Gal. 1:10-14   "For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. 11 But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. 12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. 13 For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it: 14 And profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers." 

Paul, in his efforts to convert the Galatians brethren back to the true gospel of the grace of Christ, relates his own experiences of God's grace and of God's revelation to him of the true gospel of Christ.  He begins by showing us that he is the servant of God and not of men.  As the servant of God Paul's service was to persuade men of the truth and not be a man-pleaser, but to seek to please God. 

"For do I now persuade men, or God?"  How impossible it would be for any man to try to persuade God of anything.  God already knows all things and he has all wisdom and understanding.  It is very impossible to persuade God of anything.  However, God has sent his gospel ministers to persuade men of the truth and this is what Paul was endeavoring to do with the brethren of the churches of Galatia. 

"Or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ."  Paul warned Timothy: 2 Tim. 4:3 "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears."  Thus, there are those who want their ears scratched with the false doctrines and practices of men and then there are those who want the financial rewards of scratching their itching ears.  These are men pleasers.  However, a man cannot seek to be a pleaser of men and a servant of Christ at the same time.  Paul did not seek to be a pleaser of men, but he sought to be a servant of Christ.  Whether or not he received the praise of men was irrelevant.  Paul sought to please God by being a faithful servant of the Lord. 

"But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.  For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ."  None of us today can say what Paul said.  The gospel of the grace of Christ that we preach we received it of men and were taught it by men.  This is the way that we are supposed to receive it: Paul told Timothy " And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also" (2 Tim. 2:2).  However, the initial revelation of the gospel was a direct revelation from Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ called his twelve apostles and taught them the gospel of the grace of Christ.  They received it from Jesus Christ as he taught it to them.  In like manner, Paul informed the brethren of Galatia that no man taught him the gospel of the grace of Christ, but he received it as a direct revelation from Jesus Christ. 

When someone receives something by direct revelation from Jesus Christ you cannot say of them that they were misinformed or that they misunderstood what some man meant.  Paul, therefore, could speak with all confidence that he knew what the true gospel is.  The fact that the churches of Galatia knew that Paul was an apostle and that he received the gospel by a direct revelation from Jesus Christ should have made them confident that what Paul was telling them was true.

"For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it: 14 And profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers."  Paul rehearsed to these primarily Gentile brethren that which they had previously heard concerning Paul.  Paul, prior to his Damascus Road experience had been an expert in the Jewish religion.  Elsewhere in the scriptures, Paul relates to us his experiences in the Jewish religion: Phil. 3:4 "Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: 5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; 6 Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. 7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ."

Paul had been brought up in the Jews' religion.  He had studied in the Jews religion.  He had become renowned in the Jews' religion.  He had been exceedingly zealous of the traditions of the fathers.  Further, he had hated the Lord's church; the Lord; and the teachings of the Lord.  This hatred was manifest in his persecuting beyond measure the church of God, and having wasted it.  Paul had the experience above any other Jews to warn people of the errors of the Jews religion.  He also had the experience to tell people of the grace of Christ, as he was a recipient of that grace that was made manifest unto him through the Damascus Road experience.

We need to also understand that the "Jews religion" was more than the law of Moses.  While the Law of Moses was a part of the Jews religion, the Jews had misinterpreted the purpose of the Law of Moses and had added the tradition of the fathers to be equivalent or in some cases above the Law of Moses.  The Jews under the Jewish religion thought that they could obtain eternal life through the keeping of the law: Jesus told some unbelieving Jews: John 5:39 "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me."  These unbelieving Jews thought that in the scriptures they could obtain eternal life by keeping the law.  Yet the Lord informed them that the true purpose of the Old Testament scriptures was a testimony of Jesus. 

The Jews were going about trying to establish their own righteousness through the works of the law: Rom. 10:1 "Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. 2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth."  The false brethren who brought in the doctrine of circumcision as a requirement for salvation from sin were perpetrating the error of the Jews religion.  They were teaching that man could do something in order to get right with God.  This is contrary to the "grace of Christ." 

In like manner today, all that teach a "grace, but" doctrine are committing the same error as those who taught that you are saved by grace, but you must be circumcised.  God forbid that we teach or preach any other gospel than the grace of Christ. 

Gal. 1:15-24  "But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, 16 To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: 17 Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus. 18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days. 19 But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother. 20 Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not. 21 Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia; 22 And was unknown by face unto the churches of Judaea which were in Christ: 23 But they had heard only, That he which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed. 24 And they glorified God in me."

"But when it pleased God:" Paul continued his discourse of his personal experiences in showing the Galatian brethren the folly of following the "grace, but" doctrine. Paul speaks of the sovereignty of God in his own personal experiences. The "grace, but" doctrine is based on the free will of man and the idea that God waits upon man to see what he will decide and then takes action based on what man decides. However, this is not consistent with Paul's personal experiences. Notice the word, "when." The things Paul associated with God's work towards him he connected with the adverb "when." This shows us that these things took place at God's appointed time. It did not take place when man wanted it to. Man had no ability to affect the outcome. Paul's natural birth, Paul's spiritual birth, and the revelation of Christ to Paul all took place at God's appointed time. Furthermore, those things were according to the will of God (it pleased God). If it had not pleased God, then none of those things would have happened.

"Who separated me from my mother's womb:" Some will carry this statement to the extreme and say that God predestinated Paul's natural birth and the events surrounding it. However, this does not speak of the predestination of God but of the providence of God. Without the providential watch care of God, man could not survive. God in his providence is watching over his creation. This does not mean that God causes every thing to happen, however. Certainly, it pleased God that Paul be born naturally and that he one day become an apostle of Jesus Christ. God in his providence watched over his life to that end. God, however, never made Paul to sin and to commit the heinous acts that he committed against the church of God.

"And called me by his grace:" It is God who called Paul into spiritual life. This call is according to the covenant of redemption stated to us in Rom. 8:29, 30 "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified." Paul affirms that this calling of God to spiritual life was solely by the grace of God. Paul did not do anything to bring about this calling or the spiritual birth that was a result of this calling. It was all by the grace or "unmerited favor" of God. It took place when it pleased God. The Lord said concerning the spiritual birth in John 3:8: "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." Therefore, all the elect are born of the Spirit in the same way and all according to when it pleases God. We cannot affect the outcome or control the time of our Spiritual birth.

"To reveal his Son in me:" This is something that cannot be taught by man. The Lord asked the disciples in Matt. 16:15 "He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven." The Lord told Peter that he was in a blessed condition, because man had not revealed to Peter who the Lord was, but the Father in heaven had revealed this unto him.

Further, we read in Heb. 8:10-11: "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest." Notice that man does not teach us who the Lord is, but God himself reveals this unto us.

"That I might preach him among the heathen;" Paul was called of God and sent by God to preach the gospel to the heathen (Gentiles). This was at a time when the Jews generally had no dealings with the Gentiles and considered them dogs. Moreover, there were doubts even among the Lord's church that the Gentiles would have part with the Jews in the church. Perhaps it was these doubts that led men to begin to advocate that the Gentiles had to be circumcised in order to be saved. However, Paul was "the apostle to the Gentiles" (Rom. 11:13) and he taught no such thing.

Moreover, Paul's call to be a minister of the gospel and the directions of where he preached the gospel was by the calling and direction of the Lord. This is true for God's entire called gospel ministry.

"Immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days. But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother." Paul reminds the brethren that the things that he preached he received by revelation from the Lord. After that God called him to preach the gospel on the Damascus Road, Paul did not go to the schools of men or to the apostles to learn what to preach or how to preach, but he was led of the Spirit into the wilderness where God revealed to him this precious "gospel of the grace of Christ."

"Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not. Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia; And was unknown by face unto the churches of Judaea which were in Christ: But they had heard only, That he which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed. And they glorified God in me." It is of great note that Paul, who had not learned the gospel of the grace of Christ from the apostles and was unknown by face unto the churches of Judaea, yet preached the same gospel that the apostles and elders were preaching at Jerusalem. Further, the churches of Judaea recognized that Paul was previously the Saul of Tarsus that had so vigorously persecuted the church. They glorified God in him recognizing that it was by the grace of God that Saul was changed from being the worst persecutor of the church to being the greatest defender of the church. Paul's experiences testify of the grace of Christ.