Useful Bible Studies > Galatians Commentary > chapter 1
Galatians 1:11-17
Usually, Christian leaders teach the gospel (God’s good news) to new Christians. So, Christians learn the gospel from other Christians. But that did not happen to Paul. Instead, it was God who taught Paul. So Paul was very sure that his message came from God.
Paul believed that God had already chosen him at his birth. God had a special work for Paul to do. Paul did not know anything about that. But even when he was a young man, he wanted to work for God.
Paul as a young man
Paul did not then know the gospel. And he did not know what God wanted him to do. Paul had certain ideas about God. So Paul thought that the Christians were very wrong. Paul decided that he would fight against the Christians. He believed that God wanted him to do that. Paul put many Christians into the prisons. And the Christians were afraid of him.
Paul becomes a Christian
But then God changed Paul’s life. You can read what happened in Acts 9:1-19 and Acts 22:3-16. (Paul was still using his old name, Saul, then.) Paul did not change his own life. He did not even know that he needed to change anything. God did it. Paul saw Jesus Christ. Immediately, Paul knew how wrong he had been. So he became a Christian.
Soon after this, God showed Paul the purpose of his life. Like Jesus and all the first Christians, Paul was a *Jew. But the gospel, God’s good news, is for everyone. And God wanted Paul to teach the gospel to people who were not *Jews.
Paul in Arabia
The other Christians were not ready to do this yet. So it was God who taught Paul about this. God caused Paul to go to the country called Arabia. There were no other Christians in that country then. We do not know how God taught Paul there. But we can be sure that Paul prayed much. And we can be sure that he studied his Bible there.
Paul wanted to be with the other Christians. He tried to join the church in Damascus. He told the *Jews about Jesus there. But he was not able to remain there. People were trying to kill him (Acts 9:22-23).
Next part: Paul teaches God’s good news
See the word list for explanation of words with a *
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© 2015, Keith Simons.