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Reading Galatians 1:15-24 where Paul in his testimony says that he was set apart by God, chosen by His grace, before Paul was even born. Visit wwutt.com for all our virdeos!
Though the Apostle Paul did not spend time with Jesus during Jesus' earthly ministry, he did spend three years with Christ and learn the gospel that he would proclaim to the Gentiles when we understand the text.
Many of the Bible stories and verses we think we know, we don't. When we understand the text is committed to teaching sound doctrine and rebuking those who contradict it. Visit our website at www .wutt .com.
Here once again is Pastor Gabe.
Thank you, Becky. We come back to our study of the book of Galatians chapter 1 and we're going to pick up where we left off last week. Now in the sermon series that I've been playing, I'm preaching from the English Standard Version, so that's the version, the translation I'm going to stick with here as well.
Let's come back to Galatians 1. I'll begin reading in verse 11 and go through verse 24. This is the word of the Lord through the Apostle Paul writing to the churches in Galatia. 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 Jerusalem, how I persecuted the church 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.
Now where we're picking up after leaving off last week, it would be in verse 15 where Paul says, but when he who had set me apart before I was born and who called me by his grace, that's verse 15, and then picks up in verse 16, was pleased to reveal his son to me.
So reading this statement, he who had set me apart before I was born, this means that God had foreordained before Paul was even born that he was going to be an apostle to the Gentiles. That's the way that God describes Paul to Ananias.
So remember, Paul, who was called Saul, was on the way to Damascus to round up Christians. Jesus appeared to him on the road saying, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? He struck him with blindness, told him to go to the street called Straight, stay at a house there.
A man was going to come to him. This was Ananias. Jesus speaks to Ananias, and this is what he says in Acts 9, verse 15. The Lord said to Ananias, go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine. So this man, Saul, who had been persecuting Christians, he was chosen by God to be an apostle.
He is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name. This was what Christ was appointing Paul to do.
And what was he doing at the time? That Jesus appeared to him and appointed him for this. He was persecuting Christians. So this was nothing that Saul did. He did not, by his own merit, earn this spot on the roster of apostles.
Before Paul was even born, God had already ordained that Paul would be set apart for this thing. Now, this statement that Paul makes here in Galatians 1 .15, it's similar to something that God says to Jeremiah.
As a matter of fact, there are a number of parallels between Jeremiah and Paul. There are times when Paul will kind of compare himself to the prophet that we know as the weeping prophet. But this is one of those places we see some similarities between Paul and Jeremiah.
It's in Jeremiah 1, 4, and 5 where we read this. The word of the Lord came to me saying, before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. And before you were born, I consecrated you. I appointed you a prophet to the nations.
Now this isn't just something God does with prophets and apostles. He foreknows all of us, David says in Psalm 139. Every one of my days were written in his book before one of them came to be. Job says, Job 14 .5, God has set his limits on a man so that he cannot pass them.
We cannot add a single day to our lives. We cannot take a day away. And in Acts chapter 17, Paul preaching at the Areopagus says, from one man, God made every nation of mankind and appointed the times and places that they would live on the earth.
So every single person who has ever been born, God has had a plan and a purpose for that person that was foreordained from before the foundation of the world. For the apostle Paul, he did not know what God's plan for him was going to be before Christ appeared to him and then set him on that course.
He wasn't born knowing that, hey, one day I'm going to persecute the church and then Jesus is going to change my mind. He didn't know that, but God did. And so we have that doctrine even suggested here in Galatians 1 .15 of God having predestined before the foundation of the world.
He set me apart before I was born. Now with Jeremiah, Jeremiah was not a persecutor of Christians. Jeremiah 1 .5, before I formed you in the womb, I knew you and before you were born, I consecrated you.
Jeremiah doesn't then get born and go out persecuting the Israelites before God changes his mind. No, it was always foreordained for Jeremiah that he was going to be a prophet and he grew up a godly man.
With Paul, he also grew up a godly man in the sense that he loved the law and he was zealous for the law, but he hated Christ and hated Christians, hated the church. And so there was a radical transformation that happened in his life that could have only been by the power of God.
It was not Paul changing his mind. It was not him being convinced by some pretty plausible arguments. It was, it was not even that he had earned that spot because this was a man who was persecuting the church.
It is by the fore ordination of God that he would choose Paul and according to his good timing and pleasure. Notice that Paul says he would set me apart before I was born and who called me by his grace was pleased to reveal his son to me.
Now, let's let's park it a little bit on on that whole called me by his grace thing, right? That we're talking about an effectual calling there. Many hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, but only a few believe it because the Holy Spirit works in a person's heart to come to a knowledge and understanding of the gospel that they have heard.
Paul didn't just hear the word of Christ on the road to Damascus. There were some who heard the voice of God and did not obey him. Look at how many Israelites had heard the voice of God and yet rebelled against him.
There were others in the Old Testament as well. So just because Paul had an had a Damascus road experience, just because Christ appeared to him on the road and talked to him, that wasn't what changed his mind.
It was not just that Christ addressed him, but also that his heart was transformed and that his spiritual eyes were open to see the risen Christ and adore him and worship him and obey him and serve as his apostle.
All of this was by the grace of God. So we're talking about an effectual calling here. Not just that Jesus said audible words to him on the road to Damascus, but even changed his heart from somebody who was persecuting the church to somebody who would be a missionary for the church.
He set me apart before I was born. He called me by his grace. He was pleased to reveal his son to me in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles. And again, that was what God said of Paul to Ananias in Acts 9, that he's going to go before kings and Gentiles.
This was going to be Paul's mission as an apostle. Now, Paul says here that after all of this had happened, his conversion had taken place. He's no longer an enemy of the church. He's a missionary for the church.
He says, 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. I've always found this to be one of the most fascinating aspects of Paul's testimony, that after he comes to the knowledge of God, he becomes an apostle by Christ's appointment in Acts 9.
Where does Paul go next? Paul goes into Arabia. Now, we get a clearer idea of the timeline of the first few years of Paul's ministry based on what we read here in Galatians 1. Acts 9 actually doesn't tell us this.
So in Acts 9, of course, Paul is in Damascus when he becomes a Christian. He ministers there. According to Galatians 1, he goes into Arabia, and then he comes back into Damascus. Acts 9 doesn't mention that.
What it says in Acts 9 .23 is, when many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him. So it's that statement there in Acts 9 .23 that leads us to believe that a significant amount of time had passed from Paul's conversion to now this plot from the Jews to kill him.
So somewhere in there, he left Damascus, went into Arabia, then came back to Damascus, which was right there, you know, connected with Arabia. And as he's witnessing there again, that was where the Jews plotted to kill him.
So what is Paul doing in Arabia? What's in Arabia, first of all? Why would Paul even go there? What's in Arabia? Mount Sinai. So Paul goes to Mount Sinai, and he spends time with the Lord, just like Moses would have done.
Now, Moses didn't spend three years on Mount Sinai with the Lord. But, you know, you get the idea. Paul is with Jesus in Arabia for three years, not like the way that the disciples were with Jesus. That was during his earthly ministry.
Jesus is not on earth at the time that Paul is spending that time with him. It would have been more like, you know, the way that Moses communed with God. So Paul was doing that in Arabia at Mount Sinai.
And so Paul is learning all these things from the Lord, who is teaching him personally, because an apostle of Jesus Christ is personally appointed by Christ. That's the appointment that Paul receives.
And it mentions, it says in Acts 9 .22, Saul, who, of course, is Paul, Saul increased all the more in strength and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ. How did Paul gain this strength?
It would have been by what Jesus had taught him. Of course, the Holy Spirit, that was a point that was upon him. Absolutely. But it's what he had learned from Christ himself. Now, this puts Paul right in with the rest of the of the other apostles who learned with Jesus for three years, even Matthias, even the disciple that was chosen to replace Judas in Acts chapter one.
He had been with Jesus from the time of his baptism to the time of his ascension into heaven. That was one of the requirements he had to meet in order to fill that office, as it says in Acts 1. So Paul, though he had not been there for Jesus earthly ministry, nonetheless spent three years with him, just like the other apostles did.
Now, Paul makes another interesting statement here in Galatians 1 about a potential the identity of another apostle, we'll put it that way. So let's continue on here. Paul says he went away into Arabia, returned again to Damascus, verse 18.
Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him 15 days. Now Paul is coming and visiting the apostles. But the gospel that he knows, the doctrine that he has been taught by Christ himself did not come from any man.
Paul said that earlier in Galatians 1. It was revealed to him. It came by revelation through Jesus Christ. That's in verse 12. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it. Not even the other apostles taught these things to Paul, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
So then Paul goes and he meets Cephas, one of the other apostles, remains with him for about two weeks. Verse 19. But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord's brother. Now, that statement right there has led many to believe that perhaps James, the half brother of Jesus, was an apostle also.
I'm not necessarily inclined to argue with that idea. I think it's plausible. So we have the 12 apostles plus Paul, which is 13, plus James, the half brother of Jesus, who's four. That would be 14. Paul makes another statement about James in 1 Corinthians 15.
It also sounds like there that he refers to James as an apostle. So it seems reasonable to conclude that James was an apostle of Jesus Christ. I don't necessarily teach it that way. I'm just open to that.
The way that I've taught it is that there were 12 apostles plus Paul, or there were 12 minus Judas plus Matthias plus Paul. So that means there were 13. Now, a person will rigidly take the position that they were only 12 and there could be no more than 12 because of the way that they interpret a certain passage in Revelation.
And I don't think the way that they interpret that passage is correct. It's in Revelation 21, 14, where it says the wall of the city, referring to the New Jerusalem, the wall of the city had 12 foundations and on them were the 12 names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb.
So because of that statement in Revelation 21, 14, a person will take a very rigid view that there were only 12 apostles. Therefore, Matthias was an illegitimate apostle. It actually should have been Paul.
He was really the 12th apostle. And so it will be Paul's name. He will be one of the names that will be written on those foundation stones. That's not the way that we're supposed to understand Revelation 21.
The city, the New Jerusalem is the church. It's people. It's not a physical place because you consider the question that's asked by the angel or the statement that's made by the angel in Revelation 21, 9 says to John, come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.
And he carried me away in the spirit to a great high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel. Now we read about the city coming down earlier in the chapter.
Verse two, I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Who is that? That's the church, the bride of Christ. And so what we read about later in the chapter, this city is the people of God.
And their foundation is the apostles. Well, that's been talked about all the way through the New Testament. Paul talking about that in Ephesians three, Peter talking about it in first Peter chapter two, Jesus even saying to Peter, you are Peter.
And on this rock, I will build my church. Christ is the cornerstone. The foundation stones are the apostles whom Christ appointed to go out with the message of the gospel. And then the church is built on top of that.
So this reference to 12 apostles is just simply to say that this is the church we're talking about. And they are built up on the testimony of the apostles whom Christ had appointed to go out and preach.
Now, there were the 12 whom God had appointed. Paul does not put himself with the 12 in first Corinthians 15. He talks about Christ appearing to the 12. And then as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
Paul says he is the least of the apostles who was not worthy even to be called an apostle because he persecuted the church. But he does not number himself among the 12. So it is not correct to say that there were exclusively and only 12 apostles.
I don't think that is a proper interpretation. I think it comes from a wrong eschatological interpretation of a passage in Revelation chapter 21. There were at least 13. Or like I said, there was the 12 minus Judas plus Matthias plus Paul.
That's 13, maybe 14 even. Which would have included James, the half-brother of Jesus, at least the way it appears, the way it seems like Paul talks about him here in Galatians 1 and in first Corinthians 15.
So going on, Paul says, I saw James, the Lord's brother, in what I am writing to you before God, I do not lie. Then I went into the region 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 that he once tried to destroy. So the last time the churches in Judea had seen Paul's face, he was persecuting them.
But now they're hearing this word that he has been converted and he's an apostle of Jesus Christ. He's now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy. Verse 24 says, and they glorified God because of me.
Now, one of the other things that that testifies to is that the message that Paul was preaching was the same message that the other apostles were preaching. Because what they were preaching was converting people to the faith, converting them to come to faith in Jesus Christ, since they had the true gospel that was given to them by Christ.
When Paul is preaching and there are people that are coming to Christ because of his message, that's how people know. He's preaching the same thing the other apostles are preaching. Where did Paul get this message from?
Not from any man. As Paul says earlier, it was revealed to him by Jesus Christ. So supernaturally confirming that this message that Paul had came not from others. It was given to him by God. And he certainly was appointed by Christ to be an apostle, set apart before he was born, called by the grace of God, transformed from being an enemy of the church to a friend of God, an apostle of Jesus Christ.
And who gets the glory for all of this? God. To God be the glory. They glorified God because of me. Now, like I said to you last week, every single one of us, though we were not walking on a road to Damascus to persecute Christians and then Jesus appeared to us and we heard a voice from heaven, nonetheless, every single one of us who have come to faith in Christ, that has been a miraculous transformation.
We've all had a Damascus road experience in that we were once rebellious against God and now we've been made friends of God. We once were enemies of the gospel. Now we've come to believe the gospel and we testify of the gospel to others.
By faith in Jesus, we are forgiven our sins. We have fellowship with God. We have everlasting life with him. And so we must, with boldness, now turn around and go back with that gospel into the world so that others who are lost might hear and repent and come to faith in Jesus Christ and be saved.
My brothers and sisters, you're a Christian today because God set you apart before you were born. So confirm your calling and election. That's what Peter says in 2 Peter 1. Confirm your calling and election by living in obedience to God and testifying of the gospel of Jesus Christ that saved you.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for this word. We thank you for the testimony of Paul. And may we understand how that's our testimony as well. We all came to faith because Christ was pleased to reveal himself to us through the testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
May we go out with this same gospel to a lost and dying world so that many others may hear the truth and come to faith in Jesus and be saved. It's in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen.