READ: Gal. 1:18–24: … But they were hearing only, ‘He who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith which he once tried to destroy.’ And they glorified God in me.
Paul mentions that he did meet two prominent believers—but only three years after his conversion and after the revelations from Christ. Moreover, these meetings were not intended to transmit the whole gospel message. In doing so, Paul presents further evidence that the gospel he preached was truly received from Christ Himself.
This also includes, for example, the institution of the Lord’s Supper. In 1 Cor. 11:23 he tells the Corinthians: “For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you.”
Paul eventually did meet the other apostles. And naturally, in his meetings with Peter and James he spoke about faith and the gospel, but this wasn’t some kind of training in the doctrine of the gospel. He was not a student of the other apostles, as the Judaisers accused him of being.
Paul considers this so important for the message of his letter that he even confirms it with an oath (v. 20)!
Even after meeting with Peter and James, Paul again went out on his own to preach in the north—in the regions of Syria and Cilicia. The Jewish churches in Judea, outside of Jerusalem, had not met him personally. Yet they fully supported his preaching, in which he proclaimed the gospel of Christ to the Gentiles without the works of the law.
Those churches didn’t raise objections, even though they were likely still attached to Jewish traditions, just as in Jerusalem. No, on the contrary, they glorified God for what He had done in Paul: a former persecutor of the church had been made by God into a gospel preacher! God not only calls people into His service, He lays claim to them and makes them willing servants through His Spirit.
Does receiving a revelation still happen today?
Sing: Ps. 56:4