Devotional Galatians 1: There Is No Other Gospel and Paul's Calling Reflection on Galatians 1: why the gospel of Christ is unique, Jesus' direct revelation to Paul, and overcoming religious hypocrisy. Topics: Devotional, New Testament.

Devotional Galatians 1: There Is No Other Gospel and Paul’s Calling

Today’s devotional is found in the book of Galatians, chapter 1, and this is what took place.

Synopsis: In this chapter, Paul writes a letter addressed to the churches of Galatia, explaining to them that there is no other gospel different from the one he and others had preached and that the gospel he preaches was not a human invention—he did not receive it or learn it from any human being. Paul affirms that he received the gospel of Jesus Christ by revelation from Jesus Himself.

Observations

These were my observations.

1. There is no other gospel. Paul could not have been more correct when he made this statement. I know it may sound strange to some, but it is the purest truth. Before, when I was still a spiritual child in the faith in Christ and did not know the Word of God well, I did not believe this was true. I had some wounds that had not yet healed with “Christianity.” I put Christianity in quotes because, in reality, my problem was not with Christ but with Christians. I realized this later, over time, with more spiritual maturity, wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. My problem with Christians came from their religiosity and hypocrisy. I believe I was not and still am not the only one with this grievance against Christians because of their hypocrisy. Even as a child, it caused me much confusion, and I saw all hypocrisy as harmful to the image of the church. Both religious leaders and church members said they believed in something and did the complete opposite. That is, they said we must not fornicate yet they did it, they said we must not be greedy yet they were, they said we must not judge others yet they did, etc. This type of behavior certainly kept me away from God and Christ for a long time (Romans 2:24). Because of this, I began to seek other alternatives to live a good life. In other words, I was searching for another gospel. But what I found after research, lived experiences, testimonies, the moral degradation of society, and injustices was the truth. And the truth is that there is no other gospel, because the only one that solves all these problems in society and saves us from death due to our sins (giving us eternal life) is the gospel of Christ (John 3:16). Therefore, I believe everyone should go out in search of the truth with honesty, discernment, and fervor. Because I know that, in the end, they will arrive at the same conclusion, sooner or later.
2. Paul received the gospel by revelation from Jesus Himself. This is also a truthful observation, as we can verify all the claims Paul made about his revelation in the book of Acts. When Paul still believed in Judaism, he was persecuting Christians everywhere and ended up requesting extradition letters for the synagogues in Damascus. Because his intention was to arrest all Christians and bring them back to Jerusalem so that they would all be judged before the Sanhedrin (Acts 9:1–2). That is, he had no affection for Christians or Jesus. However, on the road to Damascus, Paul saw a light and heard a voice that came from heaven (works of Jesus Christ) that warned him about his persecution and instructed him to do the will of Jesus (Acts 9:3–6). When this happened, Paul was not traveling alone, because his companions were with him and they also heard the voice of Jesus and everything He said (Acts 9:7). This proves his claims because there were witnesses who were present at what happened and could corroborate the most crucial statements he made. Because of what happened, Paul was blind for 3 days unable to see anything, and his companions had to take him to the house of Judas who lived on a street called Straight (Acts 9:8–11). God sent Ananias, through a vision, to the house of Judas to find Paul and lay his hand on his head. So that Paul would be healed of his blindness and baptized with the Holy Spirit, for Jesus Christ chose him to preach the gospel of Christ to all nations (Acts 9:11–19). All of this proves that Paul told the purest truth when he revealed that he received the gospel directly from Jesus Christ and not from human beings (Galatians 1:11–12).