Galatians 1:23

But they had heard only, That he which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed. [ Akouontes (G191) eesan (G2258)] 'They were hearing:' reports were reaching them from time to time. HE WHICH PERSECUTED US IN TIMES PAST - Saul's characteristic designation among Christians. DESTROYED, [ eporthei (G4199)] - 'was destroying.'...

23._Which once he destroyed_. This does not mean that _faith _(36) may actually be destroyed, but that he lessened its influence on the minds of weak men. Besides, it is the will, rather than the deed, that is here expressed....

15-24 St. Paul was wonderfully brought to the knowledge and faith of Christ. All who are savingly converted, are called by the grace of God; their conversion is wrought by his power and grace working in them. It will but little avail us to have Christ revealed to us, if he is not also revealed in us. He instantly prepared to obey, without hesitating as to his worldly interest, credit, ease, or life itself. And what matter of thanksgiving and joy is it to the churches of Christ, when they hear of such instances to the praise of the glory of his grace, whether they have ever seen them or not! They glorify God for his power and mercy in saving such persons, and for all the service to his people and cause that is done, and may be further expected from them....

Verse 23. _THEY HAD HEARD ONLY_] As a _persecutor_ of the Church of Christ, I was well known; and as a _convert to Christ_ I was not less so. The fame of both was great, even where I was personally unknown....

BUT THEY HAD HEARD ONLY ... - They had not seen me; but the remarkable fact of my conversion had been reported to them. It was a fact that could hardly be concealed; see the note at Acts 26:26....

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

BUT THEY HAD HEARD ONLY,.... What they knew of the apostle was only by hearsay; they had never seen him, nor heard him preach, nor conversed with him, only had it reported to them; THAT HE WHICH PERSECUTED US IN TIMES PAST; some few years ago, and not them personally, but such as were of the same faith with them, the church at Jerusalem and the members of it; which he made havoc of, committing men and women to prison, and causing others to flee to strange cities; NOW PREACHETH THE FAITH WHICH ONCE HE DESTROYED; all as in him lay he endeavoured to destroy it, though he could not entirely root it up; he destroyed many of the disciples that held it, and did all he could to discourage others from embracing and professing it; he made use of the strongest arguments he was master of to confute it, and of the secular arm to crush and extirpate it, but now was become a preacher of it: by "faith...

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

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

Not till he had been three years a Christian and a Christian preacher did he come in contact with the earlier apostles; and then but slightly. He visited Cephas at Jerusalem, spending a fortnight with him (_cf._ 1 Corinthians 15:3?); and he also met James, the brother of Christ (the Gr. may mean either this one other apostle or this important non-apostolic personage: no real difference to the argument). Evidently stories had been put about that Paul had been instructed by the apostolic college. There is no truth in them! After the one brief and limited contact, he pursued his own career in his native province of Cilicia and at Antioch (compare Acts 9:30; Acts 11:25 ff.), favourably heard of in Judæ an churches, but not kno