Galatians 1:24
And they glorified God in me.
Truth to Learn
Legalism glorifies self, but a life of faith is totally submitted to God and gives Him all the glory and praise.
Behind the Words
The word translated “they glorified” is from the Greek word doxadzō which is a form of doxa, meaning “to think properly about something” or “to recognize something as what it really is.” Hence, doxadzō means “to recognize, honor, praise, or invest with dignity.” It means “to give someone esteem or honor by recognizing his honorable position.”
The expression “in me” is translated from en emoi. These are the same words as Paul used in verse 16 where he said: “to reveal His Son in me.” Even though they are the same exact words, the sense in which they are used gives them a different meaning here. According to Marvin R. Vincent in his book, Vincent’s Word Studies: “Here the meaning is that they glorified God as the author and source of what they saw in me.”
Meaning Explained
The point that Paul has been making is that he didn’t receive the gospel message from anyone except Christ himself. In the past two verses he said that he did not receive the message from anyone in the churches in Judea. In fact, he said that none of them would have recognized him. But in spite of that, he states in the current verse that they glorified God because of Paul’s conversion.
Even though no one in the churches in Judea knew him personally, they praised God because they heard about Paul’s conversion and his turning from a persecutor of Christians to a proclaimer of the gospel message. The people in the churches in Judea were convinced that Paul’s conversion was genuine and that both his conversion and his message were from God and God alone.
Paul has now conclusively demonstrated that his message and apostleship came directly from God and not as a result of anyone else’s teaching. This clearly sets him apart from the false teachers in the Galatian churches, who apparently claimed they were apostles and received their message from a heavenly angel. However, they were unable to show evidence like Paul has just done, to back-up their claims.
The result of Paul’s conversion and of his message is that God receives the glory and the praise. That is a sign of a true servant of God. As he will teach us later in this letter, obedience to the law tends to cause a person to focus on self and to be proud of one’s own accomplishments. Living by faith, however, necessarily produces humility and the recognition that we are totally dependent of God for everything. The result is that obedience to the law glorifies self whereas living by faith gives all the glory to God.
Application
Are you trying to prove yourself worthy by keeping a set of rules and practices? Or, are you living a life that is characterized by faithful submission to God? One is legalism that glorifies self whereas the other is faith that glorifies God.
In God’s service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2007 Will Krause. All rights reserved.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
If this message or this link was forwarded to you by a friend and you wish to receive future verses directly to your inbox, you can call the church phone (618) 614-3070 and leave a message telling us your name and e-mail address or you can send an e-mail to: