Galatians 1 KJV
No Other Gospel
Galatians Chapter 1: No Other Gospel
Paul's account of withdrawing to Arabia immediately after his conversion (rather than consulting the apostles) frames his gospel as received through solitary divine encounter, echoing Old Testament prophetic calls like Moses at Sinai or Elijah at Horeb and deliberately distancing his authority from human succession.
1aul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)
2 And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia:
3 Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ,
4 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:
5 To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
10 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 Jewsโ religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it:
14 And profited in the Jewsโ religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.
15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my motherโs 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 Lordโs 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.
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Did You Know?
Paul's account of withdrawing to Arabia immediately after his conversion (rather than consulting the apostles) frames his gospel as received through solitary divine encounter, echoing Old Testament prophetic calls like Moses at Sinai or Elijah at Horeb and deliberately distancing his authority from human succession.
The double anathema in verses 8-9 extends the curse even to an angel from heaven, a startling escalation that treats the gospel's content as more authoritative than any supernatural messenger and echoes Deuteronomy's warnings against false prophets while applying them universally.
Paul's claim that the Judaean churches glorified God in him despite never seeing his face underscores an early Christian network where reputation traveled independently of personal presence, revealing how conversion stories functioned as portable testimony across regions.
By swearing 'before God, I lie not' regarding his minimal contact with the apostles, Paul invokes a rare Pauline oath formula that mirrors Old Testament legal testimony, raising the defense of his apostleship to the level of covenantal truth-telling.
The greeting's inclusion of 'all the brethren which are with me' subtly presents Paul's message as already endorsed by a wider circle of companions, countering any notion that his gospel was a solitary innovation and modeling the communal validation he later demands of the Galatians.
Commentary & Study Notes Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871) ยท Public Domain apostle โ in the earliest Epistles, the two to the Thessalonians, through humility, he uses no title of authority; but associates with him "Silvanus and Timotheus"; yet here, thougโฆ
Classic verse-by-verse commentary on Galatians 1 from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown (1871). Covers: Superscription. Greetings. The cause of his writing is their speedy falling away from the gospel he taught. Defense of his teaching: his apostolic call independent of man.
- 1
- apostle โ in the earliest Epistles, the two to the Thessalonians, through humility, he uses no title of authority; but associates with him "Silvanus and Timotheus"; yet here, though "brethren" (Ga 1:2) are with him, he does not name them but puts his own name and apostleship prominent: evidently because his apostolic commission needs now to be vindicated against deniers of it. of โ Greek, "from." Expressing the origin from which his mission came, "not from men," but from Christ and the Father (understood) as the source. "By" expresses the immediate operating agent in the call. Not only was the call from God as its ultimate source, but by Christ and the Father as the immediate agent in calling him (Ac 22:15; 26:16-18). The laying on of Ananias' hands (Ac 9:17) is no objection to this; for that was but a sign of the fact, not an assisting cause. So the Holy Ghost calls him specially (Ac 13:2, 3); he was an apostle before this special mission. man โ singular; to mark the contrast to "Jesus Christ." The opposition between "Christ" and "man," and His name being put in closest connection with God the Father, imply His Godhead. raised him from the dead โ implying that, though he had not seen Him in His humiliation as the other apostles (which was made an objection against him), he had seen and been constituted an apostle by Him in His resurrection power (Mt 28:18; Ro 1:4, 5). Compare as to the ascension, the consequence of the resurrection, and the cause of His giving "apostles," Eph 4:11. He rose again, too, for our justification (Ro 4:25); thus Paul prepares the way for the prominent subject of the Epistle, justification in Christ, not by the law.
- 2
- all the brethren โ I am not alone in my doctrine; all my colleagues in the Gospel work, travelling with me (Ac 19:29, Gaius and Aristarchus at Ephesus: Ac 20:4, Sopater, Secundus, Timotheus, Tychicus, Trophimus, some, or all of these), join with me. Not that these were joint authors with Paul of the Epistle: but joined him in the sentiments and salutations. The phrase, "all the brethren," accords with a date when he had many travelling companions, he and they having to bear jointly the collection to Jerusalem [CONYBEARE and HOWSON]. the churches โ Pessinus and Ancyra were the principal cities; but doubtless there were many other churches in Galatia (Ac 18:23; 1Co 16:1). He does not attach any honorable title to the churches here, as elsewhere, being displeased at their Judaizing. See First Corinthians; First Thessalonians, &c. The first Epistle of Peter is addressed to Jewish Christians sojourning in Galatia (1Pe 1:1), among other places mentioned. It is interesting thus to find the apostle of the circumcision, as well as the apostle of the uncircumcision, once at issue (Ga 2:7-15), co-operating to build up the same churches.
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