Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 2 and all the brothers who are with me,
To the churches of Galatia:
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
The attack on Paul's authority was undoubtedly a serious one, but nothing could
have been more calculated to draw out his hidden reserves of strength in defence of the
true gospel. The common phrase 'defender of the faith' surely comes into its own in this
epistle! Not that Paul is on the defensive merely. On the contrary, he vindicates his apostleship, magnificently attacking dangerous evils in his concern to maintain the purity of
his gospel. Whence, then, was his authority? The answer to this question lies in the fact
that he was a chosen vessel unto Christ, and captive to the Word of God. We have only
to read the story of his conversion on the Damascus Road to realise that here was a man
apprehended by the gospel, and aware of the totality of its demands on him ('Lord, what
wilt Thou have me to do?'), and utterly yielded to the divine will. It is when a man is
thus separated unto the gospel of God that authority is conferred on him. God sets His
own seal upon all he says and does in an unmistakable fashion. This is one of the inestimable rewards of obedience, and nowhere is it seen more strikingly than in Paul. In
spite of themselves, men were obliged to pay heed to him.