When my students at Moody Bible Institute give persuasive presentations, I listen for their sources. I teach my students to assess the credibility of their source material and to clearly identify which content belongs to them and what belongs to others. To present someone else’s ideas as their own is plagiarism. When they cite a source that is not credible, it damages their authority and their message!

The Apostle Paul takes great care to communicate his credibility. For example, in 2 Corinthians 11–13, he outlines his ministry philosophy and shares his extended testimony with the Corinthian church. In 1 Thessalonians 2:1–12, he clarifies his motive for preaching the gospel, a motive of love, not of greed or deception.

In Galatians 1:11–2:21, Paul defends his credibility before the Galatian churches. He begins by citing the ultimate source of his authority, Jesus Christ. The gospel Paul preached to them was “not of human origin” (v. 11). He didn’t hear it from another man. He didn’t learn it in an academic setting. He did not seek it out in any way. Rather, he “received it by [direct] revelation from Jesus Christ” (v. 12).

Here, Paul is likely referring to his conversion on the road to Damascus (Acts 9), when a blinding light from heaven flashed all around him and a voice asked him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:4). Saul (Paul) was a religious man. He immediately recognized this as a divine encounter and fell to the ground. But Saul wasn’t yet clear on the specific source of this confrontation. “Who are you, Lord?” he asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” came the reply. In the following verses, Paul will share more of his testimony. But it starts here with an understanding of the true source of the gospel—the one and only Son of God, Jesus Christ.