Galatians 2:1-10; The Gospel Truth (Household of Faith, part 4)

Introduction: Ronald Reagan who said, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.” His statement could just as easily be said about the truth of the gospel- it’s never more than one generation away from disappearing. The gospel doesn’t pass to the next generation of believers through bloodlines or by osmosis. No one is going to absorb it by contact. The true gospel must be fought for, protected, & shared or one day we will wake up to a world where no one knows the gospel, has the gospel, or can articulate the gospel. I don’t want that for our kids, our country, our world, so how can we ensure the gospel continues on long past us? Galatians 2:1-10, Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and also took Titus with me. 2And I went up by revelation, and communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those who were of reputation, lest by any means I might run, or had run, in vain. 3 Yet not even Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. 4And this occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage), 5 to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you. 6But from those who seemed to be something—whatever they were, it makes no difference to me; God shows personal favoritism to no man—for those who seemed to be something added nothing to me. 7 But on the contrary, when they saw that the gospel for the uncircumcised had been committed to me, as the gospel for the circumcised was to Peter 8 (for He who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to the circumcised also worked effectively in me toward the Gentiles), 9 and when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 They desired only that we should remember the poor, the very thing which I also was eager to do.

How can we ensure that the gospel truth continues on with others? 4 things we must do for the truth of the gospel to last past us.

1. We must Keep the FAITH, vss. 1-3.

We are in a section of Galatians in which Paul shares his personal testimony of conversion to Christ & his calling to be an apostle of Christ. When Paul met Jesus, he went from being a persecutor of Christians to being a preacher of Christ. The gospel message Paul preached, he got from Jesus himself, not from other people. In fact, he didn’t even meet any of the other apostles until 3 years later when he went to Jerusalem & met Peter & James. The Judean churches heard about his transformation & praised God that their former persecutor was now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.

In chapter 2, there has been a time jump of 14 years. He describes his 2nd visit to Jerusalem to meet with the apostles, & this time he wasn’t alone. He took fellow ministers & missionaries with him- Barnabas (Jew) & Titus (Greek). Paul went because God told him to, it was by revelation (i.e., divine disclosure). He communicated the gospel he preached to those of reputation (apostles- Peter, James, & John, 2:9). Reputation- thought to be influential. Communicated- to lay out or set before.

Why did Paul do this? He wanted to confirm that the gospel he preached to Gentiles aligned with the message that was preached to Jews. The metaphor of running, that imagery, Paul uses in other places to describe faithfully living the gospel. In Philippians 2:16, Paul encouraged them to hold “fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.”

2 Timothy 4:7, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Paul’s “race” describes both the message that he preached & people’s adherence to it. If he was preaching a message that was left of center, just a little off base, & people were following it, then his running/race would have been in vain.

But what did he discover?He learned from them that he wasn’t off base, his race was on course, he was keeping the faith just fine.  Jude 3, the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. If we want the gospel to continue past us, we too must keep the faith.

2. We must Hold our FREEDOM, vss. 3-5.

Titus is the key to understanding the pure gospel that Paul preached vs. the perverted gospel that was being taught to the Galatians. This trip that Paul alludes to, going back to Jerusalem after 14 years, is most likely the Jerusalem Conference. Acts 15:1-5 explains the occasion that brought it about. After Paul & Barnabas returned from their first missionary journey to the church at Antioch (Syria), some people came from Judea and taught “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved (1)” Let’s unpack that.

The custom of circumcision started before Moses, it goes all the way back to Abraham, the object of God’s promises & the patriarch of the nation of Israel. God promised Abraham that He would make him into a great nation & He made a covenant with Abraham (Genesis 17). God established His covenant between Himself & Abraham & Abraham’s descendants to give them the land of Canaan & to be their God.

Abraham & his descendants had keep the covenant & the sign was circumcision for every male child at 8 days old, those born into the family, or brought into the family. Circumcision was the sign of their covenant relationship with God. Circumcision was part of their Jewish ethnic identity inherited from Abraham, but that’s not all. All of the promises God made to Abraham, He brought about through Israel- the coming of the Messiah, the message of the Gospel, the promised Holy Spirit, all of those things came to and through the Jewish people first.

Even Jesus said, “salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22), & what He meant is that it came through them. But the Jews saw salvation as part of their birthright. This would be like us saying that being born into a Christian family saves us, it doesn’t. Or that being baptized as an infant saves us, but it can’t. You see, if a grown-up Gentile man had to be circumcised to be saved, that would mean that all of us would need to do something to be saved- add to the grace of God. The Gospel Truth is that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone & in Christ alone.

Vs. 5, Paul & Barnabas fought hard for the truth of the Gospel & didn’t give an inch so that the Gospel truth can continue on with us. We can’t add onto grace by keeping the law, b/c if we do, we are bringing ourselves into bondage to the things that Jesus died to free us from.

3. We must Show no FAVORITISM, vss. 6-8.

It sounds like Paul is taking a bit of a shot at the apostles- “those who seemed to be something” (6), “those who were of reputation” (2), “James Cephas, John who seemed to be pillars” (9); but maybe he wasn’t. Maybe he was put out a little with them over the Titus thing, or maybe he thought they mishandled the Judaizers. Another option is that he was really upset with the false brethren who came into the church, who downplayed his apostolic office in favor of Peter, James, & John. Paul wanted to get the point across that he was just as much an apostle as they were, that he didn’t get the gospel from them it came straight from Jesus, & this is why he would say “they added nothing to me.”

Far from there being a controversy between Paul & the apostles there was actually agreement.They recognized that God had entrusted Paul with the gospel to the uncircumcised (Gentiles), just as Peter had the gospel for the circumcised (Jews). Let’s be clear, this did not mean that Paul didn’t preach the Gospel to Jews, or that Peter didn’t preach the Gospel to Gentiles. We all have people that God sends us to, to whom He will make us most effective, but we don’t get to show favoritism.

In Acts 10, God sent Peter to the Gentiles first (Cornelius’ family) for the Gospel to cross cultural barriers. Acts 10:44-45,  While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. 45 And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. Paul made it his practice to preach to Jews first & if they declined then he moved onto the Gentiles.

Vs. 8. God worked through Peter to preach to Jews & He worked through Paul to preach to Gentiles, but both of them crossed those cultural lines. We all have people that God sends us to, to whom He will make us most effective, but we don’t get to pick & choose. The Gospel is for all people, for every generation, & if it’s going to continue past us, we don’t get to show any favoritism about whom we give the Gospel to.

4. We must Expand our FELLOWSHIP, vss. 9-10. 

Here’s how the conference ended-Peter, James, & John saw that God had given Paul His grace to save him & send him to the Gentiles.

Paul recognized that Peter, James, & John held positions of leadership in the church. Pillars- styloi, architectural column that supports a structure.

Tom Schreiner-some Jewish traditions viewed Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob, the 3 patriarchs, as the three pillars of Israel... Along these lines, early believers may have regarded James, Peter, and John as the styloi of the new people of God. While Paul does not reject their leadership… he demonstrates that his apostleship is not dependent upon these “pillars.”

Paul didn’t need their permission, but he appreciated their partnership. Right Hand of Fellowship (koinonia)- participation;sharing in the activities or privileges of an intimate association or group. Extending their right hand to Paul meant the expansion of the fellowship among the Gentiles, while Peter, James, & John would go to the Jews.

As the Jerusalem conference wound down, the decision was made to not put the burden of keeping the law on believing Gentiles. Peter preached, Acts 15:10-11, Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? 11 But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they. James made the decision of the counsel clear- Acts 15:20-21, that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood. In vs. 10, Paul reveals that they asked him to remember the poor, which he was eager to do.

In fact, Paul raised a great deal of money for relief for the poor in Jerusalem. 2 Corinthians 9:8-9, And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. 9As it is written: “He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever.” Let’s be clear, giving is not a condition for salvation, it’s an outcome of our salvation. We do not give to get God’s grace, we give because we have gotten God’s grace.

When we expand the fellowship of the Gospel beyond people like us, not discriminating against the poor, nor against people from other cultures, nor those who hold different values, but sharing the Gospel with whomever God sends us to, then we can trust that the Gospel Truth will continue with others.