<p>1:15- see on Acts 18:18.</p><p><em>But when-</em> &quot;But when&quot; suggests there was a specific time when God decided to call Paul to manifest His Son. But we should not too quickly assume that this time was on the Damascus road, for the Lord there made the point that Paul had been pushing against the pricks of conscience for some time. Perhaps the calling was at the time of Paul's birth, when the umbilical cord was cut and he was separated from his mother's womb. The calling of grace is an idea Paul uses in Romans to exemplify God's grace, and he thereby makes himself the parade example of grace to all believers. In Gal. 1:15,16, Paul speaks as if his calling to preach the Gospel and his conversion co-incided. He clearly understood that he had been called so as to spread the word to others. Paul uses the word <em>kaleo </em>to describe both our call to the Gospel, and the call to preach that Gospel (Gal. 1:15 cp. Rom. 8:30; 1 Cor. 1:9; 7:15; Gal. 1:6; 5:13; 2 Tim. 1:9). He doesn&rsquo;t separate his call from that of ours; he speaks of how God called &ldquo;us&rdquo; (Rom. 9:24; 1 Thess. 4:7). We may not all be able to live the life of itinerant preaching and spreading the word geographically which Paul did. And yet clearly enough Paul sets himself up as our pattern in the context of his attitude to preaching. Our lamps were lit, in the Lord&rsquo;s figure, so as to give light to others. We are mirrors, reflecting to others the glory of God as far as we ourselves behold it in the face of Jesus Christ.</p><p><em>It was the good pleasure of God- </em>Our salvation was &quot;not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by... renewing of the Holy Spirit&quot; (Tit. 3:5). Thus in Paul's case &quot;it pleased (lit. 'willed') God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by His grace&quot; (Gal.1:15) - not Paul's works. Thus our obedience to the truth was &quot;through (on account of) the Spirit&quot; (1 Pet. 1:22). Against this must be balanced Rom. 10:17: &quot;Faith cometh by hearing... the word of God&quot;. God's Spirit was involved in bringing about our calling, and is also present in the word by which we are called.</p><p><em>Who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me through His grace</em>- Paul seems to have admired the humility John the Baptist manifested in his preaching, for he often alludes to John- perhaps because he heard him live. For he was living in Jerusalem at the same time as John's ministry. He knew he had been chosen from the womb for his mission, as John had been (Gal. 1:15 =&nbsp; Lk. 1:15). There is also allusion to Jeremiah being likewise known from the womb. Paul felt he had been &ldquo;separated unto the preaching of the gospel of God&rdquo;; and he uses a word which the LXX uses for the separation of part of a sacrifice to be consumed (Ex. 29:24,26). The Greek word for &quot;witness&quot; is <em>martus</em>, from whence 'martyr'. To witness to Christ is to live the life of the martyr; to preach Him is to live out His cross in daily life. Yet the Lord&rsquo;s servant being called from the womb (Is. 49:1) was applied by Paul to himself (Gal. 1:15)- see on Rom. 8:31. Choice from birth, calling, ministry to the Gentiles all recalls the servant known from birth (Is. 49:1,5). This is one of a number of instances of where Old Testament Messianic Scriptures are applied to Paul in the context of his preaching Christ. He saw himself as in Christ, and so the Lord's mission became his as it becomes ours.</p>