Galatians #2

Recap

If we want to please Christ we need to view our lives through the lens of the gospel, instead of viewing the gospel through the lens of our lives.

Written around 50 A.D. (17 years after the death of Christ)

The events in record part of the happenings around the book Galatians.

Intro

The big question from last week; Who are we trying to please? Is continued throughout the book of Galatians.

Scripture

Galatians 1:11–24 NIV

11 I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. 12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. 13 For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. 14 I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. 15 But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. 17 I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus. 18 Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days. 19 I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother. 20 I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie. 21 Then I went to Syria and Cilicia. 22 I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23 They only heard the report: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they praised God because of me.

Galatians 1:11-24

What Paul is doing in this autobiographical narrative is to make clear that he did not receive his gospel as a tradition from the Jerusalem apostles; he is not, therefore, their subordinate (as a disciple passing on tradition from his teachers would be). This means that when we move to the next few verses, Paul is not challenging anyone’s authority or pushing back against a tradition of Christianity that he was expected to uphold, he is clearly referencing a gospel that made all the difference in his life personally.

Galatians 2:1–10 NIV

1 Then after fourteen years, I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also. 2 I went in response to a revelation and, meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders, I presented to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. I wanted to be sure I was not running and had not been running my race in vain. 3 Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. 4 This matter arose because some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. 5 We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. 6 As for those who were held in high esteem—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism—they added nothing to my message. 7 On the contrary, they recognized that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised. 8 For God, who was at work in Peter as an apostle to the circumcised, was also at work in me as an apostle to the Gentiles. 9 James, Cephas and John, those esteemed as pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised. 10 All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along.

Galatians 2:11–3:9 ESV

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?” 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. 1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. 2 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? 4 Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5 Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— 6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”? 7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

Galatians 2:11

:-10

Paul saw a foundational mistake that he called Peter out publicly (which was not the tradition).

Then Paul dives into the lens that brought him to this confrontation: The gospel of Jesus Christ is accessible for anyone, and everyone who accepts Christ is welcome at the table.

Paul spent his time ministering to the Gentiles, it would be natural for him to understand how this movement from Peter was being perceived, Peter spent more time ministering to the Jews and didn’t do this maliciously but was rightly corrected.

Application

Our response is: Amen! The gospel is for everybody! Thanks be to God. We would all agree… On principle.

How many of you have found yourself gravitating towards people you know at a party or an event? Maybe church? You end up talking with them, eating with them, sitting with them. It is natural to do this.

We all, like Peter, have a natural tendency to gravitate toward what is comfortable and familiar.

We find the same issue in our church culture today: We have tables of fellowship that we claim everyone is welcome at, but then we push away from the table when we see someone more familiar.

Legalism and tradition begin to trump the idea that everyone is equally welcome at the table.

Paul knew the root of the issue was the lens. The grace of God saves everyone, not the traditions of the Jews.

This circles us back to the same question issued in the start of Galatians: Who are we trying to please? Pleasing God means welcoming everyone to the table and to remember it is only by the grace of God we are saved.

The antidote for this is to keep in front of us the basics that Paul is lining out:

It is by grace we have been saved

Accessible to all

Only through Christ and His sacrifice

Conclusion

If we find those seeking a table of fellowship in our lives, they should find a seat at ours. This is how Jesus welcomed others.

Who is it that you tend to leave the table of fellowship for?

Challenge: Don’t leave the table. Intentionally invest in someone around you who you wouldn’t normally take the time to invest in.