Paul's Authority in Galatians

It seems like periodically I'm going to try to start blogging regularly. Maybe it will stick this time. The context of my posts now will be similar to my deployment a few years ago. I write each week for the congregation I serve (Trinity Evangelical Lutheran, Taneytown, MD) and so I will share them here as well. They are meant to be reflective commentary on one of the upcoming Revised Common Lectionary Readings. I hope they are helpful for you in some way.

¹¹ For I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel that was proclaimed by me is not of human origin; ¹² for I did not receive it from a human source, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. (Galatians 1:11-12)

Saul's Conversion by Gustave Dore (http://www.gutenberg.org/
files/8710/8710-h/8710-h.htm#link095)

That’s quite a claim Paul makes! His words – the “gospel” he preaches – are not his own. They come from the revelation of Jesus Christ. Would that we all had that kind of revelation to help us know the mind of God. Would that we all clearly hear the gospel given to us with some authority and love.

Tangent: By the way, “gospel” means good news. “Gospel” refers to one of the accounts written to tell us the story of Jesus Christ, which contain (and are) the gospel: the good news of God’s love revealed for the world. It’s a fun word with a multi-layered meaning.

The challenge to hearing the gospel in its full, authoritative power – in my humble opinion – is that we too often hear the other gospel (“not that there is another gospel” - Gal 1:7). Too often, we hear our own understandings and ideas of what we’re supposed to do with the good news that God gives to us. The good news is that Christ “gave himself for our sins to set us free” (Gal 1:4). It’s good to be free, but we don’t always know what to do with our freedom. We’re stuck in our old ways that convince us that we have to earn our way into God’s love. We’re stuck in our old ways that speak a gospel that isn’t really a gospel as it makes us forget that God’s love is a gift – an act of grace that is free and without condition.

In a world that seems to live with the axiom that whoever yells loudest is right, I hope you find a way to hear the voice of God. It sometimes comes in the faintest of whispers in the most unexpected time. It is a voice that says you are loved. It’s a voice that says the good news is that Jesus Christ broke the bonds of sin and death for you. That’s what Paul wanted us to know. That’s good news for this week, and always.