Galatians 1:10

For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. FOR - accounting for his strong language. DO I NOW, [ arti (G737)] - resuming the "now" of Galatians 1:9. 'Am I now making friends of men or God?' So [ peithoo (G3982)] persuade means, Acts 12:20 (Ellicott). Is what I have just now said a sample of men-pleasing? His adversaries accused him of being an interested flatterer of men, "becoming all things to all men," to make a party for himself; so observing the law among the Jews (for instance, circumcising Timothy), ye...

Having extolled so confidently his own preaching, he now shows that this was no idle or empty boast. He supports his assertion by two arguments. The first is, that he was not prompted by ambition, or flattery, or any similar passion, to accommodate himself to the views of men. The second and far stronger argument is, that he was not the author of the gospel, but delivered faithfully what he had received from God. 10. _For do I now persuade according to men or according to God? _The ambiguity of the Greek construction in this passage, has given rise to a variety of expositions. Some render it, _Do I now persuade men or God? _(25) Others interpret the words “God” and “men,” as meaning divine and human concerns. This sense would agree very well with the context, if it were not too wide a departure from the words. The view which I have preferred is more natural; for nothing is more common wi...

10-14 In preaching the gospel, the apostle sought to bring persons to the obedience, not of men, but of God. But Paul would not attempt to alter the doctrine of Christ, either to gain their favour, or to avoid their fury. In so important a matter we must not fear the frowns of men, nor seek their favour, by using words of men's wisdom. Concerning the manner wherein he received the gospel, he had it by revelation from Heaven. He was not led to Christianity, as many are, merely by education....

Verse 10. _DO I NOW PERSUADE MEN, OR GOD?_] The words πειθειν τον θεον may be rendered _to court or solicit the favour of God_ as the after clause sufficiently proves. This acceptation of πειθειν is very common in Greek authors. While the apostle was a persecutor of the Christians, he was the _servant of men_, and _pleased men_. When he embraced the Christian doctrine, he became the _servant_ of GOD, and _pleased_ HIM. He therefore intimates that he was a widely different person now from what he had been while a Jew....

FOR DO I NOW PERSUADE MEN, OR GOD? - The word “now” (ἄρτι arti) is used here, evidently, to express a contrast between his present and his former purpose of life. Before his conversion to Christianity, he impliedly admits, that it was his object to conciliate the favor of people; that he derived his authority from them Acts 9:1; that he endeavored to act so as to please them and gain their good esteem. But “now” he says, this was not his object. He had a higher aim. It was to please God, and to conciliate His favor. The object of this verse is obscure; but it seems to me to be connected with what follows, and to be designed to introduce that by showing that he had not now received his commission from human beings, but had received it from God. perhaps there may be an allusion to an implied allegation in regard to

EXPOSITION GALATIANS 1:1 _The_ _introductory greeting. _The style of this greeting, compared with those found in St. Paul's other Epistles, gives indications of his having addressed himself to the composition of the letter under strong perturbation of feeling. This transpires in the abruptness with which, at the very outset, he at once sweeps aside, as it were, out of his path, a slur east upon his apostolic commission, in protesting that he was "apostle, not from man nor through a man." It appears again in that impetuous negligence of exact precision of language, with which the mention of "God the Father" is conjoined with that of "Jesus Christ" under the one preposition "through," as the _medium _through which his apostleship had been conferred upon him. We cannot help receiving the impression that the apostle had only just bef

FOR DO I NOW PERSUADE MEN, OR GOD?.... To "persuade", is to teach; see Acts 18:4 the sense of which, with respect to men, is easy, but, with regard to God, difficult; and indeed cannot be applied to him, consistent with his divine perfections; and therefore something must be understood, and which may be supplied either thus, "do I now persuade", you or others, that "men or God" are to be hearkened to? not men, but God; the apostle did not teach them to hearken either to himself, or any of the other apostles, Peter, James, and John, any further than as he and they preached the pure Gospel of Christ; but should they do otherwise, they were not to be attended to, but God, who spake by his Son; or Christ, who is God as well as man; who is the great prophet in the church, a son in his own house, whose voice is to be hearkened to in all matters of doctrine, worship, and duty: or thus, "do I no...

Galatians 1:1. _Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)_ Paul begins this Epistle by stating his commission as an apostle. In Galatia, he had been subjected to the great sorrow of having his apostle-ship called in question. Does he, therefore, give up his claim to the office, and retire from the work? No, not for a moment; but he begins his letter to the Galatians by declaring himself to be «an apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ.» His enemies had said, «Paul was never one of the Saviour's twelve apostles; he is not like those who were trained and educated by Christ himself. No doubt he has borrowed his doctrine from them, and he is only a retailer of other men's goods». No, no,» says Paul, «I am an apostle as truly as any other of the twelve; ‘not of men, neither by man, but by Je

FOR NOW DO The demonstration is as follows: (1) The Galatians know Paul, that he is no seeker after popularity. (Galatians 1:10). (2) He puts his known character back of the assertion that his Gospel of grace was a revelation from God. (Galatians 1:11); (Galatians 1:12). (3) As for the Judaizers, Paul had been a foremost Jew, and had forsaken Judaism for something better. (Galatians 1:13). (4) He had preached grace years before he saw any of the other apostles. (Galatians 1:15)....

ANALYSIS AND ANNOTATIONS I. THE TESTIMONY OF PAUL CONCERNING HIS APOSTOLIC AUTHORITY AND THE GOSPEL CHAPTER 1 _ 1. The Introduction. (Galatians 1:1)_ 2. The Rebuke. (Galatians 1:6) 3. Paul's Gospel Given by Revelation. (Galatians 1:11) 4. How Paul became an Apostle Independent of Jerusalem. (Galatians 1:13) The introductory words of this Epistle are brief and of deep significance. He speaks of himself as an apostle not from men, nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father. His apostleship had been called in question and the gospel he preached branded as lacki