Paul, apostle, not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ, and God [the] Father who raised him from among [the] dead,
Paul opens his letter to the churches of Galatia not with thanks, but with a defence of his own commission. Everything that follows rests on it: if teachers are mixing law into grace, who has the right to say so?
Teachers who claimed the backing of Jerusalem had attacked Paul's credentials. His opening words answer a case already made against him.
At once, in the very first words of the letter, Paul replies to the attack of his enemies. They had said, Paul is not an apostle. He is not one of the twelve apostles. He has not seen the Lord. The apostles at Jerusalem did not send him out, nor did they give him authority to go. No one has properly ordained him.
The verse uses two different denials, and they are not a repetition. One rules out where his mission started; the other rules out anyone acting as a go-between.
If not "from men," then men were in no sense the source or originators of either his apostleship or his message. If neither was "through man," then he received both straight from the Lord, and man was not even the channel through which they came.
The word "apostle" carries Paul's point. A sent one has only the weight of whoever sent him.
The Greek word "apostle" means "a sent one." But it means more than that. It has the meaning "sent from," so the name "apostle" carries the authority of the one who sends him.
Paul's call came later than the calls of the other apostles, and it came from a different place. That is why this wording fits him alone.
Peter received his apostleship from the Lord while He was on earth. Paul received his from the Lord in ascended glory... No other apostle could say, "not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead." At the very least, they were apostles before God the Father had raised Jesus Christ from the dead.
The verse names God as Father, and it names the resurrection. Neither detail is filler. Together they set Paul's commission on ground where law has no claim.
God revealed in the person of Christ, shown as Father, stands in clear contrast to Judaism, which could never bring God into the light. The resurrection of Christ from among the dead is the introduction of an entirely new order of things. Law did not raise Him: it only put Him to death for our sins, but after that it had no power over Him at all (Rom. 7:1). Law could claim nothing, because His death met its claims. He was "raised from the dead by the glory of the Father" (Rom. 6:4), the power that far exceeds that of law, into a position of glory where law has no place, sin has no place, death has no place.
Paul traces his commission past every human body straight to God. So the verse also answers those who demand to know who authorised a servant of God.
He announces himself at once, and boldly, as an apostle — which they denied. But he is an apostle not from men, nor through man: not through Peter, nor through any other, whoever it might be. Far better than that, he is an apostle through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who had raised Him from the dead, the true source of all blessing and all authority. It is always the way of those who do not love the truth to ask by what authority it is proclaimed.
Compare this opening with the one Paul sent to Corinth, a church full of scandal, and the coolness of the Galatian greeting stands out.
Not a word about their being in Christ or in God the Father! Not a word about their being saints in Christ Jesus and faithful brothers. He says the very least it is possible to say about Christians together here on earth. He calls them "the churches of Galatia." He does not link them with any others. They are set, so to speak, on their own, as the naughty ones.
- Challenged — Opponents said Paul was no true apostle: not one of the twelve, not sent by Jerusalem, not ordained.
- Not from men — The first denial rules out men as the source of his mission. The second rules out any human go-between.
- But from God — His authority runs straight to Jesus Christ and God the Father, "the true source of all blessing and all authority." No human body can grant it or take it away.
- Raised — Naming the resurrection sets his commission on new ground, "where law has no place, sin has no place, death has no place."
- Withheld — Paul names them only as churches in Galatia — "the very least it is possible to say about Christians" — and links them with no one else.
and all the brethren with me, to the assemblies of Galatia.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.