Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Debelak
By the middle of Galatians 2, Paul seems to have quite a boldness in his stance concerning the gospel to the Gentiles.
However, Galatians 2:2 is a really odd verse. I'm not sure how to understand it:
2It was because of a revelation that I went up; and I submitted to them the gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but I did so in private to those who were of reputation, for fear that I might be running, or had run, in vain.
He was not self-confident of the gospel he was preaching among the Gentiles. I don't know how to read this differently. He needed the confirmation of the Jerusalem brothers. Sure, after meeting them, being inwardly confirmed and seeing their vascillations, he had more boldness to talk about them as ones who were "purportedly of repute." But at the time reported in Galatians 2:2, his self-confidence in the very gospel he was preaching was contingent on the approval of the Jerusalem "pillars." No? This bit of self-doubt by Paul in Galatians 2:1 is really remarkable to me. What caused this? 14 years of preaching to the Gentiles and he feared that he "had run in vain"? What to make of this?
Peter
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Paul had received his vision by revelation, not by the transmission from a witness of Jesus Christ. Paul got it "direct from God", not through the usual intermediary, another sinful man.
All the others, who got revelation directly from Christ, did so in a corporate fashion. There was nearly always more than one witness to confirm the reality of what had taken place. James, Peter, and Mary appeared to have special, one-on-one visits with the resurrected Christ, but the others always had confirming eyes and ears around them to check, or confirm, what had transpired.
What always stood out for me was not that Paul went to Jerusalem to check with the brothers there, but that he waited 14 years! Most of us, I think, would have gone much sooner.
I think self-doubt is good, it is always safe. So Paul's doubt was healthy. He needed the confirming of the brothers. He didn't want to do a separate work. He needed to be reassured that what he was doing was part of the same move of God on the earth.