Paul, An Apostle

"Paul, an apostle -- sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, . . ." (Galatians 1:1a - NIV)

Paul begins his letter to the Galatians, as he begins all his letters, with his name. The only exception to this would be Hebrews, if the view that Paul wrote it is taken. In New Testament times, a letter would normally begin by stating the author and then the person or persons to whom it was written. This pattern is followed in most of the New Testament letters. This is what we call the salutation.

In the case of his letter to the Galatians, Paul uses his salutation to present evidence for his position. Within the first five verses, Paul already starts defending his apostleship and his Gospel. Two of his three purposes for this letter are immediately introduced.

Those attacking the Gospel of Grace were also attacking Paul's apostleship. Paul does not waste anytime declaring that he is an apostle and that his appointment to this office is divine.

Apostle is a transliteration of a Greek word. This word means a delegate, messenger, one sent forth with orders. It refers to a person sent with a special message from a higher authority. This word is used 81 times in the New Testament. In the King James Version, 78 times, it is translated apostle. Twice it is translated messenger (II Corinthians 8:23, Philippians 2:25) and once it is translated "he that is sent" (John 13:16).

Jesus called his twelve disciples: apostles (Luke 6:13). Their special message was the Gospel. They were sent with the authority of Jesus himself.

Judas was one of the twelve. He, by his betrayal of Jesus, gave up his apostleship. Soon after the ascension of Jesus, Matthias was selected to take the place of Judas (Acts 1:24-26). To understand the attack on Paul's apostleship, it is important to know the qualifications required by the original apostles for Judas' replacement. The replacement had to be someone who had been with Jesus from the baptism of John until the ascension of Christ. He had to be a witness of the resurrection of Christ (Acts 1:21, 22).

Paul had not been with Jesus during his ministry. We do not even know if Paul ever saw Jesus before Jesus confronted him on the road to Damascus. This is the very point at which the attacks on Paul's apostleship would focus. The argument was that because Paul, unlike the twelve, had not been with Jesus, he was at the very most an inferior apostle, or not an apostle at all.

Paul begins his defense of his apostleship by stating that he did not receive his office from men or through man. He did not make himself an apostle. His authority did not come from man or any group of men. He had been made an apostle by the authority of Christ and God the Father.

The implication is that Paul's authority was as great as that of the twelve. Jesus named them apostles. Jesus named Paul an apostle. If Paul was not a real apostle, then the twelve were not real apostles because the source of their authority was the same. To argue that Paul did not have the qualifications of an apostle was to argue with Jesus about who he could select to represent him No man has that right. Paul's defense of his apostleship continues later in this chapter.

Besides the twelve and Paul, there are others in the New Testament called apostles. Among these are James, Barnabas, Andronicus, Junia, Epaphroditus and those chosen by the churches to collect the offering for the saints in Jerusalem. A good argument could be made for including James in the same class as Paul and the twelve. However, the others are not in the same class. Barnabas could be considered an apostle of the church at Antioch. The others were, most likely, in a similar position, apostles of a church or a group of churches. They were apostles of men.

The basic meaning of the word apostle is one sent with a special message. According to this definition, we have apostles today. Missionaries are people sent with the message of the Gospel. Missionaries are apostles. Again, they are not apostles in the same class as the twelve. They are apostles of man, but they are apostles.

Galatians: Purpose

Paul wrote this letter with three main objectives: defend the Gospel of Grace, defend his apostleship and explain the objective of the Law of Moses. His opponents were attacking both his message and his authority. They also misunderstood the purpose of the Old Testament Law.

This letter is sharp and cutting. Paul is blunt and brief. There is no beating around the bush, and little in the way of extra information. Paul tells us more about himself in this letter than in any of his other letters with the exception of First Corinthians.

As we study this letter over 1950 years after it was written, you may wonder what you can learn from it. While this letter argues against salvation by works, which is still a common teaching today. It provides balance between the abuse of freedom and the severity of legalism. It tells us how to win the spiritual battles that we face.