Galatians 1:18-24
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Scripture Announcement: (Pew Bible: pg. 1003)
Scripture Announcement: (Pew Bible: pg. 1003)
I mentioned last week that Paul’s first major argument for the Gospel of Christ is largely his own testimony. This goes from . We see that we must remain faithful to the Gospel because only the Gospel of Christ can change a life! Paul’s own life is a dramatic example of that. We saw last week in vss. 13-14. He went from someone who was violently trying to destroy the church for the sake of the Jewish traditions to becoming one of the greatest disciples of Christ - not great in his own merit, but one of the greatest trophies of God’s mercy and grace that has ever lived!
We also know that he was an apostle. But this is confusing. Who were the apostles? The Scriptures are very clear concerning who an apostle was.
21 So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,
22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.”
Acts 1:21-
This was the criteria that was set out to be an apostle. Of course, we know they chose Matthias to fill Judas’ role. Some preachers have suggested over the years that that the apostles were too quick to do this. I even heard a sermon one time that was all about waiting for God’s timing for assigning and taking on a calling. Great principle. Wrong text! There is no indication that the apostles were wrong to replace Judas with Matthias.
The early Christians would have heard all about the original apostles. They would have heard about Peter and John. Perhaps they had heard stories of the Jerusalem church and its phenomenal growth. At a minimum, they knew that Jesus had died and rose about in Jerusalem, under Pontius Pilate.
But Paul? Who’s this Paul guy? What gives him the right to testify and tell us about the Gospel? Where did he come from?
Even today, there are people try and put Paul against Jesus. Even among evangelicals, there are trends of Christians who say they are “red-letter Christians.” In other words, they tell us that, “You know, you Christians rely too much on Paul! You need to go back to what Jesus said. Feed the hungry. Practice social justice. Etc.” Jesus was interested in social issues. Liberation. The way we achieve salvation today is through social action. Once again - Good Works. Making just laws, etc.
Not denying all those things are good things in and of themselves when understood properly. But they do not save. Why should we listen to Paul? Why should we pay attention to the Gospel?
Why should we place our faith in the Gospel of Christ? Why should we believe Paul?
Of course, none of those things are bad (if understood properly).
But Paul shows us that his Gospel is not from man - not even himself. Last week we saw that there was nothing in Paul’s former life that would have brought him to the Gospel! He’s continuing this argument this week - that The Gospel is the only message that God gave us to save our souls! It is the message that Jesus preached. It is the message that the apostles preached. It is also the message that Paul preached.
Why should we place our faith in the Gospel of Christ? Why should we believe Paul?
Paul is arguing that the Gospel that he preached is not man’s gospel
{PROP} We Must Hold on to Gospel of Jesus Christ!
{PROP} We Must Hold on to Gospel of Jesus Christ!
Paul gives us 2 reasons.
We Must Hold on to the Gospel of Christ because of its Divine Source.
We Must Hold on to the Gospel of Christ because of its Divine Source.
18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days.
19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother.
20 (In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!)
In order to understand what Paul is getting at here, it’s helpful to remember the primary argument Paul is making. The Gospel is the only message that can change a life because it is the only message that comes from God! And Paul is making the case that he did not consult with anyone immediately (vs. 16), and he didn’t even go to Jerusalem. (vs. 17). Instead, he stayed in Damascus.
The Gospel does not Come from Human Authority.
The Gospel does not Come from Human Authority.
Paul is continuing his argument that the Gospel of Christ had not come from man, nor was it ever man’s idea. It did not come from any human authority - not even from the Apostles themselves. Paul is making it very clear that his interactions with the apostles in those early days was very limited. In fact, it was limited in the sense that he only met with 2 Leaders of the Church - Peter, the clear leader of the apostles in Jerusalem; and James, the Lord’s brothers. (vs. 19)
Why did he go there? First of all, it wasn’t necessarily by choice! When you look at , his preaching had gotten the attention of the Jews in Damascus. His reasoning and proclaiming was too powerful and they wanted to kill him! The disciples had to find an opening through the wall to let him out in a basket! So it’s not something he even set out or planned to do, but took the opportunity because he really had nowhere else to go.
Secondly, there is an indication in the word used. “visit” carries the idea of simply wanting to get to know him. He wanted to talk with him and visit with him. Notice, Paul doesn’t say, “I went to be taught by Cephas and James.” There is no sense of that here. Instead, he wanted to make the acquaintance of these men. This was fellowship, not any kind of apostolic succession.
This was only after 3 years! What was Paul doing in those 3 years? He was in Damascus and Arabia, doing what? , . He was preaching, proclaiming, and arguing that Jesus was the Christ! He also went to Arabia. Why the wilderness? We’re not sure. He doesn’t say. Some take vs. 16, where he says, “I didn’t consult with anyone...” to mean that he went into the wilderness to sit and be taught by Jesus. I don’t think we have to choose. I think he likely did both. He would go out into the wilderness to meditate, study, and learn from the Spirit the Gospel of Christ, and he would come into Damascus and preach and proclaim what he was learning. There is evidence that he had a ministry in Arabia as well!
But the point is clear. He was already preaching for 3 years prior to coming to Jerusalem. He didn’t come to receive his commission from them. He came to fellowship!
2 Cor
The Gospel does not Come from Human Tradition.
The Gospel does not Come from Human Tradition.
Paul says not only was it only after 3 years, but he was only 15 days! Again, the Book of Acts fills in some blanks here. Why so short? Jerusalem was actually a dangerous place for Paul to go. Remember, only 3 years prior he received orders from the chief priest to go round up and imprison the church in Damascus. Can you imagine how angry the chief priests must have been? So, we find out from that he had to run from Jerusalem as well. If we’re reading this correctly, he may have only been in Jerusalem for 2 weeks! 15 days! That’s it!
He only had 15 days to spend with Peter and James. Can you imagine what they talked about? I don’t think it’s hard to. Paul would have naturally wanted to know about Peter’s experiences with Christ during his earthly ministry! I can’t help but to wonder if he asked James what it was like to have Jesus as a big brother. Maybe Paul heard the story of when Jesus was 12 years old at the temple for the first time. Maybe Peter told him about the miracles, the time he walked on water and nearly drowned because he took his eyes of Christ.
We don’t know. But we do know that 15 days was not enough time for a tradition to develop! His visit was not to learn the Gospel - 15 days is not enough time for this. Instead, it was to get acquainted with Peter and James. Even then, it is cut short. If you look on in , Paul was ran out of Jerusalem much like he was ran out from Damascus and went back to his home town.
17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
A passage that actually has relevance for the argument of this book!
4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
1 cor 2:
Why it is that we hold to the Gospel? Because it is truly the message of Jesus Christ than came from God! Not from some human authority! Nor from some human tradition! It is the message of God.
This is why we hold to Sola Scriptura - Scripture Alone. We believe the church has authority only to the extent that it is faithful to the teaching of the Word of God! The preacher does not speak ex cathedra. The preacher is not infallible. I only have authority to the extent that I am faithful to the Word of God!
I’ve said this alot to many of you. We’ll get to talking about something we disagree on, and I’ll usually say this… “Hey, I’m not your priest, I’m your pastor.” My point in saying that is that in and of myself, I have no authority over you to tell you what to believe. Only as I faithfully explain the Scriptures is there any authority there.
This is why we need to be careful with people who claim that you must have their insight in order to faithfully understand the Word. Now, don’t fall for the opposite temptation, to say that there is nothing we gain from teachers. Beloved, men and women have been teaching and studying this book for 2,000 years! We’d be a fool not to glean from their wisdom! However, their authority only goes as far as it is faithful to the understanding of Scripture.
This is what Paul is saying! The Gospel is received by Revelation! At the time of this writing, we had the apostles. Now, their authority has been inspired in the Words of Scripture. The Spirit illumines those words on our hearts. We believe them, trust them, and love them. Not by human authority! Not by human tradition! We are witnesses! We testify to what has been revealed! We do not add nor take away from it.
Otherwise, we rob it of its power.
We Must Hold On to the Gospel of Christ Because of its Divine Power.
We Must Hold On to the Gospel of Christ Because of its Divine Power.
21 Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.
22 And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ.
23 They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.”
24 And they glorified God because of me.
21 Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.
22 And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ.
23 They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.”
24 And they glorified God because of me.
18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days.
19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother.
20 (In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!)
21 Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.
22 And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ.
23 They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.”
The Gospel Saves us from Advancing to Anonymity. (vs. 22; cf vs. 14)
The Gospel Saves us from Advancing to Anonymity. (vs. 22; cf vs. 14)
Go back to what he said in vs. 14. He stated that “…I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age...” In HIs works-based, Judaic system, his righteousness was measured by his ability to advance. Success was his only measure. He had to surpass others. The only way he could have confidence in his righteousness was by comparing himself to others!
24 And they glorified God because of me.
But now in Christ, notice the contrast in vs. 22b. “…I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ...” Not only did he not stay in the Judean churches, he actually uses this as an argument! They did not know Paul personally! They did not hear his teaching. Instead, they knew him in his Judaism! They knew his reputation and feared it! But in Christ, Paul was willing to be unknown in Jerusalem in order to go and make Christ known elsewhere! He was willing to die to his own reputation in order that Christ may be made known through him!
The Gospel Saves us from Persecuting to Preaching. (vs. 23)
The Gospel Saves us from Persecuting to Preaching. (vs. 23)
The only thing the churches had heard about Paul was that “…He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy...” In fact, think about this for a minute. This was something that amazed everyone. Even in Damascus, they said this!
21 And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?”
Acts
All those in those early days who listened to Paul were amazed that he had turned from a persecutor to a preacher!
Not only that, but think about this for a minute. Go back to vs. 18. After 3 years, he went to visit Peter and James. Peter was the leader of the apostles. James was the pastor of the church in Jerusalem and the Lord’s half-brother. Do you realize that only a mere 3 years before this visit, these were two men that Paul would have loved to kill? Yet now, here they were fellowshipping together! Only the Gospel of Christ can do that! Only the Gospel can bring reconciliation like that! Only the Gospel can bring two former enemies together so that they fellowship in Christ!
The Gospel Saves us from Gloating to Glorifying. (vs. 24)
The Gospel Saves us from Gloating to Glorifying. (vs. 24)
But we also see the purpose of it all! In vs. 24. “…They glorified God because of me.” Paul doesn’t give us much detail here, but again we look to a passage such as . Notice what all his confidence was in! His confidence was in the flesh! Everything he was, everything he wasn’t, and everything he achieved was the source of his standing before God! He believed he was in good with God. That was the source of everything else he did! That was what determined who he loved and whom he hated! Even to the point of murder!
But we also see the purpose of it all! In vs. 24. “…They glorified God because of me.” The whole point of Paul’s conversion, the whole point of Paul’s ministry, was to bring glory to Jesus Christ! It was so that Christ will be glorified among the churches! In Paul’s old life in Judaism, it was all about being somebody! It was about his personal achievement, his personal gain. Reputation and his own personal fame and glory. Now, it was all about Christ! His eyes were off himself. He was as good as dead, so that Christ may be exalted through him!
But all that changed when he came to know Christ! The whole point of Paul’s conversion, the whole point of Paul’s ministry, was to bring glory to Jesus Christ! He says, “I was unknown to the churches in Judea...” Except that they were glorifying Christ in me! It was so that Christ will be glorified among the churches! In Paul’s old life in Judaism, it was all about being somebody! It was about his personal achievement, his personal gain. Reputation and his own personal fame and glory. Now, it was all about Christ! His eyes were off himself. He was as good as dead, so that Christ may be exalted through him!
Of course, you look at all of these, advancing, persecuting, gloating… All of them come from a self-centered point of view. Paul now only wanted to be known enough so that those who knew of him would glorify Christ because of him!