Introduction:
A. The story is told of a young boy who arrived home from school with two black eyes.
1. His mother said to him, “Have you been fighting again? Didn’t I tell you that when you were angry you should count to 100 before you did anything?”
2. The young boy replied, “I know mommy, and that’s what I did, but the other boy’s mother had him to count to only 50.”
B. All of us have found ourselves in skirmishes.
1. Whether the fight comes to blows or not the battles can be intense.
2. Sadly, many of the battles we find ourselves in are not worth fighting for.
3. Many of our fights are over the silliest or most minor of things.
4. Sometimes when we are at odds with someone, we can’t even remember how it first started.
C. I’m going to date myself with this illustration, but how many of you remember an old ad campaign who’s slogan was “I would rather fight than switch?”
1. Tareyton cigarettes used that ad campaign from 1963 to 1981.
2. Each commercial would begin in a predictable manner; the protagonist would do something that would be considered defiant.
a. In one commercial, an old woman rocked sternly in her chair on her porch, while the rest of her development was being razed to make room for a condominium.
3. In each commercial, the protagonist would say “Us Tareyton smokers would rather fight than switch!”, usually only showing their side profile to the camera.
a. Then, after uttering the slogan, person would turn and face the camera and viewers would see the person's whole face, which had a noticeable "black eye" (which was in reality just makeup).
b. The black eye proved their willingness to fight for what they believed in, whether it be their tough decision of the day, or their choice to smoke Tareyton cigarettes.
4. In the commercial I mentioned earlier, the old woman's fighting spirit won out, and her house remained where it was, although the condominium was built alarmingly close to her property.
D. In our text for today, we see Paul standing firm and fighting for something truly worth fighting for.
1. Today, we are continuing our sermon series on the book of Galatians that we are calling “Set Free.”
2. What is it that Paul is fighting for? He is fighting for the Gospel.
3. Paul would gladly give ground on lesser matters, but on the Gospel itself, he would rather fight than switch!
4. Maintaining the purity and truthfulness of the Gospel is a battle worth fighting.
E. Here is the background for today’s study:
1. Paul had established churches in the Gentile region of Galatia which is modern-day Turkey.
2. After he left the region, some “false brothers” who claimed to be from Jerusalem came to Galatia and began undermining all that Paul had taught and built.
3. The false teachers confused these new Gentile Christians by attacking Paul’s apostleship and his teaching.
4. The false teachers told the new Gentile Christians that in order to be saved they had to believe the Gospel and they also had to be circumcised and follow the Mosaic Law.
5. When Paul heard about the influence the false teachers were having on the Galatians, he immediately wrote this short, passionate letter to them that we know as Galatians.
F. In chapter one, we have seen how Paul defended his Gospel and his apostleship.
1. Paul did so by showing that his Gospel and apostleship came directly by revelation from God.
2. His Gospel was not dependent on human teaching or on the Judean apostolic leaders or churches.
3. By telling his conversion story, he demonstrated how his calling and training came directly from God.
G. Today, as we turn to chapter two, we will see how Paul demonstrates that even though his Gospel didn’t come from the Jerusalem apostles, his Gospel was endorsed by the Jerusalem pillars.
1. In this way, we will see how Paul uses both sides of the argument to support his Gospel and ministry.
2. On the one side, he has argued that his Gospel was independent of the Jerusalem apostles.
3. But now on the other side, he wants to demonstrate that his Gospel is endorsed by the Jerusalem pillars.
4. That endorsement certainly is not necessary, since God had directly endorsed Paul, but the endorsement of the Jerusalem apostles takes the wind out of the sails of the Judaizers.
5. Let’s spend a few minutes working through the text to gain understanding, and then we will spend a few minutes in application.
I. The Exposition
A. Look at Gal. 2:1-2: Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. 2 I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain.
1. Paul’s first private visit to Jerusalem was 3 years after his conversion, and now 14 years later, he made his second visit to Jerusalem.
2. He took with him two important co-workers: Barnabas and Titus.
a. Barnabas was the first of the brethren to trust Paul after his conversion, and the two of them made the first missionary journey together.
b. Titus was someone Paul trained and later sent to minister on Crete and there he received the New Testament letter we know as “Titus.”
3. Paul tells us that he made this trip to Jerusalem because of a revelation.
a. God somehow prompted Paul to make this trip.
4. The reason for the visit was to share his mission of preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles.
a. Paul didn’t need their authorization, but he knew that if the leaders of the early church were not all on the same page and all in agreement, then the future of Christianity was in jeopardy.
b. Paul didn’t want to minister for years and then find out that it was in vain.
c. Paul didn’t question whether the Jerusalem apostles had the true Gospel, but he did fear that the Jerusalem apostles might not be true to the Gospel by standing up to the false teachers.
B. The Galatian letter continues: 3 But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. 4 Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— 5 to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.
1. It was crucial that Paul took Titus along also, because Titus was a Gentile Christian who had not been circumcised.
2. The false brothers who had infiltrated their ranks would have insisted that Titus had to be circumcised in order to be saved.
a. “Yes,” the Judaizers would have said, “Titus needed Christ to be saved, but he also needed to live according to the Jewish law.”
3. So in Titus, Paul confronted the other apostles with a concrete “test case.”
a. This Jerusalem meeting must not be an abstract discussion.
b. Would the Jerusalem apostles require Titus to be circumcised, or not?
c. Paul was forcing them to make a decision.
4. If you step back from the situation, you can clearly see the three parties involved in the question of Titus’ circumcision.
a. First, there were Paul and Barnabas, whose conviction was that Gentile Christians did not need to be circumcised in order to be saved.
b. The second party was the false teachers who contended that Gentiles had to receive the Gospel and follow the Mosaic law in order to be saved.
c. Then there was the third party, the Jerusalem apostles, who definitely agreed with Paul, but also must have wanted to find a way to compromise with both of the other parties.
5. It would have been easy for the Jerusalem apostles to say that circumcision was not necessary, but should be done as a concession for expediency to maintain unity.
a. Expediency is not intrinsically wrong. Conciliation is often an honorable path.
b. The question is: what is being sacrificed for expediency’s sake?
c. Paul says that he did not yield to them, even for a moment so that the truth of the Gospel might be preserved.
6. Had Paul yielded and his opponents won, then the freedom of the Gospel would have been lost, and we would be left with a perverted, false gospel.
7. Thankfully, by God’s grace, the Jerusalem apostles rose to the occasion and did not insist that Titus be circumcised.
8. Their acceptance of Titus was proof that they had accepted Paul’s ministry and message.
C. Galatians continues: 6 And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me. 7 On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised 8 (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), 9 and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.
1. We note in these verses how Paul properly dealt with people in authority.
a. On the one hand, he expressed respect for those in authority.
b. But on the other hand, he refused to be intimidated by those in authority.
c. Paul understood that God shows no partiality – those who think they are something because of their position, have no favored standing with God.
d. If a person is not right with God and are not teaching what is right, then they have no protection just because of their position.
2. Paul reports several things about the Jerusalem apostles’ endorsement.
a. First, they added nothing to Paul’s message and ministry - nothing about Paul’s message or ministry needed correction or addition.
b. Second, they officially recognized Paul’s special calling – Peter and Paul had the same Gospel, but each had separate targets for their ministry.
c. Third, they officially gave the right hand of fellowship – this was more than just the handshake that we give each other, rather it was an official agreement; like signing a contract.
D. Before Paul finished this section, he mentioned one last thing: 10 Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.
1. Notice that this is the only thing they asked of Paul.
2. Our attitudes and actions toward the poor are important enough to receive that kind of focus.
3. Let’s address this further in a minute as we move into application.
II. The Application
A. As we have worked through the first 10 verses of Galatians 2, we have tried to understand the truth that there are some things that are worth fighting for.
1. Let’s look at two of the things that are worth fighting for.
B. First of all, in Paul’s mind, the most important thing worth fighting for is the Gospel.
1. This is a theme that we have been working with in each of our sermons on Galatians thus far.
2. As you know, we live in a culture that values emotion above reason, and tolerance above truth.
a. The current generation is very uncomfortable with the notion that there is a God who has spoken, and that what God has said is the absolute truth.
3. There are a number of important things about the Gospel that are worth fighting for.
4. First of all, the Gospel truth includes the fact that Jesus is the only way.
a. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (Jn. 14:6)
b. For many people that is far too exclusive and narrow-minded.
c. But that’s God’s honest truth, from God’s own lips.
d. We don’t do lost people any favors by watering down the truth about Jesus, sin, righteousness, and judgment.
e. The Gospel is indeed good news, but it is not good news for those who reject it.
f. The Gospel is also not good news for those who tamper with it or change it.
5. The second thing about the Gospel that is worth fighting for is the fact that we are saved by grace.
a. The Gospel says that we are saved by what God has done for us, not what we have done for Him.
b. We are saved by grace alone, by faith alone, and by Christ alone.
c. We are saved by Jesus and not by Jesus plus anything else.
d. That was the difference between Paul’s Gospel and the gospel of the Judaizers.
e. The second we begin to think that we can be saved by anything other than grace, then we have fallen from grace and cannot be saved.
6. The third thing about the Gospel that is worth fighting for is the fact that the Gospel is for everyone.
a. Paul declared in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
b. The Gospel has the power to save people without regard to anything distinctive about them.
c. The Gospel is for everyone regardless of nationality, race, color, age, sex, education, morality, or income.
d. If we are a faithful church of Christ, then the make-up of our congregation should be as diverse as the population of our region.
e. If we are faithful to the Gospel, then we should be actively sharing it with every different kind of people that we come in contact with.
f. The question of nationality, skin color, sex, age, education, income, or lifestyle should never impact the sharing of the Gospel.
g. God loves all people and wants all kinds of people to be saved and to be part of God’s family, the church.
h. God shows no favoritism and neither should we.
7. Indeed, the Gospel is one of the important things worth fighting for.
8. And the Gospel is not only worth fighting for, it is worth sharing with everyone that they might be saved by grace and experience the abundant life that comes from being set free.
C. The other lesson that comes out of this section is that the poor are worth fighting for.
1. The only thing that the Jerusalem apostles emphasized with Paul was remembering the poor.
a. Isn’t that interesting? Of all the other important things that they might want to remind Paul of, the only thing they mentioned was the poor.
b. Caring for the poor is often a blind spot for many people, including many Christians.
2. Did you know that the Bible contains more than 300 verses about the poor, social justice, and God's deep concern for both.
a. Deuteronomy 15:11, There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.
b. Psalm 82:3-4, Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
c. Proverbs 14:31, He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.
d. At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, he read from Isaiah the prophet, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim the good news to the poor…” (Lk. 4:18).
e. Jesus taught, “But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just” (Lk. 14:13-14).
f. James 2:5, Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?
3. Therefore, The Bible makes it clear that caring for the poor is one of the things that is most important to God.
4. The point we gather from Galatians 2:10, the last verse in our section for today, is that the apostles were agreed on the importance of ministry to the poor, because it flows from the center of the Gospel.
a. If ministering to the poor was important to God, and to the apostles, then shouldn’t it be important to us in the 21st century?
b. And we learn from Galatians 6:10, that our concern shouldn’t just be for the Christian poor, “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” (Gal. 6:10)
c. Yes, we should take care of our own who are members of God’s family, but the heart of Christ also beats for those in the world who are in need.
5. We need to ask ourselves: How much do I care about the poor and what am I doing to demonstrate my love and concern for them?
D. Let me end with an old Jewish tale.
1. To the Jews, one of the most sacred Old Testament texts is what is called the Shema found in Deut. 6:4-9, “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God…”
2. Well, according to the tale I want to share with you, a sharp dispute about the Shema divided the congregants of an ancient synagogue in Eastern Europe.
3. Half of the congregants believed that the congregation should stand during the reciting of the Shema, and the other half believed the congregation should remain seated.
4. Those who were seated often yelled at those who were standing to sit down. And the ones on their feet screamed at the pewsitters to rise out of respect for the Almighty.
a. You can imagine how these rude confrontations ruined worship for everyone.
5. The synagogue’s rabbi was at his wit’s end, and suggested that they consult a 98 year-old synagogue member who was the only surviving founder of the synagoguge.
6. So, with a representative of each faction in tow, the rabbi set out to the nursing home to ask the wise old man to help settle the dispute.
7. Quite sure that his position would be affirmed, the leader of the Standers asked the old man, “Is it the tradition to stand during the Shema prayer?”
a. “No,” the old man answered, “that is not the tradition.”
8. “So,” beamed the leader of the Sitters, “the tradition really is to sit during the Shema, right?”
a. “No,” the old man countered sadly, “that is not the tradition.”
9. So frustrated by the impasse, the rabbi said, “My congregants fight all the time. Every time we gather to worship, they begin yelling at each other to sit or to stand.”
10. “Ah, yes,” the old man interrupted, “Yelling at each other…that is the tradition.”
E. Unfortunately, our tradition has sometimes been known as the people who fight with each other and divide over too many things.
1. Clearly, there are many, many things are not worth fighting about or for.
2. But two things that are worth fighting for are the truth of the Gospel and the care of the poor.
3. When it comes to the truth of the Gospel and the care of the poor, Paul would rather fight than switch, and we should follow his example.
Resources:
Galatians, The NIV Application Commentary by Scot McKnight, Zondervan, 1995
Galatians For You, Timothy Keller, The Good Book Company, 2013.
Galatians, Maxie Dunnam, The Communicator’s Commentary, Word, 1982.
The Letters to the Galatians and Ephesians, William Barclay, The Daily Study Bible Series,
Westminster Press, 1976.
Be Free – Galatians, Warren Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, Victor Books, 1989.
We Did Not Give in to Them: Why Unity Must be Based on Truth, Sermon by Ray Pritchard,
www.keepbelieving.com
Gospel to the Nations, Generosity to the Poor, Sermon by John Piper, www.desiringgod.org
