GALATIANS # 2
We saw last week how Paul was surprised how fast the Galatians left his teaching when a new false teacher came. So Paul starts showing them that his message came from God and not man. This week he will farther show that his words are the right ones.
1. Gospel of Grace Is Approved by Jerusalem Leadership 2:1 10
1. Then after an interval of fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas,
taking Titus along also.
2 It was because of a revelation that I went up; and I submitted to them the gospel which
I preach among the Gentiles, but I did so in private to those who were of reputation, for
fear that I might be running, or had run, in vain.
3 But not even Titus, who was with me, though he was a Greek, was compelled to be
circumcised.
4 But it was because of the false brethren secretly brought in, who had sneaked in to spy
out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to bring us into bondage.
5 But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the
gospel would remain with you.
6 But from those who were of high reputation (what they were makes no difference to
me; God shows no partiality) well, those who were of reputation contributed nothing to
me.
7 But on the contrary, seeing that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the
uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised
8(for He who effectually worked for Peter in his apostleship to the circumcised
effectually worked for me also to the Gentiles),
9 and recognizing the grace that had been given to me, James and Cephas and John, who
were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so that
we might go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.
10 They only asked us to remember the poor the very thing I also was eager to do.
In Acts 15 we find this account that Paul is speaking about. The judaizers had come to Antioch to try to intertwine the Jewish religion with Christianity. So Paul and some of the others had to go to Jerusalem were the Apostles were and settle the matter, which they did.
ACTS 15:1 2
1 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."
2 And when Paul and Barnabas had great dissension and debate with them, the brethren determined that Paul and Barnabas and some others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders concerning this issue.
So Paul met with them and explained what he was teaching and they saw it was good and this is their answer.
ACTS 15:22 32
22 Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren,
23 and they sent this letter by them, "The apostles and the brethren who are elders, to the brethren in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia who are from the Gentiles, greetings.
24 "Since we have heard that some of our number to whom we gave no instruction have disturbed you with their words, unsettling your souls,
25 it seemed good to us, having become of one mind, to select men to send to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,
26 men who have risked their lives for the nairne of our Lord Jesus Christ.
27 "Therefore we have sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will also report the same things by word of mouth.
28 "For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials:
29 that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication; if you keep yourselves free from such things, you will do well. Farewell."
30 So when they were sent away, they went down to Antioch; and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter.
31 When they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement.
32 Judas and Silas, also being prophets themselves, encouraged and strengthened the brethren with a lengthy message.
Paul has just shown them that if the apostles could find no wrong with him, so how could they.
II. Gospel of Grace Is Vindicated by Rebuking Peter 2:11 21
11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood
condemned.
12 For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles;
but when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of
the circumcision.
13 The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was
carried away by their hypocrisy.
14 But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said
to Cephas in the presence of all, "If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like
the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?
The time of this journey of Peter to Antioch cannot be determined; nor the occasion on which it occurred. I think it is evident that it was after this visit of Paul to Jerusalem, and the occasion may have been to inspect the state of the church at Antioch, and to calm any differences of opinion which may have existed there. Peter had been taught that in the remarkable vision which he saw as recorded in Acts 10. Remember how Peter was at Simon the tanner’s house in Joppa by the sea. And, at noon time had a vision of a sheet coming down out of Heaven with all the living things in it and was told to take and eat. How later when he went to Cornelius’s house in Caesarea to open the Kingdom of Heaven to the gentiles and he remembered this vision and knew that God showed no partiality.
He withdrew from the Gentiles, and probably from the Gentile converts to Christianity. The reason why he did this is stated. He feared those who were of the circumcision, or who had been Jews. Whether they demanded this of him; whether they encountered him in debate; or whether he silently separated himself from the Gentiles without their having said anything to him, is unknown. But he feared the effect of their opposition; he feared their reproaches; he feared the report which would be made to those at Jerusalem; and perhaps he apprehended that a uproar would be started and a persecution commenced at Antioch by the Jews who resided there.
15 "We are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles;
16 nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.
17 "But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin? May it never be!
18 "For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, 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 1 have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
21 do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly. "
In verse 19 Paul says he died to the Law, he means that just like a dead person has no sense of anything around him, Paul has no sense of the Law. But,, he is alive to God.
Paul is setting them up for the next and most important part of the letter. How man is saved by faith, not the works of the Law nor the works of man.
EPHESIANS 2:8 9 8
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
PLAN OF SALVATION
ROMANS 10:17
17 So faith comes from hearing,, and hearing by the word of Christ.
HEBREWS 11:6
6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
ACTS 2:38
38 Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
ROMANS 10:9 10
9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
MARK 16:16
16 "He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.
MATTHEW 7:21
21 "Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
