From God – Galatians 1 (NIV)

From God – Galatians 1 (NIV)

Paul makes a strong point that the gospel, and therefore his ministry, is not from man. This is not his idea or someone else’s idea – it’s God’s idea and plan. If it were from man, it would be a terrible idea: let’s come up with a religion that, when done correctly, benefits everyone the same and the leaders are killed.

But it brings up an interesting point:

John 20:28-29 (NIV)
Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Paul saw. He was blinded right after that but He saw Jesus on the road to Damascus. Maybe he was so stubborn and lost that he wasn’t going to believe otherwise. God can be patient and gentle but it seems that wasn’t the plan with Paul. Microwave salvation!

I’ll be honest – if I were a Galatian and I got this letter, I’d probably want to point that out to Paul: we didn’t all have an encounter with the Lord in His glory. On top of that, Paul had the benefit of the most teaching. He knew it all. Once he believed, he was definitely the best apologist. He knew all the prophecies that Jesus fulfilled.

I don’t mean to come down on Paul. I’m outting myself as petty. I do the same with Moses, Joseph, David, etc. I think: "If I saw the miracles they saw…" But I have something better: the Holy Spirit! I have, inside me, part of God leading me and ministering to me.

Unlike the Galatians, I live in a country founded with Judeo-Christian ethics and foundations. Most of what is around me points to God, not away. We’ve perverted it but, if anything, our country has over corrected. Few people truly go the opposite way of God and are actively evil. What’s more common, I believe, is that we credit ourselves, nature, etc. with the way things are. We use the blessings from God as an argument against Him!

We take the blessing of personal salvation and distort that into individual rights. We take the command of love one another and turn it into a demand to appease the irresponsible. I know this sounds political but that actually makes my point: we’ve taken righteous practices and turned them into rules of earthly institutions perverted to the point that they are counter to the intention.

Wow, ok, I didn’t mean for this to go this way. 😂

I guess what I’m trying to say, in an attempt to review Galatians chapter 1, is that we all, at times, slip away from the point. We lose the meaning. We drift from the path. Some big, some small. Some short, some long.

Paul clearly believes they have gone towards a non-gospel of works – back to the old system of rules, laws and sacrifices. He knows how false that is and is appropriately upset.

In chapter one, I think he wants to clearly show that the gospel of Christ, the gospel of mercy, grace and peace, is not something from humans. If you truly believe something is from God, what does that mean? What can we say about something that is from God?