Galatians 2
Paul Accepted by the Apostles
2 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. 2 I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain. 3 But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. 4 Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— 5 to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. 6 And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me. 7 On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised 8 (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), 9 and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.
Paul Opposes Peter
11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. 13 And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”
Justified by Faith
15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
17 But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18 For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. 19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
The apostles in Jerusalem recognize Paul as an apostle to the Gentiles
(2:1–10)
It is not until fourteen years after his conversion that Paul visits Jerusalem again. He goes there because God has told him to go—not because the church leaders have summoned him.
A prophet, Agabus, has predicted that there will be a famine throughout the Roman empire. Paul and Barnabas are sent by the church in Antioch with aid for the Christians in Jerusalem (Acts 11:27–30).
While Paul is in Jerusalem, he checks his gospel message with the original apostles. There is pressure from some Jewish Christians to circumcise Gentile converts. Paul strongly disagrees with the idea. Such people are ‘false believers’ trying to enslave the new Christians in the requirements of the Jewish law.
Paul has brought Barnabas and Titus with him. Barnabas is a Jew who was a leading and generous member of the Jerusalem church in the early days. Titus is a Greek Christian—one of the people the Jewish pressure group wants to circumcise.
Paul says that the apostles in Jerusalem have nothing to add to his message. The gospel that Paul has received directly from God is the very same gospel of Jesus Christ that they are preaching. They recognize that Paul has been called to be an apostle to the Gentiles, just as Peter has been called to be an apostle to the Jews. They shake hands on their partnership. And there is no talk of circumcising Titus.
Paul has rebuked Peter for hypocrisy
(2:11–14)
Now Paul recounts another episode. Since the handshake with Peter in Jerusalem there has been an argument with Peter in Antioch.
‘Antioch’ is not the Pisidian Antioch in Galatia, but the capital of Syria in Asia. This Antioch is the home base of the lively church that first sent Paul and Barnabas off on a missionary journey.
Peter has visited the church in Antioch and joined in fellowship with the Gentile Christians. He shared meals with them, eating their food, with no worries that they weren’t strict Jews.
But when members of the Jewish pressure group arrived from Jerusalem, Peter changed. He started eating separately from the Gentile Christians because they weren’t circumcised. He also influenced others (even Barnabas) to do the same.
Paul saw this behaviour as a double standard. Peter knew very well that the Gentiles were complete Christians. It was he who visited and baptized the Roman centurion Cornelius. But Peter was also a coward who gave in to pressure. Just as he once disowned Jesus by lying to a serving maid, so he now betrayed his Gentile fellowship.
Paul challenged Peter directly and in public. The Christian church must not be split on this issue of circumcision. No Jew has ever been saved by being circumcised, so why should the custom be inflicted on non-Jews? Salvation comes through faith in God’s grace, not by keeping the Jewish law.
Paul has made a crucial point. His argument will lead to the Council of Jerusalem, which will decide that Gentile Christians need not be circumcised. If Peter’s hypocrisy had infected the whole church, the result would have been a split between Jewish and Gentile Christians. It may even have caused the true gospel to be lost—sunk without trace beneath the waves of Jewish legalism.
Grace and not law is the way to life with God
(2:15–21)
Jewish Christians know that they have been put right with God through faith in Jesus Christ. The Jewish law is good in itself, but no one has ever managed to keep it.
The law, in the end, can only declare us guilty. But trusting in Jesus Christ allows us to be ‘justified’—that is, declared ‘not guilty’. Jesus has borne the penalty of our sin, so that we can go free.
The Jews made a great effort to keep God’s law, and were proud of their achievements. Those Jews who became Christians felt that the law was still the best guide to good living, and wanted Gentile Christians to accept it too. Without it, the Gentile Christians would still be sinners.
Paul argues strongly that faith in Christ is enough. When we come to Christ we die to our old life and rise to his new life. I am no longer right with God through my own efforts, but through Jesus’ life in me.