Paul Preaches the Gospel

Paul asks whether he is trying to win human approval, then says plainly that his gospel is not according to man. He neither received nor learned it from a human source, but through revelation from Jesus Christ.

A¹⁰m I now seeking the approval of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ. ¹¹For I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached was not devised by man. ¹²I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.

Paul reminds the Galatians of his former life in Judaism, where he persecuted the church and advanced zealously in the traditions of his fathers. Then God's gracious call overturned that course, revealing his Son so that Paul might preach among the Gentiles, and Paul did not immediately seek confirmation from human beings or from Jerusalem.

¹³For you have heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how severely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. ¹⁴I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. ¹⁵But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by His grace, was pleased ¹⁶to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not rush to consult with flesh and blood, ¹⁷nor did I go up to Jerusalem to the apostles who came before me, but I went into Arabia and later returned to Damascus.

Only after three years, Paul says, did he go to Jerusalem, where he briefly visited Cephas and saw James, and he insists before God that he is telling the truth. Afterward he moved through Syria and Cilicia while still unknown personally to the Judean churches, which only heard that the former persecutor was now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy and glorified God because of it.

¹⁸Only after three years did I go up to Jerusalem to confer with Cephas, and I stayed with him fifteen days. ¹⁹But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother. ²⁰I assure you before God that what I am writing to you is no lie. ²¹Later I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia. ²²I was personally unknown, however, to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. ²³They only heard the account: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” ²⁴And they glorified God because of me.