GALATIANS 1:11-17 I. REJECT THOSE WHO TEACH YOU A DIFFEENT DOCTRINE A. Because My Doctrine Is Not From Men 1. For I did not receive it from a man nor was I taught [it] Introduction

After beginning his letter with a passionate appeal to the Galatians not to turn away from the Gospel of Grace he had taught them, Paul proceeded to give them five reasons why they should respond positively to his appeal (Gal. 1:11-4:20). Then he gave them a Scriptural illustration to help them understand his appeal (Gal 4:21-31), and finally he repeated the appeal one more time (Gal. 5:1-12). The first reason he gave them for responding to his appeal was that he had received the doctrine he taught them from God and not from men. His explanation of how he received his doctrine from God is the longest single section of the book. It extends from Galatians 1:11 through Galatians 2:21. He told of five events in his life that confirmed that his doctrine came from God. The first was that he had learned that doctrine initially through an appearance to him of Jesus Christ Himself. He reminded them that formerly he had opposed Jesus and His teachings fiercely and had persecuted those who accepted it. He had changed his mind, not because of the witness or work of any man, but because Jesus came to him while he was on the road to Damascus to persecute Christians there. Jesus’ appearance had been too dramatic and His commands too specific for him ever to doubt or forget them. He had told the Galatians about that experience, probably many times; and it should be enough to convince them it had come from God and they should not ever accept any contradictory doctrine.

Outline

1. For I did not receive it from a man nor was I taught [it] (1:12a-14) ...... 2 a. But [I received it initially] through a revelation of Jesus Christ (1:12b)...... 2 b. For you have heard of my past life in Judaism (1:13-14) ...... 2 (1) That I persecuted the church of God excessively, and wasted it (1:13b) . . . . 2 (2) So [that] I prospered in Judaism (1:14) ...... 2 (a) Above many contemporaries of my age (1:14b) ...... 2 (b) Emerging more and more [as] a zealot for the traditions of my fathers (1:14c)...... 2 c. But when God (1:15-17), ...... 3-4 (1) Who (1:15b-15d) ...... 3 (a) Separated me to Himself from my mother’s womb (1:15c) ...... 3 (b) And called me by His grace (1:15d) ...... 3 (2) Was pleased (1:15e-16c) ...... 3 (a) To reveal His Son to me (1:16b) ...... 3 (b) That I might preach Him among the Gentiles (1:16c), ...... 3 (3) I did not consult immediately with flesh and blood (1:16d-17)...... 3-4 (a) I did not go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me (1:17a)...... 3 (b) Instead, I went to Arabia and returned again to Damascus (1:17b). . . 3-4 A Related Issue: Comparison with Acts 9:1-25; 22:1-25; 26:1-20 ...... 5

GALATIANS 1:11-17 – SECTION I.A Page 2

Comments honor and that he was unimpressed by people who were given honor. It would have been totally out of After urging the Galatians not to accept any character for him to say he cared nothing about other doctrine than the one in which they had human authority in the midst of a long section of believed, he proceeded to give them five reasons this letter written to prove his authority. In his letter why they should not abandon the doctrine he had to the Galatians, he was not seeking to defend taught them. Paul’s five reasons were: himself or his authority but to defend the truthfulness of the message God had given him. To 1. His doctrine came from God (1:11-2:21) do so, He told of certain experiences he had had that 2. Their experience with grace (3:1-5) showed how the doctrine he preached had been 3. Teachings of the Scripture (3:6-29) given to him by God. Paul was highly selective in 4. Christ had set them free (4:1-11) the events he related. He selected them to show 5. Their confidence in him (4:12-20) how his doctrine came directly from God. The experiences he related were not for the purpose of Paul followed those five reasons with: (1) an writing a record of his life but to show that his illustration about Abraham’s two sons to help them doctrine came from God. understand why his appeal was so urgent (Gal 4:21- 31) and (2) a concluding appeal for them to stand Verse 12. For I did not receive it from a firm in the doctrine of grace (Gal. 5:1-12). Paul’s man nor was I taught [it], but [I received it appeals and the reasons for them encompass almost initially] through a revelation of Jesus Christ . the whole letter. His appeal to them was the reason he was writing to them. The warning he gave to The first evidence Paul gave to show that his them at the end of the book was simply a precaution doctrine came from God was that initially it had not to keep them from overreacting and concluding that been taught to him by men. Instead, it had been freedom in Christ meant license to live in any way revealed to him by Jesus Christ. He was referring they chose. That warning was briefer, because to his conversion experience on the road to accepting libertinism was not a threat at that time Damascus, which opened his eyes to salvation by like legalism was. Paul really had only one major grace (Gal. 1:12-16). He learned to accept salvation point in his letter, and efforts of interpreters to find by grace by revelation from God without the several major points have led them to assistance or teaching of any person. The revelation misunderstand some of the statements he made. Jesus gave him turned his life completely around.

Verse 11. I declare to you, brothers, that Verses 13-14. 13 For you have heard of my the Gospel preached by me is not according to past life in Judaism, that I persecuted the church men. of God excessively, and wasted it, 14 So [that] I prospered in Judaism a bove Paul’s first reason for his appeal to them to many contemporaries of my age, emerging more reject any other doctrine was that the doctrine he and more [as] a zealot for the traditions of my preached did not come from men but from God. fathers . Then he gave them five evidences that showed his message came from God. The discussion of those Paul reminded the Galatians that he had five evidences extends to the end of Chapter 2. It is strongly opposed Christians and persecuted them. the longest single section in the book. Because of his zealous opposition to Christians, he gained recognition among the Jewish religious Because of the length of this section of Paul’s leaders that exceeded the recognition given to letter, some interpreters see it as a separate major others of his generation. What he had learned from division of the book. They describe it as Paul’s men was the exact opposite of what Jesus revealed autobiography and say he was defending his to him. When Jesus revealed the truth to him, he apostleship and authority. Not so! In Galatians 2:6, rejected what men had taught him because Jesus Paul said he cared nothing about authority and showed him a better way. GALATIANS 1:11-17 – SECTION I.A Page 3

Verses 15-16. 15 But when God, who Instead, I went to Arabia and returned again to separated me to Himself from my mother’s Damascus . Instead of going to Jerusalem, Paul womb a nd called me by His grace, went to Arabia, and then he returned to Damascus. 16 W as pleased to reveal His Son to me that Neither of those places was even in Israel, and I might preach Him among the Gentiles certainly neither was a recognized center of the newly budding Christian movement. If he did not God Himself completely turned Paul’s life go to Jerusalem to learn to accurately understand around by calling him by His grace. He did so by Jesus but instead went to Arabia and then back to revealing Jesus to him. Paul did not describe the Damascus, it must mean that he chose those places circumstances by which Jesus was revealed to him. to do his learning. It was a wise decision. Both his He did not need to, because he surely had described time in Arabia and his time in Damascus were it to the Galatians when he was with them, probably important in developing his understanding of the many times. They knew how God had turned his revelation Jesus had given to him. In Arabia he life around. learned by studying the Scriptures, and in Damascus he learned by preaching and witnessing to Gentiles. Paul said the initial experience He had with Jesus was not something done on the spur of the Probably Paul’s time in Arabia was spent in moment. God had been planning it since before the north of that nation, which was not extremely Paul was born. God had separated out Paul for His far away from Damascus. Paul must have spent his service while he was still in his mother’s womb. time there studying and learning how to adjust his When Paul was on the road to Damascus was thinking to the revelation that had been given to simply the time God was pleased to reveal to Paul him. He did those studies, not under the guidance the plan He had all along. or teaching of any human person, but by communion with God and by study of the In that initial experience, Jesus had told Paul Scriptures. Those Scriptures were the Jewish Bible, he was to preach Him among the Gentiles. The which Christians call the Old Testament. They plan for him to preach to the Gentiles had to be the were the only Scriptures in existence. None of the work of God, because opposing preaching to the New Testament had been written as yet. Paul Gentiles was the reason he had been persecuting already was a great student of the Jewish Scriptures, Christians so severely. Only God could have but he had learned them incorrectly, from the changed his mind so radically. viewpoint of the Jewish legalism of his day. He had to restudy and rethink those Scriptures in the light Verses 16d-17. 16d I did not consult of the new revelation that had been given to him. immediately with flesh and blood The readjustment of his thinking was a radical one. 17 I did not go up to Jerusalem to those who It changed his understanding from a doctrine of were apostles before me. Instead, I went to salvation by works through keeping the Jewish law Arabia and returned again to Damascus. to a doctrine of salvation by the free grace of God through faith. His study produced monumental I did not consult immediately with flesh and results and gave him a clear vision of what salvation blood. I did not go up to Jerusalem to those who by faith meant that was possessed by any other were apostles before me . Paul went on to stress that person in his time. It prepared him to share that after Paul was met by Jesus and Jesus called him to understanding in books that continue to inform us go be a witness for him, he did not go to the today. apostles in Jerusalem, where the Christian movement started, to learn more. He vastly needed As important as Paul’s time in Arabia was, the to reorient his thinking and to relearn many views time he spent in Damascus afterward was equally that he had learned wrongly. But he did not consult valuable. There he learned by experience how to recognized Christian leaders to get help in adjusting share with others the truth Jesus had revealed to his understanding. He wanted to learn directly from him. In Damascus, he gained experience in God and from His Word what it all meant. preaching and teaching to Gentiles the new GALATIANS 1:11-17 – SECTION I.A Page 4 understandings he had gained from his studies. in Damascus all were important evidence that he got That time was as important to his development as his doctrine directly from God and not from men. an effective servant of Christ as was his time in Therefore, by all means they should not reject it, Arabia. Sharing the true God with Gentiles was as change it, or add to it some contradictory idea or radical an idea to Paul as was salvation by grace practice. through faith. Paul had to change from a doctrine of salvation reserved for the Jews only to a doctrine Later Paul wrote his new understandings in of salvation open to everyone who would believe in inspired writings that give us inerrant interpretations Jesus. He not only had to learn how the Jewish of the doctrine of salvation by grace and of the Scriptures related to his new knowledge that Jesus practice of witnessing to people of all the nations. was God’s Son and the promised Messiah but also God was in charge of Paul’s writing down his new how they related to Jesus’ instructions to him to insights just as much as He was in revealing those preach that doctrine to Jews, Gentiles, and kings insights to Paul in the first place. (Acts 9:15). No man could teach him how to conduct a deliberate mission to the Gentiles, In Galatians 1:18, Paul says his period of study because at that point no one had thought of such an in Arabia and practice in Damascus ended “after enterprise. The only way for him to learn about three years.” It often has been stated that after witnessing to Gentiles was to practice it. He gained Paul’s conversion, he spent the next three years in that kind of experience in Damascus. Arabia; but actually Paul said that during those three years he went to Arabia and then returned to What Paul stressed to the Galatians about those Damascus (Gal 1:17b). How much of that time he early years after his conversion was that he did not spent studying in Arabia and how much of the time go to Christian leaders in Jerusalem to learn what it he spent preaching in Damascus is not clear, but all meant. Instead he spent time in Arabia and both periods of time were important in developing Damascus learning directly from God. What he had him as an effective servant of Jesus. taught to the Galatians, he had learned from God. Paul thought his learning in Arabia and Damascus Even the exact meaning of “after three years” about how to apply what Jesus had taught him was is subject to interpretation. Three years probably as important in showing that his doctrine came from means a part of the first year and a part of the third God as was receiving his call from Jesus to begin year. They surely did not coincide with the with. He did not mature his thinking about the new calendar year, so they stretched over a three year truths Jesus had revealed to him by being taught by period. That period could have lasted from 14 Christian leaders. He learned it from the Scriptures months to a full 36 months and still; have taken in Arabia and from personal witnessing and place during three different years. Probably the preaching in Damascus, both under the guidance of actual time was somewhere in between. the Holy Spirit. His vision on the road to Damascus, his study in Arabia, and his witnessing

GALATIANS 1:11-17 – SECTION I.A Page 5

______

A RELATED ISSUE COMPARISON WITH ACTS 9:1-25; 22:1-25; 26:1-20

Further insight into this early period of Paul’s Christian life can be gained from the Book of Acts, especially about how God revealed Jesus to him. At that time he was still being called by his Hebrew name Saul. Acts 9:1-19 tells in detail how Saul was on his way to Damascus to arrest Jewish Christians who had fled there from his persecutions and to return them to Jerusalem for trial. When he neared Damascus, Jesus appeared to him clothed in a light that was so bright it outshone the sun and caused him to fall to the ground. At that moment he also was struck blind. Saul recognized the light was shining from a person, and he asked who He was. The answer was immediate, “I am Jesus.” Saul then and there recognized that Jesus was God and that he had been dreadfully wrong. Jesus added to Saul’s consternation by telling him that He was the one Saul had been persecuting. As painful as that revelation was, Saul accepted it as true and asked what Jesus wanted him to do. Jesus told him to go to Damascus and it would be told him what to do. After three days, God sent a man named Ananias to restore Saul’s sight and to tell him he was an instrument chosen by God to carry His name to Gentiles, kings, and the sons of Israel. The statements in Acts are consistent with what Saul said in Galatians, but Acts gives a much more detailed description of what actually happened.

Two other passages in Acts retell the story of Saul’s conversion in his own words and add clarifying details. In Acts 22:1-21, by which time he was being called Paul, he told of his Damascus road experience to a crowd that had attacked him in the Jerusalem temple, and in Acts 26:1-20 he told of it to King Agrippa in Caesarea. So Acts gives us three confirming accounts of Paul’s conversion. Each adds interesting details, but all are consistent with each other.

Acts does not mention Saul’s time of study in Arabia, but it clearly describes his preaching in Damascus and his growth in the ability to expound on the new truths he had gained (Acts 9:20-22). Those verses say that he began preaching that Jesus is the Son of God in the synagogues of Damascus. All who heard him were astonished, and Saul continued to grow in his ability to preach Jesus and in his ability to confound the Jews in Damascus by evidences that Jesus is the Messiah and that Gentiles are acceptable to God by faith. These statements are consistent with what Paul said in Galatians and explain Paul’s statements a bit more fully.

Acts adds little to our understanding of how long this period in Saul’s life lasted. It simply says that Saul’s preaching and teaching in Damascus lasted “many days,” an indefinite expression that simply means an extended period of time. It certainly could apply to the three years or the parts of three years that Paul mentioned in Galatians. ______