But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.
Galatians 1:15-17 (ESV)
What is Paul referring to here when he says that God had set him apart before he was born and had called him by His grace? Is he referring to his salvation? Or to his apostolic call?
The Source of the Gospel Paul Proclaimed
The context of this passage is important. Paul was writing to the Galatian churches because of a different gospel that had been brought to them. A gospel of grace plus adherence to the Torah. A gospel that had drawn at least some of them away from the gospel that Paul had proclaimed to them. So which gospel was correct?
What Paul was doing in Galatians 1:11-24 was sharing with the Galatian churches the source of the gospel that he proclaimed. It did not have a human origin. Nor was it something that other people had taught Paul. Not even those apostles who had followed Jesus during His earthly ministry. The gospel he proclaimed had been given to him directly by Jesus. It was Jesus’ gospel, making the alternative a false gospel.
Paul’s Calling
What Paul is saying in Galatians 1:15-17 mirrors Jeremiah’s call to be a prophet: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations” (Jer. 1:5). As Jeremiah was set apart before his birth to be a prophet to the nations, so Paul’s calling to be an apostle to the Gentiles preceded his birth.
Paul came to know the resurrected Jesus as Lord on the road to Damascus. But the sovereign and omniscient God had chosen Paul for the specific role he filled in the life of the early church long before that.
