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Paul’s
defense of his apostolic office Our working theme for Galatians: “Grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, as taught in Scripture alone, to the glory of God alone” CHARTING
THE COURSE FOR THIS STUDY: Paul’s Autobiographic Defense Of His Apostolic Office (Galatians 1:11-2:10) PAUL’S
AUTOBIOGRAPHIC DEFENSE OF HIS APOSTOLIC OFFICE (Galatians 1:11-2:10) A. Paul’s message was “not according to man” (v.11). B. Paul’s message was received through a revelation of Jesus Christ (v.12). 1. “of Jesus Christ” in the Greek can mean either/or OR either/and: a. “a revelation from Jesus Christ” (subjective genitive). Paul would be emphasizing the source of his Gospel as in v.1 b. “a revelation about Jesus Christ” (objective genitive). Paul would be emphasizing that God revealed Jesus to Paul so that he might preach Christ. 2. Both senses make sense and neither can be ruled out. C. Paul’s former manner of life: 1. Paul’s persecution of the church (Galatians 1:13-14; Acts 8:3; 9:1,13,21; 22:4,5,19; 26:10f; 1 Cor.15:9; Phil.3:6; 1 Tim.1:13cf. Acts 26:4,5; Philippians 3:5-6). a. “tried to destroy it” (Galatians 1:13). b. “threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord” (Acts 9:1). c. Paul harmed “God’s saints” (Acts 9:13). d. “destroyed those who called on this name” (Acts 9:21). e. Paul spoke to Jesus, “I used to imprison and beat those who believed in You” (Acts 22:19). f. “I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God” (1 Corinthians 15:9). g. “a persecutor of the church” (Philippians 3:6). 2. Paul’s confidence, glory and boast were in his flesh (Philippians 3:3-7; cf. Romans 2:23; 3:27). a. “circumcised on the eighth day” (Philippians 3:5; cf. Genesis 17:12; Leviticus 12:3) b. “of the nation of Israel” (Philippians 3:5) c. “of the tribe of Benjamin” (Philippians 3:5) d. “a Hebrew of Hebrews” (Philippians 3:5) e. “as to the Law, a Pharisee” (Philippians 3:5) f. blameless according to the Law (Philippians 3:6) D. It turned out that everything Paul stood for and lived for in his former life he was actually opposing because Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law! By grace, Paul learned that the very thing he thought he was standing for he was actually opposing. If anyone were further away from biblical Judaism, it was Paul! John 16:2-3 E. What transformed Paul was not the Law but God’s grace and the revelation of Jesus (Galatians 1:15-16). 1. Paul was not saved by his zeal for Judaism nor his ancestral traditions. Paul was saved and called through God’s grace (Galatians 1:15). a. The grace of God in Paul’s life was an important theme in his ministry (1 Timothy 1:12-14). b. In no way was Paul saved by the works of his flesh. Before his conversion, Paul couldn’t have been more wrong! c. The best that Paul could do according to his flesh was persecute the church of God! d. Paul had to be saved by grace just as everyone else is saved by grace (Acts 15:11; Ephesians 2:5,8-9). 2. Since Paul was saved by grace and since the Gospel was revealed to Paul through grace Paul is adamantly opposed to any message that adds anything to God’s grace (cf. Romans 9:30-32). a. “I am amazed that you are so quickly
deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel…”
(Galatians 1:6). b. “You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace” (Galatians 5:4). c. “I wish that those who are troubling you would even mutilate themselves” (Galatians 5:12; cf. Deut.23:1). d. Elsewhere, Paul calls those who rely upon their works, dogs, evil workers, and the false circumcision (Philippians 3:2). e. Paul calls his former works “skoo’-bal-on” which is a vulgar term having the sense of “crap” (Philippians 3:8). 3. Paul’s autobiography is essential not only for establishing his apostolic authority but also for establishing that we are saved by grace alone (Galatians 1:3,6,15) through faith alone (Galatians 2:16,20; 3:1-14, 22-29; 6:10; cf. Ephesians 2:8-10) in Christ alone and to the glory of God the Father (1:4-5). a. Men like E.P. Sanders, James Dunn and N.T. Wright are saying that Second Temple Judaism was not a “works salvation” but a religion of grace alone like Christianity. If this is the case then why was Saul/Paul so adamantly opposed to Christianity? i. It wasn’t because Christians in Saul’s day were mixing with Gentiles. The book of Acts indicates that until Paul was commissioned by Jesus, Christianity was overwhelmingly Jewish. In fact, it seems that the Gospel didn’t start going to Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth until after Saul started persecuting the church (Acts 8:1-4). ii. Saul wasn’t primarily opposed to the church merely because it was a new sect. There were other Jewish sects in his day. iii. Saul was opposed to Christianity because of its message about the cross (Acts 4:10-12; 5:30-31; 10:39-40; 13:26-43!; Romans 9:31-33; 1 Corinthians 1:23ff.; Galatians 5:11). iv. Saul/Paul was opposed to Christianity because he hadn’t really come to terms with the teaching of the Old Testament concerning Messiah and salvation (cf. Isaiah 53 with Acts 8:26-39). v. Paul’s argument with the Judaizers in the churches of Galatia is over the nature of the cross. b. To be sure, the message of the cross has ecclesiastical implications. Nevertheless, we must disagree with men like N.T. Wright who say that Galatians is primarily about ecclesiology and not Christology (see Garlington, An Exposition of Galatians p.7). i. We can agree that there were problems of Table Fellowship in the churches (cf. 2:11ff.). But these social/ecclesiastical problems were rooted in a faulty Gospel (1:8-9). ii. For Paul, justification was not only a matter of soteriology but also Christology. F. Paul’s Gospel was not from men (Galatians 1:16-24). 1. “I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood” (v.16). 2. “I did not go up to Jerusalem…” (v.17) 3. Three years later Paul went to Jerusalem and spent fifteen days with Cephas and James [1] (vv.18-19; cf. Acts 22:17-18).[2]
4. Paul went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia for at least eleven years (vv.20-2:1; cf. 1:18). G. When Paul did spend significant time in Jerusalem with the Apostles and other leaders, they recognized that he had been entrusted with the gospel (by Christ) and they “contributed nothing” to Paul (2:2-10). Why did Paul go up to Jerusalem? (Gal.2:2) Why did Paul submit his Gospel to those of reputation
in Jerusalem? (2:2) Who was Titus? Why did Paul circumcise Timothy but not Titus? (see Acts 16:1-3) What is the principle by which Paul lived? (1 Cor.9:19-23; cf. 1 Cor.10:32-33) How did those of “reputation” receive Paul’s Gospel and Titus? (Galatians 2:6-10) What was the only thing the leaders in the Jerusalem church asked of Paul? (Galatians 2:10) What was the only thing the leaders in the Jerusalem church asked of Paul? (Galatians 2:10) H. The
Apostles contributed nothing to Paul’s Gospel to the Gentiles and yet
Gentiles around the world ended up contributing to the Jerusalem Church
(Gal.2:6,10)! The “Jerusalem Collection” Or “Collection For The Saints” 1. Agabus
prophesied a famine in Acts 11:27-30 and the church determined to send a
contribution for the relief of the brethren living in Judea ( 2. The “Jerusalem Collection” was a very important part of Paul’s ministry to other Christians as is evidenced in his letters (Romans 15:25-28; 1 Corinthians 16:1-4; 2 Corinthians 8:1-4; 9:1,2,12). 3. The “Jerusalem Collection” may have incorporated the following geographical regions: a. b. Derbe (Acts 20:4) c. Lystra (Acts 20:4) d. e. f. Thessalonica (Acts 20:4) g. h. i. j. k. l. Ptolemais (Acts 21:7) m. n. Is Galatians 2:1-10
the Jerusalem Synod of Acts 15? For those who argue
that the Pope is the successor to Peter: How does Galatians 2:7-9 poke a hole
in their argument? (cf. 2 Timothy 1:11) |
