Today’s sermon audio can be found on Castbox at 165 “But When God” Galatians 1:13-17.

Our text for June 14 was Galatians 1:13-17. For context we read Galatians 1:11-17. Our first reading was Acts 7:54-8:3. There in Acts Luke documents the beginning of a “great persecution against the church in Jerusalem” by Saul (also known as Paul).

Text

11For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. 12For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. 13For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. 14And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. 15But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, 16awas pleased to reveal his Son to me, 16bin order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, 16cI did not immediately consult with anyone; 17nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.

Galatians 1:11-17, ESV

Introduction

Paul has just written his thesis for the Historical Argument in verses 11-12. (We are calling 1:13-2:14 the Historical Argument). Paul then briefly summarizes his life before he was saved in verses 13-14. Paul goes on to describe his conversion on the Road to Damascus in verses 15-16a. Paul then indicates to whom he was to preach the gospel in verse 16b. (I like to point out that Paul is our apostle.) Paul concludes the paragraph by tersely summing up the next three years of his life after he was converted in verses 16c-17.

Before Paul was saved he was at war with the Church of God. He was involved with the persecution of the church until his midday encounter with the risen Lord on the Road to Damascus. There were no spiritually productive interactions between Paul and any believers before he was saved that day. Paul’s conversion was entirely between him and the Lord Jesus. Nonetheless Paul was chosen before time just like the rest of us. And Paul was summoned into new life and personal ministry just like we were. So it was also for Paul’s appointment as an apostle and for Paul’s command to go to the Gentiles. Paul then spent three years without every going to Jerusalem or speaking with any other apostle. So Paul is giving his testimony against whatever false statements had been made by his opponents in Galatia.

Sermon Outline

"But When God" Galatians 1:13-17

  1. Paul’s Former Life in Judaism (1:13-14)
  2. God Revealed His Son to Paul (1:15-16a)
  3. Paul Was to Preach Christ among the Gentiles (1:16b)
  4. Paul Did Not Consult with Anyone (1:16c-17)

Scripture References: Acts 7:54-8:3; Galatians 1:11-17; Jeremiah 1:4-5; Ephesians 1:3-4; Romans 1:1-6; Romans 16:25-27; Galatians 2:15-16;

The Thesis of the Historical Argument(1:11-12)

11For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. 12For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

Galatians 1:11-12, ESV

We are characterizing Galatians 1:11-2:21 as the historical argument of the letter. The thesis of the Historical Argument can be stated as follows:

  • Paul’s gospel was not of human origin.
  • Paul’s gospel was not received through human communication by Paul.
  • Paul’s gospel was of divine origin.
  • Paul’s gospel was received through divine communication to Paul.

At verse 13 Paul begins his history-oriented argument against the Judaizers who were troubling the Galatian churches.

1. Paul's Former Life in Judaism (1:13-14)

13For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. 14And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers.

Galatians 1:13-14, ESV

“For you have heard of my former life in Judaism,”.
The conjunction For at the beginning of verse 13 connects the historical thesis to the historical argument. Some scholars believe the scope of this conjunction includes the entire historical argument to 2:14 where Paul concludes his summary of his confrontation of Peter in Antioch when Peter stopped eating with Gentile believers.

“For you have heard of my former life in Judaism,”.
Paul had probably told the Galatians about his preconversion life. But the would-be distorters of the gospel were probably also distorting Paul’s past as a way to discredit him and his gospel.

“For you have heard of my former life in Judaism,”.
The word Judaism may seem anachronistic but in fact its Greek antecedent emerged before the birth of Christ. Paul means by the word Judaism “the Jewish religion and way of life” (per Richard Longenecker). Paul is referring to the same belief system with the phrase “traditions of my fathers” in verse 14. Paul was an adherent of the Pharisaic branch of Second Temple Judaism.

“how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it.”.
Paul mentions this violent, destructive behavior to characterize his former way of life in Judaism. Paul does not here gossip about himself or brag about his sins. Paul reviews these historical facts to defend his thesis. Paul was not listening to or understanding the gospel preaching of the church. Paul may have been offended that their so-called Messiah was crucified. Paul may have been trying to purge Judaism of a sect that seemed to be introducing new ideas foreign to his interpretation of the Scriptures. The Pharisees believed that law-keeping by all Jewish people was necessary before the Messiah would come. But the early Christians that Paul persecuted claimed the Messiah had already come. For reasons along these lines Paul was at war with the early church. The phrase the church of God refers to the one true church that all true believers belong to.

“And I was advancing in Judaism”.
The phrase advancing in Judaism would be closely analogous to growing spiritually in Christianity.

“beyond many of my own age among my people,”.
Paul was one of the most advanced Pharisees of his age group.

“so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers.”.
Paul mentions his zealousness to characterize his former way of life in Judaism. The traditions of my fathers alludes to the oral traditions of the Pharisees.

Verses 13-14 prove the first two assertions of the thesis of the historical argument:

  • Paul’s gospel was not of human origin.
  • Paul’s gospel was not received through human communication by Paul.

Paul shows that he was at war with the early church. Paul did not and could not receive the gospel from the apostles or anyone else during his former life in Judaism. Paul has ruled out the possibility of having received the gospel during that time period. And that time period came to an extremely abrupt end on the Road to Damascus when God was pleased to reveal his Son to Paul.

So now the chain of evidence switches to the two positive assertions of the historical thesis:

  • Paul’s gospel was of divine origin.
  • Paul’s gospel was received through divine communication to Paul.

2. God Revealed His Son to Paul (1:15-16a)

15But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, 16awas pleased to reveal his Son to me,

Galatians 1:15-16a, ESV

15But when he who had set me apart before I was born,:
The adversative conjunction But reinforces the continuity of Paul’s testimony. At Acts 9:1 Saul was still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. But at Acts 9:3 on the Road to Damascus Paul is suddenly confronted by the Lord Jesus. That is the sort of continuity we see here in verses 13-15. The adverb when unmistakeably modifies the verb phrase was pleased. The pronoun he must refer to God the Father because that is who would reveal his Son.

Before Paul gets to what it is that God was pleased to do he gives us two descriptive clauses. After we consider those two assertions we will look at the third clause.
(1) 15But when he who had set me apart before I was born,:
Paul had been designated by God before he was born to be an apostle. Paul is very likely had the following words from Jeremiah in mind as he wrote this clause. Jeremiah had been consecrated to be a prophet by the LORD before he was born. Paul had been set apart to be an apostle by God before he was born.

4Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 5“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

Jeremiah 1:4-5, ESV

Luther and some other commentators think that Paul uses set apart to allude to predestination. It is certainly true that we were chosen before the foundation of the world as Paul wrote to the Ephesians:

… the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places, 4even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.

Quotation from Ephesians 1:3-4, ESV

Most likely Paul’s focus is being set apart to be an apostle while also acknowledging that all true apostles were also predestined to salvation just like the rest of us.

(2) and who called me by his grace,.
The referent of the word who, as we have said, is God the Father Himself. Some commentators think the verb called refers to the summoning to salvation that all true believers experience. This definition of the verb to call, per T. George, is the “whole complex of events, including repentance and faith, by which a lost sinner is converted to Christ”. This would certainly be true of Paul as it is true of all of us who are genuine believers. But other commentators think the verb called here refers to the calling of Paul to apostleship. This would also certainly be true of Paul but not of the rest of us.

Paul has just used the verb called in Galatians 1:6 where Paul wrote “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and …”. There it certainly has the general sense of that which all believers experience at conversion. But here in verse 15 Paul seems to be really focused on his apostleship. So I would suggest that while Paul is primarily discussing his call to apostleship he may well also be assuming his call to salvation.

(3) Now at the beginning of verse 16 Paul tells us what God had been pleased to do:
God the Father “was pleased to reveal his Son to me,”. Here Paul writes about his experience on the Road to Damascus where Paul met the Lord Jesus in person. This verb, to reveal, is closely related to the noun revelation in verse 12. The verb means “to reveal, to disclose, to uncover”. The noun revelation” means a disclosure of divine truth previously hidden. The assertion seems quite straight-forward.

But Paul uses a preposition we might not expect in this assertion: God the Father “was pleased to reveal his Son to me,”. The ESV translates the preposition as to but several other translations use the preposition in. For instance, the NAS (both 1994 and 2020 editions) translates the beginning of verse 16 as follows: “to reveal His Son* in me”. The underlying preposition even looks like our preposition in once it is transliterated into our alphabet: EN. Typically, we would expect to translate the preposition into English as in.

Certainly what God did that day on the Road to Damascus was done to Paul. But it was also done in Paul. Paul saw the Lord Jesus with his eyes (as he explicitly asserts at 1 Corinthians 9:1): “Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?”. But as Bruce puts it Paul also experienced “inward illumination” that confirmed in his mind what he saw with his eyes so that he could confidently believe in Jesus Christ and proclaim Him. The preposition in may also indicate that Paul would be a revealer of Christ Jesus to others.

With these three assertions Paul is demonstrating the validity of the two positive assertions of the historical thesis:

  • Paul’s gospel was of divine origin.
  • Paul’s gospel was received through divine communication to Paul.

Paul got the gospel directly from God on the Road to Damascus by a revelation from God.

3. Paul Was to Preach Christ among the Gentiles (1:16b)

16bin order that I might preach him among the Gentiles,

Galatians 1:16b, ESV

Paul received the gospel through a revelation of Jesus Christ (verse 12) so that he could preach the gospel to the non-Jewish folks in the Roman Empire. This clause (1:16b) gives us the purpose of Paul’s apostleship. In his greeting to the saints in Rome Paul elaborates on this purpose.

1Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 6including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,

Romans 1:1-6, ESV

Note the words in verse 5: “for the sake of his name among all the nations”. Paul was to be “an apostle to the Gentiles” (Romans 11:13). Paul was to be a crucial revealer of Christ to the nations:

25Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages 26but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— 27to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.

Romans 16:25-27, ESV

So ends the great letter to the Romans. Here in Galatians 1:16b Paul is to preach Christ. Back in Galatians 1:11 Paul wrote that he had preached the gospel. Paul interchangeably uses Christ, the gospel, and the faith. Why? Because Jesus Christ is the gospel.

Note that it was not any mere human who sent Paul to the Gentiles. It was God Himself. By any reasonable reckoning Paul got his marching orders from God and only from God.

4. Paul Did Not Consult with Anyone (1:16c-17)

16cI did not immediately consult with anyone; 17nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.

Galatians 1:16c-17, ESV

Now Paul covers the time shortly after he was converted on the Road to Damascus. If we take the three years in verse 18 to start at Paul’s conversion we then have here in verses 16c-17 a summary of the first three years of Paul’s life as a Christian. This summary is certainly not comprehensive and could be augmented with information from other places in the New Testament.

Paul tells us two things he did not do and then he tells us two things he did do during the first few formative years of being an apostle.

The two things he did not do further his thesis that he received his gospel, his apostleship, his insights, his direction from the Lord.
1) Paul did not seek or receive advice or insight or confirmation from anyone. 2) Paul did not visit Jerusalem and he did not interact with any of the men who were apostles before he was.

The two things he did do also further his thesis:
1) He went away into the vast Nabatean Kingdom. 2) When he left that area he came back to Damascus.

So by Paul’s testimony he had stayed away from Jerusalem and from all the apostles for the entire first three years of his life as an apostle.

Why did Paul go to Arabia? Paul does not say. Commentators tend to speculate on two possibilities.
1) Paul went to Arabia to restudy the Scriptures and to otherwise become further prepared for ministry. 2) Paul went to Arabia to preach the gospel to the Nabateans.

It is quite possible that he did both preach and prepare for further ministry in those years in Arabia. Either way he was far from Jerusalem and its people and influences.

But When God

Verse 15 in the ESV starts with the words “15But when he …”. As we had said, the pronoun he must refer to God the Father. Paul was, with extreme zeal, persecuting Christ by persecuting His Church. But God acted at a moment in time in the first century on the road between Jerusalem and Damascus. Paul instantly stopped persecuting the church. God had changed Paul. There are important differences between Paul’s conversion and ours. But there are also very important similarities.

Notice, for instance, in the Theological Thesis of the letter that Paul uses the pronoun we:

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

If we are justified it is because we have savingly believed just like Paul savingly believed. No one can be saved by the works of the law. If we are not justified it will be because we have not believed in the Lord Jesus. That, in a sense, is the greatest sin of all.