"But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man—" (NIV)
The Jews believed that they were God's chosen people, "set apart from birth," so when Paul makes the same claim about his apostleship, he is making a bold statement. But he makes sure to give all the glory to God by adding that he was chosen by God's grace, not because of anything he had done (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Then he continues: not only did God choose Paul to be His missionary to the Gentiles, but He was pleased for it to be so. He chose His fiercest persecutor to shine His light through him and to reveal Himself to the Gentiles.
This is a very important point to remember: Paul was a Pharisee (while he was still Saul, prior to his conversion). He believed just as strongly as any Jew that only Jews (and those who converted to Judaism) were God's people. So for Paul to go out preaching to pagans was to go against everything the Pharisees believed. And he wasn't just a missionary who gathered a handful of Gentiles along with his primarily Jewish followers; he was THE apostle to the Gentiles. That was his purpose, his calling: to go against the customs of the Pharisees and share the gospel with the Gentiles. And God was pleased to send this Pharisee of Pharisees out to spread the name of Jesus around the world.
When Paul encountered Christ on the road to Damascus, was blinded by light, and was later given his sight back, he did not go to the Pharisees to discuss what had happened. Doing so would have shown him to still be a selfish man, looking out for what would put him in a better position among the people. We see in verse 17 what he did instead.
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