In their efforts to discredit Paul and his message, the false-teachers were claiming that he preached a man-made message designed to please the Gentiles, having distorted the true message that he had learned from the apostles in Jerusalem. Paul answers this accusation by declaring that he did not receive the Gospel that he preaches from man, but rather that it came through the direct revelation of Jesus Christ (v11-12).

In order to prove his point, (1) he describes his life in Judaism before he met Jesus and was saved (v13-14), then (2) he describes how God dramatically saved him by His grace, revealing Christ to Him and in Him, and called Him to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles (v15-16a), and then (3) he describes his life during the first few years after his conversion (v16b-24), pointing out that he did not immediately confer with any of the apostles in Jerusalem concerning the Gospel, but rather lived in Damascus and Arabia, and only made a brief 2-week visit to Jerusalem after 3 years to get acquainted with Peter, after which he went to preach in Syria and Cilicia, far away from Jerusalem and Judea (v16b-24) - we see how this account harmonises with Acts 9:19-31.

This all proves that Paul received his Gospel and apostleship directly from God, independently from the other apostles. In fact, he only went to Jerusalem to discuss his Gospel with the other apostles 14 years after his conversion, and at that time they agreed that God had called him to be the apostle to the Gentiles, and they also endorsed the Gospel that he preached, and added nothing to it (2:1-10, see also Acts 15).