The gospel which Paul preaches,

salvation by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ alone,

to the glory of God.

Is it from heaven or is it from man?

It's really such a simple question. Where did the gospel come from?

But because of the way Paul words it in this opening chapter of Galatians,

it's meant to land on us with some significant weight.

If the gospel message really did come from heaven, then of course we don't get to mess with

it at all.

I'm Dan Kruver.

In this episode of Light and Truth, John Piper opens Galatians 1 verses 11 to 24 to

help us feel the force of what it is Paul is saying in these verses.

This message was delivered at Bethlehem Baptist Church on February 13, 1983.

The first thing I want us to notice here in Galatians 1 is the similarity between verse 1 and

verse 12. In verse 1, Paul defends his apostleship. Paul, an apostle, not from men, nor through man,

but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead.

Then in verse 12, he defends his gospel with similar words,

I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

Paul's apostleship is not from man and his gospel is not from man. On the

contrary, the risen Christ appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus and commissioned him to be an

apostle and revealed to him his gospel. And those two verses, I think, are similar because for Paul,

his apostleship and his gospel stand and fall together. If Paul was no apostle, then his claim

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