Nothing says “God saved me” like a life God transformed. Their stories never get old. The promiscuous husband who is now faithful to his wife and family. The hard-hearted young adult who now trains for overseas missions. The wayward criminal who now runs a gospel-centric transition house. When God saves, He puts His fingerprints all over the life He saves. It ensures our salvation and proclaims the glory and might of God.
Paul was the church persecutor who now preaches the gospel. The believers were afraid of him. His reputation of hatred for those who followed Christ was so widespread and known that people hid from him. “But God,” as he says so often, changed him (Eph. 2:4; Gal. 1:15). He was a new creation. He was someone different. His passion and devotion was repurposed for the mission of God. And, his new reputation was making its way throughout the region surrounding the Mediterranean.
Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles exempt James the Lord’s brothers. (In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!) Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” And they glorified God because of me.
Galatians 1:18-24
Paul is winding down his conversion story, which he is using to argue that his gospel is from God (Gal. 1:11-12). His opponents accused him of being a second-hand apostle, a wannabe, not a true ambassador of Jesus (Gal. 1:1). But this was not true. Paul was Christian exterminator (Gal. 1:13) who was more devout than Judaism than most Pharisees (Gal. 1:14). But the resurrected Christ appeared to him and personally trained and appointed him as a true apostle (Gal. 1:15-16). While most good Jews would visit Jerusalem at least once per year, Paul was being discipled by Jesus for three years and had no reason to visit. He remained in the Damascus region (Gal. 1:17). Paul was completely independent of the Jerusalem apostles. He was not second-hand.
Paul’s Visit to Jerusalem
With his training under the supreme rabbi complete, Paul finds himself ready to return to Jerusalem. “Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days” (Gal. 1:18). The word “visit” comes from the Greek word historeo, which carries the idea of becoming personally acquainted with someone through direct interaction and observation. It can mean to gain knowledge by visiting or spending time with someone. Paul was traveling to Jerusalem to become personally acquainted with Peter (and the other leaders). The visit was brief, lasting only fifteen days, and Paul gives no indication that he went there to receive authority, training, or the gospel itself.
Paul doesn’t spell out any clear reasons for the visit. It would be beside the point of his argument anyway. Still, it is clear from the text that he was not summoned or asked to come. He may have wanted to seek forgiveness, affirm unity, or simply enjoy fellowship and encouragement with fellow believers. Whatever the case, the visit was initiated by Paul himself, not the Jerusalem apostles.
It is likely that this visit was highlighted in Acts 9:26-29. When Paul arrived in Jerusalem, “he attempted to join the disciples” but “they were afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple” (Acts 9:26). His campaign of persecution was still very known to them. “But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and explained his remarkable conversion to the true gospel and his subsequent transformation by Christ (Acts 9:27). His visit was likely cut short because the Hellenists were seeking to kill him (Acts 9:28). So, he left (Acts 9:30).
When God saves a person, He leaves fingerprints all over their life.
During this short visit, Paul only met with “Cephas,” who is the apostle Peter (Gal. 1:18). Paul would refer to Peter as Cephas when identifying Peter for his Jewish street cred. He “saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother” (Gal. 1:19). James, the author behind the book of James, was not an apostle although the language here in the ESV might give that impression. Other translations of the Greek language in this verse render it in a bit more clearer. Paul saw only the apostle Peter and no other apostle, but he did see James, Jesus half-brother.
New Testament letters were sometimes written by an amanuensis. These were scribes or secretaries who pen the words of the author who were articulated to him. Both Peter and Paul did this frequently. However, in this case, Paul wants to make it clear. “In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!” (Gal. 1:20). These words were Paul’s words, written by Paul’s very hands and flowing from Paul’s mind. He was not lying. He was not exaggerating the timeline for his own benefit. He was speaking honestly and accurately. The Lord was his witness and defense. Paul was telling the truth. He was operating as ambassador of Christ, serving independently from the Jerusalem apostles.
[Paul’s visit was to be “historeo” (acquainted) with Peter and James, which means that he went to gain knowledge by visiting or to become personally acquainted with those he otherwise did not know personally. It is sometimes translated as “to see” which is the word we might understand to be used as a tourist. ADD SOMEWHERE ABOVE.]
Paul’s Absence from Jerusalem
Now with three years and fifteen days without any substantial meetings with the Jerusalem apostles, Paul moves on without them. “Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia” (Gal. 1:21). Paul’s birthplace was Tarsus, which was in the region of Cilicia, just north of Syria. He might have returned to places he knew to avoid threats in Jerusalem. Scholars suggest that he spent time preaching there, among other regions, until Barnabas called for him to come to Antioch in Syria. The details are not important for his argument in Galatians. He was merely pointing out that he traveled away from Judea influence and recognition.
Paul was “still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ” by this point (Gal. 1:22). Other than Peter and James, no one else met Paul in person to see him face-to-face, not even the churches in the region. However, this doesn’t mean that they did not hear about Paul. They did. In fact, the believers were spreading the good news about what the Lord had done in his life. “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy,” they said (Gal. 1:23). The good news of Paul’s transformation emboldened the believers and “they glorified God because of me” (Gal. 1:24).
God changed the persecutor into a preacher of the gospel for the sake of His glory. It is one of the many ways the Lord shows off the sanctifying power of His gospel. No one is too hard to humble. No one is too far to reach. No one is too stiff to bend. God can save and transform anyone into a shining light of His good grace.
God conquered Paul, called Paul, and changed Paul independently from the Jerusalem apostles. The gospel he preached, and the mission to proclaim it to the Gentiles, was given to him from Jesus Himself. It must be the true Gospel. It must be the gospel worth keeping.
