Galatians 2 verses 1 to 10

Galatians 2 verses 1 to 10

Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas and took Titus with me also.  And I went up by revelation and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles but privately to them which were of reputation lest by any means I should run or had run in vain.  But neither Titus who was with me being a Greek was compelled to be circumcised.  And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus that they might bring us into bondage.  To whom we gave place by subjection no, not for an hour that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.  But of these who seemed to be somewhat (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man’s person) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me.  But contrariwise when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter.  (For he wrought effectually in peter to the apostleship of the circumcision the same was mighty in me toward the Gntiles).  And when James, Cephas and John who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship that we should go unto the heathen and they unto the circumcision.  Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do.

 

To Paul his spiritual liberty in Christ was worth far more than popularity or even security.  He was willing to fight for that liberty. 

 

Galatians 2 verses 1 to 10 Paul’s first fight for Christian liberty was at the Jewish Council.

Galatians 2 verses 11 – 21 Paul’s second fight was at a private meeting with Peter.

What would have happened if Paul didn’t wage this spiritual warfare?  The Church in the first century might only have become a Jewish sect preaching a mixture of law and grace.  But because of Paul’s courage the gospel was kept free from legalism and it was carried to the Gentiles with great blessing.

 

Who were the Council of Jerusalem?

Paul = great apostle to the Gentiles

Barnabas = Paul’s closest friend.  He opened the way for Paul.  His name means “son of encouragement”.  Acts 11 verses 19 to 24 the gospel came to the Gentiles in Antioch.  Barnabas was sent to encourage them in the faith.  He enlisted Paul to help minister in the church at Antioch – Acts 11 verses 25 and 26.  The two worked together in teaching and helping the poor – verses 27 to 30.  Acts 13 verses 1 to 14 and verse 28 – Barnabas accompanied Paul on the first missionary journey and had seen God’s blessings on the gospel that they preached.  Barnabas encouraged John Mark after he had dropped out of the ministry and incurred the displeasure of Paul – Acts 13 verse 13, 15 verses 36 to 41.  In later years Paul was able to commend John Mark and benefit from his friendship – Colossians 4 verse 10 and 2 Timothy 4 verse 11.

Titus – Gentile believer who worked with Paul and apparently was won to Christ through the apostle’s ministry among the Gentiles.  He was taken to Jerusalem as proof – in later years Titus assisted Paul by going to some of the most difficult churches to help them solve their problems.

3 men who were pillars of the church – Peter, John and James, Jesus’ brother

Peter – Jesus gave him “the keys”, involved in opening the door of faith to the Jews – Acts 2, the Samaritans in Acts 8 and the Gentiles in Acts 10.

John – 1 of Jesus’ inner 3 apostles associated with Peter in Acts 3

James – Jesus’ brother, Jesus appeared to him after his resurrection and he believed.  He was a leader of the early church in Jerusalem, a writer of the book of James and he was Jewish in his thinking.

Along with these men and the apostles and elders were a group of false brethren who infiltrated the meetings and tried to rob the believers of their liberty in Christ – verse 4.

Note Paul calls them “false brethren” masquerading as such so they could capture the conference for themselves.

 

Verses 1 and 2 – the private consultation

Paul and Barnabas had returned to Antioch from their first missionary journey.  God had “opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles.”  Acts 14 verse 27.  Jewish legalists in Jerusalem were upset with their report, so they came to Antioch and taught in effect that a Gentile had to become a Jew before he could become a Christian – Acts 15 verse 1.

 

Circumcision (verse 7) – a Jewish rite from the days of Abraham.  Jews were asking the Gentiles to follow this Jewish law.  They had forgotten the inner spiritual meaning of the rite.  Just like today some have lost the spiritual meaning of baptism and turned it into an external ritual.  True Christian has experienced an inner circumcision of heat and does not need to submit to any physical operation.  Acts 15 verse 2 confrontation Paul and Barnabas had resulted in a heated argument – the best place to settle the question was before the church leaders in Jerusalem.

 

They met privately with the church leaders – Paul didn’t go to Jerusalem because the church sent him.  He went up by revelation ie that is the Lord sent him.  And the Lord gave him the wisdom to meet with the leaders first so that they would be able to present a united front at the public meetings.

 

“Lest by any means I should run or had run in vain” verse 2.  It doesn’t mean that Paul was unsure either of his message or his ministry.  His conduct on the way to the conference indicates that he had no doubts – Acts 15 verse 3.  What he was concerned about was the future of the gospel among the Gentiles because this was his specific ministry from Christ.  If the “pillars” sided with the Judaizers or tried to compromise when Paul’s ministry would be in jeopardy.  He wanted to get their approval before he faced the whole assembly; otherwise a 3 way division could result.  What was the result of this private consultation?  The apostles and elders approved Paul’s gospel.  They added nothing to it – verse 6 and thereby declared the Judaizers to be wrong.  But this private meeting was only the beginning.

 

Verses 3 – 5 – the public convocation

Acts 15 verses 6 – 21  Several witnesses presented the case for the gospel of the grace of God beginning with Peter – he reminds them that God gave the Holy Spirit to believing Gentiles just as he did to Jews so that there was “no difference”.  There is one way of salvation – faith in Jesus Christ.  Then Paul and Barnabas told them what God had done among the Gentiles.  Paul wanted “the truth of the gospel” to continue among the Gentiles – verse 5.

 

Titus became a test case – a Gentile Christian who had never submitted to circumcision.  Yet it was clear to all that he was genuinely saved.

 

James, the leader of the church gave the summation of arguments and conclusion of the matter – Acts 15 verses 13 – 21.

 

A Gentile did not have to become a Jew in order to become a Christian.  James then asked that the assembly counsel the Gentiles to do nothing that would offend unbelieving Jews lest they hinder them from being saved.  Paul won the battle.

 

His view prevailed in the private meeting when the leaders approved his gospel and in the public meeting when the group agreed with Paul and opposed the Judaizers.

 

Paul’s concern was “the truth of the gospel” verse 5, 14, not the “peace of the church”.  “Peace at any price” was not Paul’s philosophy of ministry nor should it be ours.

 

Today many say it should be the gospel plus good works, the Ten Commandments, baptism, church membership, religious ritual.

 

Paul pronounces a curse upon any person who preaches any other gospel than the gospel of the grace of God centred in Jesus Christ.

 

Verses 6 – 10 – the personal confirmation

The Judaizers had hoped to get the leaders of the Jerusalem church to disagree with Paul.  By contrast Paul makes it clear that he himself was not impressed either by the persons or the positions of the church leaders.  All he wanted them to do was recognise “the grace of God” at work in his life and ministry – verse 9 and this they did.

 

Not only did the assembly approve Paul’s gospel and oppose Paul’s enemies but they encouraged Paul’s ministry and recognised publicly that God had committed the Gentile aspect of his work into Paul’s hands.  They could add nothing to Paul’s message or ministry and they dared not take anything away.  There was agreement and unity: one Gospel would be preached to Jews and to Gentiles.  However the leaders recognised too that God had assigned different areas of ministry to different men.  Apart from his visit to the household of Cornelius and to the Samaritans Peter had centred his ministry primarily among the Jews.  Paul had been called as God’s special ambassador to the Gentiles.  So it was agreed that each man would minister in the sphere assigned him by God.

 

The Jerusalem conference began with a great possibility for division and dissension yet it ended with co-operation and agreement.

 

God calls people to different ministries in different places yet we all preach the same gospel and are seeking to work together to build his church.

 

Paul explains his interdependence with the apostles in this chapter.  He was free and yet he was willingly in fellowship with them in the ministry of the gospel.

 

Verse 10 – moves from theological to practical ie helping the poor.  Paul had always been interested in the poor so he was glad to follow their suggestion.

 

Even though the conference ended with Paul and the leaders in agreement it did not permanently solve the problem.  The Judaizers didn’t give up but persisted in interfering with Paul’s work and invading the churches he founded.  Paul carried the good news of the council’s decision to the churches in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia.  Acts 15 verse 23 and in other areas where he had ministered – Acts 16 verse 4.  But the Judaizers followed at his heels starting at Antioch where they even swayed Peter to their cause – verse 11.  The Judaizers went to the churches of Galatia to sow their seeds of discord and for this reason Paul had to write this letter.  It may have been written from Antioch shortly after the Council of Jerusalem although some scholars date it later and have Paul writing from either Ephesus or Corinth.  This is probably Paul’s earliest letter and in it was find every major doctrine that Paul believed, preached and wrote about in his subsequent ministry.

 

 

 

Before I read scripture I always pray and ask God by his Holy Spirit to speak to me. I then write out the portion of scripture I am wanting to read and meditate on. It is amazing how even as you read write and copy out God's word what comes into your head ...

 

Today I realised as I scrolled through my social media another account has been hacked. People trying to be someone they are not.

 

This is actually the message of Galatians. People came into the church fellowships after Paul had left and pretended to be someone they were not. They claimed to be superior believers but they were false in their thinking. This is why it is so important to read God's word. Too often we can listen to people, dare I say it even those in our pulpits who claim all sorts of things. We need to know God's word so as to work out what is true and what is not. Having a system of reading God's word is important. I don't claim to have more knowledge than anyone else and if you think I do forgive me for giving that impression. We can scroll through social media and pass on things to others which can be misconstrued and suddenly there are people so upset by what they think is a direct insult to them. We need to take the time to search for the truth ourselves and not rely too much on what we ourselves think is truth. The disguise of Satan comes in many forms today, yes even from those we trust the most.

 

That is what was happening as Paul wrote this letter. He couldn't defend in person but he tried through his letters to explain the truth. Notice verse 4 of Galatians 2 "who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus that they might bring us into bondage."

 

Who are you listening to today or rather who are you following today?

 

 

Having spent a couple of hours on Galatians 2 this afternoon I have been so blessed with what God is teaching me!

 

In Galatians 2 we see

 

Vs 1 and 2 the private consultation

Vs 3 to 5 the public convocation

Vs 6 to 10 the personal confirmation

 

This chapter goes back to Acts 15 and what happened when the council of the church met together in Jerusalem. Some false teachers tried to persuade the leaders of the church that Paul was not teaching the gospel properly. They were adding to the gospel.

 

As I read I was reminded of what we add to the gospel today – “yes you can know Christ as your personal Saviour but you need to add to it ... baptism, good works, religious ritual and church membership.” This is what some people will say to us. Now don't get me wrong, none of these are wrong in themselves but I have seen this first hand. People will give their opinion on the church you attend and how it doesn't emphasise this aspect of the faith and you really need that to be a true Christian. Recently I have seen that in respect of church membership. There is pressure put on people to say they are members of a particular church and it begs the question - why? Is it for proof to other Christians that we have a thriving growing church? For me personally I attended a church for 18 years and never was asked or felt the need to be a member but it all changed when new leadership was in charge. It looked suspiciously like a numbers game or rather that you couldn't say you were part of the denomination without membership. We need to remember that the gospel of Jesus Christ is a gospel of grace centred on him, his death and resurrection.

 

The leaders had to recognise that each person - Paul, Barnabas, Peter, John and James had different ministries but they were all working together in the ministry of reaching people for Christ.

 

As I thought on this passage I was reminded of the podcast on our next Book Club book She Needs. We all have to recognise that God has called us to different ministries in different places yet we all preach the same gospel and are seeking to work together to build his church.

 

Paul calls us to liberty in the gospel. He was free and yet he was willingly in fellowship with them in the ministry.

 

 

When I read scripture it usually takes a while for me to meditate and think about what I have read before I can apply it to my own personal life.  As I thought about Galatians 2 this morning I really began to understand what was happening.  Galatians 2 is really about a battle - a battle for liberty and it took place among some of the most well respected Christian men.  If this had not taken place the Christian church in the first Century might only have become a Jewish sect preaching a mixture of law and grace.  But because of Paul's courage the gospel was kept free from legalism and it was carried to the Gentiles with great blessing.  The Gentiles are you and I today.  Imagine if we had never heard the gospel of grace.  That is really what it is all about.  Can you imagine your life without knowing about Jesus?  About his salvation from sin?  That is what I have been wrestling with.  All my life I have been taught, thought and tried to proclaim the message of God's grace.  Nothing I have done but all of God - God's Riches At Christ's Expense.

 

Each of the people who appeared at the Council in Jerusalem (see Acts 15) had a different story to tell.  Paul was the Jew who came to faith on the Damascus Road and his ministry was to the Gentiles.  Barnabas, the great encourager became Paul's closest friend and opened the way for Paul to proclaim the gospel.  He even fell out with Paul over John Mark!  In later years Paul commended him and benefited from his friendship - sure isn't that what true friendship is all about, falling out and making up again!  Titus was a Gentile who came to faith though Paul's ministry.  He was living proof of how God was reaching the Gentiles.  Paul later asked him to go to some of the difficult churches to help them with their problems.  Then there was Peter, James and John.  In Acts 2 Peter was given "the keys" to opening up the message of the gospel to the Jewish people, later to the Samaritans in Acts 8 and the Gentiles in Acts 10.  John was one of the 3 closest apostles to Jesus and worked alongside Peter.  James was Jesus' own brother, well half-brother.  He had a personal encounter with Jesus after the resurrection.

 

I have already talked about the great Christian men that gathered in Jerusalem to discuss what was happening as Paul and Barnabas travelled around the churches in Galatia.  Alongside these men were others, false brethren who infiltrated the meetings and tried to rob the believers of their liberty in Christ - see verse 4 of Galatians 2.  Paul referred to them as "false brethren" - they were masquerading as such so they could capture the conference for themselves.  As I read of this situation I realised that the same could be happening in our own church tomorrow.  People sitting in our pews claiming to be Christians but yet are not.  That is spine tingling stuff.  How would you know them?  We might even be best friends with them, have known them for years and yet they have never had a personal encounter with Jesus.  They may have become emotionally stirred during a meeting but caught up in an experience that has no foundation.  That experience collapses when they leave the meeting.

 

What had happened to call this meeting in Jerusalem?  Legalists in Jerusalem were upset by the reports they received.  They set out for Antioch and taught that if you were a Gentile and had come to faith in Christ Jesus then you must become a Jew too.  Paul refers in verse 7 to the ritual of circumcision given to Abraham by God back in Genesis.  They forgot the inner spiritual meaning of this ritual - the true Christian has experienced an inner circumcision of heart and does not need to submit to any physical operation.  It led to a very heated argument.  Paul met privately with the church leaders to be able to present a united front at the public meetings.  Paul had no doubts about his message or ministry but he was concerned about the future of the gospel among the Gentiles.  He was defending his own ministry, given to him by God alone.  The result was that the leaders approved Paul's gospel.  They added nothing to it - verse 6 and in doing so declared the false leaders to be wrong.  This was only the beginning though.

 

Following on from the private meeting Paul had with the leaders of the Church council in Jerusalem there was a public meeting.  Several witnesses presented the case for the gospel of the grace.  Peter started things off by reminding everyone that God gave the Holy Spirit to believing Gentiles just as he did to Jews - there was no difference, there is only one way of salvation and that is faith in Jesus Christ.  Then Paul and Barnabas reported on what had happened when they proclaimed the gospel to the Gentiles.  Paul wanted the truth of the gospel to continue among the Gentiles - Galatians 2 verse 5.  James gave a summary of the arguments and brought the meeting to a conclusion.  James asked that the assembly counsel the Gentiles to do nothing that would offend unbelieving Jews lest they hinder them from being saved.  Paul won the battle!

 

What was Paul's message - it was not to be "peace at any price". The false leaders had hoped to get the leaders of the Jerusalem church to disagree with Paul but Paul makes it clear that he himself was not impressed either by the person or the positions of the church leaders.  All he wanted everyone to do was to recognise the grace of God - at work in his life and in his ministry.  In publicly declaring Paul to be in the right the leaders were recognising that God had committed the Gentile aspect of his work into his hands.  They didn't want to add anything to Paul's ministry and dared not take anything away.

 

However there was one aspect they all agreed on - each of the men present had different areas of ministry to different men.

 

Paul was free and yet he was willingly in fellowship with them in the ministry of the gospel.

 

Even though the conference ended with Paul and the leaders in agreement it did not permanently solve the problem.  The false leaders did not give up but persisted in interfering with Paul's work and invading the churches Paul founded.  Paul carried the news of the ruling to the churches in Galatia but the false leaders followed fast on his heels.  They wanted to sow seeds of discord and this is why Paul wrote the letter to the Galatians.  This letter is probably one of Paul's earliest letters.

 

 

How can I apply what I have read and commented on about Galatians 2 verses 1 to 10?  Well I have already touched on the false people who infiltrated the church in Paul's day and can still be doing the same today in our churches.  But another important aspect is the adding to of the gospel.  I have already posted on this yesterday and this is a common theme even today.  We see it clearly in our denominations - some believe in baptism both as an infant and as a believer, others in membership of a particular denomination and all that implies (dress for instance) and then there are others who emphasise social projects alongside the gospel of grace (providing debt advice or housing to meet a need for instance).

 

What became clear to me as I read again this passage was the need to defend the gospel of grace.  I accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my own and personal Saviour, I trusted that Jesus died for my sins and that in repentance and acceptance I found salvation.  God promised me the gift of the Holy Spirit as well as the promise of a home in heaven.  As a Christian I believe in living out my faith on a day by day basis and demonstrating the love of Christ to all I come into contact with.  Practically I read my bible and pray each day as well as attend a local church that believes in the gospel of grace for all sinners.  This is what I need to defend and it is getting harder every day as more and more people have never actually heard of the gospel nor are willing to listen.  My faith makes a real difference to my life and I want others to see and know that.

 

I wonder today - could you defend the gospel of grace?  Is it evident in your life and witness?  Surely the challenge of scripture comes yet again.