Paul stayed away from Jerusalem. Instead, he went to Arabia and then back to Damascus. His purpose in going to Arabia was to pray, study, and be alone with the Lord. It was three years before he went to Jerusalem (Gal. 1:18). Interestingly, the apostles were taught by the Lord for three years; now it was Paul’s turn to spend three years also being trained by Christ. It was a dramatic change to go from persecutor to apostle of Christ. Paul needed this time to be taught by the Lord so his Christian theology could be forged.
18 Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas, and stayed with him fifteen days. 19 But I did not see any other of the apostles except James, the Lord’s brother. 20 (Now in what I am writing to you, I assure you before God that I am not lying.) 21 Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22 I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea which were in Christ; 23 but only, they kept hearing, “He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they were glorifying God because of me. (NASB)
Key Takeaways:
- Paul, the messenger of grace, is trustworthy because he received his message directly from God and it dramatically changed his life.
- God is the God of miracles and the impossible. Even those that seem far off from God or are hurting believers, God can change their lives and use them.
- No matter what our story, God can use anyone that surrenders fully to Him.
- Section takeaway: salvation is a gift by grace alone in faith alone in Christ alone and not a reward for certain good deeds or any of our work
Closer Look:
Verses 18–20: Paul then reinforced his previous argument by asserting that he waited three years after his conversion to go to Jerusalem, time that was spent in Arabia and Damascus (v. 17). Would he have waited that long if he had needed theological instruction from the disciples? When he did go, it was to get “acquainted with Cephas (Peter),” that is, it was a personal visit lasting only 15 days. Undoubtedly Paul and Peter talked at length about Christ and the gospel during the fifteen days Paul was in Jerusalem. Paul then left because of a plot against his life (cf. Acts 9:29). Meanwhile, Paul had had a meaningful time coming to know the noted apostle, but there is no suggestion that Peter gave him theological instruction or apostolic endorsement for his ministry. Of the rest of the apostles, Paul met only James, the Lord’s brother, a leader in the church in Jerusalem (cf. Acts 12:17). Because Paul had been taught by the Lord for three years, he could now fellowship with the key apostles as a peer and not as a pupil. The reference to James, the Lord’s brother, as being one of the other apostles indicates that the word apostle was not always restricted to “the Twelve” (Matt 10:1-4; 1 Cor 15:5). The sequence of 1 Cor 15:7-9, where James, Paul, and “all the apostles” are listed as having seen the resurrected Christ, implies that Paul may have accepted James as possessing at least partly parallel apostolic qualifications to his own (Acts 1:21-26).
If his message and ministry had been from the Apostles, then he probably would have had an easier time getting into the church fellowship (Acts 9:26-28); but because Paul’s experience had been with the Lord Jesus alone, the Apostles were suspicious of him. He stayed in Jerusalem for only fifteen days, and he saw only Peter and James (the Lord’s brother). Thus he received neither his message nor his apostleship from the Jerusalem church. He had already received them both directly from Christ.
To stress the truth of what he had just said—no doubt in the face of a Judaizer’s charge that he had misrepresented his relationship to the apostles—Paul put himself on oath, calling God to be his witness that he was telling the truth.
Verses 21–22: After his abbreviated visit in Jerusalem Paul worked for an extended time in Syria and Cilicia, which is why he was personally unknown to the churches of Judea (cf. Acts 9:30; 11:25). He was not commissioned for this ministry by the apostles, and because of the distance between him and Jerusalem he could not have been under their authority or subject to their oversight.
As Paul went through Syria, he preached the Word, and when he arrived in Cilicia, his home province (Acts 21:39; 22:3), he began to evangelize (see Acts 15:23). Historians have concluded that he remained there perhaps seven years, until Barnabas recruited him for the work in Antioch (Acts 11:19–26).
Paul did not invent his teaching; he “received” it (Rom. 1:5; 1 Cor. 11:23; 15:3). At the time of Paul’s conversion, God said He would appear to him in the future (Acts 26:16), apparently for the purpose of revealing His truths to him.
Verses 23–24: The churches in Judea by this time had almost forgotten Paul. The only report they had recently heard was that this one who had once persecuted the church was now “preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy.” This would of course include the doctrine of justification by faith apart from circumcision or works. This news of Paul’s ministry is probably what helped Barnabas have the confidence to seek Paul to aid the work in Syrian Antioch (Acts 11:25-26). And in the face of this report, the Judean believers praised God because of Paul. This was a telling blow to the false teachers. When they heard how Saul, the persecutor, was now Paul, the preacher, they praised God. His new life astonished and encouraged them. The Jewish Christians in Judea rejoiced in the same gospel the Judaizers sought to undermine.
Chapter 1 summary: false teachers in Galatia were teaching that to be saved and mature in the faith Gentile believers had to follow Jewish laws and customs, especially the rite of circumcision. Faith in Christ was not enough. This message was undermining the good news that salvation is a simple gift based on faith in Christ and not a reward for certain good deeds. This false message was in direct opposition to the gospel of grace that Paul preached. Additionally, in order to discredit Paul’s message, the false teachers sought to discredit Paul. Thus, to defend himself and his gospel of grace, Paul argues convincingly that the gospel of grace is true because it came directly from God and it dramatically changed his life.