December 9
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PROOF OF PAUL’S ANOINTING
18 Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas, and stayed with him for fifteen days. 19 But I did not see another one of the apostles except James, the Lord’s brother. 20 (Now in what I am writing to you, I assure you before God that I am not lying.) 21 Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22 I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea which are in Christ; 23 but they only kept hearing, “The man who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they were glorifying God because of me.
– Galatians 1:18-24
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In this letter of Paul to the Galatians, he testifies that his conversion from persecutor to apostle wasn’t human but God appointed. In the following verses, he gives his testimony and evidences that his claim is true. In verse 18, he gives them an account of the total number of years before he knew Cephas. Though Paul calls this fellow Christian Cephas, he’s probably better known to us as Peter. As in Simon Peter (John 1:42). According to another commentary, it says that we shouldn’t think that Paul meant here that it was wrong to hear of the gospel through others, or that those who do hear it from someone who isn’t an apostle somehow have an inferior salvation. The point is simply that the gospel Paul preached was not a gospel of man, and this was settled forever because he did not receive it from any man. Paul did not travel to what we would call Saudi Arabia. The area known in that day as Arabia in his day extended all the way to the city of Damascus. Paul probably lived in some quiet desert place outside of Damascus. Then after three years: Paul proved here that he did not learn the gospel from the apostles, because he had been a Christian for three years before he even met the apostles Peter and James. Paul’s whole point in the second part of this chapter is important. His gospel was true, and his experience was valid, because it really came from God. It is fair for every Christian to ask if their gospel has come from God, or if they have made it up themselves. The questions are important because only what comes from God can really save us and make a lasting difference in our lives.
I can attest to divine appointment. I didn’t know God had prepared me to work for Him until I was in my late 50’s. He started to prod me to tell people about Christ since I was seven years old and have been schooled by the Holy Spirit even before I read the bible.
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REFLECTION
• How would one know if they are appointed directly by God?