Gal. 1:11-17, Separated from His Mother’s Womb

Gal. 1-2 revolve around Gal. 1:11-12: the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man; rather it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ. 

To make the point, Paul shares his salvation testimony.  But he doesn’t share the entire story as recorded in Acts 9:1-19 and which he shared publicly in Acts 22:1-21 and 26:1-23.  Instead, he tells about the event in a way that demonstrates the point, that the gospel was not given to him by men.

In 1:13-14 he makes it clear that his gospel message was not something he picked up from his training in Judaism before his conversion.  On the one hand, he persecuted the Christians.  That doesn’t sound like someone in sync with the doctrine of the Christians.  On the other hand, Paul was well known to have excelled in Judaism.  When he was converted, he left behind both his lifestyle as a persecutor and his education in the traditions.  Don’t misunderstand this: he benefited by his studies in the Old Testament, but his gospel had no roots in the training he received in Judaism.  His gospel was something clearly different, and that is important for the Galatian churches to understand.  They too needed to leave behind their Jewish roots in order to embrace the gospel of Christ.

A Christian testimony is more than just what has been left behind in our lives; it is also about the point in our lives when we believed God and it was counted for righteousness (Gen. 15:6) as well as the change brought about by that event.  Paul uses three powerful statements that emphasize what God did in his life.  Again, his gospel did not come from men.  Let us consider these three statements.

·       God separated Paul from his mother’s womb, 1:15. 

o   This is a claim made by or about others in Scripture: Isaiah (Isa. 49:1,5); Jeremiah (Jer. 1:5); John the Baptist ((Lk. 1:15-16); Samson (Jud. 13:5); and, of course, Christ (Lk. 1:31-35).  The term separated is used two other times referring to Paul’s ministry.  In Rom. 1:1 he was separated to the gospel of God.  In Ac. 13:2 the Spirit directed the Antioch elders to separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. 

o   This term makes it clear this was not something Paul chose for himself; God did this.  Paul believed God was at work in his life before he became a Christian, even before he was born.  The things Paul left behind, such as his Roman citizenship, his training in Judaism and his persecution of the Church, were used by God throughout his ministry.  God knew what He was getting; He specifically set Paul apart for this ministry.

We need to understand this in our own lives as believers.  God knew us before we were born.  And when He separates us to His purposes, our past is not a liability in God’s eyes.  In His hands, even our past sins and failures can be used by God.