Gospel Testing (Galatians 2:1-10)
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Open your bibles this morning to Galatians 2…
Before we get started this morning I just want to share something with you that I think is direly important… I put out an episode about marriage this week on my podcast. Now, I am not getting hundred of listeners to the podcast, but each week there is a consistent number. Except for this week. Barely anyone has accessed the episode this week. now, is it an algorithum? Does the spirit of the power of the air not want biblical marriage talked about? I don’t know. Regardless, I can tell you based on my experience over the last ten years in ministry many people believe their marriage is far stronger than it actually is…
And living in that light proves over time to be detrimental. We as humans are great at acting. We can fool the best of them that our mariage is perfect. That all is fine. That we are good… But meanwhile, a virus slowly creeps in, weakens you, and pulls you apart. My friends, listen to me this morning… Commit today to devoting more time and attention to your marriage. The Church has not done well in the last 100 years in helping foster healthy marriages. Marriages get a back burner treatment. But let that not be the case here. Let it be on the forefront of my ministry always…. It is the most important relationship a married person has. Not just to you, but to God. God holds your marriage in high regards. So much so that your prayers may be hindered by it!
So, my friends, don’t live in the delusion that you are fine. Instead, comit to doing everything you can to always be stregnthening it. Children often make this more complicated. And look around, your marraiges aren’t short of children! So it will require all the more diligence… Keep this before you, you haven’t arrived, and will never arrive at the perfect Christlike marriage. There is always room to grow. But unless you begin with the confession that you have been apathetic, or weak in working on it, or have taken it too lightly, you won’t grow. So, with all diligence, supplement your faith and strengthen your marriage. That we might see a church with healthy marriage, marriages we want our children and children's children to have. Marriages that aren’t built on surface level love, but genuine, deep, devotion and friendship. Marriages that aren’t built on practicalities, but on Christ. Without the constant infusion of Christ into your marraige, the three cord strand marraige is supposed to be will wane to two, and slowly to one… Lets not let that happen. Lets pray once more…
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Last week I gave you three of the five proofs Paul employs at the end of Chapter 1 in order to prove that the Gospel he preaches is of non human, divine origin. The first three were, That the gospel was not formulated through religion, that the gospel was not formulated by the church, and lastly that the gospel is visible through divine power…
So this week we come to the fourth proof employed by Paul in chapter two which is 4) that the gospel is validated through divine tests....
and we will consider this from verse 1-10…
Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along also.
And I went up because of a revelation, and I laid out to them the gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but I did so in private to those who were of reputation, lest somehow I might be running, or had run, in vain.
But not even Titus, who was with me, though he was a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised.
But this was because of the false brothers secretly brought in, who had sneaked in to spy out our freedom which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to enslave us.
But we did not yield in subjection to them for even a moment, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.
But from those who were of high reputation (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—well, those who were of reputation contributed nothing to me.
But on the contrary, seeing that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised
(for He who worked in Peter unto his apostleship to the circumcised worked in me also unto the Gentiles),
and recognizing the grace that had been given to me, James and Cephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so that we might go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.
Only they asked us to remember the poor—the very thing I also was eager to do.
4. The gospel is validated through divine tests.
Paul goes back up to Jerusalem after 14 years. That is most likely 14 years since his conversion. And he took two men with him, Barnabas and Titus. These men had been working together in the mission field when Act 15 tells us, not a little dissension and debate arose among them and some others who had come down from Judea and were teaching that unless one is circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.
The debate was sharp enough that there needed to be ruling, and officiating from the other apostles and elder in Jerusalem on the issue. I love this because it shows that Paul and Barnabas recognized the importance of the elders and leaders in Jerusalem. No they were not the authority, but they were an authority. Paul and Barnabas were willing to submit to them and make sure, humble thmesleves to make sure the implications they were teaching were right and true.
Upon arriving in Jerusalem Paul laid out the gospel that he was preaching among the gentiles. He did this to those he calls, those of reputation… Which he will go on to name in verse 9, Peter, James, and John… I love the heart behind the closing statement of verse 2, he says, lest somehow I might be running or had run in vain. Paul knew he could be wrong, he didn’t think he was wrong here in this instance, but knew he could be…And because of the sharp disagreement they were having back where he and barnabas were, he wanted to make sure that he wasn’t unnessarily frustrating them. There is a need to frustrate people with the truth. To debate. To have sharp disagreements. But only if it is because of the truth and the glory of God is at stake…
And if Paul was wrong, or had gotten off track in his application of the Gospel, some things would need to change because Paul was intentional. He did not want to run in vain. He wanted to run the race that was set before him with purpose and bearing much fruit. If he was runing in vain, it was all for not. He would not be preaching a false gospel, because it was true, he knew the gospel. But the application. What it meant for the gentiles would not keep flourishing, but would come up against a wall being at odds with the brothers in Jerusalem.
In Acts 15 we get a behind the scenes look what he means in verse 3-4.… Titus wasn’t compelled to be cirucmcised by false brothers who secretly made their way into the closest or highest ranks if you will in the church as wolves. Acts 15:4-5
When they arrived at Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them.
But some of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed stood up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to command them to keep the Law of Moses.”
This is the heart of the debate. Do gentiles need to be circumscised or not in order to be a Christian? Circumcision was a sign of the Jew. A sign that was given to Abraham and all of those in his family that were of him to show that they were of Him, they were following and surrendering to Yahweh. To be circumcised as a Jewish male was a huge thing to their religion and their culture. So what was to become of it now? Come with me to ACts 10...
I can imagine the council. The seriousness in the room. This was no small matter. In their debate Peter stood up and addressed the council first… He reminded them of when the Lord appeared to him in a vision just before he went to the gentiles in Caesarea to preach the Gospel. Acts 10: 34-43
And opening his mouth, Peter said:
“I most truly comprehend now that God is not one to show partiality,
but in every nation the one who fears Him and does righteousness is welcome to Him.
“As for the word which He sent to the sons of Israel, proclaiming the good news of peace through Jesus Christ—He is Lord of all—
you yourselves know the thing which happened throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed.
“You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
“And we are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a tree.
“God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He appear,
not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead.
“And He commanded us to preach to the people, and solemnly to bear witness that this is the One who has been designated by God as Judge of the living and the dead.
“Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.”
While Peter was still speaking these things, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the word.
And all the circumcised believers who came with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.
For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and magnifying God. Then Peter answered,
“Can anyone refuse water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did?”
And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for a few days.
Peter reminds them of this miraculous work the Lord did. And back in the council in Acts 15 he says, Acts 15:10-11
“Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?
“But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.”
Now, Peter yielded the floor to Barnabas and Paul who began to tell of miraculous signs done among the gentiles as well, and all were listening reverently.
After Paul and Barnabas it was Jame’s turn to speak… This is not James the apostle, James, John’s brother, the son of zebedee was killed early on. This is James, Jesus’ brother. The author of the letter of James. He had become what was known as the leader of the church in Jerusalem. And what does he do when he speaks? He backs up Peters words with scripture… Amos 9:11-12....Acts 15:15-20
“And with this the words of the Prophets agree, just as it is written,
‘After these things I will return,
And I will rebuild the fallen booth of David,
And I will rebuild its ruins,
And I will restore it,
So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
And all the Gentiles who are called by My name,’
Says the Lord, who makes these things known from long ago.
“Therefore I judge that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles,
but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from sexual immorality and from what is strangled and from blood.
After all of this deliberation they agreed together and decided they should make a decree, or memo, or letter of clarification and send it with Paul and Barnabas. This is what Paul means in Galatians 2:6 when he ways that they contributed nothing to me. They didn’t tell him to tweak anything he was doing. The council believe what he was preaching was the correct application of the Gospel among the gentiles.
The conclusion of the council in Jerusalem was that Paul was entrusted with the the Gospel to the gentiles. That he was an apostle, chosen by God just as Peter was chosen to preach primarily to the jews first. They extended to them the right hand of fellowship. Meaning, they were together in this. Which is the very claim the false teachers in Galatia were using against them.. Now it was for sure and the false teachers were wrong. Paul and Barnabas were sent out by those in Jerusalem with their blessing, this letter, and other men that were well known Barsabbas and Silas.
So what are the divine tests employed in order to validate that the gospel is divine? Look at Galatians 2:8.… For He who worked in Peter unto his apostleship to the circumsized, worked in me also unto the gentiles… who is that? Is that not the spirit of God who called him? Chapter 1, verse 1 he is sent through Jesus Christ, and God the father… Verse 15… God set him apart from his mothers womb and called him by grace. Acts 9, it was God who saved him and sealed him through the Holy Spirit. It was what was at work in His preaching…
and my word and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
It the same Spirit that is at work in Peter, that is at work in Paul, and it is the same spirit that was at work in the Jerusalem counsel…
“Therefore we have sent Judas and Silas, and they themselves will report the same things by word of mouth.
“For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials:
that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from sexual immorality, from which if you keep yourselves, you will do well. Farewell.”
The true gospel is validated through the divine testing of the spirit. The apostle John sheds some insight onto this when he says… 1 John 4:1
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
Remember, Pauls argument is against those false teacher who have claimed that Paul is a false teacher. By God’s grace Paul was able to go directly to the leadership and validate what he was preaching through these tests. He didn’t emotionally drum up some half baked plea of no no guys, trust me, I am a good guy… He was validated not in his apostleship primarily, but in that his message, his gospel is true compared to those false teachers. What were those tests? Well I see one that stands up time and time again…
Test everything against the word of God.
The man who has the Spirit of God working in him verses the spirit of the world, will stand up against the Scriptures. Because the man in the Spirit of God will never ever says anything contrary to the word of God. The Holy Spirit is the interpreter, the divine illumination, the power of the word of God. And thus when man speaks the word of God, speaks the spirit. It is not the mans power, but the Spirits. The man is the vessel.
We see this in Peter. Peter had a direct revelation from God in Acts 10. He pushed back against it saying, Lord I have never eaten anything unclean. The Lord dealt with him and showed him, it is not primarily about food, but about people. About the gentiles.
Paul had a similar commission from the Lord that he worked out over 14 years. And James excersized divine wisdom when he validates peter and Pauls message when he says, the prophets agree, and then quotes Amos 9.
Now, some might say, well Paul and Barnabas had signs and wonders, is that not a test? Signs and wonders are not a test, but a proof. They work hand in hand with the message preached.
But the works were not the message. We are not all supposed to go around healing people of diseases and the like. We are to proclaim a message. And that message was validated among the apostles by the miraculous works God allowed to happen through them. But even though ministers of the gospel today have not been given the same type of signs and wonders as the apostles, the same fruit testing must occur.
Jesus said you will know a false teacher by their fruit. And thus this is how we test the spirit rather than believing them all. It is a test against the word of God. Is someone a Christian? Should they be listened to or not? We need these tests because apparently the false teachers who worked their way into the church were considered believers. But It is clarified otherwise later on. They are not. Because their gospel is not of grace, but of works. And their life proves it.
Let me give 3 tests we can employ to discern whether one is trust worthy to listen to or not… . So the first test I can offer is this…
Are they are living to keep the rules, rather than keeping the rules because they live?
If you love Jesus, you will do what he says. If you are of God you will obey his commandments. Not perfectly, but your heart will be the flag and banner that tells of your allegiance. Is obeying the word a choice for you? Or a compulsion. A drive. A must.
This is divine because those who are unbelievers care about anything other than obedience. When the expensive pure nard was put on Jesus feet to anoint him before death, Judas cried out, man that could have been sold and used for ministry. Did Judas care about the ministry? No, he cared about money and in fact used to help himself to whatever he wanted from the money bag.
He played the part. But didn’t pass the test. So we must test ourselves. We must test those that we listen to. Do they pass the test? Are they not only speaking the scriptures, but obeying them with their life because they have been changed.
I have known many of both of these types of teachers. But one thing that is true, is that those who are tested and found faithful in teaching and believing the gospel are worth listening to. They don’t need the authority of a denomination… They don’t need the commission of the college degree. They need a robust understanding of the gospel and have proved to put it to work in their life. Which leads me to my second test…
2. What does their life tell about them?
Have you met their wife? You can tell a lot about a man by how he and his wife treat each other.… Have you met their kids? You can tell a lot about a man by how his kids do or do not respect him. What does his friends say about him? What is his history with others Churches, in other communities? Can you see the fruit of genuine faithfulness that only the Gospel can produce?
1 Timothy 3 says that an elder must be above reproach We can take that here in this test too. Measure their life, sift it, and consider, does it hold up? Are they living producing fruit that comes from someone who clings to the vine of Jesus Christ?
A third and final test I might offer is
3. Why are they saying what they are saying?
What do they have to gain from preaching? Is it truly a heart that has marveled at the goodness of the grace of God? Are they truly a soul that has been called and gifted to the work? Or are they out for something? Reputation. Validation. Glorification… A test against the word of God of someone who truly knows God and has God to minister to you, is someone who points you to Christ and not yourself. They may have qeaknesses… Apparently Paul had a sharpness about him that comes up in Acts 15 with the debate about circumxision, but also again with his really good friend barnabas. The sharpness causes them to separate. But was it because Paul was compromised? No. He had nothing to gain, he was willing to be bold and stand up to Peter in his sin! He was willing to risk everything for the sake of Him who saves you by His grace.
This work is divine. It is only by the grace of God that we as Christians can be who we are. Anyone born again, following Christ for any amount of time knows, I am nothing, but He is everything.
