Galatians 1 (4)

Pray Psalm 71.23, 24, 3
My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing to You,
And my soul, which You have redeemed.
My tongue also shall talk of Your righteousness all the day long;
For they are confounded,
For they are brought to shame
Who seek my hurt…
Be my strong refuge,
To which I may resort continually;
You have given the commandment to save me,
For You are my rock and my fortress.

Sing Psalm 71.23, 24, 3.
(Solid Rock: My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less)
My lips with joy and praises ring; to You, Redeemer, praise I bring!
I praise Your goodness all day long; LORD, humble all who do me wrong.
Refrain, v. 3
A Rock of habitation be; command Your Word to rescue me;
my Rock and Fortress ever be!

Read Galatians 1.1-12; meditate on verses 11, 12.

Preparation
1. What did Paul make known to the Galatians?

2. How did he learn this?

Meditation
Paul’s Gospel was pure gold, without any human accretions. This is what he declared when he was among the Galatians, and to this he called them again to hold fast in this brief epistle. He learned this Gospel from no man. The Lord Jesus saw fit, over an extended period, to teach Paul Himself, thus validating his apostolic office and bringing to completion the excellent instruction he had for so long received at the feet of Gamaliel.

Even a cursory glance through Paul’s epistles will reveal that the Gospel Jesus taught him is heavily dependent on the Old Testament. Those pastors who teach that we don’t need the Old Testament, or that the Old Testament is somehow not as important as the New Testament, are out of sync with Jesus and Paul. You should not listen to them.

Jesus revealed the Gospel to Paul by revealing Himself throughout the Old Testament (Acts 20.27; 28.23-31). Paul described the Gospel as “the revelation of Jesus Christ” (v. 12). We can understand that phrase in a couple of ways. First, the revelation of the Gospel came from Jesus Christ. It is His Gospel and He taught it to Paul without the intervention of any human assistance.

But second, the Gospel is the revelation about Jesus Christ. He is the centerpiece of the Gospel, not any works or particular church or manifestation of ecstatic gifts or any other thing. The Gospel is Jesus. Jesus is the Good News because He brings the Kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy to the world through His life, death, resurrection, and reign. The Gospel is not Jesus plus something else. The Gospel is Jesus, and Jesus is the Good News.

That should simplify the work of evangelizing our lost friends and neighbors.

Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
Paul is conveying to us important truths about the power of the Word of God.
“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Heb. 4.12).
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (Jn. 1.14).

Jesus imparted the Gospel to Paul in His own special way: as Paul said, “Then last of all He was seen by me also, as one born out of due time” (1 Cor. 15.8). Paul also had a direct encounter with Jesus as he traveled to Damascus to persecute God’s children (Acts 9.1-6). Paul also knew the Old Testament, having studied with Gamaliel. But mainly he was taught the Gospel by the Holy Spirit through His Word—the revelation of Jesus Christ (Gal. 1.12).

This Word is available to us. We can be taught in the very same way. We can gain knowledge, and wisdom, and power for living by this very same means (2 Tim. 1.7). In fact, we not only can be taught, but it is also incumbent upon us to be taught the Word, sitting at the feet of our dear Savior, Jesus—reading, studying, and meditating upon this Word in our Bibles, and hearing the Holy Spirit teach us (Jn. 16.13, 14).

Corporate worship should not be an evangelistic tent meeting, nor should it be a time to be schooled in the finer things of doctrine. Worship is our time to come together with other believers to extol God for His greatness, praise Him for His forgiveness and love, bask in His grace and mercy, sing songs of praise to His glorious Name for His creation, power, and might. Give glory only to Him for His majestic reign in heaven and on earth, and to persuade Him of our diligent hearts, desirous of living for His honor and glory. Worship is a time to tithe and a time to take communion—in remembrance of Jesus’ suffering on the cross and His miraculous rising from the dead.

Learning about the Word, studying the Word, and working out our own salvation in fear and trembling is our job (2 Tim. 2.15; Phil. 2.12, 13). Just like Paul: truth received “not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ” (Gal. 1.11, 12).

Certainly, a helpful word shared from the pulpit is uplifting; and words of encouragement and wisdom shared by fellow believers are a joy, no doubt. But the serious work of knowing God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit; and meeting with Him, in prayer and fellowship, while reading His Word is the truest way to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Pet. 3.18). So that we should no longer be children, or behave as such, “tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine…but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love” (Eph. 4.14-16).

The Gospel of God is right at our fingertips; we need only open it, and dive in, to learn all the Good News shared within.

“Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name!
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits:
Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases,
Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s” (Ps. 103.1-5).

Good News straight from His heart to yours.

Reflection
1. What have you been learning about Jesus lately during your time in His Word?

2. Jesus said that all Scripture was about Him (Jn. 5.39). Do you find this to be true? Explain.

3. Whom will you encourage with the Good News of Jesus today?

When Paul says that his gospel is not manmade he does not mean that it is more than human, since that is obvious and the false apostles also claimed that their gospel was divine. What he is getting at is that he did not learn it from other people . . . but from a direct revelation that came to him from Jesus Christ. Martin Luther (1483-1546), Lectures on Galatians

Pray Psalm 71.3, 12-18
Pray that you will know the Lord’s Presence throughout this day, guiding, directing, teaching, and empowering you in all your walk with and work for Jesus.

Sing Psalm 71.12-18, 3.
(Solid Rock: My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less)
O God be not too far from me; my ever-present Helper be!
Consume and shame my enemies; let them reproached and humbled be.
Refrain, v. 3
A Rock of habitation be; command Your Word to rescue me;
my Rock and Fortress ever be!

But as for me my voice I raise to sing in hope and constant praise!
With saving grace my voice will swell Your never-ending grace to tell.
Refrain

O LORD, I praise Your righteousness Who me from youth have taught and blessed.
Forsake me not when I am old, ‘til I Your mercies all have told!
Refrain

T. M. and Susie Moore

If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.