The Authority of Apostleship
Galatians 1:1-5
When it comes to a life-changing message of rebuke and redemption, authority is a crucial matter. Without it, the words lose their meaning and their power. Without authority, you can ignore the message and nothing will happen. But when authority is genuine and backed by sovereign power, the message takes on a sharp edge that cannot be ignored without injury.
In Galatians, the apostle Paul begins with the sharp, polished edge of divine authority and severs the root of the false teachers. Galatians is thought to be one of Paul’s earliest letters. From this we may suggest that his authority is relatively new in the region. Though he isn’t a new Christian; he’s been in the faith at least 17 years at this time. Others have come into the church at Galatia since Paul’s first visit, so he hasn’t been known by some of the people of Galatia first hand.
Because of the early date, his reputation isn’t as widespread as Peter or John. But Paul is no less an apostle that they are. So first, he has to establish his authority. Then he jumps right into an apostolic rebuke with little more than a brief introduction.
He really had no choice. The gospel itself was at stake. Paul is a man under orders. Every sentence, every word, every syllable is shaped by his passionate concern for the gospel of Jesus Christ in the churches of Galatia.
What we’re going to see this morning is the beginning of Paul’s defense of his apostleship and how that relates to the gospel itself. Paul’s aim was to show that his message and ministry came directly from Christ and not from men.
If you have your Bible, please turn to Galatians chapter one. We’ll begin with the first five verses this morning. The subject of these verses is the authority of apostleship.
Galatians 1:1-5—In honor of God and His Word, please stand for the reading of Scripture.
Paul, an apostle (not sent from men, nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead), 2 and all the brethren who are with me, to the churches of Galatia: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us out of this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen.
[Prayer] After Paul had planted the pure doctrine of the gospel in Galatia, certain false teachers crept in—called Judaizers—who tried to undermine all that Paul had taught among them. What these Judaizers were teaching was a mixture of the Mosaic Law with certain Christian teachings, creating a hybrid religion that represented neither Christianity nor Judaism. But not only did they change the gospel message, they denied the authority of God’s messenger! So Paul asserts in verse one the very thing they were trying to deny: he is an apostle sent by God Himself.
We’ll say more about the Judaizers in the weeks ahead. But you need to know that Paul is writing this letter of Galatians with an intense passion to defend the gospel of Jesus Christ.
This morning we’re going to discover three principles that give an apostle his authority. These principles were true not only of Paul but of the other eleven men who were appointed by Christ. The first of these principles is this:
I. An apostle has an authoritative ministry (1:1-2)
We see this in verses 1-2. The ministry of Paul came from God Himself, according to verse one. The whole book of Galatians is driven by Paul’s passion for the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Have you ever written a letter where you had so much riding on every sentence? Where you put pen to paper and give words to your thoughts while those thoughts are dominating your entire life? Few of us have ever written with such passion. But that’s what can happen when God gives someone an authoritative ministry. It not only dominates, it pre-dominates.
In verse one, Paul begins with a defense of his call from God. This has to do with Paul’s authoritative ministry. “Paul an apostle (not sent from men, nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead).” Those words distinguish Paul’s God-given authority from the Judaizers who gained their authority from men.
The word apostle is a special term for a person who has been sent by God. In the technical sense, it refers only to the twelve men who were appointed by Jesus Christ from among the other disciples. You’ll recall from Acts 9 that Paul received his apostleship by a direct appointment from Jesus on the road to Damascus. He didn’t get it from Jerusalem or from Peter. He didn’t get it from some seminary. The authoritative ministry of an apostle comes from God and not men. It seems clear that it was God’s will to appoint Paul to take the place of Judas who betrayed Jesus.
In Acts 1, the eleven apostles met to cast lots to select a replacement for Judas. The lot fell on a man named Matthias. But the Bible never mentions this man again and we never see God use him as an apostle. Matthias was chosen by men, but not by God. God had his eye on a man named Saul of Tarsus, whom the other disciples never would have considered for the job.
Saul was a persecutor of Christians and a despiser of Christ at the time. But God said to Ananias “He is My chosen vessel to bear My name before the gentiles, before kings, and the sons of Israel” [Acts 9:15]. So Paul was directly appointed to be an apostle by Jesus Christ. In verse one, Paul goes out of his way to make sure they know he wasn’t appointed (apo) from men, or (dia) through men. It was entirely the work of God through Jesus Christ.
In this calling of Paul, note how God chooses people for His service. Sometimes God chooses the least obvious person on the face of the earth. He chooses people we might overlook… and He does it for His glory.
When God chooses you, there’s no use in running. He always uses whom He chooses. If you say, but I’m not prepared enough to be useful to God; God will prepare you. Even though Paul had no accurate knowledge of Christ when he was blinded on the road to Damascus, God called him that He might equip him. Because God doesn’t call the equipped, He equips the called. Our job is to submit to His calling.
From the opening verse of the letter, Paul has already linked his authority to the very gospel he’s about to defend. He was appointed by Jesus Christ and by God who raised Jesus from the dead. There is no gospel apart from the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If Christ was not raised, then your faith is worthless and we are still in our sins (1 Cor. 15:17). The false teachers wanted to make the law of Moses the basis of Christianity, not the finished work of Christ.
The formal greeting in verse two is short and terse. Paul doesn’t spend much time with a gracious welcome. He has a point he needs to raise; he has a purpose. His purpose was to defend the gospel by first showing himself to be an apostle with an authoritative ministry, and second…
II. An apostle has an authoritative message (1:3-4)
We see this in verses 3-4. 3“Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us out of this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father…”
This is a full frontal attack on the lie of the false teachers. He’s saying, you aren’t saved by keeping the law. You’re saved because the Lord Jesus Christ gave Himself for your sins, that He might deliver you from this present evil age. This is the authoritative message of an apostle.
The Judaizers of the modern church are those who add anything to the finished work of Christ as the basis for salvation. Their influence is seen wherever anything other than the gospel is cited as the ground of faith. We aren’t saved because our parents were Christians. We aren’t saved because we go to church on Sundays. (That’s called “church-ianity” not Christianity.) We aren’t saved because we tithe or read Christian books. All of that is wonderful, commendable and crucial to a life of growing maturity in Christ, but it’s not saving. What saves us is that we have become children of God through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ.
Your faith must be based on the fact that Jesus died for your personal sins on the cross—He died in your place—and God raised Jesus from the dead three days later to show His acceptance of the finished work of Christ. A saved person is someone who believes that their only reason for entering God’s presence is the merit of Jesus Christ applied to their sin debt through faith. That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less, nothing else. To add to the finished work of Christ on Calvary as the basis for salvation is to commit the Judaizing error. Nothing saves but Jesus.
Paul makes this very clear. The Gospel centers in a Person -Jesus Christ, the Son of God. This Person paid a price -He gave Himself to die on the cross. And Jesus paid the price that He might achieve a purpose-delivering sinners from the bondage of sin and the coming wrath of God (Wiersbe). The false teachers of Galatia wanted to lead the Christians out of the liberty of grace and into the bondage of Law. But Jesus came to set us free from that.
As an apostle, Paul’s ministry and message were sources of his spiritual authority. And third…
III. An apostle has an authoritative motive (1:5)
Did you catch the little “stinger” in verse 5? It’s the conclusion of the purpose statement in verse 4. The authoritative motive of an apostle is the glory of God.
The phrase “glory of God” occurs nearly twenty times in the NAS Bible. It first appears in Psalm 19:1—“The heavens are telling the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.” The word often implies light and radiant splendor.
The glory of God is known as the broad motive for everything we do as the people of God. It’s what righteous Stephen saw when he gazed intently into heaven. It’s what every person falls short of because of sin. It’s what we’re supposed to do everything to. And according to verse five of the first chapter of Galatians, it’s the authoritative motive of an apostle.
Everything that glorifies God is consistent with His character as revealed in Scripture.
I clearly remember a situation at a church several years ago where they were debating an issue regarding the authority of Scripture in terms of Sunday school literature, church budget and ministry programs. One of the debates had to do with how the church would spend its money and what “programs” it would support. Some proposals were good, others weren’t. I remember thinking, since it’s really God’s church and God’s money, shouldn’t we be asking what God would have us do with it? This goes back to the authority of Scripture. The real question became, Does it glorify God (DIGG)? When in doubt, this little question is like a sharp knife that cuts right through some prickly issues.
Are you puzzled over some decision or activity you’re involved in? Does it glorify God? The authoritative motive of the apostle Paul is the glory of God. He wasn’t on some personal crusade to gain influence over the Galatians. The gospel was at stake. Wherever the gospel is at stake, souls are at risk.
As we go through this letter to the Galatians, you’ll see that all Christians are saved the same way: by grace through faith. Even the apostles were subject to the same gospel which is being preached today. The apostle Peter stepped out of line by compromising with the Jews who came up from Jerusalem. He gave the impression that the Galatian Christians were keeping the essential tenets of Jewish law. Paul calls him on it! Regardless of the audience hearing the message (Jew or Gentile, Sythian, slave or freeman), all must understand that we are saved by the grace of God through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, not by works. And this saving faith, when it’s genuine, will always produce fruit (or works) which glorify God.
(c) Charles Kevin Grant
2003