Today’s sermon audio can be found on Castbox at 164 “Not Man’s Gospel” Galatians 1:11-12.

Our primary text for June 7 was Galatians 1:11-12. For context we read verses 11-17. Our first reading was Acts 22:1-16 which is one of the accounts in Acts of Paul’s conversion on the Road to Damascus.

Sermon Outline

"Not Man's Gospel" Galatians 1:11-12

  1. The Historical Argument (1:11-2:21)
  2. Not from Any Man (1:11-12a)
  3. Through a Revelation (1:12b)
  4. The Gospel Paul Preached

Scripture References: Acts 22:1-16; Galatians 1:11-12; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11; Galatians 2:16;

1. The Historical Argument (1:11-2:21)

1.1. The Importance of the Historical Argument

Why is the historical section of the letter important? At least three reasons come to mind: 1) The historical section of Galatians gives us autobiographical information about Paul that is not otherwise available. 2) Paul is a very significant figure in salvation history. 3) Christianity is anchored in historical reality.

1.2. The Flow of the Historical Argument

Paul starts the letter to the Galatians with a Christian greeting which lacks the typical prayer of thanksgiving for the recipients. Paul then proceeds to explain what the problem is: “there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ” (1:7). Paul pronounces a double anathema on these false teachers. Then he points out that he no longer is a people-pleaser in the sense that he is accused of being.

In our text for today (1:11-12) Paul gives us his thesis for the historical section of the letter. He makes negative and positive assertions about the gospel he had preached to them: 1) the gospel he preached was not man’s gospel; 2) Paul did not receive the gospel he preached from any man; 3) Paul did receive the gospel he preached through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

Paul then gives an account of his persecution of the church and of his conversion on the Road to Damascus (1:13-17). Significantly, he tells us he did not go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles at that time.

Then after three years Paul did go up to Jerusalem to meet with Peter and James (1:18-24). He notes that the churches of Judea … glorified God because Paul was now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.

Then after fourteen years Paul went up again to Jerusalem (2:1-10). This time Paul met with the three pillars, that is, James and Cephas and John. Once again, Paul is recognized to be an independent apostle by the pillars.

Then Paul recounts an incident at Antioch where he had to rebuke Peter (2:11-14). Surely, no one could suppose that Paul was subordinate to Peter after that incident. And Peter was acting hypocritically with conduct that was not in step with the truth of the gospel. This incident doesn’t just show that Paul was not subordinate to Peter. It also shows a significant example of implicitly distorting the gospel, the central issue of the letter.

Then Paul comes to the central theological focus of the letter (2:15-21): a person is not justified by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. This thesis could have been part of Paul’s rebuke of Peter; it certainly fits in with what Paul was dealing with at that time in Antioch. But it could be that Paul was elaborating from the incident to the key principle.

1.3. An Outline of the Historical Argument

  1. Introduction
    1. Greeting (1:1-5)
    2. Problem Statement (1:6-10)
  2. Historical Argument (1:11-2:21)
    1. Thesis of Historical Argument (1:11-12)
    2. Paul Met Jesus (1:13-17)
    3. Paul Met Peter and James (1:18-24)
    4. Paul Met with the Pillars (2:1-10)
    5. Paul Confronted Peter (2:11-14)
    6. Thesis of the Theological Argument (2:15-21)
  3. Theological Argument (3:1-4:31)
  4. Ethical Argument (5:1-6:18)

1.4. The Flow of the Letter

After Paul states the problem in Galatia he then makes three interlinked categories of arguments. He defends the historicity of his gospel which is the gospel. He shows that he is part of salvation history just like the other apostles are. The historical argument leads directly to the theological argument. The confrontation with Peter at Antioch drives Paul straight to the Scriptures. Having established the historical and theological basis for his gospel Paul proceeds to apply the freedom Christ has obtained for true believers as an ethical argument. Here is the way to truly be spiritual.

2. Not from Any Man (1:11-12a)

11For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. 12 For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it,

Galatians 1:11-12a, ESV

Paul made four assertions in verses 11-12:

  1. 11: “the gospel that was preached by [Paul] is not man’s gospel.”
  2. 12a: “[Paul] did not receive [the gospel] from any man, ”
  3. 12a: “[Paul] was not taught [the gospel], ”
  4. 12b: “[Paul] received [the gospel] through a revelation of Jesus Christ.”

At the beginning of verse 11 the conjunction “For” links back to Paul’s question and answer in verse 10. Just before Paul makes the first assertion he uses one of his typical phrases: “I would have you know”. Paul often uses this phrase to mean something like “I want to make this perfectly clear” (per Timothy George). Paul thereby emphatically leads into the four assertions of the thesis. What Paul is writing is very important to him. Also notice that this is the first time in this letter that Paul addresses the recipients as brothers and sisters.

Assertion 1: “the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel.”.
The phrase “man’s gospel” could be translated as “from the human race”. Paul means that the gospel that he preached was not of human origin.

Assertion 2: “I did not receive it from any man”.
This verb “receive” was often used of the transfer of tradition from a teacher to a recipient. That is exactly what Paul is denying. The gospel he preached was not handed down to him by any person.

Assertion 3: “nor was I taught it”.
We receive the gospel by being “taught it” through the ordinary means of grace (i.e., the ministry of the word). But Paul did not receive the gospel nor was he taught the gospel by any person. Paul’s opponents were claiming that Paul was a secondary, derivative apostle who learned the gospel from other believers. By these three assertions Paul is denying that he initially learned of the gospel from any human being.

3. Through a Revelation (1:12b)

12bbut I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

Galatians 1:12b, ESV

Assertion 4: “but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ”
There isn’t a verb in the underlying text of this fourth assertion. The ESV and many other English versions of the Bible provide a verb because we need a verb here to make sense of the clause. The most likely verb to provide, it seems to me, is the one Paul used earlier in the same verse: “For I did not receive it”. We note that Paul explicitly used this verb “to receive” in 1 Corinthians 11:23 to indicate that he had received information about the Lord’s Supper from the Lord (“For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you,).

Paul used three negative assertions to emphatically claim that his gospel was not of human origin . Then Paul starts his fourth assertion with an adversative conjunction “but”. Now in a positive assertion he tells the true origin of his gospel. How did Paul come to know the gospel? Paul came to know the gospel “through a revelation of Jesus Christ”.

The word “revelation” indicates a disclosure of divine truth previously hidden. The phrase “of Jesus Christ” could mean “by Jesus Christ” or “about Jesus Christ” or both. Both interpretations are true to the facts. Jesus did reveal Himself to Paul on the Road to Damascus. Galatians 1:15 would seem to indicate that Paul had God the Father in mind as the source of the revelation. If that is so then this clause would be the “revelation about Jesus Christ”.

Paul will now prove his four assertions in the following verses (1:13-2:21).

4. The Gospel Paul Preached

I’d like to close by considering the instrument of salvation (faith) and the contents of the gospel (what is believed):

  • Galatians 2:16 (the key thesis of the letter) asserts that we are justified by faith
  • 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 gives us the core of Paul’s gospel

15We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

Galatians 2:15-16, ESV The instrument of justification is faith not works:

  • “a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ”
  • “so we also have believed in Christ Jesus”
  • “in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law”
  • “because by works of the law no one will be justified”

We cannot add works to faith. That distorts the gospel so that it is no longer the gospel. Once the gospel is distorted we no longer have justifying Good News but rather very bad news.

The faith we are talking about can be remembered with the mnemonic KAT. True personal saving faith consists of three and only three elements:

  • Knowledge
  • Agreement
  • Trust

Therefore it is very important to go to the Bible to learn what the substance of the gospel is. Otherwise, how can we Know the gospel, Agree with the gospel, and Trust God to save us.

1Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you— unless you believed in vain.

3For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

1 Corinthians 15:1-11, ESV

The four principles at the core of Paul’s gospel:

  • Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures
  • Christ was buried
  • Christ was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures
  • Christ appeared to numerous witnesses including Paul himself.

This is the gospel to be believed. Do not add works to it. Rest in Christ our Savior.