1:1
Paul was an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. He became an apostle by God’s will. Paul did not become an apostle because he said he was or because other men said he was. He became an apostle when the Lord Jesus Christ called him.
Saul of Tarsus, who became Paul, was on his way to Damascus to kill Christians. He already killed Christians or put them in prison. He was there when Stephen was martyred and approved of that murder. What kind of man was this? He was a killer. He was a religious fanatic. When confronted by the Lord Jesus he went from being a killer to an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing is impossible with God. We should never write off anybody.
What is an apostle? The word means messenger. It is someone set aside for the purpose of preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. When Paul defended himself against his critics at Corinth he listed some of the credentials of an apostle. Read 2 Corinthians 12:12.
A biblical apostle has a ministry associated with supernatural acts from God. This should not surprise us. How supernatural was it for God to raise his son Jesus Christ from the dead? If you can believe this then you should be able to believe everything else in the Bible.
Paul did not become an apostle by the authority of man. This should cause us to consider how men are called to ministry. God did not call Paul to the ministry because he was educated. Paul wrote in his letters that he counted everything as rubbish compared to the knowledge of Jesus Christ. This was not book knowledge. Paul described experiential knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. He knew Jesus as a real person. He knew him because God spoke to him. God called him by name.
This is what we need. We need men who hear from God and who were put in ministry by God instead of man.
It is important to keep in mind the source of Paul’s authority. Paul gave his credentials up front for a purpose. He did this because the Galatians needed to take him serious. They were in big trouble because false apostles came in and turned them away from the gospel of Jesus Christ. They needed to believe Paul was a man of God with a message from God.
People need to know those who preach God’s word are men of God. Those who preach the gospel need to act like it. They need to live godly lives of humility, sacrifice, and obedience. We need to cut the legs out from under the false preachers in mega churches. We need to live a holy, humble, pure life which is filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. We need an anointing which will produce the fear of God in those we preach to. Our lives should radiate the fear of God so men will surrender to the gospel.
1:2–3
Paul was not alone in ministry. He had a team who worked with him. This team provided a network of material resources and prayer support. Paul mentioned people on his team by name but here we get a mention of “all the brethren which are with me”. Paul was not alone in spreading the gospel. We should not be alone either. The Lord chose twelve disciples. Paul worked with a team. The Lord sent his disciples to preach two by two. What do we learn from this?
Ministry is not a one man show. Develop a mindset of working with people. We are not independent in our work and our work is not just for individuals. We are called to edify, exhort, and comfort the church. The church is not just one individual. The church is many people who agree that Jesus Christ died on the cross for their sins, he was buried, and he rose again the third day. This gospel is true whether or not anyone believes it, but those who do believe comprise the church. These are the people we walk with and serve.
Paul extended grace and peace to the Galatians. Grace is a term borrowed from Greeks. Peace is a distinctly Jewish word. Paul used the words grace and peace and by this we understand the church is Jews and Gentile together in Christ. The church is not only made up of former Gentiles, but also includes Jewish people. The church is Jew and Gentile. The Bible came from the pen of Jewish writers. How could anyone say that God was finished with Jewish people? If God is finished with the Jew then what assurance do we have that a day may come when he is done with Christians?
God’s people are three in one, like God himself. God’s people are Israel, the church, and the nations in the kingdom. In each of these God has called a remnant to comprise his spiritual people. These are the people who believe in the seed of the woman, the Messiah who crushed the head of the serpent.