Galatians 1:1 :
Paul, an apostle (not from men, neither through man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead),
The Bible book of Galatians is actually a letter. It was written by Paul. Unlike all of the other apostles, Paul didn’t study under Jesus before He died and resurrected. Yet we read here that he was still made a apostle by Jesus. I want to go to the book of Acts and take a look at the time that Jesus first met with Paul. Paul was originally called Saul. He went around, working with the Jewish leadership to destroy Christianity. Then one day, on his way to capture more Christians this happened:
Acts 9:1-9 :
But Saul, still breathing threats and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, and asked for letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. As he traveled, it happened that he got close to Damascus, and suddenly a light from the sky shone around him. He fell on the earth, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
He said, “Who are you, Lord?”
The Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise up, and enter into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the sound, but seeing no one. Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened, he saw no one. They led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. He was without sight for three days, and neither ate nor drank.
Paul frequently defends his apostleship. There were many people who disregarded his authority as an apostle. I have found that this still goes on today, but as it clearly says here in Acts, Jesus spoke directly to Paul. Paul’s authority to speak the words of Jesus are not at all like the authority that preachers have today. This was a special request of Jesus to tell us more about being a Christian.
Paul makes it clear, here, that no mere man is responsible for what he says. We are to take these words as words from Jesus Christ Himself. It bothers me when people read books like John and assume that Jesus only said the words in red. I have been coloring the words of Jesus in red when I write too, but that doesn’t mean that the black words in the Bible are not from Jesus too.
No, the words of Paul here are no less important or less from Jesus than the words that Jesus spoke Himself. I believe that even some very prominent Bible teachers are making this mistake today. Jesus would not be happy for us to not accept His words through Paul, or to think that because He used Paul to say them, that they weren’t directly from Him.
Jesus said some things through Paul that He didn’t say in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Paul is going to address some pretty important subjects to Christianity in this book as well and if we don’t believe that these are Jesus’ words, we may tempted to think that they are not as important. Paul is also going to give serious warnings to those who do disregard his words so it is important to remember where they come from.
Paul reminds us in this verse that Jesus died and was raised from the dead just as we studied in John. Everything that Paul is about to say here is because of this fact. Jesus died and resurrected and changed everything and Paul can legitimately speak to the subject on behalf of Jesus Himself.