"But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by meis not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it ,but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ ..." -- Galatians 1:11-12

The central proposition of chapters 1.1-2.14 is Paul’s defense of his apostleship. (1) Why is his defense so sustained and relentless, or full of "ardor", to use Luther’s phrase? That will become a more acute question as we proceed. It keeps coming.

Luther’s sense:

"'My Gospel is not according to man. Nor did I receive it from man: I received it all by revelation of Jesus Christ.’ This proposition he sets forth; he will stick by it, and he confirms it with an oath...He bears solemn witness to the Galatians...And they should not pay attention to the false apostles, whom he accuses of being liars, because they said that Paul had accepted and learned his Gospel from the apostles." (2)

Calvin calls "this turn" from 1.10 to 1.11,12 "the hinge" on which "the question turns". (3) Paul claims theocentric motives in 1.10. Unsurprising. Inferrably, the mistaken teachers claimed a similar legitimacy, advocating circumcision (and perhaps other ceremonial aspects of the law (4)) as essential - meritoriously - to salvation. We need pause.

As the Belgic Confession (1561) observes (which begs for discussion) :

"We believe that we ought diligently and circumspectly to discern from the Word of God which is the true Church, since all sects which are in the world assume to themselves the name of the Church...but we say that the body and communion of the true Church must be distinguished from all sects who call themselves the Church." (5)

Both Paul and the false teachers claim the same motives. Sincerity doesn't necessarily count. We aren’t surprised at promiscuous claims of "Christian Church" or "Christian". Everyone claims that. But in an age of fuzzy-headedness, irrationality, enthusiasm, therapy over theology, historical amnesia, biblical illiteracy, confessional ignorance, post-modernity, public education, and theological liberalism, such claims of "theocentric motive and legitimacy" make life more interesting and complicated. A Bultmannian NT scholar or descendant thereof claims legitimacy of motive while thousands loose the bedrock of authoritative Gospels. Likewise with Bishop Spong (6) while he jeers at biblically orthodoxy. Or, similarly, works-salvationists who celebrated a few years back the unrevoked anathemas of the Council of Trent, 1563. Or others who affirm non-celibate, impenitent homosexuality as "God’s inclusivity". (7) No doubt the anathematized teachers alleged theocentric motives, like Paul, like the others.

Perhaps it is time to discuss Article 29 of the Belgic Confession and related issues. What are the marks of a true Church? It is always appropriate to be mindful of our Lord’s counsel: "Therefore be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves" (Mt. 10.16). Paul decrees one mark of the gospel: adhering to what he previously taught the Galatians. As noted before, abandoning that gospel was tantamount to turning "from Christ" (1.6).

Prayer : O LORD Jesus Christ, we beseech thee that the Ministers of thy Gospel, here and everywhere, may be true to their calling. Endue them with thy Holy Spirit, that they may remember the words of Holy Writ, that their understanding thereof may be enlightened, and that their witness may be in truth and with power, to the salvation of sinners and the edifying of saints. May they rightly and duly administer thy holy Sacraments, and by their life and doctrine set forth thy true and lively Word. May they be to all men wholesome examples in faith, word, love, chastity, and fidelity; and so thy Name may be glorified, who are, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.

1. "Outline of Galatians", New Geneva Study Bible (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Pub., 1995), p. 1846.

2. Martin Luther, Lectures on Galatians (1535), p.62.

3. John Calvin, NT Commentary, Vol.11, p.18.

4. Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, Vol.6 (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell, no date) p.651.

5. "The Belgic Confession," Article 29, The Creeds of Christendom, ed. Philip Schaff (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1977), p. 419.

6. Spong invokes bogey-man words like "fundamentalist", "ignorant", "right-winger", "literalist", et.al.

7. Bishop Bennison (Philadelphia, ECUSA) and associates.

8. The Book of Common Prayer (Philadelphia: REC Pub. Society, 1932), p.47-48.