
None of this affected their free moral agency. Consider Paul's statement in I Cor. 9: 27; and Jeremiah's plight in Jeremiah. 15: 15-21. They had the privilege of free choice.
QUESTION: Do not all men have a divinely ordained destiny? (Psalms 139: 1-17), especially verses 15-16). God has a life plan for each of his creatures. It becomes ours to fit into that plan. We can rebel and go our own way. Then life through Christ becomes, at last, a matter of faith – not fate. Here is the real adventure in human existence! Before God stands every man making his decision. Shall it be His way or Ours???
Original by Ed Wharton, edited by Lane