Galatians 2:1-13

Teacher: Rusty Kennedy
Series: Galatians (Acts)

Rusty's Notes

1. Paul’s early Christian experience and his first encounter with church leaders in Jerusalem (1:11–24)
2. The summit meeting between Paul and the Jerusalem leaders over the scope and sphere of his missionary work (2:1–10)
3. The confrontation with Peter at Antioch leading to the central pronouncement of justification by faith (2:11–21).[1]

- Paul’s first fight for Christian liberty was at the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15:1–35; Gal. 2:1–10); his second was at a private meeting with Peter (Gal. 2:11–21). [2]
-  Paul had already returned from Antioch and 1st Missionary Journey with Barnabas when reports about all the Gentiles being “saved” returned to Jerusalem.
 - The Jewish leaders were upset with what they heard and went to Antioch and began telling the Gentile believers that they needed to become Jewish first (circumcision) before they became Christians.
 - The Jewish leaders had forgotten the true purpose of circumcision.
 - The new believers had a circumcision of the heart.
 - They did not need a physical operation.
 
GALATIANS 2
PAUL DEFENDS HIS GOSPEL AT JERUSALEM
1 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along also.

• Titus was a Greek Gentile and companion of Paul.
• He is mentioned to demonstrate that the leaders of the church in Jerusalem did not pressure him to be circumcised.
• This would have discredited any claim that the leaders in Jerusalem required that Gentiles be circumcised.[3]

 
2 I went up according to a revelation and presented
(make clear to you) 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. and wonders.

• They met privately with the 3 pillars
• “According to a revelation” – The Lord told Paul to meet privately with these 3.
• Peter, James & John
• James is Jesus’ half-brother.
• The other James (brother of John) was killed by Herod in Acts 12.
• Attests to Paul’s motivation for traveling to Jerusalem.
• He was responding to God’s direction, not human invitation.
• He was concerned with aligning his ministry to the Gentiles with the work of the Jerusalem apostles.
• In essence, he was not the rogue minister that his accusers claimed he was.[4]
• Paul wanted to provide a “united” front in the public meetings.
• If the “pillars” sided with the Judaizers, or tried to compromise, then Paul’s ministry would be in jeopardy.
• He wanted to get their approval before he faced the whole assembly; otherwise a three-way division could result.[5]
• Paul was being proactive rather reactive.
• This is an awkward situation… so let’s fight through the awkwardness.
• The Spirit will lead you to be proactive… your delay causes you to be reactive.

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.

• Titus was 100% Gentile. Didn’t need to be circumcised (It was obvious from his behavior that he was a believer).
• Timothy – Was 50% Gentile and 50% Jewish. He needed to be circumcised so as not to bring confusion to the Jews he was trying to reach with the Gospel.
• Paul’s concern was “the truth of the Gospel” (Gal. 2:5, 14), not the “peace of the church.”
• The wisdom that God sends from above is “first pure, then peaceable” (James 3:17).
• “Peace at any price” was not Paul’s philosophy of ministry, nor should it be ours.

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.

• Ever since Paul’s time, the enemies of grace have been trying to add something to the simple Gospel of the grace of God.
• They tell us that a man is saved by faith in Christ plus something—good works, the Ten Commandments, baptism, church membership, religious ritual—and Paul makes it clear that these teachers are wrong.
• It is a serious thing to tamper with the Gospel.[6]
• This act of “giving the right hand of fellowship” indicates the acceptance of Paul’s apostleship and gospel message by the apostles in Jerusalem, as well as the recognition of their partnership as ministers.
• If the Galatians were formerly concerned that Paul might be a rogue apostle, they no longer needed to be.[7]

10 They asked only that we would remember the poor, which I had made every effort to do.

• Correct doctrine is never a substitute for Christian duty (James 2:14–26).
• Too often our church meetings discuss problems, but they fail to result in practical help for the needy world.
• Paul had always been interested in helping the poor (Acts 11:27–30), so he was glad to follow the leaders’ suggestion.[8]
  ​
  

FREEDOM FROM THE LAW
11 But when Cephas came to Antioch,

• Antioch was 300 miles north of Jerusalem (Syria)
• During the New Testament period Antioch was the third largest city in the Roman Empire and boasted a population of more than half a million.
• Peter came to Paul’s home turf.
• The Jewish community formed a significant segment of the city’s population, numbering some sixty-five thousand during the New Testament era.[9]

I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned. 12 For he regularly ate with the Gentiles before certain men came from James.

• These were not the same men mentioned in 2:4 (false teachers).
• These men were sent from Jerusalem by James.
• They ate differently (law vs no law) – piety
• It wasn’t the fact that he was just eating with the Gentiles.
• He ate like the Gentiles… forgetting Jewish rituals that he practiced with the Jews.
• How does this differ when Paul says, “Be all things to all people.”?
• When the Judaizers came along, they expected the Gentiles to eat like them.

However, when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, because he feared those from the circumcision party.

• What did Peter have to be afraid of? Intimidation?
• Power of sin working on Peter… He was the one who had authority… not James’ men.
• Peter’s fear was robbing him of his freedom.
• Proverbs 29:25 - 25 The fear of man is a snare, but the one who trusts in the Lord is protected.[10]

13 Then the rest of the Jews joined his hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.

• That speaks of the influence that James had back in Jerusalem.
• Or how strong Jewish rituals were taught.
• Paul used two very strong words in his public condemnation of Peter and the other Jewish Christians at Antioch who had separated from their Gentile brothers and sisters: playacting and crooked walking.
• The word in v. 13 translated “hypocrisy” (hypokrisis) comes from the world of the theater, where it refers to the act of wearing a mask or playing a part in a drama.
• By negative transference it came to mean pretense, insincerity, acting in a fashion that belies one’s true convictions.
• Here is the brunt of Paul’s charge against Peter: He should have known better!
• Peter was not guilty of an honest mistake, nor was there any evidence that he had changed his mind about the extension of salvation to the Gentiles.
• Peter had donned a mask of pretense; he was shamefully acting a part contrary to his own true convictions.

What Paul rebuked was the inconsistency of his conduct.[11]

[1] George, T. (1994). Galatians (Vol. 30, pp. 105–106). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[2] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 689). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[3] Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Ga 2:1). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[4] Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Ga 2:2). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[5] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 691). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[6] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 692). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[7] Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Ga 2:9). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[8] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 693). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[9] George, T. (1994). Galatians (Vol. 30, p. 170). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[10] The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Pr 29:25). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.
[11] George, T. (1994). Galatians (Vol. 30, p. 177). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.