“…to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood…”

Now Paul turns to events after his salvation to show the doctrine of grace that God gave him was independent of other apostles. Although he met with Christians after his salvation, he did not consult them about the doctrine of salvation by grace.

to reveal His Son in me,

God revealed Christ not only to Paul but also “in” Paul. God wanted to “reveal” the gospel to Paul’s innermost being. It seems that Paul would be the last person on earth that God would choose to reveal His Son. Of all people, he would be the last, for he was guilty of executing Christians. Nevertheless, God unveiled His very own Son to Paul in grace.

that I might preach Him among the Gentiles,

The gospel must reach into our innermost being before we can preach the gospel with conviction. The purpose of Paul’s message was to commission him to take the gospel of grace to the Gentiles. “Gentiles” is a term for the nations foreign to the state of Israel. A Gentile is someone other than a Jew. Peter was the apostle to the Jews, and Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles.

Notice how God couples salvation with service. God calls every person He saves to serve “Him,” the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not enough to preach about Him; we must preach Him. And we cannot preach Him until we know Him.

I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood

The word “confer” denotes to take into counsel. Literally, “confer” comes from two words: to put and before. Paul did not take the counsel of any human being. He did not put his doctrine of grace before the leaders in Jerusalem to get their advice or opinions. Paul deliberately refrained from obtaining the counsel of human beings. He did not use a consulting firm to acquire an understanding of the gospel of grace.

With the word “immediately,” Paul here begins to expose a sequence of events that proves that he could not have received the gospel of grace from human beings. He went into the Arabian desert so that God could clarify the gospel of grace to him (Galatians 1:17).

Principle:

Nothing pleases God more than to reveal His Son through His saints.

Application:

God not only wants to reveal His Son to us but also in us. He wants us to conform to the image of Christ daily.

“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Even sinners can make great saints when they allow Christ to transform them. God can take foul sinners and make them just like the Lord Jesus in character.

God will also use those with awful backgrounds to serve Him in unique ways.

“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy” (1 Peter 2:9-10).