Scripture Reading: Gal. 1:15-24
In 1:15-24 we see the formation of Paul’s apostleship. As we consider these verses, we need to see not only how Paul’s apostleship was formed, but also how we can be formed into today’s apostles, God’s present-day sent ones. In the Life-study of Ephesians we pointed out that all the believers in Christ can be apostles, those sent by the Lord to fulfill His purpose and to carry out His plan.
We should not hold the concept that we cannot be an apostle like Paul. The apostles are examples of what all believers should be. Paul was not an extraordinary person, and he did not reach a state that no one else can attain. The concept that the apostles are unique is a Roman Catholic tradition. This tradition is related to the concept that Peter was the unique successor of Christ and therefore the first pope. What a devilish concept! Far from being unique, Peter is an example of one who followed the Lord. In particular, he is an example to Jewish believers in Christ. Paul is a pattern especially for Gentile believers. In 1 Timothy 1:16 he says, “Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.” Since Paul is our pattern, none of us should say that we cannot be like him.
Although the brothers may believe that they can be today’s apostles, the sisters may find it very difficult to believe that this also applies to them. As a help to the sisters, we need to point out that in God’s household there are no daughters. God has only sons, not daughters. Christ, the firstborn Son of God, has brothers, but He does not have sisters. This indicates that, according to life, all the believers, including the sisters, are sons of God and brothers of Christ. For this reason, in his Epistles Paul addresses the brothers, but not the brothers and sisters. The sisters, of course, are included in the term brothers.
According to life, all the believers are males. However, according to love, we all are females. Christ is our Bridegroom, and we are His Bride. The relationship between the Bride and the Bridegroom is a matter of love, not a matter of life. Love is the unique requirement of married life. Therefore, we are living sons of the living God, whereas we are the loving Bride of our dear Bridegroom. How, then, would you answer this question: Are we, the believers in Christ, males or females? The proper way to answer is to reply that according to life we are males, but according to love we are females.
Paul was made an apostle not according to love, but according to life. It was as a matter of life that he was made a pattern for all the believers, the brothers and the sisters as well. This indicates that by taking Paul as our pattern, we all, brothers and sisters, can be God’s sent ones today. Paul’s status was that of an apostle, and ours should be the same. Hence, as we study the formation of Paul’s apostleship, we are also studying the formation of our own apostleship.
All of us in the Lord’s recovery need to be sent ones. At the least, a young sister can be sent by the Lord to her parents to testify to them about the Lord Jesus. Are you ready to be sent by the Lord? We all should be prepared to be sent forth by Him. Concerning this matter of apostleship, our minds need to be renewed. Therefore, as we consider the various points in this message, we need to see how we can follow Paul’s pattern and be formed into apostles. All the points we shall cover are prerequisites for the formation of our apostleship.
In 1:15 Paul says that God set him apart from his mother’s womb. The Greek indicates being designated or distinguished for a specific purpose. This setting apart took place before Paul was born.
When we read about Paul being set apart from his mother’s womb, we may have the concept that this was true of him, but not of us. This was my point of view when I read these verses years ago. According to my concept, Paul had been set apart, but I had not. This concept, however, is wrong. We were chosen, selected, before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4). Surely to be chosen from before the foundation of the world is more crucial than to be set apart from our mother’s womb. Since you have been chosen from before the foundation of the world, do you not believe that you were also set apart from your mother’s womb? Certainly you were. As we shall see, this refers to the carrying out in time of God’s eternal selection.
Some teachers of the Bible have different opinions concerning the time that Paul was separated from his mother’s womb. According to one school of thought, he was set apart from the time he was conceived. But according to another school, he was set apart at the time of birth. There is no need for us to split hairs concerning this. The main point here is that according to His selection we were chosen by God in eternity, before the foundation of the world. This means that we were chosen before the beginning of time, in eternity. However, there was the need for us, at a definite time, to be separated from our mother’s womb. To be set apart from our mother’s womb is related to the accomplishment in time of the selection God made in eternity. It was necessary for us to be born at a certain time. We thank the Lord that Saul of Tarsus was not born a hundred years before the Lord Jesus, nor six hundred years afterward. He was born at just the right time and in the right place, in the city of Tarsus. It was sovereign of the Lord that Paul was not born in Galilee, where Peter was born. Both Peter and Paul were chosen before the foundation of the world, and both were set apart at precisely the right time. According to God’s timing, He caused these two of His selected ones to be conceived in their mother’s womb. The same is true of us today. We were selected from before the foundation of the world. Then God waited until the time was right for us to be born. Hence, regarding our birth God had His timing. We all were selected in eternity when Paul was selected; however, we were set apart from our mother’s womb at different times. Therefore, to be set apart from our mother’s womb is to have God’s selection carried out in a practical way.
Do not think that Paul was set apart from his mother’s womb, but that you were not. Because Paul was made a pattern, what happened to him should happen to us also. Whenever I recall my past, I worship the Lord. As I consider my youth, I sometimes weep before Him. How I thank Him that He caused me to be born at just the right time and in just the right place, more than seventy-four years ago in a small village in China. We all can say, “Lord, thank You for setting me apart from my mother’s womb.” I hope that we all shall have a full realization of this. We need to realize that God set us apart in order to carry out His eternal selection. This was true of Paul, and it is just as true of us today.
In 1:15 Paul also says that God called him through His grace. Paul was called to be an apostle through the grace of Christ, not through the law that came by Moses. This calling took place at the time of his conversion. We also can testify that we have been called by God. Actually, God’s calling of us began with His setting us apart from our mother’s womb. If we spend time to review our past, we shall see that God’s calling of us began with our conception in the womb. God arranged the time and place of our birth. Then He called us. How grateful I am to the Lord that He caused me to be conceived in the womb of one who was in Christianity, although she was not saved at that time. In this way God caused me to be born into Christianity, beginning His calling of me by setting me apart from my mother’s womb. Then one day, in 1925, God’s calling was accomplished in a full way when I believed in the Lord Jesus. None of us should have any doubt about being called by God. Rather, let us worship Him and thank Him for His calling. Everything related to us, such as our family and education, is according to God’s sovereignty and related to His calling of us.
In 1:15 and 16 Paul says that God was pleased to reveal His Son in him. The Son of God was unveiled to Paul and shown to him. This means that he received a vision of the living Person of the Son of God. Since Paul is a pattern of the believers and the Son of God was revealed in him, we also should have Christ revealed in us. When the Son of God is revealed in us, something divine is added to us. Selection and calling do not cause anything to be added into us. But the revelation of the Son of God in us causes divinity to be added to our humanity. God Himself is added into our being to become our life. He who has the Son has life (1 John 5:12). Hence, to have the Son of God revealed in us means to have God added to us to become our life.
After the Son of God was revealed in Paul, he “did not confer with flesh and blood.” This means that he did not confer with man, who is made up of flesh and blood. This confirms the fact that Paul did not receive the gospel from man (1:12).
After we believed in the Lord Jesus, many of us immediately conferred with others. If we recall our experience, we shall realize that much of this was of no avail. As soon as I was saved, I turned to various people for help. However, I was only frustrated by them and cooled down. Some of you may have spoken to certain preachers or ministers, only to find that you were discouraged by your contact with them.
When young believers contacted me thirty years ago, I had a great deal to say. But it is much different today. Now when others contact me, I simply tell them to pray and to seek the Lord, to bring everything to Him for His leading. I do not want to be the flesh and blood with which others confer. We should neither confer with flesh and blood, nor should we be the flesh and blood with whom others confer. Let us leave others and their situation to the Lord.
Paul opens verse 17 with the words, “Neither did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me.” We all have made mistakes in this regard. We have gone to a place we consider today’s Jerusalem seeking to confer with certain leaders. To go to some Jerusalem to those who were apostles before us is something of tradition and of religion. Actually, it is to confer with flesh and blood.
Some of the leading ones may be concerned that such a word will cause the saints not to seek the proper fellowship. Furthermore, they may think that this will ruin the leadership. But would it not be wonderful for all the saints to be trained not to confer with flesh and blood? How good it would be if we all brought ourselves with our needs and problems directly to the Lord! If we would be today’s apostles, we should follow Paul’s pattern in not going up to Jerusalem to confer with others.
In verse 17 Paul says that he “went away to Arabia.” It is difficult to trace where in Arabia Paul went and how long he stayed there after his conversion. However, it must have been a place away from other Christians, and the time of his stay there must not have been short. His purpose in saying this was to testify that he did not receive the gospel from man. In Arabia he must have received some revelation concerning the gospel directly from the Lord.
By going to Arabia, Paul went to a place apart from both Jewish culture and Christian influence. According to traditional understanding, Paul stayed in Arabia for three years. Actually, we do not know how long he remained there. We simply know that for a period of time he went apart from Jewish religion and Christian influence. During his stay in Arabia, he probably compared his experience with the Old Testament, which he had come to know so well through the instruction of Gamaliel. I believe that in Arabia Paul had a quiet, sober time of checking his experience with the Old Testament Scriptures. No doubt, he also spent much time in prayer.
Here we see another principle for us to follow. After we have a certain amount of experience directly from the Lord, we need to withdraw from every kind of religious influence to quietly and soberly check our experiences with the Bible. This will be a great help to us. I believe that as Paul was comparing his experience with Scripture, much light and revelation came to him.
In verse 17 Paul also says that he “again returned to Damascus.”
In verses 18 and 19 Paul goes on to say, “Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas, and I remained with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James the brother of the Lord.” Three years after his return to Damascus, Paul went up to Jerusalem. I believe that during these years he also spent much time in prayer and in checking his experience with the Old Testament.
Although Paul did not confer with flesh and blood, at a certain time he did go up to Jerusalem. To confer with flesh and blood is wrong. However, to isolate ourselves from other members of the Body of Christ is also wrong. After receiving revelation, at the proper time we need to contact those members of the Lord’s Body who came to know the Lord ahead of us. There is the need for this kind of fellowship.
In verse 21 Paul continues, “Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.” Arabia, Syria, and Cilicia were all regions of the Gentile world. By mentioning his journeying to all these places, Paul testifies that the revelation he received concerning the gospel was not from any men, any Christians, most of whom at that time were in Judea (v. 22). I believe that in the regions of Syria and Cilicia Paul spent more time praying and considering the Scriptures. Probably he also received further revelation.
Verse 22 says, “Yet I was unknown by face to the churches of Judea which are in Christ.” To say this is also to strengthen the point that Paul did not receive the gospel from any who were believers in Christ before him. Hardly any of the saints in Judea had seen him.
In verses 23 and 24 Paul concludes, “But they only heard that he who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith which formerly he ravaged. And they glorified God in me.” The churches, including all the believers in Christ in Judea, only heard the news of Paul’s conversion and glorified God in him. They had nothing to do with his receiving of the revelation concerning the gospel.
