So, Like Where Did You Get That Gospel Anyway? - Galatians 1:11-17

One of the worst afflictions Christians suffer from is the fear of men.  We want others to like us.  We want people to think well of us.  And as Christians, we want the world to treat us well, to respect us and to recognize our rights and freedoms right alongside everyone else’s.  Everyone wants to be loved.  No one wants to be hated by anyone.

Last week, a bill was passed in New York that legalized the marriage of sodomites.  However, the bill was held up for a few days by Republicans because they wanted to be sure “. . . religious organizations and affiliated groups [would] be protected from lawsuits if they refused to provide their buildings or services for same-sex marriage ceremonies.  [T]hey also wanted them to be spared any penalties by state government.”

Because of the fear of man, lawmakers want to be thought well of by all.  Or at least by the voting majority.  And by the lobbyists with the most money.  And they want to be well thought of particularly by those who threaten bodily harm to them if they don’t pass certain legislative bills.  So in spite of a previous “commitment” to uphold the institution of marriage as it has been understood by the entire human race for 5000 years, they suddenly decided that sodomites have a civil right to their pursuit of happiness by whatever means, just like the rest of us, and passed a bill that legalized marriage between such couples.

What happened in NY is a shameful display of fearfulness towards men, and fearlessness toward God Almighty.  But before we rail against spineless politicians, we need to understand that we all suffer from this affliction: the fear of men.

The apostle Paul is a stellar example of fearlessness in the face of persecution.  Actually, it would be more accurate to say he is a picture of courage in the face of fear.  In taking the gospel of the Lord Jesus to the Gentile world, he understands he will be opposed by men not unlike himself prior to his conversion.  Men zealous for their religious convictions.  They will go to any lengths to discredit him, ridicule him, hinder him, and even to kill him.  But God has done a work in Paul that has made him unconcerned about whether men love him or hate him.

It was Paul who said in Romans 14:8, "If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord.  So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's."

Look at Galatians 1:6-10.  We’ve already seen that Paul condemns anyone, even angels, who would dare to preach a gospel other than the one he and Barnabas had preached among the Galatians during their first missionary journey.  Then, after Paul pronounces curses on the false teachers in their midst, he asks the Galatian believers this question: “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God?  Or am I trying to please man?  If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” (Galatians 1:10 ESV)

We need to read a bit between the lines here to understand what is happening.  Paul and the Judaizers are at war for the souls of the Galatians.  One of the things the Judaizers are claiming is that Paul is seeking to convert Gentiles to become followers of himself by preaching a salvation that doesn’t require circumcision.  According to the Judaizers, Paul’s gospel is a kind of “easier believe-ism”.

In other words, they are saying Paul has made it quite literally painless for Gentiles to attain salvation.  And it doesn’t take much imagination to understand why this would be a popular message among Paul’s supposed Gentile proselytes to Judaism.  So Paul is being accused of preaching an easy salvation for Gentiles in order to gain a popular following when, according to the Judaizers, salvation really isn’t that easy.  You must become Jewish.  You must be circumcised.  On the surface of it, their accusations against Paul are believable.

So when Paul opens his letter with the equivalent of, “May God condemn all the Judaizers!”, that is his way of answering the charge that he’s just looking to win friends amongst the Galatians by presenting them with a painless, trouble-free transition into Judaism and salvation.  This is indeed good news for Gentiles!  They’ve never heard anyone say anything like this in the synagogue before.  “We can be saved by God’s grace alone, and we don’t have to become Jewish?  Sound too good to be true!”

And the Judaizers say, “Exactly!  It’s not true!  Paul is a fraud.  He’s preaching this because he knows you’ll like it and follow him.  You’re following a mad man.  Yes, it’s true, you must believe in Jesus.  But you must also be circumcised.“

It is pretty obvious in his opening paragraph that Paul is definitely not looking to schmooze with the Judaizers.  He condemns them to hell for their false teaching.  Thus the war.  The Judaizers condemn Paul and say, “He’s just looking for a fan club amongst the Gentiles.”  Then Paul responds, “May those men be anathema!  Let me say it one more time for the hard of hearing: May those men be cursed and condemned by God.  Now am I trying to please men?  If I were interested in pleasing men, I wouldn’t be a slave of Christ.  I would never have come to you with the gospel at all.  I would not have suffered as I have for the sake of the gospel.  If I wanted to please men, I’d still be a Pharisee.”

Look with me at verses 11 through 17.

[11] For 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, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. [13] For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. [14] And 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. [15] But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, [16] was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; [17] nor 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)

It should be some comfort to the Galatians to know that he still considers them to be his brethren.  They are still "in the faith".  But they are in danger of losing the gospel message to these Judaizers, which begs the question: Can a person be saved if he loses the biblical gospel and embraces a works-based salvation?  Or to put it another way, can a person be saved while being mistaken in his understanding of the gospel?

I think not.  He can be mistaken about a lot of things, but not the gospel itself.  You can be confused about baptism, and church polity, and whether to have wine or grape juice in communion.  But without a biblically accurate gospel message based upon the truth of what God has done through Christ, a person cannot be saved.

We also need to remember the distinction between the salvation of individual believers, and the doctrinal convictions of an entire church congregation.  This is exactly where church splits come from.  The Galatians may part company with each other over this issue of grace versus works.  And they should, if there are those who begin preaching salvation by circumcision.  Such a parting amongst “believers” tends to separate the sheep from the goats.  But only God knows the heart, and even in such a grave situation as this one that is developing amongst the Galatians, it is probable that genuine believers could exist even in the Judaizer’s camp.

That is the way it is today.  Not everyone who attends gospel-less churches is unsaved.  The Lord has His people even in the worst of places.  Take Lot in Sodom, for example.  Or Rahab in Jericho.  Elijah thought he was the only faithful follower of the Lord in all of decadent Israel.  But what is God's reply to him? "I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal." (Romans 11:4 ESV).

On the other hand, the devil also has his people in even the best of places.  Like Diotrophes who loved to "have the preeminence" in the church.  Or Hymenaeus and Philetus whose “irreverent babble” upset the faith of some.  Like Judas.

So while we may be right in parting company with those churches and denominations that deny the sufficiency of scripture and adhere to a false gospel, we cannot say that no one who stays in such a place could possibly be a true believer.  But they will certainly not be well fed and they will certainly be subjected to all kinds of false teaching.  Such of the Lord’s sheep are sickly at best.

So in verse 11 Paul still considers the Galatians to be Christians because he refers to them as his brethren.  Now, notice what else he says.  When Paul says his gospel "is not man's gospel" what does he mean?  He is saying his gospel is of supernatural origin.  His gospel, contrary to what he is being accused of, is not a human invention.  He is not making this stuff up.  As a Pharisee persecuting the church of Christ to the death, Paul did not come to the conclusion that salvation is by grace alone through Christ alone as a result of careful Bible study and exegesis.  Paul has not invented out of his own head another "denomination" within Judaism which he is promoting for personal gain.  His gospel came to him from outside himself.  He did not discover it.  It was revealed to him, by God.  And, even more importantly, it is in complete agreement with the Old Testament scriptures.

People today do not generally accept the Bible as a divine revelation from God.  We must be more conscientious about stating our belief in the inspiration and authority of the Scriptures.  Christians of the past were much more conscientious about this.  For example, this is the very first chapter and the first paragraph of the London Baptist Confession of 1689:

Chapter 1: Of the Holy Scriptures

1._____ The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience, although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men inexcusable; yet are they not sufficient to give that knowledge of God and his will which is necessary unto salvation. Therefore it pleased the Lord at sundry times and in divers manners to reveal himself, and to declare that his will unto his church; and afterward for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan, and of the world, to commit the same wholly unto writing; which maketh the Holy Scriptures to be most necessary, those former ways of God's revealing his will unto his people being now ceased.  ( 2 Timothy 3:15-17; Isaiah 8:20; Luke 16:29, 31; Ephesians 2:20; Romans 1:19-21; Romans 2:14,15; Psalms 19:1-3; Hebrews 1:1; Proverbs 22:19-21; Romans 15:4; 2 Peter 1:19,20 )

4._____ The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man or church, but wholly upon God (who is truth itself), the author thereof; therefore it is to be received because it is the Word of God.  ( 2 Peter 1:19-21; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 John 5:9 )

Why do we believe the things we believe?  Why do we believe the Bible is true?  Because of where it came from.  We are convinced that not just the gospel message, but the entire Bible came to us from God.  Can we prove that?  No.  But we have good reason to believe it, not the least being that God has caused us to believe it.

If Paul’s gospel is simply the result of some new thinking or philosophy, then it isn't worth the air spent to speak it.  But if his message is indeed from God Almighty, and revealed to him by means of the resurrected Jesus Christ, then Paul’s gospel is the only religious message of any kind worth listening to.

A few days ago I was listening to a local, non-religious radio program.  On that program, the host made the claim that the primary motivation for one’s religious beliefs is personal happiness.  Whatever makes you happy and fulfilled is what you should believe.  There was one disclaimer: You can’t believe anything that hurts other people.  But other than that, according to this radio personality, we should believe WHATEVER will make us happy.  The object of our faith could be “a light bulb” if that’s what it takes to attain happiness.

Another thing that does not enter into that equation AT ALL is truth.  Truth never even entered into the discussion.  One’s religion should be based solely upon whatever a person desires to worship, if anything.  What I was hearing was so blatantly pagan I was stunned by it.  Worship absolutely whatever you want, and as long as you don’t hurt anyone, and as long as you are fulfilled, then you have arrived.  That was it.  That was virtually the entire conversation.  And never did it enter into the discussion that there is such a thing as true and false in religion.  ALL religion, regardless of what might be believed, regardles of what you may make up in your head, all of them are the same.  Everyone is right, no one is wrong.

That is why we won’t be tolerated if we say the Bible is true.

How did Paul know his gospel was true?  How did he become so totally convinced that what he was preaching was true and the Judaizers were dead wrong?  Look at what he says:

For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

This was a sudden awakening for Paul.  It was, according to what we read in Acts 9, an instantaneous revelation of the truth concerning Jesus as the resurrected Son of God.  He was breathing murderous threats against Christians one moment, and the next moment he was stricken to the ground by Jesus Christ Himself and even had a very brief conversation with Him.  Jesus was suddenly, instantaneously, and miraculously revealed to Paul for who He truly is: the Messiah.  That is how Paul knows his gospel message is true.  There was an instantaneous 180 degree change of heart.

Paul had been the arch enemy of the gospel and of those who believed it.  Look at verses 13 & 14.

[13] For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. [14] And 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.

They knew what kind of man Paul had been.  He hated Christianity so much that he tried to destroy it.  He was a vehement persecutor of those who would dare to preach or teach anything other than the Judaism he had learned and taught as a Pharisee.  He was a murderer of Christians, "extremely zealous . . . for the traditions of my fathers".  How does such a person come to understand the grace of God?  How does he become a preacher of that grace to the Gentiles?

Some would have us believe Paul must have been seeking after God.  How else does a person experience salvation unless he seeks it out and comes to understand the free gift of God and accept the Lord Jesus?  Surely, in spite of all outward appearances, Paul must have been secretly entertaining thoughts of repentance and faith toward Christ.

Well, that is not what he says.  In fact, he’s making exactly the opposite point.  He hated Christ.  He hated the church of God.  He hated Christians.  He sought to destroy Christianity.  He wanted to annihilate this cult.  He was 100% Jewish.  Now, how does such a person “get saved”?

Same way everybody else does.  Verse 15, the first word: BUT!

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

When God, in His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son to Paul, God saved Paul.  And He revealed Christ to Paul even though Paul wasn’t looking for Him.  How is that possible?  Well, not only is it possible, but once again, that’s the way it always happens.  There is none that seek after God.

On the contrary, it is God who seeks out and saves His own.  He seeks out those whom He sets apart for salvation even before they are born.  And He reveals Jesus Christ to them and saves them solely because it pleases Him to do so.  God was pleased to reveal His Son to murderous, hateful, Christian-persecuting Paul.

In other words, Paul’s gospel did not originate with Paul.  It originated with God who suddenly and miraculously revealed it to him.  But God revealed Christ to Paul for more than his salvation.  His purpose was that Paul, the Hebrew of Hebrews, circumcised on the eighth day, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Pharisee, depending entirely upon his own ability to keep the Law of Moses in order to gain salvation, -- that Paul would take this message of the grace of God in Christ to the Gentiles!

Obviously, this was not Paul’s plan.  The only people Paul may have hated more than Christians would have been the Gentiles.  It should be obvious to the Galatians that everything the Judaizers are telling them about Paul is a lie.  Obviously, his gospel came to him, not from him.

We should make much of that ourselves.  We did not figure out the gospel and then believe it because it was so reasonable.  We did not embrace Christ because the gospel message was logical and made sense and it would make us happy.  We did not decide to believe.  We were brought to belief through God’s revelation of the Lord Jesus to us.  God uncovered the truth of the gospel that was hidden from our natural eyes and minds so that we gladly turned to the only One who could save us from our sins.

The gospel we preach today is not from us.  It is from God.  It has been granted to us to understand it, and we have been charged with the responsibility of spreading it around.  Even if we have to die doing it.

Then Paul makes this statement in verses 16 & 17: I did not immediately consult with anyone; [17] nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.

Do you believe the things you believe because some guy on the radio said it was true, or because a persuasive TV preacher said it was true?  Do you believe the things you believe because your Momma told you they were true?  Do you believe these things because other people expect you to?  Why do you believe what you believe?  Because somehow you think that if you “become a Christian” you’ll have your best life now?  You believe the stuff you’ve made up in your head because it makes you happy?

Or do you believe the gospel because God, in His grace, through the power of His word, and by His Holy Spirit, has brought the guilt of your sin to bear upon your conscience?  And He has mercifully revealed to you that your only hope of forgiveness and eternal life is because of who Jesus Christ is and because of what He has done on Calvary?  Is that why you believe?  Because God has shown you what the truth is and has changed your heart?

We are not making these things up.  The gospel has been revealed to us by God.  It is His gospel, not ours.  It is God’s message to the world, not ours.  The Bible is God’s inspired word, not ours.  All of this comes to us from outside ourselves, from God.  We need to remind people, to remind ourselves and others, that what we believe is what God has shown us to be true through His inspired, inerrant, and infallible and totally trustworthy word.