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BIBLE
STUDY LESSON
For
the week beginning Sunday October 27, 2019
PAUL’S MESSAGE COMES FROM
CHRIST
Galatians 1:11-24
Paul’s letter to the Galatians, like his second letter to the
Corinthians, eloquently defends his divine authority as an apostle of CHRIST
JESUS. It also gives us a summarized version of the gist of his teachings, and,
it contains vivid statements of GOD’s “justification by faith”, as it erects on
that foundation, an excellent defense of “Christian liberties”, verses “Jewish
legalism”.
Paul’s authority as an apostle was often called into question by the
false teachers who followed him around trying to change the new Christian
doctrine back into the same old doctrine of Judaism, which excluded CHRIST
JESUS from its teachings. Paul claimed that the gospel he preached was not
based on man’s point of view, but rather, it was divinely revealed to him by
CHRIST JESUS HIMSELF. He says that his message came by a direct revelation from
JESUS CHRIST and no one else (v.12).
Here Paul is relating to us about his personal experiences, before and
after, that day on the road to Damascus, when he was converted by JESUS CHRIST (Acts
9:3-31). He now realized that GOD had granted him an “undeserved mercy” and had
called him, even before he was born. GOD then revealed JESUS to him so that he
could preach HIS Gospel to the Gentiles of the world, all the remaining days of
his life (Galatians 1:15-16).
Paul says he did not rush to consult with any man regarding his divine
calling and these next few verses (16b-22) are very much like my own calling to
the teaching ministry in the spring of 2001. Even today I’m not known in many
Christian Churches, despite the massive amount of bible and Sunday school
lesson commentaries I’ve written during that time.
Here in verses 17-24, Paul tells of having spent time in Arabia before
returning to Damascus and remaining there for three more years. He then finally
went to Jerusalem and was introduced to the church leaders by Barnabas (Acts
9:27). He then visited with the Apostle Peter and abided with him for fifteen
days. The only other person he met with at that time was James, the
half-brother of JESUS.
During that time, most of the people in the Church at Jerusalem were still
afraid of Paul, and didn’t want to have anything to do with him because of his
previous reputation of persecuting Christians wherever he went. In fact, Paul
ended up having to flee Jerusalem after debating with some of the Greek-speaking
Jews who sought to kill him (Acts 9:29). He was rescued by some of the Christians
who believed his Damascus Road testimony, and they took Paul to Caesarea, and
from there, sent him back to his hometown of Tarsus.
Paul did not return to Jerusalem until Barnabas went and got him
fourteen years later, and took him, first, to Antioch of Syria, and then, on to
Jerusalem to report on the success that they had had there, converting Gentiles
to Christianity (Acts 11:25-30).
The Church at Antioch of Syria is where the term “Christian” was first
used to describe the followers of CHRIST (Acts 11:25). Up until time they were
widely known as “Adherents of the Way”, which meant that they abided closely to
the ways that JESUS had taught HIS disciples during HIS three-year teaching and
preaching ministry here on earth.
A Sunday school lesson by,
Larry D. Alexander
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