The source of things is important. I love baked potatoes and recently wanted to learn how to make the best baked potato I could. So I searched on the Food Network app and found Alton Brown’s advice for making awesome baked potatoes. But before he gave his recipe he discussed the importance of getting the best baked potato from the correct source. For him, he said that Idaho potatoes were the best.
I tell you that story about “source” because where things come from affect how we use them and how others perceive them. When people ask us as Christians, “What do you believe?” or “Why do you act that way?” or “Why do you believe that?” we must recognize the source we rely on as Christians. That source is described in Galatians 1:11-12 where Paul tells us clearly that Jesus Christ was the source of the message Paul was preaching.
Paul writes, “For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man” (Galatians 1:11, NASB).Paul’s first description of the source of the gospel is that it didn’t come from humans. But Paul’s opponents (often described as the “Judaizers”) were arguing that Paul was not a true apostle and that he was given his gospel from a person on earth. They tried to say that since his message was from man, he was not a true apostle and did not have a true message.
Paul often refuted their claims saying, “For I neither received it [the gospel message] from man”(Galatians 1:12a).It was not from a person, specifically he didn’t get it from some other Rabbi like Gamaliel that he had studied under. Furthermore he writes, “nor was I taught it” (Galatians 1:12b). He didn’t get it from any philosophy or religious school of thought. But what was the source of his gospel message?
The gospel message was revealed to Paul by Jesus Christ, “but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ” (Galatians 1:12c). Paul’s message and his ministry were from God.
What we believe and how we act as followers of Jesus is based on the teachings contained in the Bible. The Bible’s made up of 66 books which were written and compiled between 1406 BC and AD 95. They haven’t changed. It’s been the same source. And that source is what we use to guide our faith today.