Audio version of the Message:
Galatians 2:1-10
Key Verse 8
“For God, who was at work in the ministry of Peter as an apostle to the Jews, was also at work in my ministry as an apostle to the Gentiles.”
We have been studying the book of Galatians which is considered to be the first book of the New Testament that was written. In Galatians, the apostle Paul defends the truth of the gospel from attacks by the Judaizers, who were Jews that attempted to add human rules to the gospel for salvation. Many counterfeit gospels continue to try to add something to the gospel of the grace of Jesus even in our time. Galatians highlights the freedom that we have in Christ. Paul shows us how to defend this freedom of the gospel, and also shows how the gospel unites all true Christians. Let’s learn from the apostle Paul as we study today’s passage.
First, Meeting about the gospel (verses 1-2)
Let’s read verses 1-2, “ Fourteen years later I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also. I went in response to a revelation and set before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did this privately to those who seemed to be leaders, for fear that I was running or had run my race in vain. Paul has shown in chapter 1 that his gospel came from God not man. He now shows in the first part of chapter 2 that his gospel was precisely the same as that of the other apostles; it was not different. To prove that his gospel was independent of the other apostles, Paul conducted his ministry away from Jerusalem for fourteen years. But now, to prove that his gospel was identical to theirs, Paul made an official visit to the apostles in Jerusalem. At the end of verse 2, when Paul said that he feared he had run his race in vain, he was not worried about the accuracy of the gospel message he had been preaching for the last fourteen years. Rather, Paul was concerned that the Judaizers threatened to attack the gospel unless he could affirm his unity with the other apostles in Jerusalem. This is the reason why Paul made this visit to Jerusalem.
Before going on with the story, I’d like to introduce the cast of characters:
1.Paul: the “Apostle to the Gentiles” who wrote many of the New Testament books including Galatians. Paul was not one of the original Twelve Apostles who lived with Jesus during his three year messianic ministry. However, after the resurrection, Paul met the Risen Christ on the road to Damascus, and was appointed by him to be an apostle to the Gentiles. Paul’s life was completely changed from a Jew who persecuted and murdered Christians out of legalistic zeal to a humble missionary who tirelessly brought the message of Jesus’ grace throughout the Roman Empire.
2.Barnabas: “The Encourager” was a Jewish Christian who supported the early church with generous gifts of land and money. It was Barnabas who convinced the other apostles that Paul’s conversion was genuine. Barnabas invited Paul to help him lead the church in Antioch. Then he was called by God to accompany Paul on his first missionary journey to Asia Minor. After a fruitful journey, Barnabas decided to go to Cyprus to help a struggling young Christian man named John-Mark and to encourage him to grow in maturity.
3.Titus: “The Problem-solver” was a Gentile man who became Paul’s trusted coworker and companion. He was known for resolving disputes by exercising sound judgment, persistence, and a righteous influence over the people. When the Judaizers argued that Gentile Christians should obey Jewish ceremonial laws before being admitted into the church, Titus accompanied Paul on his visit to Jerusalem to address the other apostles and resolve the problem caused by this division. Titus solved other difficult problems as well. Once Titus helped Paul resolve problems of division and immorality in the church at Corinth. Later, Paul sent Titus to minister in Crete to people who were described as “liars, vicious brutes, and lazy gluttons”.(Titus 1:12). Titus established a church there and became the first Bishop of Crete. Titus wrote the book of Titus in the Bible.
4.Peter: “The Apostle to the Jews”, is well known as the top apostle established by Jesus, and many churches and cities are named after him. Peter was the first person to confess faith that Jesus is the Christ, and Jesus said that he would build his church on Peter’s statement of faith. Peter is shown in artwork holding the keys to the kingdom of God, which Jesus gave him to open the door of faith to the Jews and the Gentiles.
5.James: the “Leader of the Jerusalem Church”, is often depicted as an old man with a long white beard which represents his great wisdom and discernment. There were several apostles named James, the first one was martyred by King Herod. This James was known as the brother of Jesus, though only Jesus was the son of God, James was probably a son of Joseph. James met the Risen Christ as described in 1 Cor. 15. He wrote the book of James in the Bible, which is known as the New Testament book of wisdom. James became the first bishop of the church at Jerusalem.
6.John: “the Disciple Whom Jesus Loved”, was one of Jesus’ top three disciples who witnessed the Transfiguration of Jesus, and later was the only disciple to stay beneath the cross when Jesus was crucified. John is depicted as a young man with long hair. He wrote John’s Gospel, the letters of I,II,&III John, and the book of Revelation.
Second, Defending the Gospel (verses 3-5)
Let’s read verse 3, “Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek.” Once when the apostle Peter preached the gospel at the house of Cornelius, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. Acts 10:45 says that “the circumcised believers…were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles.” For centuries there had been a distinction between Jews and Gentiles. The Jews were God’s chosen people to build the nation of Israel and prepare for the Messiah to come. The Jews followed rigorous ceremonial rules in order to be set apart as clean for God’s work. Circumcision was the main feature of the Jews’ cultural identity, and it was often a symbol for keeping the entire ceremonial law. The uncircumcised Gentiles were regarded as unclean. But in his death on the cross, Jesus had broken the barrier between Jews and Gentiles, so that in Christ there are no racial differences. Titus became a test case in this matter. Titus was an uncircumcised Gentile, yet everyone could see the evidence in his life that he was genuinely saved. There is only one way of salvation, which is by faith in Jesus Christ. John 3:16 well explains the gospel in simple terms. It says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Let’s read verse 4-5, “This matter arose because some false brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might remain with you.” The Judaizers said, “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” (Acts 15:1b) We should appreciate Paul’s courage to defend the truth of the Gospel. Even today, many counterfeit gospels threaten to invade the church. A counterfeit gospel is anything that adds or takes way from the way of salvation by faith in the grace of Jesus alone. Several counterfeit gospels, as described in Paul Tripp’s book, How People Change, include…
Formalism. “I participate in the regular meetings and ministries of the church, so I feel like my life is under control. I’m always in church, but it really has little impact on my heart or on how I live. I may become judgmental and impatient with those who do not have the same commitment as I do.” Good Christian activities such as baptism, Sunday attendance, daily Bible study and prayer can become counterfeit gospels if they are believed to earn salvation.
Legalism. “I live by the rules—rules I create for myself and rules I create for others. I feel good if I can keep my own rules, and I become arrogant and full of contempt when others don’t meet the standards I set for them. There is no joy in my life because there is no grace to be celebrated.”
Mysticism. “I am engaged in the incessant pursuit of an emotional experience with God. I live for the moments when I feel close to him, and I often struggle with discouragement when I don’t feel that way. I may change churches often, too, looking for one that will give me what I’m looking for.”
Activism. “I recognize the missional nature of Christianity and am passionately involved in fixing this broken world. But at the end of the day, my life is more of a defense of what’s right than a joyful pursuit of Christ.”
Biblicism. “I know my Bible inside and out, but I do not let it master me. I have reduced the gospel to a mastery of biblical content and theology, so I am intolerant and critical of those with lesser knowledge.”
Therapism. “I talk a lot about the hurting people in our congregation, and how Christ is the only answer for their hurt. Yet even without realizing it, I have made Christ more Therapist than Savior. I view hurt as a greater problem than sin—and I subtly shift my greatest need from my moral failure to my unmet needs.”
Social-ism. “The deep fellowship and friendships I find at church have become their own idol. The body of Christ has replaced Christ himself, and the gospel is reduced to a network of fulfilling Christian relationships.”
Martin Luther was the great protestant reformer who defended the truth of the gospel in the 16th century. In his preface to the book of Galatians, Martian Luther said:
“Once you are in Christ, the law is the greatest guide for your life, but until you have Christ’s righteousness, all the law can do is show you how sinful and condemned you are…then people who think they have power to be righteous before God will be humbled by the law and understand they are sinners.”
“Concerning faith – be firm as stone; concerning charity – yield to everything.”
Paul wrote the book of Galatians in order to defend the truth of the gospel. Paul was drastically firm about this because the heart of the Christian faith was at stake, and comprising on this central issue could lose eternal life for all who followed them. Like Paul, we must defend the gospel from those who would twist its meaning. However, this passage does not focus on division; rather it focuses on unity among all Christians.
Third, Unity in the Gospel (verses 6-10)
Let’s read verse 7-8, “On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching to the Gentiles, just as Peter had been to the Jews. For God, who was at work in the ministry of Peter as an apostle to the Jews, was also at work in my ministry as an apostle to the Gentiles.” The Judaizers hoped to get the leaders of the Jerusalem church to disagree with Paul and disqualify his message. However, they did not succeed. Paul did not need the authorization of the apostles in Jerusalem because he was appointed by God, not men. However, the unity of the church was at stake. Paul was concerned that the Judaizers threatened to cause the entire Christian church to split between two different gospels, one of works and one of grace, which would have been a great disaster for the future of the church, unless he could affirm his unity with the other apostles in Jerusalem. But not only did the apostles in Jerusalem approve Paul’s Gospel; they also encouraged Paul’s ministry and recognized publicly that God had entrusted the ministry to the Gentiles into Paul’s leadership. They could not add or take away anything from Paul’s gospel message. According to verse 9, Peter, James, and John gave Paul and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship. The result was agreement and unity for all Christians: one gospel would be preached to the Jews and the Gentiles. However, the leaders recognized that God had assigned different areas of ministry to different people. Peter’s ministry was mainly to the Jews, and Paul’s ministry was mainly to the Gentiles. Peter and Paul preached the same message, and the same Lord Jesus worked in both of their ministries, but they were each called to minister to different groups of people. Even today, God calls people to different ministries in different places. Some have gone as missionaries to other countries and have had to adapt to other cultures. Some have focus groups for children, teens, or the poor. Some have relief ministries, some have house church ministries, some have campus ministries, and so on. There are many different styles of worship and many different methods for doing ministry. Yet, we all preach the same gospel and work together as Christ’s instruments as he builds his church. Among those who know the gospel of grace, there can be no such thing as competition. Peter was a great man and the top apostle established by Christ, yet he gladly yielded to Paul, who was a new kid on the block. Like Peter and Paul, we must have unity with all other Christians, since there is only one gospel. We should not compete with other Christians over ministry methods, styles, popularity, or accomplishments. Rather, we must encourage each other as God works in our lives to build up his church.
Verse 10 concludes, ”All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.” As important as it is that we are doctrinally and theologically accurate about the gospel, Peter and Paul concluded with a decision to remember the poor. Christian ministry is more than theological, it is also practical. Though the gospel is through faith in Christ alone, we must not neglect the practical things that we can do to help the needy, especially those who are spiritually needy. Christ who loves needy sinners wants to reveal his love through us.
Today we thought about the fact that there is only one gospel. Paul fought hard to defend the gospel against those who intended to distort the truth and divide the church. But Paul also encouraged unity among Christians who have different areas of ministry. Like Paul, we need discernment to recognize the true gospel. We must defend it against counterfeit gospels, but we must also encourage the unity of all Christians. May God give us grace and wisdom to do so.