GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
GALATIANS 1:21-24
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21 Then I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia.
Paul continues to document his whereabouts after his conversion in order to show that his gospel message is not from men, but given by God. He has shown that he did not have time while in Jerusalem to be taught the gospel message he now preaches by any of the apostles; in fact, he only met Peter and the Lord’s brother James. Now he tells us where he did go. He went to Syria and Cilicia.
Like Palestine, Syria lies on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. In Paul’s day, Syria occupied most of the northern end of the eastern shore, from around the Orontes river to the coast and about as far south as Damascus. In the Old Testament it is usually referred to as Aram.
Cilicia (pronounced Sile–EE–she–uh) was the region just north of Syria. Between Syria and Cilicia lay Paul’s hometown, Tarsus. There were two Cilicias, Rough Cilicia (in the mountains) and Smooth Cilicia (down to the sea). The only way through Rough Cilicia’s Taurus Mountains leading from Asia Minor (and Galatia) down to Syria and Palestine was a mountain pass called the Cilician Gates. Anyone going south through the gates would stop at Tarsus.
22 I was still personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ.
Now Paul adds that the believers in Judea knew nothing of him. Why did Paul remain in the north? Consider what he had done and what he had been known for: he had persecuted the believers.
After recounting Paul’s conversion in Acts, Luke contracts the story somewhat (he has only begun to introduce Paul into his narrative and is really still telling the story of God’s Word spreading through Peter). But notice what Luke says in Acts 9:22: “Saul (Paul) grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.” The Greek words in Acts 9:22 that are translated “grew… powerful” and “baffled” indicate continuous or ongoing action in past time. This growth of Paul’s ability to preach the message of Jesus Chirst, which baffled his opponents, was happening continuously during this time of his life. In fact, it would continue throughout the remainder of his days. We pray that such growth in God’s Word and the ability to share it with others, either by what we say or simply by the way we live our Christian lives, grows and grows and never ends.
Throughout these verses in Galatians, notice Paul’s very patient and careful answers to the insinuation that his gospel message– that Jesus Christ died for our sins– was human (made up by men) in any way. Paul emphasizes again and again the importance of the Divine origin of the gospel message. Do we sometimes underemphasize doctrinal matters in order to get along with people? Wouldn’t Paul have had an easier time if he simply didn’t make a fuss here about the doctrine of Divine Inspiration? We need to remember what Paul commanded Titus: “You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1). “Doctrine” literally means teaching. Although it sometimes is given a bad name today, doctrine is in fact the correct teaching about what the Scriptures say. May God bless you richly as you continue to faithfully study his word and grow in your understanding of correct doctrine, especially the knowledge that Jesus has paid for all of our sins, yours and mine.
23 They only heard that it was said, “The one who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.”
Paul said in the previous verse that he was unknown to the believers in Judea. Now he states the only exception to this general statement: the believers in Judea heard a report about him. What the people heard must have shocked them once they believed it. The Greek words translated here “the man who… persecuted” seem to be a title in the original language: “The Persecutor.” That may have been a title Paul had before he was converted by Jesus. Now Paul was preaching “the faith.” “The faith” is of course the content and object of the faith: Christ crucified for the sins of the world. “The faith” is really that doctrine or correct teaching we talked about before. Once again, notice the importance of correct doctrine. Certainly as a Jew Paul had faith in God. In fact, that God was the God of the Old Testament: the Triune God. But Paul didn’t have the complete picture or full teaching about God’s plan of salvation, which was merely promised, prophesied and prefigured in the Old Testament. Paul did not have a complete picture of God’s perfect plan. But when Paul heard that the prophecies were all fulfilled, and perfectly fulfilled, in Jesus, he was no longer bound by the Old Testament restrictions on believers. Now Paul was a Christian, a believer in the crucified and risen Jesus Christ. And Paul was vigorously preaching this fact, so much so that rumors and reports about him found their way back among some of the victims of his earlier, equally vigorous activity when he had been attacking Christians. He had been trying to destroy it because it proclaimed freedom from the laws to which he had still been bound. But Jesus set us free from those bonds, and more importantly, from the bonds of sin.
One of the verses of a hymn by Martin Luther describes our former condition:
Fast bound in Satan’s chains I lay;
Death brooded darkly o’er me.
Sin was my torment night an day;
in sin my mother bore me.
Yet deep and deeper still I fell;
Life had become a living hell,
So firmly sin possessed me.24 And they praised God because of me.
The people of Judea had heard that Paul was now preaching the gospel in Syria and Cilicia, and they praised God. The Greek for “they praised” indicates ongoing and repeated praising. This wasn’t just a one-time thing. Every report that came to Jerusalem about Paul and the result of God’s work through Paul caused the believers to rejoice.
One difficulty in translating this simple-seeming verse is that the Greek actually says “And they kept on praising God in me.” What Paul means by “in me” is that they not only praised God about him, but in total agreement with his gospel preaching. Paul will expand on this in chapter 2. The best, concise English translation might be “they praised God for me,” although that doesn’t carry the full force of what Paul is really saying.
We, too, praise God “in” Paul. The message he preached is the message that gives us the certainty of eternal life, and it is the only message that saves. God tells us that he demands perfection from us and a completely sinless life. It doesn’t matter if we try hard to improve, or if we try to balance out our sins and missteps with good deeds, or if we try to lead a perfect life “from now on,” or if we compare ourselves with someone else (who couldn’t say they’ve led a more righteous life than Adolph Hitler or Howard Stern?)– but God still tells us, “whoever keeps the whole law, and yet stumbles at just one point, is guilty of breaking all of it” (James 2:10). We have a problem we simply can’t undo by ourselves. So how can we rid ourselves of our guilt? We can’t. That can only come from outside. God himself came down to earth and humbled himself to be born of a virgin girl, and he lived the perfect life God demands, and he suffered and died, innocently, to pay for all of our sins. Paul told the Corinthians, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). This is the message– the only message– that saves. This is the message we rejoice in! May God bless you richly as you live a life of love for your living Lord.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
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Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – Galatians 1:21-24 Chapter 1 Conclusion