1:11 弟兄們,我告訴你們,我素來所傳的福音不是出於人的意思。
1:12 因為我不是從人領受的,也不是人教導我的,乃是從耶穌基督啟示來的。
1:13 你們聽見我從前在猶太教中所行的事,怎樣極力逼迫殘害上帝的教會。
1:14 我又在猶太教中,比我本國許多同歲的人更有長進,為我祖宗的遺傳更加熱心。
1:15 然而,那把我從母腹裡分別出來、又施恩召我的上帝,
1:16 既然樂意將他兒子啟示在我心裡,叫我把他傳在外邦人中,我就沒有與屬血氣的人商量,
1:17 也沒有上耶路撒冷去見那些比我先作使徒的,惟獨往阿拉伯去,後又回到大馬士革。
1:18 過了三年,才上耶路撒冷去見磯法,和他同住了十五天。
1:19 至於別的使徒,除了主的兄弟雅各,我都沒有看見。
1:20 我寫給你們的不是謊話,這是我在上帝面前說的。
1:21 以後我到了敘利亞和基利家境內。
1:22 那時,猶太信基督的各教會都沒有見過我的面。
1:23 不過聽說那從前逼迫我們的,現在傳揚他原先所殘害的真道。
1:24 他們就為我的緣故,歸榮耀給上帝。
My friends, I want you to know that no one
made up the message I preach. It wasn’t given or taught to me by some mere
human. My message came directly from Jesus Christ when he appeared to me.
You know how I used to live as a Jew. I was
cruel to God’s church and even tried to destroy it. I was a much better Jew
than anyone else my own age, and I obeyed every law that our ancestors had
given us. But even before I was born, God had chosen me. He was kind and had
decided to show me his Son, so that I would announce his message to the
Gentiles. I didn’t talk this over with anyone. I didn’t say a word, not even to
the men in Jerusalem who were apostles before I was. Instead, I went at once to
Arabia, and afterwards I returned to Damascus.
Three years later I went to visit Peter[b]
in Jerusalem and stayed with him for fifteen days. The only other apostle I saw
was James, the Lord’s brother. And in the presence of God I swear I am telling
the truth.
Later, I went to the regions of Syria and
Cilicia. But no one who belonged to Christ’s churches in Judea had ever seen me
in person. They had only heard that the one who had been cruel to them was now
preaching the message that he had once tried to destroy. And because of me,
they praised God.
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這是保羅信主的經過,宣告自己是從上帝那裏領受福音的!