Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas, and stayed with him fifteen days. 
But I did not see any other of the apostles except James, the Lord’s brother.  (Now in what I am writing to you, I assure you before God that I am not lying.)  Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.  I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea which were in Christ;  but only, they kept hearing, “He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy.”  And they were glorifying God because of me. (Galatians 1:18-24)

Then the apostle recounts his visit to Peter, to get acquainted, that is to learn more of what they are doing in ministry, their experiences and how they have fared after the time of persecution. He recounts his personal history to stop the doubts and misinformation that were spread by the false apostles. Paul does not deny that he had been with some of the apostles. He went to Jerusalem uninvited, not to be instructed, but to visit Peter. Luke speaks of this visit in the Book of Acts, “When he came to Jerusalem, he was trying to associate with the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple.  But Barnabas took hold of him and brought him to the apostles and described to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had talked to him, and how at Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus. And he was with them, moving about freely in Jerusalem, speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord.” (Acts 9:26-28)

 Barnabas introduced Paul to the apostles and related to them how Paul had met the Lord Jesus on the way to Damascus, also how Paul had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. Paul says that he saw Peter and James, but he denies that he learned anything from them. This denial of Paul does not mean that he was not encouraged by the Brethren or got an impartation from them, but on the point of view of justification by faith and the Gospel that he preaches, he already know the truth. But why does Paul even emphasize this minute detail from his visit to Jerusalem? This is to convince the Galatian believers that he learned nothing new from the apostles in Jerusalem about the Gospel which he preaches because Jesus had already taught him about this. Paul continually recalled this fact before his audience because his ministry, his lifetime of work is at stake.

Likewise, when people try to slander us or attack our reputation, there is a time to answer these fools apart from praying for them. We have to be like Paul who was careful that the ministry or the Gospel will not be found in disrepute because of our person. There are for instance church splits and one leader who took half of the congregation away will harp evil lies about his senior pastor. Slander or criticisms of our fellow pastors or leaders will do us no good thing but it is a corporate defeat from the standpoint of the Gospel and the Church. Oftentimes it is our disunity that keeps us from working together to achieve the call of God in our lives. Jesus does not see the church as thousands of sects but as one big family, Church, His Body. Therefore church splits are often some of the bitterest experience a Christian may undergo since this is like a divorce in the natural.

There are no winners in a divorce, except a liability for everyone from the cost of lawyers to children whose emotional lives will forever be altered by the split. It is often the case that unfair judgment and criticism of elders and pastors will not be lightly treated by the Lord. Those who do such things are forsaken because they are standing before the Lord and accusing their fellows instead of praying for them. James writes for these, “Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!” (James 5:9 NKJV). Pointing our fingers at others instead of praying for them makes us one with the accuser, satan. We are therefore to restrain ourselves from judging others because this is not our office but to watch and pray, “Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another? (James 4:11-12 NKJV). Christ calls us not to judge others because this is reserved for Him, the Lawgiver who is able to save and to condemn the sinner. We ought therefore to cover the weaknesses of others out of love for the Brethren and to confront them privately when necessary e.g. for moral issues.

Concerning Paul’s oath in verse 20, “I assure you before God that I am not lying”, we know that he was in a very dire situation, forced to even use the name of God for oath because the mind of the Galatian believers have now been poisoned, “Paul was a liar, a condemned man, a false disciple, for so did the false apostles spoke on him.” Because of this, it was necessary for Paul to speak under oath. If this happened to Paul, who was the elect vessel of God, and held in so little esteem by his very own children whom he had preached Christ we should never be enraged when people doubt us or reject our message because people do complain and grumble by their natural appetites.

We don’t have any business sulking at what people say about our message, delivery, knowledge or person because even the great apostles suffered from persecution and disrespect from their own people and children. As servants of the Most High God, we are to count ourselves dead to sin but alive in Christ and dead to this world. This is the main reason why Paul was so successful in his ministry, apart from this grace of God, he threw himself so often at the foot of the cross. He was able to preach the Gospel not only in Arabia, but also to Syria, Cilicia and even in Judea. He was able to testify that once he was the great persecutor of the church but now a champion of the faith.

He was as he wrote, one born out of time, because he never sat at Jesus feet like the first twelve apostles did but only knew the Lord later when He appeared to him on the road to Damascus. Indeed many could testify that Paul consistently preached the name of Jesus and the cross where forgiveness and new life begins through Christ. He preached the same faith everywhere urging men to turn to God for salvation because there is no name under heaven or earth by which we could be saved. It was not the Law plus Jesus Christ or the Law plus the saints plus Jesus Christ which Paul preached but simply, he could add, because he urged everyone to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.