Galatians 1:16
to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood,
Truth to Learn
God has a plan for each person in the body of Christ and He will reveal that plan to us, if we are willing to listen to Him.
Behind the Words
The word translated “confer” is prosanatithēmi, which is made up of pros, meaning “beside” or “in addition to” and anatithēmi, meaning “to lay-up” (as thoughts are laid-up between people.) Hence, this word means “to have a conversation or an exchange of ideas with someone.”
Meaning Explained
In order to understand this verse we have to include the first part of the previous verse, which applies to what is being said here. Taking out the parenthetical expression, “who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace” we get, “But when it pleased God to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood,”
There is some confusion about the expression “to reveal His Son in me.” The words translated “in me” are the Greek words en emoi which can literally be translated as “in me.” But these same two words are used elsewhere in the scriptures to mean “to me.” An example is 1 Corinthians 14:11 which says:
Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the language, I shall be a foreigner to him who speaks, and he who speaks will be a foreigner to me.
Therefore, it is possible that Paul’s meaning is: God the Father, at His own good pleasure, revealed His Son to Paul as an act of grace, not as a result of his seeking Him (for clearly Paul was not seeking God at the time).
As more evidence that this is what Paul intended, look at:
For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6)
It is God’s shining in our hearts that gives us the knowledge and faith to believe. And Paul, immediately upon having had Christ revealed to him, while still in the presence of the Lord on the road to Damascus, asked the Lord what he should do.
So I said, “What shall I do, Lord?” And the Lord said to me, “Arise and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all things which are appointed for you to do.” (Acts 22:10)
Apparently it was while he was in Damascus and later in Arabia that Paul learned the difference between the legalistic, tradition based religion that he had been previously pursuing and true Christianity.
Notice that Paul did not know what to do after he was saved so he asked God for guidance and upon receiving it, he followed it as zealously as he had persecuted the faith previously.
Application
Do you know what God wants you to do? If not, have you asked him?
And, are you willing to do whatever it is that He wants you to do?
In God’s service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2007 Will Krause. All rights reserved.
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