Galatians 1:11-2:10

Galatians 1:11-2:10

11 For I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel preached by me is not of human origin. 12 For I did not receive it from a human source and I was not taught it, but it came by a revelation of Jesus Christ. 13 For you have heard about my former way of life in Judaism: I intensely persecuted God’s church and tried to destroy it. 14 I advanced in Judaism beyond many contemporaries among my people, because I was extremely zealous for the traditions of my ancestors. 15 But when God, who from my mother’s womb set me apart and called me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me, so that I could preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone. 17 I did not go up to Jerusalem to those who had become apostles before me; instead I went to Arabia and came back to Damascus. 18 Then after three years I did go up to Jerusalem to get to know Cephas,, and I stayed with him fifteen days. 19 But I didn’t see any of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother. 20 I declare in the sight of God: I am not lying in what I write to you. 21 Afterward, I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22 I remained personally unknown to the Judean churches that are in Christ. 23 They simply kept hearing, “He who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they glorified God because of me. Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along also. 2 I went up according to a revelation and presented to them the gospel I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those recognized as leaders. I wanted to be sure I was not running, and had not been running, in vain. 3 But 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 brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus in order to enslave us. 5 But we did not give up and submit to these people for even a moment, so that the truth of the gospel would be preserved for you. 6 Now from those recognized as important (what they once were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism,)—they added nothing to me. 7 On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcised, just as Peter was for the circumcised, 8 since the one at work in Peter for an apostleship to the circumcised was also at work in me for the Gentiles. 9 When James, Cephas,, and John—those recognized as pillars—acknowledged the grace that had been given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to me and Barnabas, agreeing that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 They asked only that we would remember the poor, which I had made every effort to do.

The Gospel Paul received and preached was from Jesus Christ

Galatians 1:11-17

11 For I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel preached by me is not of human origin. 12 For I did not receive it from a human source and I was not taught it, but it came by a revelation of Jesus Christ. 13 For you have heard about my former way of life in Judaism: I intensely persecuted God’s church and tried to destroy it. 14 I advanced in Judaism beyond many contemporaries among my people, because I was extremely zealous for the traditions of my ancestors. 15 But when God, who from my mother’s womb set me apart and called me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me, so that I could preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone. 17 I did not go up to Jerusalem to those who had become apostles before me; instead I went to Arabia and came back to Damascus.

Paul’s gospel was not second hand information, but first hand revelation

The Gospel Paul preached was affirmed by the apostles and the other churches

Galatians 1:18-24

18 Then after three years I did go up to Jerusalem to get to know Cephas,, and I stayed with him fifteen days. 19 But I didn’t see any of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother. 20 I declare in the sight of God: I am not lying in what I write to you. 21 Afterward, I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22 I remained personally unknown to the Judean churches that are in Christ. 23 They simply kept hearing, “He who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they glorified God because of me.

The Gospel must be constantly preserved from the work of the enemy inside and outside the church

Galatians 2:1-10

Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along also. 2 I went up according to a revelation and presented to them the gospel I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those recognized as leaders. I wanted to be sure I was not running, and had not been running, in vain. 3 But 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 brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus in order to enslave us. 5 But we did not give up and submit to these people for even a moment, so that the truth of the gospel would be preserved for you. 6 Now from those recognized as important (what they once were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism,)—they added nothing to me. 7 On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcised, just as Peter was for the circumcised, 8 since the one at work in Peter for an apostleship to the circumcised was also at work in me for the Gentiles. 9 When James, Cephas,, and John—those recognized as pillars—acknowledged the grace that had been given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to me and Barnabas, agreeing that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 They asked only that we would remember the poor, which I had made every effort to do.

The Gospel is the revelation of God from God

The revelation of God to man is His Word, the Bible

The Bible is our authority in all matters of faith and practice and is divinely inspired by God free from the mixture of any error.

When you read the Bible, you are receiving first hand revelation from God

You must judge the teachings, opinions, decisions, and even traditions of churches and Christians by what Scripture says. But, what do you do when you find disagreements? What do you do when you find practical differences in interpretation or application of Scripture?

Paul and the other apostles modeled for us is an example of how to be unified and approach disagreements on interpretations of Scripture.

Titus is a good example of how this works. Paul is a circumcised Jew. The other apostles are also circumcised Jews. The Galatian church has a group of teachers telling them as Gentiles that they need to be circumcised. But, when Paul takes Titus, a gentile who is not circumcised, the apostles in Jerusalem did not think Titus had to be circumcised to be faithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Today we can use a series of three tiers to help us identity what doctrines or truths we need to agree on as Christians.

First tier =’s Doctrines and truths that are essentials to the Christian faith.

Without these truths and doctrines you don’t have Christianity.

If you don’t affirm these then you are not affirming the Gospel

Examples of 1st tier doctrines:

The full deity and humanity of Jesus Christ

The Trinity

Salvation by faith alone

The authority of the Scriptures

Second tier =’s Truths and issues that cause division and intense disagreement. These are beliefs that result in the forming of denominations and separate churches. These require agreement for the purpose of unity in fellowship and cooperation in the church and between churches.

These are areas where disagreement results in disunity and the inability to fellowship and cooperate in the ministry.

Examples of 2nd tier issues:

Ecclesiology- how the church is organized and structured

Baptism

The Lord’s Supper

Gender roles in the church

Possibly some social and political issues

Third tier =’s areas of disagreement and freedom where you can agree of disagree without interrupting fellowship and cooperation in ministry.

Examples of 3rd tier issues:

Views on the end times

Gospel freedom issues

Some difficult texts in Scripture

Views on the order of salvation

Some social and political issues

An example of how this works is the Baptist Faith and Message 2000.

This is our statement of faith. The BF&M contains first and second tier doctrines that are essential for Christianity, and also necessary for the unified fellowship and cooperation in the gospel.

Anything not expressed or left up for interpretation in the BF&M is done so because it is a 3rd, 4th, or even 5th tier issue. But, like those in Paul’s day there are some who would seek attack leaders or divide churches and denominations on 3rd tier issues.

A modern example of disagreeing over 1st and 2nd tier issues can be found in the United Methodist church.

There is severe disagreement over gender and sexuality in the denomination. Some wanting to affirm homosexuality and transgenderism and others believing that goes against God’s plan. This is resulting in an unavoidable split of churches and the denomination.

You can see a second tier disagreement between the United Methodist church and the Southern Baptist Church over things like baptism, ecclesiology, and the role of women in ministry.

UMC ordains women to the role of pastor or bishop, the SBC does not. We affirm that all Christians are called to minister, and that there are women God uses to lead ministries in the life of the church. But, the ordained role of pastor and overseer to the church and its members is for men in accordance with Scripture.

You can see a second tier disagreement between the Presbyterian Church in American and the Southern Baptist Convention over the issue of baptism and ecclesiology.

Infant baptism (related to covenant theology) vs believers baptism

Ruling elders vs. Ruling members

There are tons of Southern baptist churches who have what I would call a plurality of elders, but they still maintain a ruling congregational model of church government. This means that elders serve as the steering committee for the church and they bring the way God is steering them to the church for affirmation or denial as a congregational form of church government. There are still teams and committees of members using their gifts, there are still deacon serving and ministering to the congregation, but there is an additional team tasked with the spiritual direction, vision, and steering of the mission of the church. It’s what we see in the early churches. But, it is very different than the PCA and still leaves each individual church autonomous and under the leadership and authority of Christ and His Word.

You can see a 1st tier disagreement between Southern Baptists and the catholic church over Salvation by faith alone and the authority of the Scriptures.

(Also the Lord’s supper, baptism, and ecclesiology) The catholic church elevates church tradition and the word of the Pope to the same level as the Bible. The Catholic Church denies salvation by faith alone and adds to it the work of the Lord’s supper and baptism. Which fundamentally changes why we believe baptism and the Lord’s supper exist. As southern baptist we don’t believe baptism and the Lord’ supper are necessary for salvation and to be a Christian, but Catholicism does. Church government is through Papal authority and not biblical authority…

You and your catholic friends may not think you disagree, and you may have catholic friends who don’t disagree with you over these truths… but if they agree with you then they are not catholic anymore, but are still practicing a way of religion that denies the truths we believe are essential to Christianity and the gospel.

In our church, and in our denomination we must agree on tier 1 & 2 to preserve the gospel and effectively function as a church.

Without this we will be stuck in disagreements and not doing ministry. However, we can disagree on 3 tier issues and continue in effective loving cooperation in ministry. But, we have to make sure that we keep the main thing the main thing for the sake of the gospel and unity. This means we must be vigilant to preserve the 1st tier, and continue to unify around the 2nd tier, but show grace and liberty to one another over 3rd tier issues.

I believe that we are experiencing a moment in the Southern Baptist Church and sometimes in our church an attempt to move some 3rd tier issues into the 2nd tier, and some 2nd tier issues into the 1st tier. It seems like there are some who would even try and move a 3rd tier issue like views on the order of salvation and roles of women in ministry into the 1st tier.

What this means is that there is a place for a healthy and Christian disagreement that results in a separation in the work of ministry. Paul and Barnabas experienced this in Acts 15 over John Mark. In Galatians 2:11-21 Paul rebukes Peter and calls out Barnabas for his hypocrisy. But, his rebuke and the parting of ways for ministry did not mean they weren’t Christians, it simply meant there were issues they disagreed over which prevented them from being unified in the work of the Gospel.

Galatians 2:11–21 (CSB)

11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned. 12 For he regularly ate with the Gentiles before certain men came from James. However, when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, because he feared those from the circumcision party. 13 Then the rest of the Jews joined his hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that they were deviating from the truth of the gospel, I told Cephas in front of everyone, “If you, who are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel Gentiles to live like Jews?” 15 We are Jews by birth and not “Gentile sinners,” 16 and yet because we know that a person is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we ourselves have believed in Christ Jesus. This was so that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no human being will be justified. 17 But if we ourselves are also found to be “sinners” while seeking to be justified by Christ, is Christ then a promoter, of sin? Absolutely not! 18 If I rebuild those things that I tore down, I show myself to be a lawbreaker. 19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live for God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.

Today, we need to recover the ability to do Theological Triage. That is what the three tiers are. They allow us to preserve the gospel and our unity in the work of ministry.

The Gospel is the revelation of God to us, and Jesus is at the center of God’s revelation and His redemptive work in our lives.

Our unity must be grounded in the Gospel and agreed to through a shared statement of faith and practice as a church.