Galatians 1:15Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Besides, we said something about this when I spoke with you concerning the change of his name, and why he who bore the name Saul was called Paul. If you have forgotten, consult that book, and you will learn all this.

For now, let us continue our discourse in order. Let us observe how he again shows that what happened to him was not a human work, but that God ordered everything concerning him by a special providence.

"And called me by His grace." "God," he says, "called him because of his virtue." "He is a chosen vessel of Mine," He said to Ananias, "to bear My name before the nations and kings" (Acts 9:15). That is, "he is fit for the ministry and for the accomplishment of a great work."

God indicates this as the cause of his calling. Yet the Apostle himself everywhere ascribes everything to grace and to the ineffable love of God for mankind, saying, "I obtained mercy not because I was capable or worthy, but that in me He might show all longsuffering, as an example to those who would believe in Him for eternal life" (1 Tim 1:16).

Do you see the height of his humility? "For this reason," he says, "I obtained mercy, that no one might despair, after the worst of all men was counted worthy of God's love for mankind." For this is precisely what he wishes to show by the words, "that in me He might show all longsuffering, as an example to those who would believe in Him."

Elsewhere he says: “From the womb the wicked are estranged from God” (Ps 57:4). Finally, in both senses it is said: “God loved Jacob, but hated Esau” (Mal 1:1-3), before the children were born (Rom 9:11-13). Heretics find in this passage a basis for recognizing several different natures: spiritual, psychic, and earthly, coikhn. Of these, they say, one is saved, another perishes, and the third holds the middle place between the two. They present the matter as though the righteous man would never have been chosen before doing anything good. They say the sinner would not have stirred up hatred before committing a crime, unless the nature of the saved and the lost were different. To this we can answer simply that this happens according to divine foreknowledge. The one in whom God foresees a future righteous man is loved before he is born from the womb. The future sinner He hates before that man sins. This does not mean that God is unjust in His love and hatred. It means that He considers them according to worth, knowing beforehand that they will be righteous or sinners. He does not judge as men do, only concerning the present. For Him, even what is future has already taken place. He pronounces His sentence according to the consequences of actions, not according to their beginning. This is the simplest explanation. Without other, higher explanations, it can be somewhat sufficient for the reader. Yet those who strive to assert that God is unjust add the words that follow to what we said above: “From the womb sinners are estranged from God.” They add: “They go astray from the womb; they speak lies.” These people point to this and ask how sinners go astray straight from the womb and speak lies, when they cannot yet have either words or understanding. Or they ask what justice there is in God's foreknowledge, if before birth He loves and preserves one, but hates another. Or such heretics refer the cause of this divine action to a previous life, as though each one, according to his merit, is numbered from birth among good or evil angels. They chatter that this whole passage about Jacob and Esau, which we have just mentioned, is written to the Romans so that no satisfactory answer can be given without great labor and the hellebore of Chrysippus, that is, a calming remedy. It is not the same to say, “to reveal His Son in me,” as it would be to say, “to reveal His Son to me.” If something is revealed to someone, only what was not previously in him can be revealed to him. But if something is revealed in someone, what was already in him is revealed, and only afterward is it disclosed to him. We find something similar in the Gospel: “There stands One among you whom you do not know” (Jn 1:26). And elsewhere: “He was the true Light, which enlightens every man coming into the world” (Jn 1:9). From this it is clear that, by nature, knowledge of God is inherent in all men. No one is born spiritually without Christ, nor does anyone have wisdom, righteousness, and the other virtues within himself apart from Him. Therefore, though many without faith in Christ and the Gospel act in some respect wisely and even holily, for example by obeying parents, extending a hand to the needy, not oppressing neighbors, and not seizing another's property, they are nevertheless more liable before God's judgment. They have within themselves the beginnings, principia, of the virtues and divine seeds, yet they do not believe in Him without whom they cannot exist. But the Son of God revealed in Paul can also be understood in another sense, aliter. Through Paul's preaching, He whom the Gentiles had not known before became known to them.

He says all this because of the slanders of his opponents. They said of him that he had been counted worthy of apostolic teaching, yet violated what had been ordained by the apostles. Therefore he is compelled to speak about himself, something he did in no other epistle.

He says, "Having been counted worthy of that calling, I did not at once go to Jerusalem, but was satisfied with the grace given me by God." For it would have been most unfitting for one who received teaching from God to enter into discussion about it with men.

The Orthodox: Hear what the God-inspired Paul says: "But when it pleased God, who chose me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace, to reveal His Son in me. That I might preach Him among the nations, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me" (Gal 1:15-17).

Does St. Paul call the apostles flesh and blood in condemnation of them?

Eranistes: By no means.

The Orthodox: He borrows the name from the visible nature of man. He compares heavenly knowledge for the office of the apostleship with a calling that comes in the ordinary way, that is, through men.

In that manifestation God appointed him apostle and evangelist of the nations, saying to him, "For this purpose I have appeared to you. To make you a servant of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will reveal to you, delivering you from the Jewish people and from the nations, to whom I now send you" (Acts 26:16-17).

Moreover, He did this again when He appeared to him in Jerusalem, in the temple, where Paul was praying and fell into a trance. For even then Jesus Christ said to him, "Go, for I will send you far away to the nations" (Acts 22:21).

Thus, since Christ sent him to teach the nations and appointed him a minister or herald of what he had seen and was to see by revelation, it is clear from this that Jesus Christ Himself taught him the Gospel which he had to preach and teach.

The events that occurred at those manifestations he described briefly and with all humility in the Epistle to the Galatians. He ascribed everything not to his own worthiness or virtue, but to the goodness and grace of God.

"When," he says, "it pleased God," that is, when God, who had appointed me from my mother's womb and by His grace had called me to the apostolic rank, willed in His goodness to reveal His Son to me, then "I did not confer with flesh and blood."

That is, I did not cling to my relatives and friends, nor did I place my hope in them, or in my countrymen and fellow citizens. Rather, leaving all things, I hastened to preach the faith.

But the phrase "I did not confer with flesh and blood" also has another meaning. I did not attach myself or turn to men, that is, to the apostles, in order to learn the matters of faith from them. For I learned them from Jesus Christ Himself. This meaning also accords with the words that follow.

"Although the Apostle says all this as though in passing, hastening to express the thought that he 'did not immediately confer with flesh and blood' and 'did not go up to the apostles,' the truths suggested by his words are significant not only for the Galatians, but also for all of us. For they illumine the events and life of each of us with the bright light of God's providence, pointing to eternity as the source of what takes place in time" (Theophan).

The special feature of God's providence concerning Paul was that his sudden change should serve many as confirmation of the truth of the Gospel (cf. 1 Tim 1:16).

The prophet Jeremiah was chosen from the womb (Jer 1:5). Yet election is not yet a complete determination unto salvation. Therefore it is unjust to derive from this a teaching on predestination to salvation without the participation of free human will.

God wills all to be saved and calls all to salvation, but each person makes use of it according to his own free choice. According to blessed Theophylact, "God chose Paul not by lot, but by foreknowledge, knowing that he was worthy of this." So also He called the prophet Jeremiah, "knowing what he would be."

"We judge according to what exists, but He, before whom the future is as the present, pronounces judgment according to the foreseen end" (blessed Jerome).

The Apostle's calling on the road to Damascus was a calling only to faith and grace. His election to the apostleship followed afterward, although the intention of it was already present here. "He is a chosen vessel of Mine," God said to Ananias (Acts 9:15).

According to the explanation of St. John Chrysostom, the Apostle so humbly ascribes everything to God "that no one might despair, when the worst of all men was counted worthy of God's love for mankind."

The revelation of the Son of God took place in the sanctuary of Paul's soul through the inward illumination of the Holy Spirit. As Chrysostom says, the revelation illumined his soul, and he had Christ speaking within him.

By this illumination Paul saw that Jesus Christ is the Only-begotten Son of God, and the whole substance of the Gospel was formed in his mind. Having been taught by God Himself, and in a purely spiritual manner, it was natural for Paul not to resort to the usual human means of instruction, even through the apostles themselves. "For it would have been most unjust and unfitting if one who had been taught by God Himself should consult with men who have flesh and blood."

He says all this as though in passing, hurrying to express the thought contained in the words, ‘Immediately I did not confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to the Apostles.’

Nevertheless, the truths suggested by his words are deeply significant not only for the Galatians, but for all of us.

With the bright light of divine providence they illumine the events and life of each of us. They point to eternity as the source of what takes place in time.

‘But when God was pleased.’ When was He pleased? Was He not pleased before this? If He chose him from his mother’s womb, then He was pleased from the time He chose him.

But that gracious election is eternal. In time, God accomplishes His eternal predesigns in deed when the time comes.

With God every thing has its own time. There was a time for the Lord’s coming to earth through the Incarnation (see Gal 4:4). There will be a time for His second coming.

There is a time for every manifestation in public life and in the life of each person.

Thus there was also a favorable moment for Saint Paul’s conversion. Divine providence did not miss it.

After his conversion and enlightenment by the Spirit, Saint Paul understood this and now confesses it before all.

‘Let us note,’ says Saint Chrysostom, ‘how he recognizes everything that happened to him as not a human matter, but attributes it to God, who arranges everything concerning him by a special providence.’

But Paul’s God is also our God. Therefore this gives us a lesson to view the events of our life in the light of faith in God’s good providence.

But one asks: ‘If he was chosen from his mother’s womb, how was he a persecutor?’ (Saint John of Damascus).

‘If he was chosen from his mother’s womb but called later, then, surely by some good providence, he was left to himself during that interval of time’ (Oecumenius).

‘See how he tries here to show that even the time during which he remained in error depended on some inscrutable dispensation of God.

For if he was chosen from his mother’s womb to be an Apostle and called to this ministry, yet was called later, and when called obeyed the One who called, it is clear that God, for some inscrutable reason, delayed calling him until then.

What then was the divine dispensation here?’ (Saint Chrysostom).

‘That his sudden change might serve many as assurance of the truth of the Gospel’ (Oecumenius).

‘Paul himself resolves this elsewhere when he says: that in me first He might show all longsuffering, as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life’ (cf. 1 Tim 1:16), says Saint John of Damascus.

‘Who separated me from my mother’s womb.’ He confesses that before he was born into the world, when only the foundations of his being were being laid, he had already been chosen.

God foresaw Saint Paul’s fitness for the apostolate and chose him for this ministry. So also, when He had first foreseen Jeremiah’s fitness, He chose him as a prophet before birth.

‘Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you came forth from the womb, I sanctified you. I appointed you a prophet to the nations’ (cf. Jer 1:5).

There are thinkers who take this and similar passages to confirm their false teaching about God’s eternal election, without considering what this or that person would be according to natural gifts and free choice.

Some think this not only about election to some special ministry, but also about election to salvation in general.

According to them, these chosen ones later become what they were chosen to be not by the free choice of their will, but by the outpouring of a special grace upon them, apart from the direction of their freedom.

The former become Apostles, Prophets, and so on. The latter become saved.

But if this were so, all people would be saved. For God wills all to be saved. Since He wills it, which is the same as choosing, all would be saved if man’s will did not participate in this.

That is, if his free choice and election did not participate.

But since it is impossible to save man without his will, God wills all to be saved, yet not all are saved. For not all wish to be saved.

Their corrupted will resists the will of God, refusing to submit to the conditions of salvation. Therefore they perish, despite the fact that God does not will them to perish.

Concerning the election of Saint Paul, Theophylact says that ‘God chose him not by lot, but according to foreknowledge that he was worthy of it.’

Ambrosiaster explains this same thought more fully: ‘Paul trusted in the law, not knowing that the time of service to it had already passed.

With all fervor he strove to oppose the Gospel of Christ, thinking that, in acting thus, he acted according to the will of God.

God, seeing that he had good zeal but lacked knowledge of the truth, was pleased to call him into His grace. He knew that Paul was fit to preach the Gospel of His Son among the Gentiles.

For if in a lesser matter he was so zealous and faithful according to conscience, and not to please any man, how much more firm would he be in proclaiming the grace of God in Christ Jesus, in hope of the promised reward.

Therefore, according to God’s foreknowledge, he was chosen from his mother’s womb. That is, before he was born, and as soon as he was born.

God knew that he would be good, as He said to the Prophet Jeremiah: I knew you before you came forth from the womb (cf. Jer 1:5). Knowing what he would be, He called him.’

Blessed Jerome passes here in thought to election in general. He rebukes those who think that election and non-election depend on a difference of good or evil natures, as the Manichaeans thought.

He says: ‘According to God’s foreknowledge, it happens that He chooses the one whom He knows will be good, and does not choose the one whom He foresees will not be good.

In this there is no injustice with God. We men judge only according to what exists. But He, before whom the future is as present, pronounces judgment according to the end foreseen by Him.’

‘And called me by His grace.’ He was chosen above and called here below. That heavenly decree was brought into fulfillment in time by the calling.

God foreknew him before the ages and later called him at the time that was pleasing to Him.

Paul burned with love for the truth, but he saw it not in what it truly is. The Lord appeared to him and showed him this truth.

As a sincere lover of truth, from that moment he turned to it with his whole soul.

The calling that occurred on the road to Damascus was only a calling to faith and grace, to salvation. The calling to the apostolate followed afterward, although it was already intended here, as is clear from the Lord’s words to Ananias (see Acts 9:15).

The calling is the work of grace. Inclination to the calling is the work of freedom.

The called man is the one who went after the calling and subjected his freedom to the calling voice.

Therefore in calling, or conversion to the faith, there is a part belonging to freedom, just as in election there is a part belonging to the foreknowledge of the inclination of freedom.

But since the free will alone is not strong enough to turn without grace, Saint Paul ascribes the whole work of conversion and calling to grace.

So also Saint Peter confesses that the calling of all is accomplished by glory and virtue, that is, by the grace-filled power of God (see 2 Pet 1:3).

Saint Chrysostom writes here: ‘God says that He called Paul because of his goodness. For He said to Ananias, He is a chosen vessel for Me, to bear My name before Gentiles and kings (cf. Acts 9:15).

That is, he is capable of this ministry and of accomplishing this great work. God sets this forth as the reason for his calling.

The Apostle himself everywhere ascribes everything to grace and to the ineffable love of God for mankind. He says, I received mercy, not because I was capable or worthy of it.

Rather, that in me first He might show all longsuffering, as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life (cf. 1 Tim 1:16).

Do you see the height of his humility? I received mercy, he says, so that no one would despair when the worst of all men was made worthy of God’s love for mankind.

This is what he wished to say by the words: that in me He might show all longsuffering.’

It is as though he said: ‘The Lord called me, unworthy and unfit, by grace alone’ (Oecumenius).