Galatians 1:17-24 - From Damascus to Jerusalem

Here's what's going on. A group from Jerusalem (not apostles) has been going around to the newly formed Gentile churches and telling them that they must submit to circumcision and keep the rites and ceremonies of the law in order to be saved. This is a misunderstanding of both the Old Covenant and the New. There is no salvation in rites and ceremonies. Never has been. It is not the keeping of the law that justifies. It is faith in Christ--no matter which Testament you live in.

Knowing that their message runs contrary to Paul's gospel, what they have done is to question Paul's credentials and authority. Paul is just an imperfect disciple of the Apostles, they say. He didn't actually know Jesus, they say. You need to listen to us. We are from Jerusalem.

So Paul responds to that by affirming his apostleship and damning anyone who preaches any other gospel than the one he first delivered to them (1:8-9). Now he is explaining that the gospel he preached came to him directly from Christ, that Christ called him and commissioned him personally (1:11-12). He is giving a bit of his history in order to refute what is being said by these false teachers and to confirm his credentials and authority (1:15-24)--all of this in defense of the gospel.

In this Bible study we follow Paul from Damascus to Arabia back to Damascus then up to Jerusalem. Finally we leave him in the regions of Cilicia and Syria. Along the way we come across some interesting things such as Jesus' brother James, the nature of justification by faith alone, the obedience produced from faith, and when and where it might be appropriate to swear. The best part is that we finished chapter one of Galatians and we will be moving on to chapter two next week. Click the link below to listen to the audio file.

Click here: Galatians 1:17-24 - From Damascus to Jerusalem

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