”For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.“
Galatians 1:12 ESV
As we look back over our life of faith, and as we remember how we were brought to faith, we can point to those who shared with us the gospel of Christ. Maybe it was a parent or grandparent. Maybe it was a Sunday School teacher. Or maybe it was a friend.
In this way, it seems very organic. It seems natural. It seems almost worldly.
Paul, however, was another story completely. In his case, it was clearly miraculous. It was supernatural. And, for this reason, the way in which he was brought to faith seems far greater.
We remember how Jesus appeared to Paul, on the road to Damascus. And in this way, he was brought to faith. We remember how he was struck blind and how, as Ananias laid hands on him, his sight was restored.
He goes on to explain, in chapter 1 of Galatians, that he did not consult with anyone. He explains that he didn’t even go to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before him. He, rather, went away into Arabia before returning to Damascus.
His point was that he received no instruction from anyone immediately after Christ appeared to him. The gospel was not taught to him, in the traditional sense. He, rather, received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
His point, in saying this, is not that his conversion was miraculous while that of others was not. He was stating that the gospel he proclaimed was not man’s gospel. It didn’t have a human origin.
As we consider Pau’s experience, we find that ours isn’t all that different. What I mean is that the way in which we were brought to faith is nothing less than miraculous. Although certain people shared with us the gospel, it was, in reality, delivered to us by God himself.
The Bible, after all, is the Word of God. And even though it is taught to us by man, it remains his Word. As we read it, as we hear it, it’s his voice speaking to us.
We find also that we cannot understand this Word apart from the Spirit of God. Paul tells us as much in 1 Corinthians 2. The natural person, he tells us, the person apart from Christ, does not accept the things of the Spirit of God. They are foolish to him. And he’s not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
What Paul is telling us is that, apart from the Spirit of God, we cannot understand the things of God. Apart from the Spirit of God, we cannot understand the Word of God. It’s only as he gives understanding that we’re able to comprehend it.
The fact that we’ve received the gospel, then, is nothing short of miraculous. The fact that we’ve been brought to faith is the work of God himself. Although he’s certainly used people in this process, it’s the gift of God from first to last.
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