This week, we have been looking at a section of a letter in the Bible called the book of Galatians. Wednesday, we saw Paul defend himself against those who were alleging the he was communicating a message that he had heard and learned from men by explaining that the message of the gospel that he was proclaiming was from the beginning a message that he received from Jesus Himself. Paul did not consult anyone and was not trained by anyone when it came to the gospel. As a matter of fact, Paul had not even been back to Jerusalem to speak with any of Jesus closest followers.
Today, we will see Paul continue to defend the message of the gospel and his mission in Galatians 3:18:
Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas, and stayed with him fifteen days. But I did not see any other of the apostles except James, the Lord's brother. (Now in what I am writing to you, I assure you before God that I am not lying.)
Here we see Paul share with the members of the churches of Galatia the story of his trip to Jerusalem. In Acts 9:23-25, Luke tells us that after three years of frustrating the Jewish religious system and its leaders, the Jewish people decided that they would try to kill Paul. After being rescued by other followers of Jesus, who lowered him in a large basket over the city walls, Paul traveled to Jerusalem, where he became acquainted with Cephas, which is the Greek name for Peter. For fifteen days, Paul hung out with and got to know Peter.
However, Paul makes it clear that the only other early church leader that he had contact with was James, who was the half-brother of Jesus who would eventually become the Senior Pastor at the church at Jerusalem. Paul is sharing his story because he wanted the members of the churches of Galatia to clearly understand that he did not go to Jerusalem in order to receive a crash course of the message of the gospel. Paul’s trip to Jerusalem was not to attend class. Instead, Paul went to engage and develop a relationship with the leader of this new movement called the church and share about God’s transformational activity in his life.
Now a natural question that arises here is “well, how do we know that is the case? How do we know that Paul was only in Jerusalem for fifteen days?” Paul, anticipating this objection, addresses the objection with a parenthetical statement in verse 20: “what I am writing to you, I assure you before God that I am not lying.” And the reason that we know that Paul was not lying is because of what Luke records for us in Acts 9:26-30. In Acts 9:26-30, we discover that early followers of Jesus were afraid of Paul. It was only after Barnabas served as an intermediary that early followers of Jesus even wanted to hang out with him.
Then, only fifteen days after arriving in Jerusalem, Jewish religious people who were Greek ethnically responded to Paul’s presence by attempting to kill him. Paul’s point here is that he never had the time or opportunity to be taught a message that he had heard and learned from others. And this fact should serve as evidence of the proof of his authority as a messenger that was sent by Jesus with a message from Jesus as His representative. Paul then concludes this section of this letter by sharing what happened next in verse 21:
Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea which were in Christ; but only, they kept hearing, "He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy." And they were glorifying God because of me.
Paul explains that just as it was in Damascus, Paul was ushered out of Jerusalem safely to Tarsus and he surrounding regions, known as Syria and Cilicia. And because he was over 130 miles north of Jerusalem and Judea, the churches that were located in Jerusalem and Judea did not know Paul personally. All the churches of Jerusalem and Judea knew about Paul was the stories that they were hearing from others about God’s transformational intervention and activity in his life. And God’s transformational intervention and activity in Paul’s life resulted God’s reputation being enhanced in the churches of Jerusalem and Judea. Paul’s point here is that he could not have received the message of the gospel that he was proclaiming from the churches of Jerusalem and Judea, because they had never met them since he became a follower of Jesus.
You see, the message of the gospel that Paul was preaching and proclaiming to the members of the churches of Galatia was not man’s message. Instead, the message of the gospel that Paul was preaching and proclaiming to the members of the churches of Galatia was directly from Jesus as God. And because religion finds its origin in humanity and is a message from humanity to humanity on how humanity can enter into a right relationship with God, it has no power or authority when it comes to rescuing us from our selfishness and rebellion that separates us from God.
Only God’s message of rescue through the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel has the power and authority to bring rescue from rebellion and relationship with God. And that is why we must vote no on religion. We are to vote no on religion because religion is man’s message, while the gospel is God’s message.
So, which message have you been voting for? Have you been voting for the message of religion, which has no power or authority when it comes to rescuing us from our selfishness and rebellion that separates us from God? Or have you been voting for the message of the gospel, which alone has the power and authority to bring rescue from rebellion and relationship with God?
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