18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. 19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother. 20 (In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!) 21 Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22 And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23 They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they glorified God because of me.
Section Overview: Fifteen Days with Cephas and Fourteen Years in Syria and Cilicia
Paul continues the account of his contact with the influential apostles James, Cephas, and John as a way of emphasizing that they played no role in his call to be an apostle or in educating him on the core content of the gospel he preached. Those elements of his vocation came from God. Paul focuses on the limited contact he had with the influential apostles during three years in Arabia and Damascus and fourteen years in Syria and Cilicia.
His limited contact, however, was not because he proclaimed a different gospel than the one they and those under their influence believed. In fact, the small amount of contact, as well as the thanksgiving to God that the Christians throughout Judea expressed at Paul’s transformation and ministry, demonstrate that Paul’s gospel and call were from God.
Section Outline
Response
The late fourth-century preacher John Chrysostom commented on 1:24, “He does not say they marveled at me, they praised me, they were struck with admiration of me, but he attributes all to grace. They glorified God, he says, in me.”32 This apt application of verse 24 points toward a helpful application of the whole paragraph. Paul’s account of the aftermath of his conversion points not to himself but to the God who transformed him. God, he reminds us in verse 24, should receive all the glory for this transformation.
Christian history is full of dramatic stories from many cultures of God’s transforming power: Augustine of Hippo, Francis of Assisi, Martin Luther, John Wesley, and others in more recent times. Paul makes clear in other places in his letters that such accounts of how God has worked in the lives of other believers are encouraging and helpful (Rom. 1:8, 12; 16:19a; 2 Cor. 8:1–7; 9:1–5; 1 Thess. 1:6–10). As Chrysostom observes, however, recounting such stories to others should bring attention neither to the central character in the story nor to the skill of the storyteller but to God.
In addition, Galatians 1:18–24 sounds two other cautionary notes in retelling stories of God’s work. First, it is important to be sure that these stories are accurate. Paul’s two uses of the word “then” (vv. 18, 21) witness to the precision with which he tells the story of God’s work in his ministry. His willingness to call God as his witness in relating his account (v. 20) also shows how important it is to him to get the story right and to avoid exaggeration.
Second, it is important to examine the doctrinal implications of any such story that we tell for the edification of others. It is possible for Satan to mimic God’s actions in an effort to deceive God’s people (2 Cor. 11:12–15; 1 Thess. 5:19–22; 1 Tim. 4:1; 1 John 4:1). Here in Galatians 1:18–24 Paul is careful to show that although no human being played a hand in his conversion and call, other believers such as Cephas, James, and the churches of Judea heard his story, agreed that it was true, and glorified God because of what he had done in Paul.
In sum, Christian biography and storytelling is both necessary and helpful for the growth and worship of the church. Christians, however, should exercise discernment in producing and listening to such accounts. These stories should give glory to God and should be both historically and doctrinally accurate.