Passage Read: Galatians 1-2
Meditation Verse: 2:6
Thought
Paul is speaking about the original apostles and the current leaders of the earliest church, people who were in Christ long before him, people whom he once tried to persecute. They are significant and they should have the best understanding of the Gospel and all is implications for life in this world. But the Gospel did not originate with them, though they were the first to receive it and become proclaimers of it. The Gospel comes from God, and anyone He chooses to reveal it to can know and understand it. But if there is a disagreement about what God has imparted to one person or another, one group or another, then both need to examine themselves to make sure they have learned clearly and remained faithful to what was originally imparted. Because the Gospel didn't originate with us, we need to make sure we keep it just as we received it. Those who came before us are just as susceptible to external influences as we who come later, and in fact they have had more time to inadvertantly adopt external ideas. The only absolute authority on the Gospel is God Himself. He has given us the Scriptures as an unchanging record of what He originally gave us all, so the Scriptures are the final authority on any questions regarding God, His Gospel and anything else He intended to teach us. He has used men to record His directives and instructions, but they are not the final arbiter of truth. Rather, we all need to work together to understand what God has spoken, and hold each other accountable to obey it.
Application
While I do well to consider carefully the words of those who have been in Christ longer than me, who have studied the Word longer than me, still I need to be careful not to elevate men over the Scriptures. Even if they are among the most respected authorities on God's Word, I need to remain responsible for my own understanding of all it teaches. God does not blindly support anyone who receives or inherits a position of authority in His Church; they are required to remain submissive and faithful to His Word in order to retain His support. Even those who came before and have studied far longer than I have can make mistakes, and if they can, how much more can I? So this does not give me license to disregard those who came before, but it does remind me that I must not blindly follow anyone who is acclaimed as an authority, if God's Word clearly opposes them. Rather, I need them to keep my life and doctrine pure, and they need me to be ready to do the same. I need to be just as diligent to know and understand and practice the truths of God as they do, and we each need to protect the other.