WHY PAUL PREACHED THE GOSPEL

TUESDAY 16 AUGUST 2022

Paul introduced himself to the Galatian church as an apostle sent directly by Christ Jesus to preach the gospel to all nations, and specifically to the Gentiles. At the beginning of the referenced chapter below, he acknowledged that no man appointed him to preach; rather he received a vision of Christ Jesus from heaven who commissioned him to become an apostle to the Gentiles. In this chapter, he was indeed defending his opinion concerning the circumstance surrounding his calling.

Reference: Galatians 1:23 New International Version (NIV) 'They only were hearing it said, "He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy."'

Paul was previously unknown among the Christians as someone who would greatly and effectively preach the Gospel because he persecuted the church or body of Christ. However, while writing to the churches of Galatia, he stated that nobody taught him the Gospel he preached. He emphasized that he didn't receive it from man, unlike the news the Judaizers spread about him, thereby falsely acknowledging that he was raised to know about Christ under the guardianship of the Apostles that were before him. Although Paul's concern was to establish the truth that he was appointed an apostle by Christ, who appeared to him and revealed the truth to him - in the very absence of the other apostles, he also understood as a scholar who advanced in Judaism, that the Judaizers promoted the doctrine that the Gentiles must follow the law of Moses to be saved. For this reason, they publicly challenged Paul's authority, in regard to preaching the Gospel of grace. Got it?

However Paul was able to prove that he wasn't even known among the apostles at the very beginning or early years of his ministry, because he never met or consulted them then. In fact, he explained to the Galatians that according to his former conduct in Judaism before his conversion, he persecuted the church of God beyond description and tried to destroy it, because he was exceedingly zealous of carrying out the traditions of his fathers. However his glorious testimony was that God was pleased to choose and separate him from his mother's womb for the fulfilment of his high calling through His grace, even though he persecuted and tried to destroy the church back when he was in Jerusalem. For this same reason, those who knew his misdeeds and harmful responses to God's people were shocked to hear that the same man was reported to be out there, reaching out to the regions of Syria and Cilicia with the gospel and preaching that any man could be saved by God's grace through faith in Christ!

In a nutshell, Paul truthfully learned about the gospel of God's grace through Jesus or directly from Jesus Himself by divine revelation. He was, truthfully, an apostle of Christ, and for this reason, he was able to convince the Galatian churches to trust his gospel message about Christ Jesus. On account of his proven record regarding his calling, he convinced them not to abandon the gospel he preached to them, having believed the good news that Jesus died to pay for all their sins in full - on the cross. Beloved, God in His infinite grace and mercy, revealed His beloved Son, our Lord Jesus to Paul, even though he spent years as a Pharisee trying to destroy the Christian church.

My prayer for you today is that as long as you are reading this article, and you are not yet born again, I extend God's grace to you today. God Himself will reveal His Son, Jesus Christ, to you so you can receive Him as your Lord even as you pray in line with or according to the guided prayer below. As you do so, do not look back, regardless of how evil you think your past is or was because the Bible says, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV). In other words, stay away from sin and don't ever entertain the past, no matter how the enemy wants to remind you of your old sinful nature. As you declare the prayer of salvation heartily, God will grant you a new life and a fresh start in Christ so you can be empowered to live for His glory. Congratulations in advance and stay committed to Christ. Shalom!

Scripture Reading - Acts 9:10-18; Romans 1:16; Acts 9:21-22; Galatians 6:10.

Guided Prayer: I acknowledge today that God demonstrated His unconditional love for me in this: While living without Christ, He sent Him ahead of time to die for my sin. Therefore I renounce the nature of sin and I accept Jesus as my Saviour. I believe and confess with all my heart that Jesus is the Son of the true living God, who died for me and was raised from the dead on the third day by God. I believe that Jesus is risen and He's alive forever. I accept Him into my heart and I declare His Lordship over my life. I'm now born again as a new creation. I have eternal life: my present-moment reality. Thank you Lord Jesus for saving me and taking full charge of my life, as my Lord. GLORY TO GOD!