Not After Man – Galatians 1:11-24
‘But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.’ — Galatians 1:11
In the context of competing ‘gospels’, Paul had to establish the superiority of His gospel (which in reality is the only gospel). His assertions were important for the Galatians who were being led astray by false teachers, and they are crucial for those of us who base many of our beliefs on the writings of Paul in the New Testament.
Notice why we can trust the gospel Paul preached:
- He was made an apostle by Jesus Christ and God the Father, not of men or by man (v.1).
- He was motivated by loyalty to Christ, not a desire to please men (v.10). If his motives were to please men, he would have remained in his Jewish faith. He had ever reason to not leave Judaism. The fact that He converted to Christ at great cost shows that He really believed the gospel.
- He received the gospel directly from Jesus Christ himself, not from any man (v.11-12).
- He was already deeply embedded in the Jew’s religion, so his conversion to Christian had to of been borne out of deep conviction (v.13-14).
- He was called by God, and Christ was revealed to Him directly (v.15-16).
- He did not confer with flesh and blood about these things, including the apostle (v.16-17).
- He didn’t go up to Jerusalem for at least three years, and then it was only for 15 days, seeing only saw Peter and James (v.18-19).
- He was willing to make a promise before God of the truth of his claims (v.20).
- He was only known from a distance by the Jewish churches and they rejoiced in the gospel he preached (v.21-24).
What a blessing to have a gospel that comes directly from God! What a joy that the good news we believe is not built on man’s opinions or traditions! We can trust the message of the apostles as recorded in the Bible because they received it directly from Christ Himself.