GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
GALATIANS 1:11-12
Click to listen to this devotion.
11 I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something from man. 12 For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it through a revelation from Jesus Christ.
The Galatians knew that Paul was a servant of Christ. He had made that clear and obvious to them while he was with them. Now he needs to make it clear and obvious that his message, the gospel he preached, was not of human origin.
The Greek expression that I have translated “something from man” is kata anthropon (κατὰ ἄνθρωπον), which could even be taken as “According to Man” just as the four Gospels are “According to Matthew,” “According to Mark,” and so on. But Paul is not talking about the hand on the pen, but the source of the gospel. The origin of Paul’s whole message is Christ. He has been accused of accommodating his gospel to his human listeners and of making the path to salvation much easier than it was for the Jews, who had to undergo circumcision. This detail of the Judaizers’ message, that circumcision was still necessary (they claimed) for salvation, will be made clear in chapter 2. But Paul is already addressing this by showing that he is not trying to make things easier for the new converts. If he is going to be accused of preaching too easy a way of salvation, then he must show that what he preaches is not his own idea. It comes from Christ. So he continues: “For I did not receive it from any man.” He is not denying the humanity of Jesus when he says this, although the gospel comes directly from Jesus. No, he is emphasizing the divinity of Jesus. The whole Bible is worthless if its source is human and it is simply a collection of human sayings and meanderings, the way that the Book of Mormon is nonsense written in a dialect that the human author didn’t understand. Whether it is the Sutras, the I Ching, the Greek epics, or any other human book of religion, it is man’s own invention. Even the Apocrypha, which are the histories of the Maccabees, the stories of Tobit and Judith, the sayings of Sirach and the so-called Wisdom of Solomon, and the little additions to Daniel, Jeremiah, Esther, and the extra Psalm, are well worth reading and study, are helpful with the language of the Bible, and often lend their support to Scripture, but they, which are among the best of books, are from men and not from God. Not so with the Holy Bible. God himself, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, calls the Bible “the Word of God” (Mark 7:13; John 10:35).
And Paul also says, “Nor was I taught it.” By this, he means the gospel is revealed; hearts are opened by it. The law is written in the heart (Romans 2:15), but absolutely no human apostle or teacher came to Paul to explain the Gospel. This was given to him in a revelation from Jesus Christ in person. Paul said the same thing to the Ephesians: “The mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly” (Ephesians 3:3). The convicting, condemning law makes the sinner aware of sin, but the sweet gospel uncovers and reveals God’s marvelous and surprising grace. So unexpected! So sweet! The forgiven sinner wants to keep running back to hear this gospel again and again: “Let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet” (Song of Solomon 2:14). A righteous man will seek out the law, but the gospel is the gift of God’s grace (Ephesians 3:7).
Luther throws up his hands before his students here and asks in frustration: “What is to be done here? Is every fanatic to have the right to teach whatever he pleases, since the world refuses to listen to or tolerate our teaching?” (1535 lectures, LW 26:67). A fanatic will teach whatever he wants, but he will have to prove his source. Does he take the Bible to be the sole authority for all doctrine? If not, his teachings are useless, even if he tries to dip into the Bible here and there as if to sprinkle and sanctify his own ideas. Or another man says, “I believe the Bible, but it has to make sense to my own human reason.” He has set up a little false god in his heart, which is his own opinion, because it is not only his human reason but his personal ability to use his reason that he relies upon. He is saying: “I’m smarter that the Holy Spirit. If the Spirit says it, but I don’t understand it, then it’s wrong and false” and he makes God out to be a liar. This is a sin against the Second Commandment because he is swearing falsely against the name of God and therefore he is profaning it (Leviticus 19:12).
Back to Paul: The apostle maintains that his gospel was revealed to him by Christ. Luke retells the story of one such revelation of Jesus to Paul. This was the first such revelation, which Paul saw on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:3-6; 22:6-10 and 26:12-18). Paul will tell us that another revelation, or series of them, took place over three years in Arabia. Paul will lay this out for us later in this chapter (1:15-18). But we have Paul’s own recollection of the Damascus vision, and there Jesus said to him: “Open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me” (Acts 26:18). There is the essence of the gospel, to receive the forgiveness of sins by faith alone. Our Confession summarizes Paul in Romans 3 and 4 by saying: “Men cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works but are freely justified for Christ’s sake through faith when they believe that they are received into favor and that their sins are forgiven on account of Christ, who by his death made satisfaction for our sins. God imputes this faith as righteousness in his sight.”
Praise God for the gospel of the forgiveness of your sins. Forgiveness, the resurrection, and eternal life are yours through Jesus. It is “as clear as the summer sun.”
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Listen or watch Bible classes online.
Archives at St Paul’s Lutheran Church and Wisconsin Lutheran Chapel:
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – Galatians 1:11-12 A revelation