Galatians 1:10

Paul taught that Christ made people free from the laws and traditions of religion. The false teachers said that Paul was merely trying to please people. But this was a lie. In fact, many people opposed Paul because he taught about Christ. Paul obeyed God and he always wanted to please God. Because of that, people had accused Paul and they had caused him trouble. No Christian can teach the true *good news and please everyone. Some people will always oppose Christians. It is not easy to be one of Christ’s servants.

How Paul became an *apostle

v11 My Christian brothers and sisters, this is what I want you to know. People did not make up the *good news that I *preached about Jesus. v12 Nobody told me this *good news. Nobody taught me this *good news. Jesus Christ himself showed it to me.

v13 You have heard about my actions when I belonged to the *Jewish religion. I caused Christians to suffer very much. I tried to destroy the *church. v14 I became more important in the *Jewish religion than other *Jews who were my age. I was eager to obey all the *Jewish traditions. v15 But God was very kind to me. He chose me even before I was born. He had decided v16 to show me who his son really is. God did this so that I could tell the *Gentiles about Jesus. So when God showed Jesus to me, I did not immediately discuss this with other people. v17 And I did not go to Jerusalem to talk to the men who were already *apostles. Instead, I went immediately to the region called Arabia. Later I returned to the city called Damascus.

v18 Three years later, I went to Jerusalem. I visited Peter. I stayed with him for 15 days. v19 I did not see any other *apostles. I only saw James, who is Jesus’ brother. v20 God knows that I am writing the truth. I am not lying. v21 Later I visited the regions called Syria and Cilicia. v22 The people in the *churches of Christ across the region called Judea still had not seen me. v23 But they heard what other people said, ‘This man used to attack us. He tried to destroy belief in Christ. But now he tells people how they should trust Christ.’ v24 So they praised God because of me.

From 1:11 to 2:21, Paul wanted to show that he was a true *apostle. This would prove that he taught the true *good news about Jesus. He wanted them to have confidence in what Jesus did. Then they would realise that the message of the false teachers was wrong.