Introduction:

Paul defending his apostleship

Galatians 1:11-16a NLT
Paul’s Message Comes from Christ (Paul is defending his apostleship.)
¹¹ Dear brothers and sisters, I want you to understand that the gospel message I preach is not based on mere human reasoning. ¹² I received my message from no human source, and no one taught me. Instead, I received it by direct revelation from Jesus Christ.
¹³ You know what I was like when I followed the Jewish religion—how I violently persecuted God’s church. I did my best to destroy it. ¹⁴ I was far ahead of my fellow Jews in my zeal for the traditions of my ancestors.
¹⁵ But even before I was born, God chose me and called me by his marvelous grace. Then it pleased him ¹⁶ to reveal his Son to me so that I would proclaim the Good News about Jesus to the Gentiles.

Examine the scriptures:
Galatians 1:11-16a NLT
Paul’s Message Comes from Christ
¹¹ Dear brothers and sisters, I want you to understand that the gospel message I preach

• Paul’s message was that People are made right with God by Grace through faith, not by obeying the law.

A brief summary of Paul’s message.

Ephesians 2:8-9 NLT
⁸ God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. ⁹ Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

is not based on mere human reasoning. 

• The Gospel did not originate with man. 

This reminder should be reassuring, encouraging, and motivating to us. 

¹² I received my message from no human source,

• Paul did not receive the Gospel from any human source.

Unlike the experience many of us had.

• Most of us did hear the Gospel message from a human source, which is also part of God’s plan for many people.

The Galatians heard the Gospel from a human source, Paul.

Hearing the Gospel from a human source is Biblical.

Romans 10:13-15 NLT
¹³ For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
¹⁴ But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? ¹⁵ And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!” 

Psalm 78:4 NLT
⁴ We will not hide these truths from our children;
we will tell the next generation
about the glorious deeds of the Lord,
about his power and his mighty wonders. 

Acts 1:8 NLT
⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Mark 16:15-16 NLT
¹⁵ And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. 

and no one taught me. 

Instead, I received it by direct revelation from Jesus Christ.

Paul, writing to the Ephesians.
Ephesians 3:3 NLT
³ As I briefly wrote earlier, God himself revealed his mysterious plan to me.

• Paul received his message by direct revelation from Jesus Christ. 

¹³ You know what I was like when I followed the Jewish religion

the traditions of my ancestors (v.14)

Meticulous rules and regulations governing the daily life of the people made by Jewish rabbis.

Most of these traditions were not Biblical. 

—how I violently persecuted God’s church. I did my best to destroy it.  

¹⁴ I was far ahead of my fellow Jews in my zeal for the traditions of my ancestors.

Philippians 3:5-6 NLT
⁵ I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. ⁶ I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault. 

• Before he was converted, Paul zealously and fanatically persecuted the Christian church.

 ¹⁵ But even before I was born, God chose me and called me by his marvelous grace.

Romans 1:1 NLT
This letter is from Paul,

a slave of Christ Jesus,

 chosen by God to be an apostle

and sent out to preach his Good News.

• Paul was chosen by God to be an apostle.

This calling was not unique to Paul.

Isaiah 49:1 NLT
The Lord’s Servant Commissioned
^49:1 Listen to me, all you in distant lands!
Pay attention, you who are far away!
The Lord called me before my birth;
from within the womb he called me by name.

Jeremiah 1:5 NLT
⁵ “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb.
Before you were born I set you apart
and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.”

A similar calling for John the Baptist found in Luke 1.

We too are called by God’s marvelous grace.

Ephesians 2:10 NLT
¹⁰ For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

Then it pleased him ¹⁶ to reveal his Son to me 

“pleased Him to reveal…”

Damascus Road experience

Total and complete transformation

Paul’s life was turned around

Going in a different direction

• Paul experienced a complete and total transformation. He went from being a persecutor of Christians to a preacher of the Gospel.

so that I would proclaim the Good News about Jesus to the Gentiles. 

The Gentiles were the non-Jewish world.

• Paul became known as an apostle to the Gentiles.