Galatians 1:11-12

In Galatians 1:11, Paul emphasizes that what he received, what he preached, came directly from Christ. This does not mean that he had absolutely no discussions with any Christian person regarding doctrine; rather that shortly after his conversion he departed to the desert and was there taught directly by Christ, and any human input that there might have been was minor to a very great degree. It was Christ who directly taught him.

No one knows for sure whether Christ was literally there in person, revealed as He was to the original twelve. It may well have been that Paul had to minutely and thoroughly examine the Old Testament, guided and inspired by Christ, to understand what the original apostles understood. That would account for the three years.

Again, I am pretty sure that is what Herbert Armstrong thought, because I heard him say, "I had to learn like the apostle did, on my knees, with the Bible open in front of me." He said it took him a long, long time—a lot longer than it took the apostle Paul. But I know he felt that Christ was there, but in spirit and not revealed, but was guiding and directing his study and the understanding of God's Word so that he would come up with the answers, the doctrines, the teachings that would exactly parallel what He had done with the original apostles.

Galatians 1:12

Paul fires the cannon-shot across the bow, in case anybody thought that he was doing otherwise - in case people thought that he was somehow instructed by men at some time prior to the writing of this book of Galatians. People could suppose that he knew truth even before he was converted. Paul says, Oh, no, I wasn't instructed by men. I didn't get this from Gamaliel. I didn't get this from the Jews.

Remember I Corinthians 2:10 - these things are revealed through God's Spirit. Now, verse 13 is very revealing.

Galatians 1:11-12

Was the apostle Paul an ignorant man? He was not; the man was a genius, biblically. He understood scriptures. He understood the traditions of his Father. But you know even the apostle Paul could not understand until God revealed it to him. We have to understand this because the apostle Paul was persecuting the church.