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The Apostle Paul Did Not Confer With "Flesh &
Blood"
Galatians 1 & 2
When Paul wrote to the churches of Galatia, in the first chapter of that epistle
there are three related claims having to do with his work as an apostle. He said
...
I am "an apostle (not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the
Father who raised Him from the dead)...," (1:1). He said, "...the gospel which
was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man,
nor was I taught it, but it came by revelation of Jesus Christ," (1:11,12).
"I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood," (1:16).
Based on what is implied in this context, supplemented by other related passages
in Acts and Second Corinthians, there isn't any doubt that Paul was under
attack. His detractors were apparently suggesting or charging that Paul's
message was human in origin; that he consulted with various men of influence and
was simply repeating a human doctrine. Some may have said - his "gospel" wasn't
the same as the message of the apostles in Jerusalem. In these three claims Paul
responds to those charges. But the claims are upheld by evidence:
Paul's former life - before conversion - was dedicated to the destruction of the
message he was now preaching. He "advanced in Judaism ... persecuted the church
of God beyond measure ... tried to destroy it," and was "exceedingly zealous" in
this hostility (see Gal. 1:13-14). "How then can Paul prove to the Galatians the
essentially supernatural [direct revelation: v.12, -web] nature of the gospel he
preached to them, and still preaches? He does it by direct appeal to his own
known
experience ...," beginning with his pre-conversion reputation. (Alan Cole, THE
EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE GALATIANS, Tyndale NT Commentaries, p.#47).
His conversion was an act of God that he responded to. God called him by His
grace, and Paul responded. He said, "I was not disobedient to the heavenly
vision," (Acts 26:19). When Paul witnessed the resurrected Lord and heard the
gospel, he arose and was baptized (see Acts 9:10-19; Gal. 1:15). This is a
straightforward account of why Paul was who he was!
Paul was called by God to be saved in Christ, and then to "reveal His Son" to the Gentiles (Gal. 1:16). After obeying the gospel, he "spend some days with the disciples who were at Damascus. And immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God," (Acts 9:19,20). He was made an apostle by the will of God and sent by God to the Gentiles. In another place he said: "To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ," (Eph. 3:8).
Paul did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, nor make a trip to Jerusalem to visit the apostles. Instead, he went to Arabia, and then returned to Damascus (Gal. 1:16,17). The expression of significance and interests here is: "confer with flesh and blood." That simply means, he didn't check with men about what to preach! As the expression is translated in the NIV, he did not "consult any man."
To emphasize that he did not "immediately" confer with flesh and blood, he adds: "Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter and remained with him fifteen days," (v.18). He saw James on this trip but no other apostle. Regarding these things the apostle wrote: "Before God, I do not lie," (v.20).
After this trip, he went to "the regions of Syria and Cilicia," and he was "unknown by face to the churches of Judea." They had heard about him, but had not personally met him. "...they were hearing only, 'He who formerly persecuted us, now preaches the faith which he once tried to destroy'." Remember, Paul is establishing - by this report of events subject to verification- that he did not confer with flesh and blood.
Still later, he made a trip to Jerusalem "with Barnabas, and also took Titus with" him. This trip to Jerusalem was "by revelation" and when he arrived, he told the brethren that he was preaching the gospel to the Gentiles. Privately, he had a meeting with some of the leading men (Gal. 2:1,2). The point is, this was not some "general church synod" to tell Paul what to preach. He had been preaching for some time before this visit.
Though there was pressure to have Titus circumcised (as a condition of salvation and test of fellowship), Paul said: We did not compel him to submit to this, and we "did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you," (Gal. 2:4-5). Once Paul obeyed the gospel and started preaching the gospel, he refused to allow any human influence to pressure him into changing his message, or adapting his teaching to the audience or region. "Paul tells his readers what happened at that epoch-making consultation. His Gentile companion Titus was not compelled to be circumcised (verses 3 - 5), and his Gentile gospel was not contradicted or even modified in any way (verses 6 - 10). On the contrary, Titus was accepted, and Paul's gospel was accepted also. Thus a great and resounding victory was won for the truth of the gospel. The rift in the apostolic ranks was a myth; there was no substance to it." (Stott).
"One of the ways in which some false teachers of Paul's day tried to undermine his authority was to hint that his gospel was different from Peter's, and indeed from the views of all the other apostles in Jerusalem. 'As a result', they said, 'the church is being saddled with two gospels, Paul's and Peter's, each claiming a divine origin. Which are we going to accept?'
'Surely', they went on, 'we cannot follow Paul if he is in a minority of one,
and if Peter and the rest of the apostles disagree with him?' This was evidently
one of the specious arguments of the Judaizers. They were trying to disrupt the
unity of the apostolic circle. They were openly alleging that the apostles
contradicted one another. Their game, we might say, was not 'robbing Peter to
pay Paul', but exalting Peter to spite Paul!
To this insinuation Paul now addresses himself. He has shown in chapter 1 that
his gospel came from God not man. He now shows in the first part of chapter 2
that his gospel was precisely the same as that of the other apostles; it was not
different. To prove that his gospel was independent of the other apostles, he
has stressed that he paid only one visit to Jerusalem in fourteen years, and
that this lasted only fifteen days. To prove that his gospel was yet identical
with theirs, he now stresses that when he paid a proper visit to Jerusalem, his
gospel was endorsed and approved by them." (Stott).
Even those "who seemed to be something" added nothing to Paul; that is, they
exerted no power over his message. In fact, it became obvious to men like Peter,
James and John that Paul was preaching the same message to the Gentiles that
Peter was preaching to the Jews (Gal. 2:6-10). Peter, James and John "perceived
the grace that had been given to" Paul, and so they "gave" him and Barnabas the
right hand of fellowship." They expressed no desire or influence on Paul to
change his message; they only desired that they practice benevolence. To this
Paul said: "the very thing which I also was eager to do." Paul even confronted
Peter in Antioch, when he was "to be blamed" (Gal. 2:11-21). This shows Paul's
independence of conviction and settles any questions about being influenced by
others.
So, the first two chapters of Galatians were designed to establish that Paul (1)
was an authentic apostle "by Jesus Christ and God the Father," (2) was preaching
a message that came to him "by revelation of Jesus Christ," and (3) he did not
"confer with flesh and blood." The claims stand, as supported by the evidence
given by Paul; he did not consult with men; he believed, preached and practiced
the gospel of Christ that came to him by revelation. The gospel which he
preached and the
apostolic mission he had was derived from God, and the history of the first
years of his work demonstrated that; he received the sanction of the other
apostles, but got his message from Jesus Christ.
PRACTICAL LESSONS:
"The bane of Paul's life and ministry was the insidious activity of false
teachers. Wherever he went, they dogged his footsteps. No sooner had he planted
the gospel in some locality than false teachers began to trouble the church by
perverting it. Further, as we have seen, in order to discredit Paul's message,
they also challenged his authority. This matter is of importance for us because
Paul's detractors have plenty of successors in the Christian church today. They
tell us that we do not need to pay too much attention to his writings. They
forget or deny that he was an apostle of Jesus Christ, uniquely called,
commissioned, authorized and inspired to teach in His name. They ignore Paul's
own claim (Galatians 1:11,12) that he derived his gospel not from men but from
Jesus Christ." (Stott)
Once I hear, believe and obey the gospel of Christ, I should never allow anyone
to pressure me to compromise. Others may help me understand Bible teachings, and
urge me toward deeper faithfulness and give me a good example of God-pleasing
behavior. But nobody - no group of men; no elder, preacher, magazine, college or
friend - NOBODY should be allowed to confer with me in such a manner as to cause
me to pervert the gospel of Christ. Further, as a preacher I should be willing
to establish that my message came from Jesus Christ (in our case, through the
Spirit-inspired writings of the New Testament). I should be ready to
give an answer, deal with charges and show that what I believe, teach and
practice came from the New Testament of Jesus Christ. "There are times for
thoughtful and even prolonged consideration, but where God's will is perfectly
clear there is no need to consult men. Our first duty to Christ is a prompt
obedience," (Pulpit Commentary).
Resources:
The Message of Galatians, John Stott,
InterVarsity Press series,
"The Bible Speaks Today."
The Epistle of Paul to the Galatians,
Alan Cole, Eerdmans Tyndale
Commentary Series.
The Pulpit Commentary, Galatians, p.#50.
By Warren E. Berkley
From Expository Files 3.11; November 1996
