Paul’s Defense

Opening Illustration

Have you ever been falsely accused of something? Maybe it was of willful negligence or laziness at work, or for eating the last donut on the counter. There is a wide range of false accusations from the trivial and silly ones to life changing and potentially ruinous accusations. In our text today, Paul is responding to the false accusation that we introduced last week in verse 10. Paul is being accused of being a people pleaser. Accused of removing circumcision and the law from the gospel in order to make it easier for the Gentile Galatians to accept it, but we know that is not true. First, Paul is not taking anything out of the Gospel, but it is these false teachers who are adding to the Gospel, and second, Paul is not a people pleaser and here’s why:

Galatians 1:11–24 ESV

For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother. (In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!) Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” And they glorified God because of me.

The Gospel not from man, but from God

Galatians 1:10 “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

Last week we conclude with this verse. Paul is rebutting claims from his theological opponents that he is simply a people pleaser who has adjusted the Gospel to best suit the audience instead of remaining true to the Gospel of Scripture.

Paul emphasizes that this cannot be the case and he defends that the Gospel that he teaches does not come from man but from God.

Evidenced in Paul’s conversion

Galatians 1:11–12 ESV

For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

First, we get Paul’s defense through his conversion. As we discussed in the first week of this series back in March, Paul’s conversion was the result of a supernatural experience. Paul saw the risen Jesus Christ.

Acts 9:3–6 ESV

Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”

The significance of this moment for Paul may not be so clear to the modern hearer. Paul was a Pharisee, a pharisee of pharisees as he refers to himself in Philippians. The Pharisees were strict followers of the Torah, and they did so through the traditions of their Fathers.

You see Jesus of Nazareth had numerous conflicts with the Pharisees and their teachings. The Pharisees wholeheartedly believed that they were following the teachings of Scripture correctly, but Jesus proclaims to them that they were not walking in the way of Torah correctly.

Imagine that you have spent your life studying something and are considered a technical expert on it. You know the history of interpretation and how to practise what it teaches as has been taught for generations, and then some 30 year old guy from a nobody town shows up and says that you are totally misunderstanding what you have spent your life studying. You wouldn’t be too keen to listen to him, I’m sure, but this is what happens to the Pharisees.

Paul’s opposition to Christianity comes out of his opposition to its leader.

The Pharisees opposed Jesus over healing on the Sabbath, eating with sinners, forgiving people of their sins, not following purity regulations, and opposing the traditions of the elders. Furthermore, Jesus seems to correct Moses, the one who gave the Jews the law on issues of divorce.

From Paul and the Pharisees’ perspective Jesus got what he rightly deserved on the cross. One Bible scholars notes, “Jesus had violated Torah . . . stood condemned under Torah, and had been justly executed under the curse it pronounced upon ‘anyone who does not uphold the words of this law by observing them’ (Deut 27:26) . . . Jesus [suffered an appropriate death in their eyes]: the one who lived so as to merit Torah’s curse and, convicted of a capital crime, died in a manner that singled him out as accursed, ‘hung on a tree’ (Deut 21:22-23)”

In summary, for the Pharisees, the punishment of crucifixion was God’s righteous judgement on Jesus for his blasphemy and disobedience to the law. Jesus died the death a sinner deserves.

Yet in Jewish understanding, resurrection was God’s way of vindicating a righteous person who had been unjustly killed. Therefore the Jews anticipated resurrection of the faithfully obedient Torah-followers in the end days, but God resurrected Jesus after three days! God proclaimed Jesus, the one whom the Pharisees believed to be disobedient and blasphemous to be correct, to be faithful, to be righteous in the eyes of the law and the eyes of God.

So, when Paul, a pharisee of pharisees, stands on that road to Damascus before the risen Savior, he sees the resurrected Jesus for himself. The one whom he claimed rightfully died according to the curse of the law as one hung on a tree, now stands before him alive; vindicated; righteous and glorified.

The Pharisees were wrong and Paul cannot deny the resurrected Christ. And this Christ is the one who gives him the Gospel and the call to preach to the Gentiles.

This Gospel is not from man but from God.

Evidenced in Paul’s new zeal to proclaim the Gospel

This brings us to the change seen in Paul.

Galatians 1:13–16 ESV

For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone;

Paul was very successful in his former life as a Pharisee. He believed that he was living out a faithful call of zeal for the Torah to strike down those who openly oppose and disobey the law of God. In Acts 7, we see the first martyrdom in church history. Acts 7:58-8:1

Acts 7:58–8:1 ESV

Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. And Saul approved of his execution.

Paul was zealous to persecute the church of Christ because Paul was fully convinced in his heart that Jesus was a false prophet and blasphemer rightfully executed and cursed by God. But now, Paul has seen the resurrected Christ. So that the result is the one who persecuted the church with zeal now proclaims the truth of the Gospel with zeal to enlarge that very church.

Paul further defends the independence of his Gospel

Once again, Paul assures his audience that he did not receive this Gospel from man but from God.

Galatians 1:16–22 ESV

I did not immediately consult with anyone; nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother. (In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!) Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ.

Paul’s Gospel came from Jesus Christ who revealed himself to Paul. Paul immediately begins proclaiming this Gospel in Arabia and in Damascus, and then after three years he goes to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Peter and James. Paul does not spend a significant amount of time with the Apostles, which he emphasizes that it was 15 days to reject the idea that his Gospel is one that came from years of being mentored by the Peter. Paul is not a student of the Jerusalem leadership, but an apostle called and equipped by God to proclaim this message to the Gentiles.

An Oath before God

Paul reveals how serious he is about the independence of his Gospel message as one that comes from God and not man that he invokes the presence of God to swear an oath of the truth of his defense. This oath applies to everything Paul claims from verse 10 to chapter 2 verse 21. To defend Paul’s authority as an Apostle he calls upon God through this oath .

The Power of Grace

This brings us to our final and key point of this section: The power of God’s grace at work in Paul’s life.

Galatians 1:23–24 ESV

They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” And they glorified God because of me.

The Grace of God to save

If there is anyone in the early church who did not deserve God’s grace, it was Paul. Paul actively stood against the Church to eradicate and destroy it, but God in his infinite power and wisdom stepped into his life through the revelation of Jesus Christ to make a work in Paul that changes the trajectory of the church. Paul was saved by the grace of God because of who God is, and there was nothing in Paul that made God choose him outside of God’s decision to choose. This does not mean that God’s call to save Paul was arbitrary or random, but that it was in God’s mysterious and perfect wisdom that he chose a persecutor and enemy of the church to spread the message of Jesus Christ beyond the Jewish communities into the Gentile world.

The Grace of God to call

And we see that it is the grace of God to call Paul before he was even born, before he was ever a pharisee and before he even thought of persecuting the church. God’s grace is seen in Paul’s life from the womb to call him to be an Apostle to the Gentiles.

God called Paul according to His perfect will and plan, and God equips Paul to do the very thing that Paul was trying to destroy. And this should be an encouragement to each and every one of us that God’s will is sure, that God will never call us to something that He will abandon us in. I don’t want to say that if God calls you to something that you are guaranteed earthly success because there are numerous men and women who have experienced God’s will in a way contrary to what would be considered earthly success. But God will equip and sustain those whom He called to spiritual success and sanctification. That is God will complete the work that He has begun in you through the Holy Spirit to make you holy!

And this is seen in Paul’s ministry through the integrity of Paul. Paul’s drastic and dramatic shift from pharisee to apostle is only one that can come from a very real experience of God’s grace. And Paul lives with the character of integrity to stand for Christ against all opposition and persecution.

We can find assurance in God’s calling! Paul reassures us in Romans:

Romans 8:28–30 ESV

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Our assurance is in Jesus Christ who calls us!

Application

And maybe you are unsure of that call today and you are afraid that maybe you have not been called. To you, I say look to this Gospel that comes from God and take assurance in the Scriptures that all who call upon the name of Jesus will be saved. Look to Jesus Christ for the assurance of your salvation because the one who calls is faithful. This Gospel is not my Gospel, it isn’t a Presbyterian or Reformed Gospel, it is the Gospel of Jesus Christ who bore the curse of the law being nailed to a tree in our place to bear a death that we deserved and to stand in our place taking on the sins of the world and bearing the wrath of God. But that is not the end of the story because God resurrected Jesus from the grave proclaiming him before the world to be righteous that we may stand in his righteousness instead of remain in the place of condemnation under the law.

This Gospel comes from God. This Gospel is revealed in these Scriptures which come from God. The inerrant, inspired Word of God. And this Gospel is revealed in Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Word of God made flesh. We no longer stand under human interpretation of the Torah like the Pharisees but we stand in the God revealed Word of God in Jesus Christ.

Take comfort in Jesus Christ. Do not fear that you are not good enough because you’re not! But Christ is and you have been called to stand in His righteousness. Take comfort that you are a sinner, but by the powerful grace of God you may be called righteous in Jesus Christ, not because of what you have done but because of what He has done.

Do not take offense when the world hates you for following Jesus, but zealously live out your faith in Jesus Christ with integrity like Paul that the world may see Christ in you and glorify God because of you.