KEY VERSE – It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. (Gal. 5:1)
SECONDARY THEME VERSES: “A man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ” (Gal. 2:16); “If righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing” (Gal. 2:21).
THEME: Salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone releases us from the yoke of the law, freeing us to live a life of love through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Legal (Imputed) Righteousness: We are justified by faith in Christ (Gal. 2:16). Imparted Righteousness: Immediate Moral Change at conversion (Gal. 6:15); Gradual Moral Change through the fruit-growing work of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22) which requires our cooperation (Gal 5:16-17, 25, 6:8). We cooperate by using CCRC (Concentration, Choice, Reflection, Confession/Thanksgiving. Foundational verse, “By one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” (Heb. 10:14)
Good Teachers: (1) Constantly re-evaluate what they are doing; (2) Set large goals; (3) Ask – Does everything I do contribute to learning?; (4) Prepare well; (5) Check for understanding; (6) Like teaching; (7) Get results from their teaching; (8) Have perseverance. Don’t give up.
TEACHING GOAL: To show how that Paul received the Gospel Message through divine revelation.
TEXT FOR THE DAY: I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather I received if by revelation from Jesus Christ. (Gal. 1:11-12)
THE DIVINE SOURCE OF PAUL’S GOSPEL
1. Paul’s Knowledge of Christ/The Gospel before the Damascus Road
2. Paul’s Knowledge of Christ/Gospel Was Not Received in the Traditional Way
3. Paul’s Received the Gospel as a Direct Revelation from God
4. The Core of the Paul’s Damascus Road Revelation
5. The Gospel of Grace in the New Testament Letters
6. The Gospel of Grace in the Old Testament
7. The Gospel of Grace in the Gospels
8. On-Going Reception of Divine Revelation
INTRODUCTION
The question / challenge of the Judaizers that persists to this day: Who is Paul? Where did he get his message?
Note in “Comment Box” on web site from a Muslim reader:
ILLUSTRATION: Michael Hart, a Jewish American astrophysicist, (not a Muslim) the author of: The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History strongly states that Paul is the founder of Christianity and not Jesus. The reason is that the essential content of Christianity today is based on the teaching of Paul and not that of Jesus. Since the Gospel has been changed by Paul, how can it possibly promise salvation? The essence of Christianity, because of the influence of Paul, is not the same as was taught by Jesus. Are not you afraid and saddened by the risk you are taking by trusting in the lies of the Apostle Paul?
Paul makes an unbelievably strong statement for the Gospel he preached to the Galatians: “… if we or an angel from heaven should preach a Gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned.” (Gal. 1:8)
Then Paul goes on to justify this statement in the verses that follow.
Paul writes: “I want you to know . . . “ – “Let me make it perfectly clear.”
Note the similarity of our text with verse 1. In verse 1 you have “not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ ….” Here you have “… not something man made up. … not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, . . . “
I. PAUL’S KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST / THE GOSPEL BEFORE THE DAMASCUS ROAD EXPERIENCE
In Galatians 1:15 Paul wrote, “…. God, who set me apart from birth ….”
QUESTION: What did Paul know about Christ and the Gospel before his Damascus Road experience?
Had Paul ever seen Jesus while he was alive?
“Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer.” (II Cor. 5:16, NASB)
Many feel Paul, who was a contemporary of Jesus, was a member of the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was the supreme court of ancient Israel. It consisted of 71 members. Historians say that the Sanhedrin met daily. If Paul was a member he might have been present at the trial of Jesus and would have heard this exchange:
At daybreak the council of the elders of the people, both the chief priests and teachers of the law, met together, and Jesus was led before them. “If you are the Christ,” they said, “tell us.” Jesus answered, “If I tell you, you will not believe me, and if I asked you, you would not answer. But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God.” They all asked, “Are you then the Son of God?” He replied, “You are right in saying I am.” Then they said, “Why do we need any more testimony? We have heard it from his own lips.” (Luke 22:L66-71)
We know Paul stood by at the martyrdom of Stephen. Can we assume that he heard Stephen’s speech to the Sanhedrin? It was that speech that caused the Sanhedrin to have him stoned. Stoning was the punishment for blasphemy.
QUESTION: What was it in Stephen’s speech that was considered blasphemy?
“You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit! Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him— you who have received the law that was put into effect through angels but have not obeyed it.” (Acts 7:51-53)
Stephen is referring to the coming of the Messiah. In Zechariah 9:9 the Messiah is referred to as “The Righteous One.”
Rejoice, O people of Zion! Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet he is humble, riding on a donkey–riding on a donkey’s colt. (Zech. 9:9)
Stephen went on to say, “Look, I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” (Acts 7:56) The title “Son of Man” is used by Daniel to refer to the coming Messiah (Dan. 7:13)
Paul knew that the “Followers of the Way” worshipped Jesus as the Messiah.
Some feel Stephen was martyred because he claimed that God was not limited to the temple and centering everything in the temple was wrong. Be that as it may, the straw that broke the camel’s back was the claim that Jesus was “the Righteous One.”
We know Paul approved and witnessed the stoning of Stephen, for those stoning Stephen laid their clothes at his feet. (Acts 7:58, 8:1)
So Paul heard Stephen’s dying testimony: While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep. (Acts 7:59-60)
After this, Saul made a serious effort to destroy the church. He met lots of Christians because he went from house to house and dragged off men and women and put them in prison.
QUESTION: What would he have asked those he arrested? What would they have had to say to avoid arrest?
In I Tim. 1:13 we read Paul saying of himself: Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man ….”
QUESTION: What blasphemy may have come out of Paul’s mouth?
Probably something related to Jesus. It would not have been a blasphemy against God or the temple or the Messiah. But it well could have been a blasphemy about Jesus …. “God curse Jesus” or “May God damn Jesus to hell forever,” “May Jesus be anathema (eternally condemned).”
II. PAUL’S KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST AND THE GOSPEL WAS NOT RECEIVED IN THE TRADITIONAL WAY
I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather I received if by revelation from Jesus Christ.
NO HUMAN ORIGIN TO MY GOSPEL
QUESTION: If you use the technique Mirror Reading of the phrase: “not something that man made up” what charge was Paul responding to?
The Judaizers were saying, “This is a Gospel Paul dreamed up. It is his Gospel.” Paul responds – The Glad Tiding I bring is not a human message, not of human origin.
I DID NOT RECEIVE THE GOSPEL FROM, NOR WAS I TAUGHT IT BY A MAN
ILLUSTRATION: This is how the Jewish teachers introduced a concept:: “Moses received the law from Sinai, and he handed it down to Joshua, and Joshua to the elders [the Judges], and the elders to the prophets [Samuel to Malachi], and the prophets handed it down to the men of the Great Assembly [the sages of Ezra’s time]. (JLM, 143)
All scholars of any note learned by setting at the feet of renowned Jewish Rabbis, teachers who taught the ‘traditions’ of the fathers, the elders. This is the way religious knowledge was passed from generation to generation. This is how Paul was taught as a young Jewish man:
Then Paul said, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, and I was brought up and educated here in Jerusalem under Gamaliel. As his student, I was carefully trained in our Jewish laws and customs.” (Acts 22:3, New Living Translation)
Paul writes that as a young man “I . . . . was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.” (Galatians 1:14)
He did not receive it from any man nor was he taught it.
In Galatians 1:1 Paul begins his letter by saying that he was an apostle “sent not from men or by man.” Here he says that “the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it. . . .” (Gal. 1:11-12)
Paul did not learn the Gospel by rote memorization and repetition as he had learned Rabbinics while studying under Gamaliel.
He is trying to say that he did not receive the Gospel message by setting at the feet of Peter or John or James or any of the apostles. He never learned the Gospel tradition from them. Paul was not one of the “tradition-receiving members of the church.” (Fong, 52)
“He neither invented nor inherited his gospel. He did not make it up on his own and he did not get it from anyone else – not before his conversion, not during his conversion, and not after. (Ryken, 30)
III. PAUL RECEIVED THE GOSPEL AS A DIRECT REVELATION FROM GOD
I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather I received if by revelation from Jesus Christ.
“. . . . it came to me as a direct revelation from Jesus Christ.” (Gal. 1:12, Phillips)
The revelation of vs. 12 is the same as the revelation of vs. 16: “. . . was pleased to reveal His Son in me . . . “
“Revelation” is from the Greek term apokalypsis from which we get the word apocalypse. It means a lifting of the veil, an unveiling, a disclosure of something formerly hidden, a secret.
The Gospel was something previously hidden that was unveiled by God to Paul. II Corinthians 3:14-16 talks about a veil over our hearts and an unveiling:
But the people’s minds were hardened, and to this day whenever the old covenant is being read, the same veil covers their minds so they cannot understand the truth. And this veil can be removed only by believing in Christ. Yes, even today when they read Moses’ writings, their hearts are covered with that veil and they do not understand. But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. (II Cor. 3:14-16)
Paul was an object of an unveiling. God took the veil off his eyes. The Lord took the veil away. His eyes were opened. God himself, not men, revealed the Gospel to Paul.
IV. WHAT WAS UNVEILED – THE CORE OF PAUL’S GOSPEL
QUESTION: What did Paul learn about Jesus on the Damascus Road?
The voice came to him in Hebrew:
“Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, who you are persecuting.” (Acts 9:4-5)
“Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me? “Who are you Lord?” I asked. “I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.” (Acts 22:7-8)
“Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” Then I asked, “Who are you, Lord?” “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.” (Acts 26:14-15)
HE LEARNED THAT JESUS WAS THE CHRIST.
“The NIV translation by revelation from Jesus Christ implies that Jesus Christ was the source or agent of revelation. F.F. Bruce, however, along with most commentators, says the phrase means that Christ was the object of revelation, that that is the point of 1:15-16: “God … was pleased to reveal his Son in me.” (Hansen, 40)
For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of [the true identification of Jesus, who is the Christ] Jesus Christ. (Gal. 1:12, NASB)
Paraphrase: “I received a revelation of who Jesus really was.”
Jesus is the object of the unveiling, the revelation.
On the Damascus Road came the understanding that Jesus is the Messiah, “Son of Man” that Stephen saw and thus the “Son of God.”
The unveiling of who Christ is, is the core of the Gospel.
What was really unveiled, the question that was answered is, “Who really is Jesus of Nazareth?”
HE LEARNED THAT RESURRECTION REALLY HAPPENED
Jesus was not in a grave somewhere in Jerusalem. He had risen. The Christians Saul persecuted said He was risen but Saul had considered such a statement nonsense.
In the great resurrection chapter, after he gives a list of those who saw the risen Christ he says: “Last of all, as though I had been born at the wrong time, abnormally late, he appeared to me also.” (I Cor. 15:8, Paraphrase)
THE GLAD TIDING OF THE APOSTLES WAS NOT A LIE
“We know that he saw the risen Christ (e.g. I Cor. 9:1; 15:8-9) Yet essentially it was an inner illumination of his soul, god shining into his heart ‘to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of god in the face of Christ’ (II Cor. 4:6) (Stott, 33)
We focus on short version of the Gospel – We are saved by grace through faith in the sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus Christ on our behalf on the cross.
Paul got the long version of the Gospel – Everything related to the incarnation, life, and vicarious sacrificial death of Christ and his resurrection that provides us with eternal life due to his bearing our punishment on the cross and the glorious fact that this salvation is received solely by an act of faith without works and self-effort on our part. When we share the Gospel we preach the Lord Jesus Christ.
“The ‘revelation’ in Jesus of the suffering Messiah, God’s Son, and the ‘Lord’, is itself the gospel, and this revelation no mere humans can impart by teaching, however much we may desire to do it.” (Cole, 86)
SO WHAT???
1. God speaks to us in myriad ways before we become Christians. He is everywhere present and consistently preparing us for the revelation of himself in our hearts.
2. The Gospel we hold dear is not of human origin and design.
3. God in His grace and in His time lifts the veil off our eyes and shows us who the historical Jesus really is, God’s Messiah, the Son of God.
4. Salvation by grace is not the core of the Gospel. The core of the Gospel is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, his death and resurrection.