10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant1 of Christ.
11 For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel.2 12 For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
Section Overview: Paul’s Thesis: The Divine Origin of His Gospel
In Galatians 1:10–12, Paul introduces the argument of 1:13–2:14 by describing concisely what he intends to prove in the argument of the larger section. There he will show that his understanding of the gospel is God’s understanding of it and that he is responsible only to God for his faithfulness to that gospel message.
Section Outline
Response
This passage emphasizes the transcendent nature of the gospel of God’s grace. It is not an invention of human ingenuity and therefore does not fit neatly into human categories of thinking. The gospel implies that human beings are sinners, incapable of doing anything that would persuade God to be at peace with them. It asserts that peace with God is available to anyone only as a free gift from God and that God surprisingly gives salvation to all kinds of people, tearing down the social barriers dividing people from one another.
Remaining true to this gospel sometimes means alienation from the world, with its misperceptions of God and its insistence on social division as a means of retaining power. Just as Paul refused to compromise the gospel to make it more appealing to unbelievers, so God calls upon every believer to “be a servant of Christ” rather than to “please” other human beings (1:10).