Galatians 1:11,12

Christians belong to different physical families. However, all Christians belong to God’s family because God is our father. Paul wrote to the Christians in Galatia to teach them the truth. But he called them ‘brothers and sisters’ because he loved them as his family.

The *good news about Jesus is the truth. It is not a story that someone made up. Paul did not hear about Jesus from someone else. Paul did not even learn about Jesus from the other *apostles (verses 16-17). Instead, Jesus himself appeared to Paul (Acts 9:1-20). So Paul was not merely teaching somebody’s ideas about God. And when Paul taught the *good news, he was not merely discussing his own opinions. Paul himself would never have believed in Jesus if Paul had merely listened to people’s opinions. But Paul was a Christian because God had showed him these things. So Paul urged the Christians in Galatia also to trust what God had taught them.

This is different from the false teachers. They had learned the *Jewish religion in the traditional way. They had to remember the words that their own teachers had taught them. They were not teaching the people to obey God. Instead, the false teachers taught that people should obey rules and traditions.