Galatians 1:16-2:5

Outline:

A) Paul’s Testimony

B) The message revealed to Paul was accepted by the Apostles / Establishing the authority of the message, its trustworthy

C) Preserving the message / From fake Christians who want Gentiles to follow Jews

Galatians 1:20 “I declare before God that what I am writing to you is not a lie.”

Galatians 2:5 The battle was to preserve the gospel message for us

Introduction: The problem: People came into the church for the purpose of fooling people and deliberately twisting the truth

They sneaked in to spy on us and take away our freedom. They tried to enslave us to follow the Jewish tradition (2:4)

Paul calls them, so called believers (fake Christians)

These people were trying to tear down the church from the inside.

Have you ever watched one of those shows, where an undercover cop or detective tries in infiltrate a gang or organization.

b. People were turning away from the message of Christ and going back to the bondage of the law and Jewish Tradition

1. (V13) You know what I was like when I followed Jewish religion

a. Violently persecuted God’s Church

b. Far ahead of my fellow Jews in zeal and traditions

c. Paul, then Saul, also consented to the death of Stephan

2. (V15) God chose to reveal Jesus Christ to Paul through His grace

a.(V16) For the purpose of proclaiming the Good News to the Gentiles

b.(V23-24) Through Paul’s testimony God is glorified

3. (V2) Paul went Jerusalem because God reveled that he should go

a. The idea is that Paul went to Jerusalem by the express direction of God. He did not go because any man called him to come; it was because God told him to go.

b. When Paul was in Jerusalem at this time he assured the leaders there that he was obedient to God in his presentation of the gospel to the Gentiles.

3.1 Paul goes through great lengths to confirm with the Apostles the message is accurate

a. Fear that all his efforts in vain, running the race for nothing

4. (V4) So called believers, false ones, really

a. At this time, there was a contention rising over the place of Gentiles in the church. God used Peter to welcome Gentiles into the church in Acts 10. But some Christians from a Jewish background said that Gentiles could indeed be saved, if they made themselves Jews first and brought themselves under the Law of Moses. Their idea was that salvation in Jesus was only for the Jewish people, and Gentiles had to become Jews before they could become Christians.

b. Fake Christians coming behind Paul to tear down the work of God

c. Fake Christians because they did not believe faith in Christ was enough

Ephesians 2:8 “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.”