Paul as a Young Believer

The rest of the chapter expands upon verse 16 and gives details of Paul’s travel during his early Christian life.

 “Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days. But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother. Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not. Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia; And was unknown by face unto the churches of Judaea which were in Christ: But they had heard only, That he which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed. And they glorified God in me.” (Galatians 1:17-24, King James Version)
Paul’s did not seek either the approval or instruction of the other apostles. We know from Acts that he began preaching before he even went to Jerusalem. After he was saved, Paul went into Arabia, which was a large wilderness area near Damascus. He stayed there for up to three years.

During this time, his theology under the instruction of the Holy Spirit matured. He rejected the traditions of Judaism but not the Old Testament. He grew in his understanding of how the Christian faith grew out of the foundation of the Old Testament. His training and study as a Rabbi prepared him for this time of intense soul searching and learning. He returned to Damascus mature in his Christian theology.

Three years after his conversion, Paul returned to Jerusalem. His desire was to become acquainted with Peter who was the leader among the original apostles. He remained in Jerusalem only 15 days. This was not long enough for Peter to teach Paul the mature and extensive doctrines that Paul preached.

The only other apostle that Paul met was James, the half-brother of Jesus. Like Paul, James was not one of the twelve. However, by the time Paul wrote Galatians, James was the pastor and leader of the Jerusalem church.

Here in the middle of his account of these events, Paul adds an oath using God as a witness of the truth of what he writes. These events were not well known like his conversion. Because of the dangerous times and enemies seeking Paul’s life, these things were not done openly. Certainly no one in Galatia would have first hand knowledge of these events. Yet they were important to Paul’s argument for his apostleship. Because Paul adds this oath, his opponents are now in a more difficult position. They can not argue that Paul has shaded the truth unless they also are willing to accuse Paul of using God’s Name in vain.

After Paul left Jerusalem, he traveled through Syria into Cilicia. The capital of Syria was Antioch from which Paul wrote this letter. The capital of Cilicia was Tarsus. This was Paul’s hometown and where he stayed until Barnabas came and recruited him to help with the ministry in Antioch.

Although Paul was known to many in the Church of Jerusalem, he was largely unknown among the other churches in Judea. However, they had heard about his conversion. The Christian community rejoiced in Paul’s conversion. He was fully accepted as part of that community.

The argument of Paul’s enemies that he received his apostleship and message from man was without foundation. God made Paul an apostle, like He had the other apostles. God gave Paul his message, like He gave the other apostles their message. He was as much an apostle as the twelve were.

Everyone who has been born again has a testimony. Paul had a testimony of salvation that he shared on occasion. He also had, as he shares here, a testimony of God’s grace in working in his life and giving him a ministry.

What is your testimony?

Paul's Conversion

“But even before I was born, God had chosen me. He was kind and had decided to show me his Son, so that I would announce his message to the Gentiles. I didn’t talk this over with anyone.” (Galatians 1:15,16, Contemporary English Version)


Paul does not deal with the circumstances of his conversion but describes it in theological terms. The Galatians were acquainted with the events that brought about Paul’s salvation. For his purpose here, this theological description is more powerful.

In this letter, salvation by grace apart from works is emphasized. So it is in Paul’s description of his own salvation. He was saved when it pleased God. This does not mean that Paul had no choice or that Paul could not have rejected what God offered.

God offers salvation when and to whom He desires. A person cannot be saved at any time. He can only be saved at such times as God through the Spirit offers him salvation. However, God offers salvation, He does not force it upon a person. At those times that God extends His invitation, the individual has the opportunity to decide if he will accept or reject it.

Paul states that God separated him from his mother’s womb. The Greek word means to set apart for some purpose. Before he was born, God had a purpose for the life of Paul. Does that mean that Paul had no choice in the matter? Was Paul just a puppet responding as a robot to God as He pulled Paul’s strings? No! God’s purpose for Paul’s life was based upon God’s foreknowledge. God knew how Paul would respond. But Paul still exercised his free will.

God’s purpose in Paul’s life as described in this passage was that Jesus Christ would be revealed in Paul. This is God’s desire for all people. God desires that every person be saved, and that after salvation Christ would be revealed in him or her. As the song says, “We are the only Jesus that some may ever see!”

God’s purpose in Paul’s life went beyond this general thought to a more specific one. He desired that Paul preach Christ among the Gentiles, that is, the non-Jewish people. Paul was chosen as by God as an Apostle to the non-Jews. This was his special God given ministry.

God has a specific ministry for all His children. At conception, He forms us in a certain way. As we grow, He gives us experiences that develop us in a certain fashion. When we are saved, He gives us particular spiritual gifts as He desires. As a potter fashions a pot for a specific purpose, so God seeks to form our lives for a specific purpose. Yet so often, rather than fulfilling our God given ministry, we follow after selfish pursuits, or seek after a ministry for which God has not prepared us.

When God saved Paul by His grace, Paul did not seek the counsel of man. This is not meant to be a pattern for us to follow. When a person is saved, he or she needs instruction by man. God, however, instructed Paul.

God called Paul as an Apostle to the Gentiles. God taught Paul what he was to preach. Paul’s apostleship was divine. Paul’s message was divine.

Paul's Life Before Conversion

Paul’s testimony in this passage is quite different from other accounts of his conversion. This is because of his purpose in writing to the Galatians. When Paul gave his testimony before the Sanhedrin and before Agrippa and Festus, his purpose was evangelistic. On those occasions, he emphasized the message of the Gospel.


In this passage, Paul gives his testimony in order to defend his apostleship. He wants to demonstrate that he did not receive his message from men but from God. In order to do this; he briefly describes his conversion and the period during which his theology developed. The purpose of this passage is to show that Paul was not instructed by the Apostles but by Christ.

He begins by describing what he was like before his conversion. “You heard about my previous life in Judaism, how severely I harassed God’s church and tried to destroy it. I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my peers, because I was much more militant about the traditions of my ancestors.” (Galatians 1:13,14, Common English Bible)

Paul’s past life, although he greatly regretted it, could not be kept secret. The Galatians knew about it. It was common knowledge among believers.

Paul’s language in these two verses shows a clear distinction in his thinking between Judaism and Christianity. His opponents sought to contain the Christian community within Judaism. Paul saw the Christian faith not as a sect within Judaism but as a religion apart from it.

Paul had been a vicious persecutor of Christians. In his zeal for the Jewish faith, he had sought to destroy what he saw as a dangerous and evil departure from what he then considered to be the truth. Paul sincerely believed that Jesus was an imposter and his salvation a lie. He had brought many to prison and was in favor of killing Christians. He did all in his power to destroy the Christian faith.

As a Pharisee, Paul was the most respected young Rabbi of his day. He was a star pupil of the great Jewish teacher Gamaliel. If religion was a race, Paul was far out in the lead.

Notice that Paul says that he was zealous for the traditions of his fathers. He was not zealous for truth. He was not zealous for God. He was zealous for tradition. There are many that call themselves Christian who are like Paul was. They are zealous for tradition more than for truth or for God.