Galatians 2:1-10 sermon

RIGHT HAND OF FELLOWSHIP

IN CHAPTER 1, PAUL ESTABLISHES HIS APOSTLESHIP AND GOSPEL CAME FROM GOD, NOT MAN OR PEOPLE. HERE IN CHAPTER 2 PAUL DEMONSTRATES THAT BOTH WERE VALIDATED BY THE LEADERS OF THE CHURCH IN JERUSALEM. HE PRESENTS THIS TO EASE THE MINDS OF THE GALTATIANS REGARDING THE LEGITIMACY OF HIS APOSTLESHIP AND GOSPEL MESSAGE. THE MEETING THAT PAUL DESCRIBES IN THIS PASSAGE LIKELY CORRESPONDS WITH THE JERUSALEM COUNCIL MTG DESCRIBED IN

…AND SOME MEN CAME DOWN FROM JUDEA AND BEGAN TEACHING THE BRETHREN, ‘UNLESS YOU ARE CIRCUMCISED ACCORDING TO THE CUSTOM OF MOSES, YOU CANNOT BE SAVED.’ AND WHEN PAUL AND BARNABAS HAD GREAT DISSENSION AND DEBATE WITH THEM, THE BRETHREN DETERMINED THAT PAUL AND BARNABAS AND CERTAIN OTHERS OF THEM SHOULD GO UP TO JERUSALEM TO THE APOSTLES AND ELDERS CONCERNING THIS ISSUE...

RICHARD LONGNECKER WRITES… SETS BEFORE US A PROTOTYPE OF MUTUAL RECOGNITION AND CONCERN FOR ONE ANOTHER, DESPITE OUR DIFFERENCES. IT TEACHES US…HOW TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THINGS THAT REALLY MATTER AND THINGS OF LESSER IMPORTANCE…, WHERE TO STAND FIRM AND WHERE TO CONCEDE, AND EVEN WHEN TO DEFY PEOPLE AND PRESSURES AND WHEN TO SHAKE HANDS AND RECIPROCATE WITH EXPRESSIONS OF MUTUAL CONCERN.”

before us a prototype of mutual recognition and concern for one another, despite our differences. It teaches us … how to distinguish between things that really matter and things of lesser importance …, where to stand firm and where to concede, and even when to defy people and pressures and when to shake hands and reciprocate with expressions of mutual concern.(Richard Longnecker

V1 OF THEN AFTER AN INTERVAL OF FOURTEEN YEARS… FROM HIS FIRST VISIT WHEN HE MET PETER AND JAMES. DURING THE PREVIOUS SEVENTEEN YEARS HE HAD PREACHED THE GOSPEL WITHOUT ANY HUMAN INSTRUCTION, HIS MESSAGE WAS GIVEN TO HIM BY GOD’S DIRECT REVELATION. (1:11-12; 16-17)

PAUL EXPLAINS WHY HIS IS HAVING THIS MEETING OR CONFERENCE IN JERUSALEM. HE GIVES THE IMPRESSION THAT HE WAS THE LEADER OF A DELEGATION WHO EVANGELIZED THE GENTILES.

HE MENTIONS HIS FELLOW TRAVELER AND FRIEND BARNABAS AND HIS COMPANION TITUS, WHO IS A CONVERT FROM PAUL’S MINISTRY. HE PRESENTS HIMSELF AS AN EXPERT ON JEWISH-GENTILE RELATIONS. HE ADDS THAT HIS COMING WAS ALSO A REVELATION. (V2) THIS BEING ANOTHER PROOF THAT HIS DIRECTIONS COME FROM HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD, AND NOT FROM THE AUTHORITY OF THE JERUSALEM LEADERSHIP.

PAUL’S PURPOSE FOR ATTENDING THE CONFERENCE WAS DUE TO THE FACT THAT HE AS THE LEADER OF MINISTRY TO THE GENTILES THAT HE HAVE THE TRUST AND SUPPORT OF THE JERUSALEM CHURCH OR HE MOST LIKELY WOULD FACE DOUBTS AND STRIFE CONTINUALLY.

HE WANTED THE CHURCHES IN GALATIA TO KNOW AND UNDERSTAND THAT ALTHOUGH HE RECEIVED HIS MESSAGE INDEPENDENTLY OF THE OTHER APOSTLES, HE PREACHED A MESSAGE IDENTICAL TO THEIRS, A FACT THEY ACKNOWLEDGED. PAUL PREACHED A GOSPEL THAT WAS INDEPENDENT OF HOW THE OTHERS RECEIVED THIERS BUT THE CONTENT THEY BOTH PREACHED WAS IDENTICAL.

NOW FROM THE BEGINNING, THE TRUE LEADERS OF THE CHURCH ACCEPTED PAUL AND HIS POSITION; BUT THERE WERE OTHERS WHO WERE OUT TO REIGN HIM IN. THERE WERE THOSE WHO, AS HAS BEEN MENTIONED, ACCEPTED XIANITY BUT BELIEVED THAT GOD NEVER GAVE ACCEPTANCE TO ANYONE WHO WAS NOT A JEW. THEREFORE, BEFORE A MAN COULD BECOME A XIAN, HE MUST BE CIRCUMCISED AND LIVE UNDER THE MOSAIC LAW.

THE REASON WHY PAUL MENTIONS THIS VISIT TO JERUSALEM IN SUCH DETAIL, IS THAT HIS REFERRING THE MATTER OF CIRCUMCISION TO THE JERUSALEM CHURCH AND THE TWELVE WAS NOT AS AN ACT OF SUBMISSION OR AN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF HIS INFERIORITY TO THE JERUSALEM APOSTLES.

BUT PAUL BRINGS OUT THE FACT THAT HE HAD OBTAINED THE CONDEMNATION OF THE JUDAIZERS WHO HAD INSISTED ON CIRCUMCISION, HAD BEEN RECEIVED BY JAMES, PETER, AND JOHN IN BROTHERLY FELLOWSHIP, AND THAT PAUL WAS FULLY RECOGNIZED AS AN APOSTLE TO THE GENTILES.

WELL, WHO IS BARNABAS AND TITUS THAT PAUL MENTIONS HERE? IN THE EARLY YEARS OF PAUL’S MINISTRY, BARNABAS WAS HIS CLOSEST ASSOCIATE. THE NAME BARNABAS MEANS SON OF ENCOURAGEMENT. PAUL MOST LIKELY OWED MORE TO HIM THAN TO ANY OTHER. YOU SEE, IT WAS BARNABAS WHO BEFRIENDED HIM WHEN EVERYONE ELSE IN JERUSALEM WAS SUSPICIOUS AND AFRAID OF PAUL. AND IT WAS BARNABAS WHO GAVE PAUL AN OPPORTUNITY FOR A BROADER MINISTRY IN ANTIOCH ().

NOT ONLY THAT, BUT BARNABAS WAS PAUL’S COMPANION ON THE FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY. BUT ALSO , BARNABAS WOULD CARRY MUCH WEIGHT WITH PAUL’S OPPONENTS BECAUSE NO HEBREW CHRISTIAN WOULD QUESTION THE DOCTRINE AND PRACTICES OF BARNABAS. HE WAS ONE OF THE MOST DISTINGUISHED MEN IN THE JUDEO-CHIRSTIAN COMMUNITY.

NOW TITUS WAS A GREEK AS VS3 MENTIONS. THAT IS, HE WAS A GENTILE. HE HAD NOT BEEN CIRCUMCISED AND PERHAPS THAT IS THE REASON FOR PAUL BRINGING HIM TO JERUSALEM. TITUS WAS A CONVERTED GENTILE AND HE IS PROOF OF THE EFFECT OF PAUL’S GOSPEL MINISTRY.

DO YOU, LIKE PAUL, HAVE A TITUS? SOMEONE WHO IS PROOF OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOUR LIFE AS A DISCIPLER? SOME OF US MAY BE SOMEONE’S TITUS; YOU ARE THE PROOF OF ANOTHER PERSON’S GOSPEL LIVING. FRIEND, WE SHOULD ALL HAVE A TITUS IN OUR LIVES. IF YOU DON’T THEN ASK THE LORD TO SEND YOU ONE AND SHARE WITH THEM WHAT YOU KNOW AND THEN LEARN MORE TOGETHER.

SO PAUL HAS COME TO THE COUNCIL OR CONFERENCE TO FURTHER PROOVE THAT HIS DIRECTIONS COME FROM HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD, AND NOT FROM THE JERUSALEM LEADERSHIP.

PAUL SAYS THAT HE SUBMITTED THE CONTENT OF HIS PREACHING TO THOSE ‘WHO WERE OF REPUTATION,’ BUT WHAT HE IS NOT SAYING IS THAT HE WAS SEEKING THEIR CORRECTION. AND HE MET IN PRIVATE IN ORDER TO BE SURE THAT THEY COULD BRING A UNITED FRONT TO THE CONFERENCE.

EVEN HERE AS WE READ VS 2 IT IS EVIDENT THAT THE JERUSALEM AGREEMENT WAS NOT A PREREQUISITE TO PAUL CONTINUING HIS MINISTRY. BUT IF THERE WERE TO BE DISAGREEMENTS ON THESE ISSUES, IT WOULD HAVE CERTAINLY LED TO A SPLIT AND WOULD HAVE WEAKENED THE CHURCH. SO EVEN HERE WE SEE GOD’S GRACE AMONG THE LEADERSHIP SO THAT THE GOSPEL WOULD BE ABLE TO REACH THE WORLD.

AGAIN IN VERSE 3 PAUL BRINGS UP TITUS WHO MOST LIKELY WAS KNOW BY ALL THAT WERE THERE THAT HE WAS A GREEK OR GENTILE. PAUL IS LETTING THE JEWS KNOW THAT GENTILES HAVE A NEW STATUS IN CHRIST. EVEN THOUGH TITUS WAS AMONG A CONFERENCE FULL OF JEWS HE WAS TREATED AS HAVING A FULLY LEGITIMATE RIGHT TO FELLOWSHIP AMONG THEM DUE TO THE FACT OF HIS FAITH IN CHRIST ALONE.

IF THIS IS THE CASE THEN WHAT IS THE REASON FOR ADDRESSING THIS SITUATION. WELL, PAUL TELLS THE GALATIANS IN VS4 …BECAUSE OF THE FALSE BRETHREN WHO HAD SNEAKED IN…THESE WERE THE SAME ONES WHO ARE ATTEMPTING TO MAKE THEM SLAVES TO THE LAW AGAIN. THERE ARE THREE THINGS ABOUT THESE FALSE BRETHREN:

THEY SNEAKED IN OR COULD HAVE BEEN PLANTED IN THE CHURCH BY OUTSIDERS OR SMUGGLED IN BY POSSIBLY THOSE WITHIN THE CHURCH.

THEY CAME TO SPY OUT THEIR LIBERTY: THAT IS TO SAY, THEY WERE SEEKING EVIDENCE THAT THE JEWS WERE DISREGARDING THE MOSAIC LAW FOR JEWISH CHRISTIANS. THEY WERE SEEKING OUT INFORMATION TO OVERTHROW THE LIBERTY AND FREEDOM FOUND IN JESUS CHRIST.

TO BRING US INTO BONDAGE: THEY HOPED TO ENFORCE THE JEWISH LAW ON PAUL AND ALL OF HIS GENTILE CONVERTS.

PAUL IMPLIES THAT FOR THE GALATIANS TO GIVE IN TO THEM WOULD MEAN THE LOSS OF THEIR FREEDOM. PAUL IS TELLING THE GALATIANS THAT THE SAME FALSE TEACHERS THAT INFILTRATED THE COUNCIL IN JERUSALEM ARE THE SAME ONES WHO ARE PLAGUING THE CHURCHES IN GALATIA. AND THEY SHOULD NOT YEILD TO THESE FALSE BRETHREN SO THAT THE TRUE GOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM WOULD REMAIN WITH THEM.

FOR ME, MY MIND WENT TO JUDE VS 3-4: TURN WITH ME THERE.

IF PAUL OR THE GALATIANS YIELD TO THESE FALSE BROTHERS THEN THE GENTILES WOULD HAVE BEEN ROBBED OF THE TRUE GOSPEL AND BEEN LEFT WITH A FALSE GOSPEL. PAUL SENSING THAT THE INTEGRITY OF THE GOSPEL WAS AT STAKE, PAUL WAS ADAMANT, AND STOOD HIS GROUND AND WON THE VICTORY.

IN OTHER WORDS; WITH PAUL DEFENDING THE CASE OF TITUS, PAUL FELT THAT HE WAS FIGHTING A BATTLE FOR THE WHOLE XIAN COMMUNITY. SO THE VICTORY WON IN JERUSALEM, FOR ALL PRACTICAL PURPOSES, WAS A VICTORY FOR THE GALATIAN CHRISTIANS.

FRIENDS ARE WE AS ADAMANT FOR THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL AND GOD’S WORD AS WE SHOULD BE? IF NOT, WHY NOT? ARE WE MORE CONCERNED ABOUT WHAT OTHERS MIGHT SAY OR THINK ABOUT US? AS PAUL SAID, …FOR AM I NOW SEEKING THE FAVOR OF MEN, OR OF GOD?…1:10

MOVING ON TO VERSES 7-9 WE SEE THE POSITIVE SIDE OF PAUL’S RELATIONSHIP WITH PETER, JAMES, AND JOHN. INSTEAD OF GIVING OR IMPARTING ANY NEW TRUTH, THESE PILLAR APOSTLES ACKNOWLEDGED AND AGREED THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL THAT PAUL WAS PREACHING. RECOGNIZING THE GENUINENESS OF HIS CALLING, AND WERE IN AGREEMENT THAT PAUL WAS EQUALLY AN APOSTLE AS THEY WERE.

TWO THINGS LED TO THIS DETERMINATION:

FIRST, THEY, PETER, JAMES, AND JOHN, SAW IN A SPIRITUAL AND MENTAL SENSE THE DIVINE SOURCE OF PAUL’S MINISTRY. GOD HAD OBVIOUSLY SET HIM APART FOR A SPECIAL WORK AMONG THE GENTILES (UNCIRCUMCISED), JUST AS PETER HAD BEEN GIVEN A SPECIAL MINISTRY AMONG THE JEWS (CIRCUMCISED). THE SAME GOD WHO COMMISSIONED PETER TO PREACH TO THE ONE COMMISSIONED PAUL TO THE OTHER. BOTH WERE ACCOUNTABLE TO GOD. SO PETER HAD A MINISTRY TO THE JEWS AND PAUL HAD A MINISTRY TO THE GENTILES.

THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT PAUL WOULD NEVER SEEK TO WIN THE JEWS. AS A MATTER OF FACT, HE HAD A BURDEN FOR HIS PEOPLE, EVERY CITY HE WOULD VISIT HE WOULD FIRST GO TO THE JEWISH SYNAGOGUE AND START HIS WORK AMONG HIS OWN PEOPLES.

PETER NEVER EXCLUDED FROM MINISTERING TO THE GENTILES AS WELL. BUT EACH MAN WOULD CONCENTRATE HIS WORK IN HIS OWN SPHERE ASSIGNED TO HIM BY THE HOLY SPIRIT.

THEN VS8 AFFIRMS THAT THE GOD WHO COMMISSIONED THE TWO MEN EMPOWERED BOTH OF THEM FOR THEIR WORK AND SEALED THEIR MINISTRIES WITH SPIRITUAL FRUIT.

VS9 IS THE SECOND THING THAT SHOWS PAUL WAS LEGIT. THIS VERSE RESUMES THE THOUGHT OF VS7. JAMES, PETER AND JOHN WHO WERE PILLARS IN THE JERUSALEM CHURCH RECOGNIZED THE GRACE THAT HAD BEEN GIVEN TO PAUL. MOST LIKELY PAUL MENTIONS THESE MEN BECAUSE OF THEIR REPUTATION AND THIS WOULD HELP IN THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE AGREEMENT WITH THEM.

THE GIVING OF ‘RIGHT HANDS’ WAS THE OUTWARD TOKEN OF A MUTUAL COMPACT OR AGREEMENT. THEY RECOGNIZED PAUL AS A COLLEAGUE IN THE APOSTLESHIP, AND THAT THE SAME GOSPEL WAS BEING PREACHED TO JEW AND GENTILE.

THE GIVING OF THE RIGHT HAND IN PLEDGE WAS NOT A DISTINCTIVELY JEWISH CUSTOM. IT APPEARS AS EARLY AS HOMER. THE CUSTOM PREVAILED AMONG THE PERSIANS, FROM WHOM IT MAY HAVE PASSED ON TO THE JEWS. JOSEPHUS SPEAKS OF SUCH CUSTOMS IN HIS WRITINGS. TO GIVE THE HAND IN CONFIRMATION OF A PROMISE OCCURS IN , WERE GOD SWEARS BY HIS RIGHT HAND.

Word Studies in the New Testament Chapter 2

The giving of the right hand in pledge was not a distinctively Jewish custom. It appears as early as Homer. Deissmann cites an inscription from Pergamum, 98 B.C., in which the Pergamenes offer to adjust the strife between Sardes and Ephesus, and send a mediator δοῦναι τὰς χεῖρας εἰς σύλλυσιν to give hands for a treaty. See δεξιὰν or δεξιὰς διδόναι, 1 Macc. 6:58; 11:50, 62; 13:50; 2 Macc. 11:26; 12:11; 13:22; and δεξ. λαμβάνειν to receive right hand or hands, 1 Macc. 11:66; 13:50; 2 Macc. 12:12; 14:19.* The custom prevailed among the Persians, from whom it may have passed to the Jews. See Joseph. Antiq. xviii. 9, 3. Images of right hands clasped were sometimes exchanged in token of friendship (see Xen. Anab. ii. 4, 1). Tacitus (Hist. i. 54) says: “The state of the Lingones had sent, according to an ancient institution, right hands, as gifts to the legions, a signal token of good will.” On Roman coins often appear two hands joined, with various inscriptions, as Exercituum Fides; Concordia; Consensus. To give the hand in confirmation of a promise occurs Ez. 10:19. In Isa. 62:8, God swears by his right hand.

…THE LORD HAS SWORN BY HIS RIGHT HAND AND BY HIS STRONG ARM...

THE JERUSALEM CONFERENCE BEGAN WITH A GREAT POSSIBILITY FOR DIVISION AND DISSENSION; YET IT ENDED WITH COOPERATION AND AGREEMENT.

SAYS…BEHOLD, HOW GOOD AND HOW PLEASANT IT IS FOR BROTHERS TO DWELL TOGETHER IN UNITY!...

PERHAPS WE NEED TO PRACTICE THE SAME COOPERATION TODAY. WE NEED TO RECOGNIZE THE FACT THAT GOD CALLS PEOPLE TO DIFFERENT MINISTRIES IN DIFFERENT PLACES; YET WE ALL PREACH THE SAME GOSPEL AND ARE SEEKING TO WORK TOGETHER TO BUILD HIS CHURCH. AMONG TRUE FOLLOWERS OF JESUS CHRIST THERE CAN BE NO SUCH THING AS ‘COMPETITION.’

SAYS…NOW THERE ARE VARIETIES OF GIFTS, BUT THE SAME SPIRIT. AND THERE ARE VARIETIES OF MINISTRIES, AND THE SAME LORD. AND THERE ARE VARIETIES OF EFFECTS, BUT THE SAME GOD WHO WORKS ALL THINGS IN ALL PERSONS...

NOW EVEN THOUGH THE CONFERENCE ENDED WITH PAUL AND THE LEADERS IN AGREEMENT, IT DID NOT PERMANENTLY SOLVE THE PROBLEM. THE JUDAIZERS DID NOT GIVE UP, BUT PERSISTED IN INTERFERING WITH PAUL’S WORK AND INVADING THE CHURCHES HE FOUNDED. PAUL CARRIED THE GOOD NEWS OF THE COUNCIL’S DECISION TO THE CHURCH IN ANTIOCH, SYRIA, AND CILICIA () AND IN OTHER AREAS WHERE HE HAD MINISTERED.

BUT THE JUDAIZERS FOLLOWED. STARTING IN ANTIOCH WHERE THEY EVEN SWAYED PETER TO THEIR CAUSE, WHICH WE WILL TAKE A LOOK AT NEXT WEEK.

NOW, THE ONLY REQUEST MADE OF PAUL AND BARNABAS AT JERUSALEM WAS THAT THEY REMEMBER THE POOR. THIS IS NOT A DOCTRINAL PUT PRACTICAL REQUEST. A REMINDER ABOUT THE SPECIAL NEEDS OF BELIEVERS IN JUDEA, ESPECIALLY JERUSALEM.

TO TAKE CARE OF THE POOR IS NOT ONLY A PRACTICAL BUT A SPIRITUAL RESPONSIBILITY, BECAUSE TO FORSAKE THAT RESPONSIBILITY IS TO DISOBEY GOD’S WORD. JAMES SAYS THAT IT IS A SHAM BELIEVER WHO...

…IF A BROTHER OR SISTER IS WITHOUT CLOTHING AND IN NEED OF DAILY FOOD, AND ONE OF YOU SAYS TO THEM, ‘GO IN PEACE, BE WARMED AND BE FILLED,’ AND YET YOU DO NOT GIVE THEM WHAT IS NECESSARY FOR THEIR BODY, WHAT USE IS THAT?...

PAUL WAS EAGER TO DO ALL HE COULD TO FULFILL THE REQUEST OF JAMES, PETER, AND JOHN.

NOW THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT THE JUDAIZERS WENT TO THE CHURCHES OF GALATIA TO SOW THEIR SEEDS OF DISCORD, AND FOR THIS REASON PAUL HAD TO WRITE THE LETTER WE ARE NOW WALKING THROUGH. IT MAY HAVE BEEN WRITTEN FROM ANTIOCH SHORTLY AFTER THE COUNCIL OF JERUSALEM. IN THIS LETTER WE FIND EVERY MAJOR DOCTRINE THAT PAUL BELIEVED, PREACHED, AND WROTE ABOUT IN HIS LATER MINISTRY.

HOW DO YOU AND I SHOW THAT ALLOF THE GOSPEL IS FOR ALL OF LIFE? IF THE GOSPEL IMPACTS ALL OF OUR LIVES; DOES OUR LIFE ONLY SHOW THROUGH WORDS? OR CAN PEOPLE SEE AND EXPERIENCE FIRST HAND, GOSPEL TRANSFORMATION?

ARE WE SENSITIVE TO THE PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL AND THEOLOGICAL NEEDS TO THOSE AROUND US? PERHAPS WE HAVEN’T SEEN THE IMPACT OF OUR LIVES FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD BECAUSE WE HAVE NOT HAD THE GOSPEL IMPACT ALL OF OUR THOUGHTS, WORDS, AND ACTIONS.

....BUT SOMEONE MAY WELL SAY, ‘YOU HAVE FAITH, AND I HAVE WORKS; SHOW ME YOUR FAITH WITHOUT WORKS, AND I WILL SHOW YOU MY FAITH BY MY WORKS.

• How do we show that all of the Gospel is for all of life? If the Gospel impacts all of our lives. Does our life only reflect words? Or can people see and experience first hand, gospel transformation? Are we sensitive to the physical, emotional and theological needs of those around us? Perhaps we haven’t seen the impact of our lives for the kingdom of God because we haven’t had the Gospel impact all of our thoughts, words and actions.

…FOR JUST AS THE BODY WITHOUT THE SPIRIT IS DEAD, SO ALSO FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD...