#80-G26 Galatians 1:14-17
As we’ve seen, salvation comes by grace through faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. I Corinthians 15:1-4 spells that out clearly. If someone will accept Christ dying for their sins, being buried, and being resurrected for one’s justification, salvation is granted immediately. Numerous passages help us understand that our works of whatever sort have nothing whatsoever to do with it. Passages like Ephesians 2;8-9 and Romans 5:4-5 make that clear.
Now we begin an introduction of Galatians 1:14. Paul mentions his background of having been zealous of the tradition of his fathers. Certainly Paul (known then as Saul) was zealous of all those things. Nevertheless, as dedicated to Judaism as he was, he was unsaved. We here look at Matthew 15:1-9 where our Lord in his earthly ministry encountered others who were like Paul. As zealous of the Mosaic Law as they were, salvation was not a part of their lives. Spiritually they were totally blind to the truth.
As we move into Galatians 1:15-17, Paul reflects on the occasion of his salvation. He points out that the message the Lord commissioned him with did not come from the Twelve apostles. That’s because his commission AND HIS MESSAGE was not the same as theirs. They would later be taught of him, Paul. Today many people think it was the same message but directed to the Gentiles. That’s not the case! It was the Lord Himself who taught Paul this new message that he would carry to the Gentiles. We now have that message in his thirteen epistles – Romans to Philemon. But it is EXTREMELY important to note this about the differences between the message the Twelve communicated and that which Paul was taught and communicated. Again, they are NOT the same. Most of Christianity today does not realize that nor understand the many differences. We’ll be showing the contrast and some of the differences between the two in our next message in this series.
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