Defending the Gospel

Galatians 2:1-10

Introduction

The blessing of being together in unity faces many challenges. There are problems that arise from within that need to be addressed properly, but there also problems that come from outside from unbelievers. the trickiest problems are those that come from people who profess to be believers but in reality are not.

Acts 20:28–30 NKJV

Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.

that’s the situation in Galatia. Sometime after Paul established churches in the region of Galatia, other teachers came in with a different gospel. Paul has strong words for them:

Galatians 1:7 NKJV

which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.

We have called them Judaizers because they wanted to add Jewish requirements to Gentiles in order to be Christians. They thought Paul’s message was inadequate. So they added their other requirements. But to make their version of the gospel stick, they had to discredit Paul’s; and to do that, they had to discredit his authority as an apostle. They had done this in Paul’s absence by saying Paul was a second-hander at best. He was not one of the original twelve apostles who were with Jesus during his life. Therefore, he had learned his gospel secondhand at best from the Jerusalem apostles and had adapted it in illegitimate ways. His authority was not binding because it only came from man not God.

The first two chapters of Galatians give Paul’s defense against these charges. Galatians 1:1 asserts that his authority as Christ’s apostle was “not from man or through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father.” Galatians 1:12 asserts that he did not receive his gospel message from man, nor was he taught it, but it came through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

The point of Galatians 1:11–24 is to argue that Paul was not a second-hander. He argues that there is enough public information about his life before and after his encounter with the living Christ that no one can reasonably assert that he is a second-hander. He makes a persuasive case that his apostleship and his gospel came to him independently from the Jerusalem apostles, and that he stands on an equal footing before Christ with Peter, James, and John.

But now, put yourself in the place of the Galatian believers. Paul has made a powerful case and has reestablished his credibility in their minds as they read this letter.

But the question inevitably arises: Is there, then, a contradiction among the apostles themselves? Do we have men of equal authority preaching two different gospels? The Judaizers claimed to represent the apostles in Jerusalem, but their message did not square with Paul’s.

So even when the question of Paul’s authority is settled, another serious and threatening question looms up: Is there disunity among the apostles? If one apostle preaches one gospel and another apostle preaches another gospel, the foundation of the church (Ephesians 2:20) is cracked, and the whole edifice will eventually collapse.

So in Galatians 2:1–10 Paul deals with this serious question. But he must do it very carefully and with complete integrity. On the one hand, he must maintain his independence from the Jerusalem apostles to protect himself from the charge of being a second-hander; but on the other hand, he must show that the gospel he preaches and the gospel the Jerusalem apostles preach are the same gospel. And what’s more, everything he says in this section is open to public verification or falsification.

Paul’s main point is: When, after 14 years, I did finally confer with the apostles, they added nothing to my gospel, but instead they approved of my work and gave me their blessing. The Galatians should conclude, then, that the Judaizers do not really represent the Jerusalem apostles. On the contrary, they belong to the false brothers of 2:4 whom Paul resisted and who were not endorsed by the Jerusalem apostles. Stand firm, therefore, in the wonderful freedom of the gospel, and do not submit to the legalistic enslavement demanded by the Judaizers.

That is the main purpose of 2:1–10. Now let’s go through it in more detail and see how Paul accomplishes his purpose and how it applies to us.

1. The Gospel must be Defined and Defended - vs. 1-2

Paul did not go to Jerusalem because he had second thoughts about his gospel and wanted to make sure it was true. That would have played right into the hands of the Judaizers. It says in verse 2: “I went up by revelation.”

We must confront disagreement about the gospel!

Why did Paul take Titus? Because he is not playing games. His gospel has laid hold on real people. Titus is going to be Exhibit A of Paul’s gospel preaching. Titus is a Greek, and he is not circumcised according to Old Testament laws. Yet he is a brother in Christ by faith. This is the freedom Paul stands for. And Titus is his best case. Will he be forced to be circumcised by the apostles in Jerusalem or won’t he? There was no better way of forcing the real issue than to take along a real person.

“those who were of reputation” refer to the apostles, especially Peter, James (the Lord’s brother), and John. You can see that in verse 9, where these three are described as “those who are reputed to be pillars.” So verse 2 is saying that Paul had a private meeting with the apostles. You can tell from verses 4 and 5 why a private meeting might be necessary. The false brothers who insisted on having Titus circumcised were in no mood for a careful hearing.

Paul’s purpose in going up to Jerusalem, according to verse 2, was to confirm that he had not run in vain. Paul’s ministry would have been in vain if the Judaizers were right; that is, if the apostles in Jerusalem disagreed with Paul and insisted on circumcision for Gentile believers. This would mean that the apostles of Christ had contradictory messages, and no church could be established on such a fractured foundation. Paul did not need to confirm his own gospel; he needed to confirm that the other apostles agreed, and that there was unity.

Defending the gospel requires carefully defining what is and what is not the gospel.

There is diversity among God’s people, but there must not diversity among their message.

What is the Gospel?

Resolve: Study and Share the gospel

2. False Brethren Must Be Rejected - vs. 3-5

Paul could have skipped these verses to emphasize his agreement with the apostles, but he includes it on purpose.

Paul wants to make it clear that Titus did not have to be circumcised. But there is another reason for verses 3–5 is to show the Galatian Christians that there are false brothers, they come from Jerusalem, they insist on circumcision for salvation (Acts 15:1), and, most importantly, they do not represent the position of Peter, James, and John.

The good news to the world is that right standing before God was totally paid for by the death of Christ at Calvary and can be enjoyed only through faith in him. Any requirement that causes us to rely on our work and not Christ’s work is the end of the gospel.

New believers need to be aware that there are false teachers.

Not just differences of opinion.

Paul and his companions refused to submit to the pro-circumcision faction—“even for a minute.” This was for the Galatians’ benefit. Paul resisted the circumcision requirement so that the “truth of the gospel” would endure among them, namely, so that they, as gentile Christians, would not become circumcised. (The irony, of course, is that the Galatians are now starting to submit to the pro-circumcision faction themselves; 1:6–7; 5:1.)

So what Paul has accomplished here in verses 3–5 is to show the Galatians who the Judaizers in their midst really are (the false brothers from Jerusalem), and what is at stake in their demands (the truth of the gospel). The teachers among them may come from Jerusalem, but they do not represent the Jerusalem apostles. They are false brothers, and their demands that you be circumcised and keep the feasts are a different gospel which is no gospel at all (1:7).

Let us not be lulled to sleep and not be alert for false messages. On the other hand let us not become suspicious and alienated from faithful ministries in other places.

3. Gospel Ministries Ought to Stand Together - vs. 6-10

Verse 6 makes the crucial negative statement that Paul has been maintaining all along: “[They] added nothing to me.” Recall Gal 1:12

Years after his conversion, Paul finally spread his gospel before the Jerusalem apostles; but they did not feel a need to add anything to it.

2:6 Paul maintains his stance that his knowledge of the gospel comes only from God: the “acknowledged leaders” in Jerusalem did not add anything to it. Paul even seems to challenge their leadership in his parenthetical comment that “God shows no partiality” (see Deut 10:17; 2 Chr 19:7) with regard to ecclesial status.

2:7–9 The “acknowledged leaders” in Jerusalem may not have added to Paul’s understanding of the gospel (2:6), but they did affirm his ministry when they recognized that God had given him a mission equal in weight to Peter’s (2:7–8). Paul identifies James, Cephas/Peter, and John as the “pillars” of the Jerusalem church (2:9); presumably, they are the leaders with whom Paul originally intended to meet (2:2). Paul parted with the “pillars” on good terms: they extended to him and Barnabas the “right hand of fellowship” (2:9) and sent them back to evangelize the gentiles without the requirement of circumcision.

There it was: the unity Paul longed for. He had not run in vain. The Judaizers did not represent the Jerusalem apostles. The apostolic witness, the foundation of the church, was not split. It was firm and solid. There was a strong, united base for two great missions, one to the Jews and one to the Gentiles. That was a great day for missions, a great day for us Gentiles. Paul stood his ground “that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.” There ought to be a warm place in our hearts for this great man of God. Just like his Master before him, he lived and died that we might have the gospel and be saved.

2:10 Although at this point Paul and Barnabas largely parted ways with James, Cephas/Peter, and John, they all agreed to “remember the poor.” Paul is eager to comply with the pillars’ request to do so. Later, in fact, he will strongly urge his gentile churches to support financially the impoverished churches of Jerusalem (2 Cor 9).

Conclusion

Today, it is our turn to define the gospel, dispute false teachers, and declare the gospel message with others.

God has brought the gospel faithfully to us. Not only did God conceive the gospel before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4); not only did God accomplish the gospel by sending his Son to die for our sins and raising him from the dead; but it was God who chose the apostles, set them apart, and did the preaching of the gospel through them. Verse 8 says that the reason the Jerusalem apostles could recognize Paul as an apostle was that “he who worked through Peter … worked also through Paul.” When Paul was born, it was God at work (1:15). When Paul was called to be an apostle, it was God at work (1:16). When Paul preached, it was God at work (2 Corinthians 5:20; 1 Corinthians 15:10). And when Paul refused to yield to the false brothers, it was God at work, “that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.”

If God has worked through faithful men down through the centuries to bring the gospel to us, then does he not intend you to take the baton?

Is it not a challenge to you and I to give our lives for the spread of the gospel?

Will God not work through us to proclaim and preserve the truth of the gospel in our day?