Galatians 1

(1) Intro

This letter is from Paul, the one sent on a mission.

I wasn’t sent by any human agency, but by Jesus (the Anointed One) and God (the Father), who awakened Jesus from the dead. This letter also comes from the rest of the brotherhood who are with me.

This letter is to the churches in Galatia [Turkey].

Receive favor and tranquility from God (our Father) and Jesus (the authority figure) who gave Himself for our mistakes in order to rescue us from this era of pain, just like Father God wants. May Jesus receive the credit forever!

(6) Stop Listening to Fake Teachings!

I’m baffled by how quickly you are deserting the One who called you in the Chosen One’s favor. You’re leaving Him for a different message of good news—except it’s not actually good news! Those people are just trying to interfere and distort the good news about the the Anointed One. If anyone brings you a message different from the one we already brought you, that person will be cursed—even if that person was me or an angel! We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again now: if anyone brings you a message of “good news” other than the one you already received, that person will be cursed!

Do you think I’m trying to get approval from people? or from God? My goal here isn’t to please people—if I were still trying to please people, then I wouldn’t be living as the Chosen One’s slave. 

(11) Paul’s Message Originated with Jesus

My spiritual brothers and sisters, I want you to know that the good news I shared with you didn’t originate with human beings. I didn’t hear it from people, and no one taught me about it—I received it at the time when Jesus the Chosen One revealed Himself to me.

You guys have heard about my former life in Judaism, so you know how excessively I used to abuse God’s church, trying to destroy it. I was surpassing my colleagues in Judaism, because of how overly-passionate I was about my forefathers’ ideologies. But God had a special purpose for me even when I was still in my mom’s belly. God graciously beckoned me and happily revealed His Son in me so that I would spread the exciting news to the non-Israelites. After He revealed Jesus to me, I didn’t seek advice from flesh and blood or meet with any of the more experienced missionaries in Jerusalem. Instead, I went to Arabia and then came back to Damascus. 

(18) Paul didn’t Connect with Jesus’s Disciples until Later

Then, after 3 years had passed, I finally travel to Jerusalem to meet Peter. I stayed with him for 15 days but didn’t meet any of the other missionaries except for James, the Superior’s brother. (With God as my witness, I promise that this is the truth.) And after that, I traveled to Syria and Cilicia (Turkey). At that point in time, the churches in Judea who were in Christ didn’t know what I looked like, but they kept hearing people say things like,

“The man who used to harass us is now excitedly telling people about the ideologies he was trying to destroy!”

And they were magnifying God because of my story.