I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it;
Summary: Where we get our information matters. If we learn from people who teach opinions instead of fact, we live under the burden of their ignorance. When we see the light of Truth, everything changes.
Paul is recounting how he came to be an apostle of Jesus Christ. More to the point, he explains the source of his teachings about Jesus. Where he gets his information is important.
If someone claims to be a teacher, if they are claiming to be an authority on a subject, then where they get their information matters.
Sadly, people don’t always ask questions.
I remember a time many years ago when I was driving my youngest son back to college after a weekend home. A friend of his, also from our town, needed a ride back to school that weekend as well, so the three of us headed north for the three-hour drive.
On the way, my son’s friend started telling us about Shakespeare. She had been taking a class on English Literature, and her professor had been teaching about the “real meaning” behind Shakespeare’s words. According to her professor, Shakespeare was obsessed with sex. Everything he had ever written had sexual meanings and overtones. Her conclusion appeared to be that Shakespeare was a pervert and that we should discount all of his writings as worthless.
I remember wondering if she or her professor had actually read any of Shakespeare’s writings.
She hadn’t questioned the professor or where he got his information. By the end of the three-hour ride, after asking a few questions of my own, she was starting to open up to the possibility that there might be another point of view … maybe.
When Paul studied under Gamaliel (Acts 22:3), he learned about the history of the Hebrews and the laws given to Moses by God. He also learned his teachers’ opinions of those writings. It was Paul’s teachers that sent Paul on the wrong path. It wasn’t the Scriptures themselves that were misleading.
After Paul met Jesus, his understanding of Scripture changed dramatically. The old assumptions about Moses fell away as Paul discovered the proper way to look at Scripture. Both the old Paul (Saul) and the new Paul relied on the same Scriptures. The Jews of Paul’s day, as well as the Jews of today, rely on the same Scriptures as Paul. The difference, it turns out, is Jesus.
Knowing Jesus changes everything.
Application: Get to know Jesus better!
Food for Thought: Some people claim that Paul’s message is not legitimate. How do you decide whether to believe Paul or not?
12-26-2023, Some people claim that Paul’s message is not legitimate. How do you decide whether to believe Paul or not?
The entire bible is called “The Word of God” for a reason.
The words have been recorded by human hands as they were received from God who has insured His truths have been preserved to this day. All those who seek to receive God’s truths must approach their study of His Holy Words, prayerfully, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Jesus tells us these words are the power to please God as we live in this world of sin.
2 Timothy 2:21, Philippians 2:5-7, John 8:29
2 Timothy 3:16-17, All Scripture is God-breathed [given by divine inspiration] and is profitable for instruction, for conviction [of sin], for correction [of error and restoration to obedience], for training in righteousness [learning to live in conformity to God’s will, both publicly and privately—behaving honorably with personal integrity and moral courage]; 17 so that the man of God may be complete and proficient, outfitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work.
1 Corinthians 2:12-16, What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. 14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 15 The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, 16 for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
Ron,
You make a great point. It is not our choice to decide what is God’s Word and what isn’t. It is God’s choice. He is the Author of life as well as the Author of his book about life.
I agree wholeheartedly with R2T2.
God’s word is overseen by God Himself. Another verse that addresses this is 2 Peter 1: 20 – 21. Later in that same book, Peter indicated that Paul’s writings were indeed Holy Spirit inspired (2 Peter 3: 15 – 16).
Rich,
Yes! The power of God is not limited to the creation of life and the world. God also has the power to determine what is preserved as his Word.
Like said plenty of times. GOD created everything and is all powerful. He made the Bible exactly how He wanted it.
Thank you, Tim.
Recognizing that the Author of Life is also the Author of the Bible is essential. Doubts about either are poisonous to the soul.