Staking His Claims

Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead (Galatians 1:1).

The Galatian Christians were in danger of being led astray by false teachers. Paul wrote to protect them from this danger. To combat the false teachers, Paul made three primary claims:

1. Paul claimed divine authority for his appointment as an apostle. He contrasted his mandate with those who were sent by human institutions or presumed to be God’s messengers (Galatians 1:12).
2. Paul claimed his spoken and written message embodied the directly revealed will of God (Galatians 1:11). Therefore, if he himself contradicted the message, he would be subject to judgment (Galatians 1:8).
3. Paul claimed that opposition and distortion of his message were evidences of the present evil age. The fact that the gospel offered hope to persons lost in sin made the message as much a threat to the evil age as Christ himself had been when he died on the cross (Galatians 1:4).

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, ESV © 2016 by Crossway Bibles.
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