Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Galatians
Verse by Verse

Galatians 1:1 Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)

At first glance it doesn’t look like there is much to this verse other than an introduction to another of Paul’s 13 books. Here are some of the questions that can be answered.

1. Did Paul get his apostleship from Peter or any of the other apostles?
NO. Not of men, neither by man.

2. Where did he get his apostleship?
By Jesus Christ, and God the Father.

3. Who raised Jesus Christ from the dead?
God the Father

A lot of people tell me that they think that Paul and Peter preached the same message. This verse (Gal 1:1) by itself doesn’t tell us that they didn’t preach the same thing. They didn't preach the same message, but this verse doesn't prove that. Notice it is talking about Paul’s apostleship. This does raise some questions for me.

If Peter and Paul were preaching the same message, why didn’t Peter or one of the other apostle’s come to Paul and recruit him?

The answer is they were not preaching the same message. Jesus Christ appeared to Saul on the road to Damascus to give him a different message. (More on this later)

Was there room for another apostle in the Kingdom message? `

No, in Jesus Christ earthly ministry He had set up 12 apostles to rule over 12 tribes in the kingdom. Judas betrayed Him so God replaced Judas with another apostle in Acts 1 to get it back to 12. Not only did God not need another apostle for the kingdom gospel, there was no more room for another apostle. Some preachers try to explain this away by saying “man” picked Mathias, and God stepped in and chose who He wanted. Acts 1:24 says that the Lord chose the replacement.

Stay tuned for Galatians 1:2 coming soon. Please post your comments or questions. I will add them to this. Thanks Jack

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