For years the Apostle Paul was virtually an “insignificant” new Believer in Jesus, at least to the Churches and Christians of Judea. Even though Saul (Paul’s pre-conversion name) was educated in Jerusalem, as a Pharisee! (His own words, “I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city, Jerusalem, at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.” Acts 22:3, Gamaliel being a prominent teacher of the Torah, the Law of Moses.)

But to our text today, our Lesson:

From Paul’s continuing autobiography … “And I was unknown by face unto the churches of Judaea which were in Christ: but they had heard only, That he which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed.” Galatians 1:22-23

Paul’s point in the paragraph we are ending today (Galatians 1:11-24) is that he did NOT receive his Gospel from anyone at Jerusalem. That his Message was NOT man inducted or derived! BUT THAT … HE LEARNED THE THINGS OF GOD IN A PRIVATE (SORT OF) WAY! IN THE BLEAK DESERT OF ARABIA, TAUGHT BY THE “REVELATION” OF GOD, BY THE HOLY SPIRIT!

The legalistic (majoring on the Law of Moses) believers in Jerusalem did not even know how Paul looked! (This would be a dramatically different crowd that the Pharisees and Scribes and Chief Priests with whom Paul had fellowshipped prior to his salvation!) He was “unknown by face” to them, to the real saints in Judea. By the way, the Greek for “unknown” is “agnoeo,” and has come to be our English word “agnostic!” Literally, “without knowledge.”

The Believers in and around Jerusalem had only “heard” of Paul!

Plus, they were afraid of him, based  on his reputation as a Christian killer! “And when Saul was come (after about 3 years in Damascus and Arabia) to Jerusalem, he assayed (attempted) to join (kollao, meaning ‘to be glued, to cleave’) himself to the disciples: but they were all afraid (had a “phobia”) of him, and believed not that he was a disciple.” Acts 22:26, they probably thought he was an “undercover” officer for the Jews who were not saved, the Pharisees!

But, “Glory to God,” look what they heard about Paul … “That he which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed.”

What a testimony!

Part sad.

Part thrilling.

Paul sought to “destroy” the faith of young Christians, this verb (“portheo”) means “to waste. Or “to overthrow!” As in “ransacking” something.

And “to persecute” (in Greek spelled “dioko”) someone means: “to chase them down,” here clearly trying “to do them harm.” Alternatively, “to put them to flight!”

But, as I said above, Saul the persecutor has now become Paul the preacher! (Or will be called “Paul” soon, beginning on his first missionary journey!)

Oh yes, there’s one more verse in the chapter!

Galatians 1:24 … “And they glorified God in me.” So said Paul, humble as he was.

As in “another soul has been saved!”

Wow, what a thought I am having.

It would truly be great if all us Christians lived lives concerning which it could be genuinely claimed: “To God be the glory … for his/her salvation!!!”

I never want to bring shame on His Name!

I want to be the kind of person in whom God can receive Glory!

I have said it already … what a testimony!

“He which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed. And they glorified God in me.”

Paul, an independent Preacher of the Word.

Not a factory made, cookie-cutter, conforming-to-Jerusalem kind of Servant!

Truly, a Jesus man, a CHRIST-ian!

Obligated to no one … except His Saviour!

Wow!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

 

Only one verse today, and short at that. (As I’ve said, we must “speed up” some in our journey through Galatians! Maybe tomorrow …!) But something (actually Someone, I hope) keeps stopping me; to adore certain lines, clauses, phrases, or just a single word!

Today’s Lesson … “Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.” With Paul being the speaker, one of his few autobiographical admissions, Galatians 1:21.

This happens after Paul’s short time in Damascus.

And after Paul’s years in Arabia.

After Paul’s very short return to Damascus.

Also after Paul’s 15 days in Jerusalem.

Then … he went “into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.”

This “trip into Syria and Cilicia” helps fill in a “gap” in what little we know of Paul’s timeline, of his life, his years of ministry especially.

He must have been there (primarily in Cilicia we think) for several years! Maybe up to nine years, but certainly seven or eight!

Seems that when Paul left Jerusalem (that brief two-week stay) he trekked back to his home-town, Tarsus (in Cilicia). Nobody in Jerusalem seemed to be too “excited” about him, “that Christian killer who had converted (he said) to the Lord Jesus!”

So Paul apparently walked north back to Damascus then further north through Antioch (of Syria) then north even more … eventually swinging west a bit … into Cilicia. Where was located it’s crown jewel, the City of Tarsus! Paul’s home, where he was reared, surely by strict Jewish parents.

What did Paul do there?

In Tarsus?

I say, PREACHED!

I believe he now preaches everywhere he goes! He has already been saved for four (or so) years and has really grown in the Grace of God! Being a graduate of the Seminary of the Holy Spirit, a three year course in Arabia! Remember? (If not, read a few of the previous Lessons, to get current.)

No doubt, serving God … “afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.”

But there is not a shred of evidence of a single Church started!

Nor a line of an Epistle written back then!

In fact, Paul may have spent his entire ministry buried there in Cilicia, had not the Church (at Antioch) needed him so badly. And had not a man named Barnabas been Paul’s acquaintance!

Nine years, Paul (to us anyway) incognito!

But nine years of God still “building His servant!”

It took 40 years with Moses!

Anyone reading here today feeling you’re in a (spiritual) holding pattern?

Wasting time?

Wanting to get really busy doing something for God?

Do what Paul did.

“Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.” Psalm 27:14

“Wait on the LORD, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee ….” Wow, Psalm 37:34

“They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31

And … “Occupy till He comes.” Stay busy for Jesus, Luke 19:13!

Paul waited … and God answered!

As we shall soon see!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

 

After giving a brief sketch of his life, post conversion (after he was saved) … Paul uncharacteristically penned these words: “Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not.” Galatians 1:20

He is adding further gravitas, strength, earnestness … to what he has already declared to the Galatian believers (especially concerning his autobiography). “I lie not.” No, more reverently: “Before God, I lie not.”

Paul DID receive his theology, his conviction that salvation is a gift, not an earned reward, straight from Jesus, “by revelation!” In the Arabian desert, we believe, during several years of “training” there.

And Paul DID NOT base his soteriology (doctrine of salvation) on anything originally gleaned from the Apostles at Jerusalem! Including their leader, Simon Peter!

Our very identity as Christians hinges on that doctrine of “salvation by grace!”

So, for that reason, believing that the issue at hand was so vitally important … Paul calls God as his Witness! “Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not.”

(By the way, here is evidence that Paul is not, at this point anyway, using a secretary to write his Letter. “The things which I write ….” Even Galatians 6:11 further strengthens this position. “Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand.” Large letters? A little more on that phrase when we get to Galatians 6 in our studies, the Lord willing.)

To our little hero, Paul the budding Apostle, GOD IS THE SOURCE OF THE GOSPEL HE PREACHES. IT IS IN NO WAY “TAINTED” BY MAN’S “INPUT!” Even the Apostles! (I am not saying Paul did not discuss the Gospel when he visited Peter and James. In fact, he well may have received their “confirmation” of the Gospel, solely via God’s Grace. But he did not first learn of the Gospel from those men!)

It is as if Paul wants to be “defined” by the Gospel he preaches, which he has been “given!”

Actually, he loved the Gospel so dearly that he occasionally called it “my Gospel!” That precious, that personal!

Romans 2:16 … “In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to MY GOSPEL.”

Romans 16:25 … “Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to MY GOSPEL, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began ….”

And once more in 2 Timothy 2:8-9, maybe the clearest example of all … “Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to MY GOSPEL: wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound.”

Wow!

Not the “mixed-up” so-called Gospel of works! Nor of works plus grace! But the gospel of the grace of God, meaning … salvation as a gift!

So thankfully, we have Galatians 1:20 in the Bible … “Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not.”

I can only find 2 other places where Paul made this strong an affirmation. In Romans 9:1 where Paul is emphasizing Israel, his nation by birth! “I say the truth in Christ, I LIE NOT, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost ….”

Then again in 2 Corinthians 11:31, after that long list of hardships Paul suffered for Jesus’ Sake, or the Gospel’s Sake, once more in an autobiographical paragraph! “The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I LIE NOT.”

Wow!

Seems that when Paul is speaking (or writing) Bible Doctrine … he needs no authentication! God has inspired him, and no true believer would ever doubt it!

But when Paul is speaking (or writing) of his personal life or intimate desires … he needs and (at least 3 times) uses some Line of authentication!

What an honest man!

So … what have we done today, in the Lesson?

I trust … “compared Scripture with Scripture!”

And thereby learned another fact or two about the amazing man we call Paul.

A man of “truth!”

Until tomorrow, the Lord willing.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

 

Paul had been saved three whole years … before he ever laid eyes on any of Jesus’ Disciples! Peter or Matthew or Thomas, or any of the others! The (yet to become) great Apostle did NOT learn the basics of Christianity from them! But apparently, directly from Jesus! Via the Holy Spirit of God! Via those years alone in Arabia!

Wow!

But now today’s Text adds: “Then after three years I (Paul) went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days. But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord’s brother.” Galatians 1:18-19

What informative autobiography!

What character revealing lines!

But why Peter?

Because he had become the “spokesman” for the original Apostles/Disciples, maybe. Sort of a “leader?” (Though never a dictator or “Pope!”)

Then again maybe because Peter had been among the first (excluding the ladies) of Jesus’ first followers to know Christ’s True Identity! As in Matthew 16:16 here: “And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Wow!

So … for two weeks and a day Paul and Peter invested time together, discussing (no doubt) the Things of our Lord! His Life, earthly and heavenly! (Comparing notes, so to speak!)

I doubt Paul learned much new information, really. But he sure did get further confirmation on a number of issues, or so I suspect. Then again maybe Paul was confirming Peter on some things!

Why did Paul not see any of the other Disciples, the other ten? My guess is that they were all gone, away, preaching the Gospel of our Lord Jesus in other places.

Remember, persecution had scattered them, God-sent persecution! (We know the rank and file were scattered like that! I am suggesting maybe even the Apostles later, as the “heat” intensified. And it sure did! “And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.” Acts 8:1, remember, I said “later” for the Twelve.

Anyway, Paul and Peter!

Opposites have again attracted!

A fifteen day Bible Conference!

Paul still learning about Jesus, maybe by now the incidentals.

How tall was He?

The color of HIs Eyes?

His manner with the children?

Did you ever see Him angry?

Describe His Resurrection Body, best you can, Peter.

“It was so aglow when I beheld Him, I was blinded!” So would have Paul said.

Wow again!

Then, for some reason, Paul then also met James.

This is James, the half-brother of Jesus. (Mark 6:3, speaking of Jesus … “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.” Our Lord’s siblings!)

Half-brother? Yes, the same mother (Mary) but not the same father (Joseph)! Jesus being conceived of the Holy Spirit, the Virgin Birth miracle!

This same James, I fear, had a disruptive, negative  influence on Paul in later years. Maybe it would have been better had these two never met!

But that’s another lesson, not here or now.

Then, after those days … Paul is gone!

Off again!

Preaching God’s Word, primarily to the Gentiles … just like God had called him to do. (God’s Will for Paul, from the dear Lord’s mouth directly to Ananias: “For he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel.” Note the order, Gentiles first, Acts 9:15.)

Preach, Paul, preach!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

And so he did, for decades!

Until … near the end of his life … he could confidently (yet humbly) say: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7, in other words, essentially: “I have preached the Word!”

 

There are three years, or most of three years anyway, that form a “gap” in Paul’s early ministry. As far as constructing any kind of timeline is concerned.

And they focus on a location, looks like to me.

“Arabia.”

Here’s the background, Paul’s personal testimony: “But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but BY THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it: and profited in the Jews’ religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers. But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace, to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I WENT INTO ARABIA, and returned again unto Damascus. Then AFTER THREE YEARS I went up to Jerusalem …”  Galatians 1:11-18

After a short time in Damascus, right after Paul’s conversion, he was driven from the city by threat of persecution (even possible death) and reports … “I went into Arabia,” a not too distant desert area! Likely south of Damascus, I am told.

And since Damascus was so dangerous to the Apostle, he probably invested most of the specified “three years” in that solitary place! Before temporarily returning to Damascus, that is.

Remember, Moses spent time in the desert, prior to his life’s work!

So did Elijah, having suddenly appeared to wicked King Ahab “out of the desert!”

And John the Baptist, too!

But WHY would Paul go away like that?

I think the key “hint” is found in this clause from our Text: “Immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood.” No man taught Paul the basics of Christianity!

Even including the Disciples of Jesus! “Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me.” Wow!

Then … how did Paul become so “grounded” in the Faith?

I call it his three years (or nearly that long) in the “Theological Seminary of God the Holy Ghost!”

He himself just said, Paul did, that he learned more of God “by revelation” than in any other way! Speaking of the Gospel, Paul writes: “I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the REVELATION of Jesus Christ.” And I personally believe that “revelation” occurred, or much of it, over those three critical years in he barrenness of Arabia! (The Greek word “revelation” used here literally means “unveiling!”)

Then, after Paul has learned from Jesus Himself … he goes to Jerusalem. To see the Disciples, but that’s Monday’s Lesson, the Lord willing.

Paul, schooled in Judaism at the feet of Gamaliel, in Jerusalem.

Paul, schooled in his new faith in Jesus by God the Holy Spirit, somewhere in the unknown regions of a Middle Eastern desert!

Wow!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell