It seems that the people who had come to the Galatian Christians with a “gospel” (v 7) which challenged Paul's had been making some claims about Paul’s integrity or reliability. In these verses, he begins to defend himself.
Read Galatians 1:10
Gospel source
• What kind of challenge does Paul appear to be answering in v 11?
• Why would this claim be damaging to Paul's argument that his gospel is the true one?
• How did Paul receive his gospel (v 12)?
What a great encouragement to trust our lives and futures to this message!
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TIME OUT… Read Acts 9:1
Saul (also known as Paul) was going to Damascus to take Christ's people prisoner; he ended up entering Damascus as a prisoner of Christ!
Paul’s conversion is a great reminder that no one is beyond the reach of Jesus. If the Lord can turn this persecutor into a preacher, he can bring anyone to faith.
• Are there people you know who you don't really think could ever become Christians?
• Why not pray for them right now? And why not keep praying for them daily?
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Perhaps “some people” (v 7) were claiming that Paul had just got his message from “HQ” in Jerusalem, and were saying: “We’ve also been trained there. And we say Paul didn’t give you the whole story. There’s more to this gospel message than
what he’s said.”
But Paul had been preaching his divinelygiven gospel for three years before ever going to HQ (see v 15-20)!
Gospel change
• What results do you see in Galatians 1 v 10 of a gospel-changed life?
• Whose approval could Paul seek (v 10)?
If we know God’s approval, we don’t need to fear any disapproval from people. And, as we’ll see as we work through Galatians, the gospel tells us that God’s complete favour and approval are already ours, through Christ.
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APPLY
To many of us, verse 10 will come as a challenge. We tend to think we can do both: live Christianly and enjoy popularity. Paul is quite clear that there will be many times when we will need to choose one or the other.
• In which parts of your life do you most easily find yourself wanting to please people more than Christ?
• To serve Christ in those areas, what needs to change?
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This devotional is taken from Explore—a daily Bible-reading devotional from the good book company which enables you to engage with Scripture and which will encourage, equip and inspire you to live for Christ. Explore features contributions from pastors such as Dr Timothy Keller, Mike McKinley and Tim Chester.
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