The Same God
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Good morning, Church! It's good to see each and every one of you who could make it out this morning and I want to welcome everyone who may be joining us online as well — we're so glad you're here with us today!
We’ve been on a journey together for the last few weeks now working our way through the Book of Galatians and I want to take just a moment to recap what we’ve seen thus far before moving on to the text before us this morning.
We started a couple weeks ago in chapter 1, Vs. 1-5, with a message called Rescued — and we saw how that none of us rescued ourselves but rather that the gospel of grace is God's rescue operation and that every one of us who has been saved has been snatched out of the grip of this present evil world by the nail-scarred hands of Jesus Christ.
Then, last week we looked at Vs. 6 -24 with a message called No Other Gospel — and we saw how that the devil can't create, he can only corrupt. We looked at how he took the pure gospel of grace and twisted it just enough to make it deadly and how Paul rang the alarm, defended his authority, and then pointed to his own life as the greatest evidence that this gospel is real.
Now, this morning we're going to move on into chapter 2, Vs. 1-10 — and I want you to stay with me because what we're going to see in these ten verses jumped off the page at me when I was studying this passage this week and I think it’s a foundational truth that we all need to be rooted and grounded in.
I want to start this morning with a very simple question.
Has God ever changed?
Of course not. The Bible says He's the same yesterday, today, and forever, right?
The Bible says in...
6 For I am the Lord, I change not; Therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
And then the writer of Hebrews said this in...
8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
That’s what we believe this morning Church! We know it and we sing about it and we preach about it.
But here is what I want to ask you this morning — are we living like we believe it?
Because here is what was happening in Galatia.
The false teachers — the Judaizers — hadn't come in denying Jesus and that's what made them so dangerous!
They were saying yes to Jesus. They were preaching Christ. But then they were adding to Christ!
They were saying to these Gentile believers in Galatia — Jesus is wonderful, grace is real, the cross is powerful — but it's not enough on its own.
You must also be circumcised.
You must also keep the law of Moses.
You must observe the Jewish dietary laws, the religious calendar, the traditions of the fathers.
You must essentially become a Jew before you can fully belong to God.
In other words — they were putting the yoke of the law right back on the believers who had just been set free from the bondage of the law!
Now, how many of you know what a Yoke is?
For those here who didn’t grew up on a farm or aren’t familiar with what a Yoke is...in the olden days it was a heavy wooden beam that they'd lay across the neck and shoulders of an ox — and it was designed to allow that animal to pull with all it’s power and might the instrument which was attached to it...most of the time that instrument being a plow.
And so this is the picture...in order to accomplish the goal, you had to perform...strenuously...with all your might in order to make the master happy!
But Jesus comes on the scene and says in...Matthew 11:28 — "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
And what He was talking about here was the yoke of the law.
The crushing weight of religious requirement.
The burden of trying to earn your way to God through performance and ritual and rule-keeping that never ends and never satisfies and never gives you a moment's peace.
In Acts 15:10, the Apostle Peter described the law of Moses as "a yoke...which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear."
But Jesus goes on to say here in the second half of that verse...He says — "Take my yoke upon you...for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
What was the Yoke of Christ?
It was grace, Amen! Not the law—not performance based—not the keeping of the 613 laws that man had created but Jesus was teaching that salvation came simply by faith alone in Him alone, Amen!
And that's exactly what Paul — the man who had been set free from that very religious system through an encounter with the risen Christ on that Damascus road — was trying to get across to these Churches here in Galatia.
The truth this passage is going to show us this morning is this...the same God who worked through Peter to reach the Jews is the exact same God who worked through Paul to reach the Gentiles.
The same God who saved Abraham by faith — not by works, not by circumcision, not by law-keeping, but by faith — is the same God who still saves by faith today.
And the same God of the first century Church is the same God of the Church today in 2026!
There is one God, one gospel, and one standard of grace — for every person, from every background, in every generation!
Listen Church, our God has never changed, Amen!
And that's what this morning's message is all about...THE SAME GOD!
So if you have your Bibles with you this morning, and you have them turned to Galatians Chapter 2 Verse 1, would you say Amen.
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.
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.
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.)
7 Instead, they saw that God had given me the responsibility of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as he had given Peter the responsibility of preaching to the Jews.
8 For the same God who worked through Peter as the apostle to the Jews also worked through me as the apostle to the Gentiles.
9 In fact, James, Peter, and John, who were known as pillars of the church, recognized the gift God had given me, and they accepted Barnabas and me as their co-workers. They encouraged us to keep preaching to the Gentiles, while they continued their work with the Jews.
10 Their only suggestion was that we keep on helping the poor, which I have always been eager to do.
Bow with me if you will.
Alright, the first thing I want us to see this morning is this...
A Return by Revelation — (Vs. 1–2)
A Return by Revelation — (Vs. 1–2)
Look with me at verses 1 and 2.
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.
Now let me set the scene for you here for just a moment.
Fourteen years...that's how long it had been since Paul's conversion and his first brief visit to Jerusalem that we seen at the end of the chapter last week.
Fourteen years of preaching the gospel across the Gentile world.
Fourteen years of planting churches, watching people get saved, and seeing lives transformed by the grace of Jesus Christ.
Fourteen years of doing exactly what God had called him to do on the Damascus road.
And now, after all of that — after all those years and all those miles — Paul goes back to Jerusalem.
But I want you to notice something very important here. Look at why he went.
Verse 2 says..."I went there because God revealed to me that I should go.”
Not because of pressure.
Not because somebody forced him to go defend himself.
Not because the Jerusalem church sent a delegation demanding that he report to them.
He went because God told him to go.
Warren Wiersbe — "Paul didn't go to Jerusalem to get the approval of the apostles for his ministry or his message. He went because God directed him to go. His authority came from God, not from men, and his return to Jerusalem was itself an act of obedience to God." — The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: New Testament, Warren Wiersbe
Did you catch that?
The same God who had stopped Paul on the Damascus road fourteen years earlier — the same God who had revealed the gospel to him directly and sent him to the Gentiles — that same God was still directing his steps.
And can I tell you something this morning Church?
That same God is still in the business of directing steps today, Amen!
He directed Noah to build an ark.
He directed Abraham to leave his homeland.
He directed Moses to stand before Pharaoh.
He directed Paul to go back to Jerusalem.
And He's still directing the steps of His people today.
5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; And lean not unto thine own understanding.
6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, And he shall direct thy paths.
Now, I want you to notice something else the Bible says here in verse 2...when Paul got to Jerusalem, he communicated the gospel he had been preaching..."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.”
He wasn't trying to cause a public scene. He wasn't marching into the Jerusalem church demanding they endorse his ministry in front of everyone.
He went privately — wisely, humbly — to the key leaders and said, let me show you what God has been doing among the Gentiles.
Chuck Swindoll — "Paul's private meeting with the Jerusalem leaders wasn't an act of submission to their authority — it was an act of wisdom. He wasn't asking for their approval. He was sharing what God had done and making sure that the work of the gospel wouldn't be unnecessarily divided by a public confrontation that could have been avoided." — Galatians: Grace Under Attack, Chuck Swindoll
And then Paul names the two men who accompanied him.
Barnabas — a Jewish believer...the son of encouragement...a man who had vouched for Paul when the rest of the church was still afraid of him.
And Titus — a Greek...a Gentile...an uncircumcised believer who had come to faith through the pure gospel of grace.
Now, I don't think it was an accident that Paul brought Titus.
Titus was a living, breathing example of exactly what Paul had been preaching. Here was a man who had been saved by grace through faith — without circumcision, without the law of Moses, without any of the Jewish religious requirements that the false teachers were demanding.
Titus was the exhibit A...evidence in the flesh of what God had been doing through his ministry to the Gentiles!
And the fact that he came along is about to become very important in verses 3 through 5.
So we begin by seeing that the same God who called Paul sent him back to Jerusalem. But I also want us to see how that...
It was a Gospel that Couldn't be Compromised — (Vs. 3–5)
It was a Gospel that Couldn't be Compromised — (Vs. 3–5)
Look with me if you will at verses 3 through 5.
3 And they supported me and did not even demand that my companion Titus be circumcised, though he was a Gentile.
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.
Now this is where it gets interesting.
Titus was there and he was a Gentile, right?
And the pressure was enormous to have him circumcised — to make him, in the eyes of the Judaizers, fully acceptable before God.
But Paul says — not a chance!
Now, let me help you understand what was at stake here. Because this isn't just an ancient debate about a religious ceremony. No, this is about the very nature of the gospel itself.
If Paul had yielded — if he had said, alright, just this once, let Titus be circumcised to keep the peace — what would that have said?
It would have said that Jesus isn't quite enough!
It would have said that grace needs a little help.
It would have said that what Christ did on the cross is wonderful — but it needs to be supplemented by what you do in your body.
And that would have been a deadly, soul-destroying lie.
So Paul stood firm. The Bible says here in...
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.
I love that!
“We refused to give into them for a single moment!”
Why?
Because Paul understood something that the Church in every generation needs to understand.
You can't compromise the gospel...even just a little bit!
And you don’t negotiate when it comes to grace.
Because if you give the false teachers an inch, they’ll take a mile — and the mile they’ll take will lead people straight to a Christ-less eternity.
Adrian Rogers — "The moment you add anything to the gospel of grace — anything at all — you have destroyed it. You can't add to what is already complete. You can't improve on what is already perfect. The blood of Jesus Christ is sufficient. It's not sufficient plus your works. It's not sufficient plus your religion. It's sufficient. Period." — The Adrian Rogers Legacy Collection, Adrian Rogers
And look at how Paul describes these false teachers in verse 4.
In the KJV, Paul calls them..."false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty."
The word "privily" means secretly...stealthily — like a spy infiltrating enemy territory.
These men had not announced themselves as opponents of the gospel.
They had slipped in quietly, wearing the right clothes, using the right vocabulary, sitting in the right seats — and then working from the inside to undermine what God had built.
And Paul says they came to do one thing — “They sneaked in to spy on us and take away the freedom we have in Christ Jesus.”
The KJV says…“to bring us into bondage."
That word “bondage” that Paul uses here is the Greek word (douleia) — the word for slavery...complete, total, binding slavery.
The Judaizers wanted to take people who had been set free by the grace of Jesus Christ and put them back in the chains made of religious requirements and human performance and law-keeping.
And listen friend, that same enemy is still at work in the world today!
Vance Havner — "The church's greatest danger isn't the atheist on the outside but the Judaizer on the inside — the one who says 'yes' to Jesus and then adds a long list of religious requirements that slowly strangle the life out of the grace of God." — Playing Marbles with Diamonds, Vance Havner
But Paul wouldn't yield...not for a single moment — because he understood that the truth of the gospel was at stake! And he believed that the same God who had given him that gospel was the same God who would sustain him in defending it.
So, we've seen how that the same God sent Paul back to Jerusalem by revelation and then, how that we cannot compromise when it comes to the gospel but the most powerful thing in this passage is still to come...look with me if you will at Verses 6-10 at...
One God, One Gospel, Two Fields — (Vs. 6–10)
One God, One Gospel, Two Fields — (Vs. 6–10)
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.)
7 Instead, they saw that God had given me the responsibility of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as he had given Peter the responsibility of preaching to the Jews.
8 For the same God who worked through Peter as the apostle to the Jews also worked through me as the apostle to the Gentiles.
9 In fact, James, Peter, and John, who were known as pillars of the church, recognized the gift God had given me, and they accepted Barnabas and me as their co-workers. They encouraged us to keep preaching to the Gentiles, while they continued their work with the Jews.
10 Their only suggestion was that we keep on helping the poor, which I have always been eager to do.
Now right here in the beginning of verse 8 is the heartbeat of this entire passage and what jumped out at me as I began to study this week.
Paul says...
8 For the same God who worked through Peter as the apostle to the Jews also worked through me as the apostle to the Gentiles.
The same God who was at work in Peter preaching to the Jews was the exact same God who was at work in Paul preaching to the Gentiles.
Not a different God for different people.
Not a Jewish God for Jews and a Gentile God for Gentiles.
One God...working through two different men...in two different fields...with one identical message!
And I want to stop here for just a moment and let that sink in this morning.
Because what Paul is saying goes far beyond just him and Peter.
What Paul is saying reaches all the way back to the beginning of time and all the way forward to this very moment!
The same God who spoke the universe into existence is the same God who spoke to Moses from a burning bush.
The same God who parted the Red Sea is the same God who raised Jesus from the dead.
The same God who worked through Peter in Jerusalem is the same God who worked through Paul in Galatia.
And the same God who was saving people in the first century is the same God who is saving people in 21st century, Amen!
He’s the same God, yesterday, today, and forever and praise God He’s still in the saving business today, Amen!
A.W. Tozer — "The immutability of God is one of the most comforting truths in all of Scripture. He can't change for the better — because He's already perfect. He can't change for the worse — because He's already holy. What He was, He is. What He is, He always will be. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and He's your God today." — The Knowledge of the Holy, A.W. Tozer
Can I get an Amen this morning?!
Listen to me this morning dear friend, the same God who saved Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was the same God who saved Peter, James, and John and the same God who saved Peter, James, and John, is the same God who saved each and every born again believer here this morning, Amen!
He doesn’t age. He doesn’t fade. He doesn’t falter or fail or get weary or tired. His saving power is still as strong today as it was the day He saved Abraham by faith. And what I want you to know this morning dear friend is this… if you need to be saved this morning, He’s still in the saving business and if you will put your faith and trust in God’s one and only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, you too can be saved this morning!
Oh dear friend, don’t think it’s a hard thing for my God to save you, Amen!
If you will come, He will save! It’s that simple this morning honey!
The only thing you can do is what every sinner down through the ages has been able to do and that’s bring your rags for his riches...your sins for His salvation...your burdens for Him to bear!
Praise God the old hymn we often sing...Rock of Ages...says it best — Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling!”
Dear friend, if you will come to that cross this morning and admit that you’re a sinner, that you’ve sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and then believe upon the fact that Jesus Christ is God’s one and only Son who took your place on that cross, in your stead, and paid the price for your sins...if you will believe that this morning dear friend and put your faith in the saving blood of Jesus Christ, the Bible says you shall be saved!
The Bible says in...
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
That’s all it takes this morning dear friend! Just simple childlike faith in the finished work of the Lord, Jesus Christ!
If you will submit to God’s call and do just that, the same God who saved this ole wretched sinner will save you too, Amen!
If God’s dealing with your heart this morning dear friend, won’t you come? Don’t put God off. Don’t wait until the invitation. Just come on now and get things right with God.
Don’t you worry about hindering me. I’ll just keep on preaching. We have plenty of people who can come and pray with you and would be willing to help you but the most important thing is that you simply come.
Now look on down with me as we bring this to a close at what Paul says about the Jerusalem leaders in verse 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.)
This isn't Paul being disrespectful to the apostles in Jerusalem but rather He's making a profound theological statement here.
God does not play favorites.
He doesn’t have a VIP section.
He doesn’t look at the pedigree of the preacher or the prestige of the platform.
He looks at the heart.
He looks at the message.
He looks at whether the gospel is being proclaimed in its purity and its power.
Tony Evans — "God isn't impressed with titles or reputations or religious credentials. He's impressed with one thing — faithfulness to His Word. The man who preaches the pure gospel of grace faithfully in a small country church is just as honored in heaven as the man who preaches it to thousands." — Theology You Can Count On, Tony Evans
And then look at what the Jerusalem leaders added to Paul in verse 6.
NOTHING!
Not one single thing.
They didn't correct his doctrine.
They didn't supplement his gospel.
They didn't add requirements or conditions or fine print.
When they heard and seen, as proof in Titus, what God had been doing through Paul among the Gentiles, they had nothing to add because there was nothing to add.
The gospel was complete.
It was the same gospel they were preaching.
It was the same God who was working in both the Jews and the Gentiles.
And then comes one of the most beautiful moments in this entire passage — look at verse 9.
9 In fact, James, Peter, and John, who were known as pillars of the church, recognized the gift God had given me, and they accepted Barnabas and me as their co-workers. They encouraged us to keep preaching to the Gentiles, while they continued their work with the Jews.
The KJV says…“they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship.”
The right hand of fellowship.
Now I want you to understand what this meant in the ancient world.
When two men extended the right hand to one another, it was a solemn act. It was a covenant gesture — a declaration that said — we're partners...we're in this together. We preach the same gospel. We serve the same God. We're on the same team.
The word translated "fellowship" here is the Greek word (koinonia) — a word many of you have heard me use before — and it means shared participation, common life, partnership in a cause.
It's the same word used in Acts 2:42 when the early church devoted itself to "the apostles' doctrine and fellowship."
What James and Peter and John were saying to Paul and Barnabas was this — you belong with us.
Your gospel is our gospel.
Your God is our God.
You go to the Gentiles and we'll go to the Jews — but we're all serving the same King, preaching the same message, and working toward the same eternal goal.
William Barclay — "The right hand of fellowship wasn't merely a friendly gesture. It was a recognition that the grace of God does not divide — it unites. The same grace that saved a Jewish fisherman in Galilee was the same grace that stopped a Gentile-hunting Pharisee on the Damascus road. One grace. One God. One gospel for all of humanity." — The Letters to the Galatians and Ephesians, William Barclay
And then look at the one practical thing they asked of Paul in verse 10.
10 Their only suggestion was that we keep on helping the poor, which I have always been eager to do.
Remember the poor.
Out of everything they could have asked — out of all the theological discussions and doctrinal clarifications and ministry assignments — this is what they landed on...help the poor.
And here is what I love about this statement...
The same God who saves souls also cares about suffering people.
The same gospel that sets men free from sin also sends them out to serve the least and the last and the lost.
And the same Jesus who died on the cross for our sins also said "inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
True gospel faith always produces genuine compassion.
D.L. Moody — "If a man has the grace of God in his heart, you will soon find it in his hands. The gospel that does not change the way a man treats his neighbor hasn't truly changed the man." — Sovereign Grace: Its Source, Its Nature, and Its Effects, D.L. Moody
And Paul says — "this is something I have always been eager to do."
He didn't have to be asked twice. He was already eager to do it. Because that's what the same God produces in the hearts of His people — a readiness, a willingness, and an eagerness to serve.
Conclusion
Conclusion
As we come to a close this morning, I want to take just a moment here and try to bring this home.
We live in a world that's constantly telling us that God changes.
That the God of the Old Testament is different from the God of the New Testament.
Some even go as far as to say that the Old Testament isn’t even relevant anymore.
They tell us that the God who worked in the early Church was somehow more powerful than the God who works today.
That grace is something God gives in different measures to different people based on their background or their nationality or their religious tradition.
And this passage says — no, no, no.
The same God who worked through Peter is the same God who worked through Paul.
The same God of the Jews is the same God of the Gentiles.
The same God of the first century church is the same God of the Church in 2026.
He hasn't changed.
He hasn't diminished.
He hasn't taken a step back.
He hasn't revised His gospel or adjusted His grace or updated His requirements.
He's the same.
His gospel is the same.
His word is the same.
And His grace is sufficient — the same today as it was the day Paul wrote these words.
And what that means is this...that every person in this room this morning — no matter your background, no matter your nationality, no matter your past, no matter what you've done or where you've been — you have access to the same God...the same grace...the same gospel...the same right hand of fellowship.
Charles Spurgeon said it this way — "The same Jesus who walked on the water and calmed the storm is the same Jesus who can calm the storm in your soul this very morning. He hasn't changed. His power hasn't diminished. His grace hasn't run dry. Come to Him just as you are — and find that He's exactly who He has always been." — The Treasury of David, Charles Spurgeon
The same God.
Yesterday. Today. Forever.
And He's here this morning.
Invitation
Invitation
As we come to a close, and they come get us a song, I don’t know your hearts this morning. I don’t know your needs. I don’t know what you have going on in your life but what I do know is this...the same God who flung the stars into existence and created everything under the sun is the same God who seen fit to save mankind for no good reason at all other than because He loves us.
Dear friend, God loves you this morning. And our Great God wants a relationship with you. Imagine that for just a moment...the God of all creation knows you by name, knows everything about you, and simply wants to have a relationship with you!
Dear friend, if God is speaking to your heart this morning, during this invitation, if you feel that He’s impressing upon you the need for salvation, if the Holy Spirit is moving in your heart telling you that you need to be saved, won’t you come and get things right this morning?
This altar is open and there’s a spot reserved just for you. Won’t you come!
Maybe you are saved but somewhere along the way you have forgotten just how big a God we serve and you need to come back to God and just ask Him to help you with whatever it is you have going on this morning. Dear friend, if that is you, the altar is open...won’t you come.
Let us pray.
