Galatians 1:15
15 But [de] when [hote] it pleased [eudokeo] God, [theos] who [ho] separated [aphorizo] me [me] from [ek] my [mou] mother's [meter] womb, [koilia] and [kai] called [kaleo] me by [dia] his [autos] grace, [charis] KJV-Interlinear
15 But when He who had set me
apart, even from my mother's womb, and called me through His grace, was pleased
NASB
Just a quick study note:
The Daily Bible Study Mobile App is now available for both Apple and Android devices.
Links to the app are listed at the bottom of the DailyBibleStudy.Org home page:
http://www.dailybiblestudy.org/
The thought of the previous two verses is that Paul
did not even consider the truth of the gospel, until God presented it to him.
Then after hearing the gospel, he had no need to
hear it or learn it, from any other person or source. God taught him the gospel, not man. God taught him the gospel, not the
priesthood. God taught him the gospel,
not some professor.
And in so doing.
God made it known to Paul, in accordance with Gods timing and
convenience, not Paul.
Jesus Christ controls history, not Paul, not man,
not government, not the world at large, not Satan, and certainly not the
pattern of chance.
When it pleases God, simply means that God has a
plan, a timetable and a method to His ways.
God does nothing haphazardly or spontaneously. God knows exactly what He is doing and when
He will do it.
God separated me from the womb, is an expression
that means God gave life, human life to Paul, who was born Saul. God knew in
eternity past that Saul would be born, how he would grow up and when would be
the correct time to intervene in Saul’s life.
God knew for several decades all of the details of
Saul’s life.
And by grace, which is Gods favor, God called Saul,
and the change to Paul became a historical event.
God knew it was going to happen, Saul did not.
Saul did not earn or deserve God grace. None of us do. But God has a unique ability that none of us
have, and that is that He knows the future in every detail.
God knows you, who you are, what you will think and
do in your life, when you will eventually change your mind, or not, what it
will take to get you to change, or not, and God has known this all about you
and everyone, since eternity past. You will
never fool God, or take Him by surprise, never shock God, or catch Him
overlooking something.
God is pretty smart.
And the point of all of this? Paul did not learn the true gospel from any
earthly source. It came from God, and from God alone. And Paul had an extensive and impressive
academic education and background, but that did not teach him truth.
All truth comes from God. All truth originates from God. No person in history has ever originated one
letter of truth.
Jesus Christ walked in the Garden with Adam and
taught Adam, and thereafter taught Adam everything that Adam knew. Adam then taught his children and throughout
the Old Testament times, generation after generation handed down truth, and
from time to time, God revealed a bit more and a bit more, until the Old and
New Testaments were completed.
Adam changed into clothing made of animal skins. Where do you think that those skins came
from? They came from sacrificed animals,
teaching the prophecy of the seed of the woman, the savior. And an integral part of those sacrifices was
being burned by fire. So where do you
suppose Adam learned about fire.
Even Enoch was aware of the Second Advent and the
final judgment in the last days, and Enoch was only the seventh generation from
Adam. And Enoch was teaching others, way
back then, Jude 14.
God, is the source of all truth. God reveals truth according to His timetable,
which is the correct time for history, and for each individual.
And often times it is people, you, who resist
hearing or accepting the truth, and thus put off the many grace blessings that
God has waiting for you, until the light bulb clicks on in your head.
And for that, you and everyone should be grateful
that God has the patience to wait and keep you around, for the proper time so
that you will not have a worthless and wasted life.
