Written ~ 09-13-2024
Read Galatians Chapter Two
Galatians 2
Chapter two continues with Paul’s explanation to how the Gospel message he preached came from Jesus Himself. In Galatians 1:15-23 Paul talks briefly about his conversion and how after three years he finally made his way to Jerusalem to meet Peter. After meeting with Peter, Paul was sent out by the Lord to preach the Good News message of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. Paul continues now in chapter two with his story, after preaching and teaching for fourteen years he went back to Jerusalem so he could meet with church leadership.
Galatians 2:1-3…
1 “Then fourteen years later I went back to Jerusalem again, this time with Barnabas; and Titus came along, too. 2 I went there because God revealed to me that I should go. While I was there I met privately with those considered to be leaders of the church and shared with them the message I had been preaching to the Gentiles. I wanted to make sure that we were in agreement, for fear that all my efforts had been wasted and I was running the race for nothing. 3 And they supported me and did not even demand that my companion Titus be circumcised, though he was a Gentile.”
Why would it be important for Paul to check in with church leadership? He knew his message was coming directly from the Lord, so why did he feel the need to go to leadership? Paul was eager to share everything he was doing in the Gentile communities. He was excited to bring them the news that people were being saved. It was important that he confirm the Gospel message he was preaching was what church leaders agreed upon as well. In verse 2:2b it says, “…I wanted to make sure that we were in agreement, for fear that all my efforts had been wasted…” In chapter one Paul states that he received his knowledge of the Gospel message through the direct revelation from the Lord (Galatians 1:12b). He never doubted the message he preached, so don’t get that confused with him wanting to confirm what he preached was correct. It was important to Paul that the church leadership supported him in the effort he had displayed preaching the Word of the Lord to the Gentiles.
In verse 2:3 Paul mentions the fact that his ministry companion Titus was a Gentile and was not circumcised as was the tradition of the Jews. The church leaders didn’t demand he be circumcised and that was a comfort to Paul. But then notice what happens in the next set of verses.
Galatians 2:4-5…
4 “Even that question came up only because of some so-called believers there – false ones, really- who were secretly brought in. They sneaked in to spy on us and take away the freedom we have in Christ Jesus. They wanted to enslave us and force us to follow their Jewish regulations. 5 But we refused to give in to them for a single moment. We wanted to preserve the truth of the Gospel message for you.”
When you know the Gospel message you are teaching is directly from the Word of God and your actions line up with the Bible and someone tries to come in and cause distraction or doubt, rebuke that immediately. Just like Paul and the other apostles did! Paul said, “…we refused to give in to them for a single moment…” When you know the truth of Scripture and hear something that does not line up, then you have the right to refuse what is being said and continue on in your ministry (whatever that is for you).
I love what Paul says next…
Galatians 2:6…
6 “And the leaders of the church had nothing to add to what I was preaching. (By the way, their reputation as great leaders made no difference to me, for God has no favorites.)”
First off, I love that Paul did not feel intimidated nor did he compare himself to the church leaders. Each of us have a God given talent. And each of us have the responsibility to explore that talent and use it for God’s glory. Don’t you love it when Paul says, “God has no favorites.” That means we can do what God has placed on our hearts, however menial you may think it is, and use it mightily for the Kingdom of Heaven!
Paul and Barnabas were given the green light by the church leaders, “known as the pillars of the church” to continue in the work they were commissioned by the Lord to do. Verse 2:9b says, “They encouraged us to keep preaching to the Gentiles, while they continued their work with the Jews.” I hope that we can be an encouragement to each other. Each of us has a job to do that the Lord has given us. We need to keep building each other up and remind each other that we are doing the Lord’s work in whatever capacity He has called us.
In the next few verses, Paul shifts his attention to a confrontation he had with Peter.
Galatians 2:11-14…
11 “But when Peter came to Antioch, I had to oppose him to his face, for what he did was very wrong. 12 When he first arrived, he ate with the Gentile believers, who were not circumcised. But afterward, when some friends of James came, Peter wouldn’t eat with the Gentiles anymore. He was afraid of criticism from these people who insisted on the necessity of circumcision. 13 As a result, other Jewish believers followed Peter’s hypocrisy, and even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14 When I saw that they were not following the truth of the gospel message, I said to Peter in front of all the others, “Since you, a Jew by birth, have discarded the Jewish laws and are living like a Gentile, why are you now trying to make these Gentiles follow the Jewish traditions?”
Seems quite bold of Paul to call out a church leader in front of everyone, doesn’t it? But he needed to show the hypocrisy Peter was allowing in his own life. Yes, he was an upstanding member of church leadership, but he fell victim to the fear of criticism. Peter was living two different lives from what Paul is pointing out here. What we see first is that he had no problem eating with Gentile believers, fellowshipping with them, enjoying their friendships. Then he abruptly discontinued his fellowship with the Gentile believers as soon as his “friends” showed up. Have you ever fell victim to worrying about what other people think of you and what you are doing? Peter was exercising his freedom in Christ by fellowshipping with those Gentile believers. But as soon as the legalistic, Jewish traditionalists came into the picture, Peter changed his posture and made it look like he wasn’t really enjoying his time with the Gentiles and then refused to eat with them. Members of church leadership are just as human as the next guy, and Peter proves this by his behavior. But church leadership must keep to a higher standard, one that keeps hypocrisy from entering into their lives. By Peter demonstrating this kind of hypocrisy it led others astray. Verse 2:13 says, “As a result, other Jewish believers followed Peter’s hypocrisy, and even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.” We need to be so careful that we are not living a life of hypocrisy. We shouldn’t have a “church life” then a “real life.” We should be living for Christ in every moment and reflect His image in everything we do. We don’t want to be the cause of someone being led astray from the Word of God because they are watching us flip-flop between living for Christ and living for the world.
Peter was flip-flopping between the tradition and obedience to the old covenant (the law given to Moses), and the New Covenant who is Jesus Christ. And Paul was calling Peter out because of it.
Galatians 2:15-16…
15 “You and I are Jews by birth, not ‘sinners’ like the Gentiles.16 Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.”
Paul is making it very clear that we have been made right with God through our faith in Jesus Christ, and that is the way we should be living! Not with traditions we follow at church only on Sundays, but instead we live by the Word of the Lord and the Salvation we have found in Him.
Galatians 2:17…
17 “But suppose we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ and then we are found guilty because we have abandoned the law. Would that mean Christ has led us into sin? Absolutely not!”
In this verse Paul is disputing an oppositional point that faith in Jesus was not the only way to find righteousness and justification with God and that Jesus actually led us to sin. The legalistic Jews were arguing the following point (which I found in the “Expositor’s Bible Commentary”).
- “Your doctrine (the believer’s doctrine) of justification by faith is dangerous, for by eliminating the law you also eliminate one’s sense of moral responsibility. If people can be accounted righteous simply by believing that Christ died for them, why then should they bother to keep the law or live by any standard of morality? There is no need to be good. The result of your doctrine is that people will believe in Christ but thereafter do as they desire.”
Wow, those religious and legalistic Jews had it all wrong, didn’t they? But as we see, Paul’s emphatic reply was “Absolutely NOT…” Christ does not lead us into sin. Paul then turns it around…
Galatians 2:18-19…
18 “Rather, I am a sinner if I rebuild the old system of law I already tore down. 19 For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law – I stopped trying to meet all its requirements – so that I might live for God.”
When Peter fell victim to the criticism of the legalistic Jews and discontinued fellowshipping with the Gentile believers, “the rebuilding of the old system of law” is exactly what he had done. He took the freedom and justification he had in Christ and turned it into a sinful action by trying to obey the old covenantal law again.
The last two verses are so very important for each and every believer to know, to understand and to live by…
Galatians 2:20-21…
20 “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 21 I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.”
Let’s all try to understand fully how fortunate we are to have the Living Christ – the Son of God – living within us. Whoever we were before Christ, is gone. When we became Born-Again believers, we died to that sinful nature and now have new life in Christ. Yes, we have the restraints of an earthly body, but we have the ability to trust in the Lord, He loves us, and He gave His life for us and now we have the Power of Christ Jesus within us. So, if we were to go back to living our lives under the pressure of the law, then we are treating God’s grace as meaningless, Christ would have zero reason to die for our sins if we were to continue choosing the law over Him. We can never be made right with God by obeying the old covenant and because God loves us and knows our human inability to live a sin free life, He sent His Son as the final sacrifice.
When we made the decision to follow Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we crucified our old way of living. When we accepted Jesus as our Savior the arms of Salvation wrapped itself around us and we were transformed. Christ rose from the dead just as we rose out of sin and death by accepting Him as the one who paid it all. It is now Christ who lives in us. It is through Him that we live our lives. “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” When we truly understand and believe that verse, our lives will be different, changed, renewed.
My prayer is that each of us would take a hard look within ourselves and see if we are living a hypocritical life, and if by our actions we may be causing another believer to be led astray. Let’s choose Christ in everything we say and do. Honestly, I really can’t reiterate this enough.
We all make mistakes during the day, but how quickly are we repenting and turning away from the sinful behavior?
Christ lives within us! It should be our deepest desire to honor Him in EVERYTHING.
~AMEN~