Galatians: Chapter 2

2:1-2

Then 14 years later, Paul goes back to Jerusalem with Barnabas and Titus. (2.) Paul waited until he had a definite revelation to go to Jerusalem. He then carefully communicated the True Gospel which he preached to the Gentiles. He presented it privately before the leaders, to make certain he was not challenged or discredited in what he had done or planned to do.

2:3-4

His presentation was received and approved; in fact, even Titus, a Greek, was not asked or forced to be circumcised, as some had expected would be required. (4.) They specifically discussed the problem of requiring non-Jews to adhere to Jewish Law; all this because of false believers who had joined their group secretly; to spy out their freedom and liberty that they had in being believers of the True Gospel of Jesus Christ. This group wanted to bring new believers back into the bondage of the Law of Moses.

2:5

Paul assures his readers they did not yield to them, or compromise, in any way for even a moment; realizing that the goal was that the Truth of the Gospel would only continue to be preserved for us by refusing to compromise. This is a great lesson for us; if we hope to keep our Christian Gospel from being watered down, or compromised, with a ‘false gospel’, we must insist on the Truth! The ‘name it and claim it’ type of prosperity ‘gospel’ is no gospel at all, but a false and misleading lie! God NEVER promised us material wealth or an easy life, He promised us Eternal Life!

2:6

The leaders who seemed to be important did not attempt to change or alter the Good News of Salvation that Paul was preaching. These leaders ‘position of importance’ made no difference to Paul; God is not impressed with people who consider themselves important, or better than others. All people are important to God; He is not partial to anyone. Again, we see an important lesson for us; not to be influenced by someone because they are well-known, on T.V. or have some exotic title. Everything we hear must be judged by God’s Word, and ONLY His Word.

2:7-8

These leaders clearly saw that Paul had been entrusted by God to share the Gospel with the Gentiles just as surely as Peter had been chosen to proclaim the Gospel to the Jews. They supported and agreed with Paul. (8.) They all understood and clearly recognized that by God’s Grace Paul had been selected and given spiritual insights by God specifically to teach and train the Gentiles. Just as certainly that James, Peter and John, who were considered the pillars of the Jerusalem church, had been chosen and trained by Jesus, to lead Jews to their Messiah.

2:9

They, James, Peter, and John, then gave Paul and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship with the understanding and commission that they were to go to the Gentiles, and Peter and his group were to teach Jews. God’s Grace alone gave Paul and Peter the Power, motivation, authority, and determination to share the Truth of Salvation to unbelievers as God directed. Are we open to sharing the Gospel with unbelievers God puts before us?

2:10

“They only asked that we remember the poor.” Paul assures his readers that he already had a heart for the poor and needy and was more than eager to help them. We should also have such a heart for the poor in our community. Are we doing anything to help the poor and hungry? Every eight minutes a child dies because of starvation. Your local area has people who are in desperate need of food in these hard times. Are you doing anything to help them? We should give generously, in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus.

2:11-13

Yet when Peter came to Antioch, Paul confronted him face to face regarding his hypocrisy. Peter himself admits he made a mistake and should NEVER have compromised the Truth to placate the Jews. (12.) Prior to the arrival of certain Jews from Jerusalem, Peter had been living and eating with Gentiles; yet for fear of ‘offending’ the Jews who had arrived from Jerusalem, he left the Gentile believers and associated, and ate, only with Jews. He did this out of fear of the circumcision party. (13.) Then the rest of the Jews saw his example and they too concealed their true convictions and acted insincerely, with the result that even Barnabas was influenced by their hypocrisy. One bad example can influence an entire church and lead them astray. We must be careful not to be led astray and say; well, it’s no big deal, everyone else seems to think it is o.k. This type of hypocrisy and subserviency leads to compromise and destroys the Truth.

2:14

Yet Paul says that as soon as he saw they were not honest and straightforward about living up to the Truth of the Gospel, Paul challenged Peter before everybody present. “If you, though born a Jew, can live as you have been living like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how do you dare now to urge and practically force the Gentiles to comply with the ritual of Judaism and live like Jews?” Notice Paul clearly faces the issues at hand, not trying to minimize the truth or damage hypocrisy causes.

2:15-16

Paul says, “Even though you and I are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners, yet we know that a man is justified, and counted righteous and in right standing with God not by works of the Law, but only through Faith and absolute reliance on and adherence to and trusting in Jesus Christ, as our Messiah, the Anointed One. We have believed in and on Christ Jesus in order to be justified by Faith in Christ and NOT by works of the Law. For we absolutely cannot be justified by any observance of the ritual of the Law given by Moses. By keeping legal rituals and by works, no human being can EVER be justified and declared righteous and be in right standing with God!” (See Psalm 143: 2) We know that we cannot please God by self-improvement. We believe and Trust only in Jesus as our Savior and Lord, not trying to add anything to make ourselves appear ‘good’ to God. What foolishness!

2:17

“Yet if in our desire and endeavor to be justified in Christ and put in right standing with God solely through Jesus, we have shown ourselves sinners and been convicted of sin, does that make Jesus Christ a contributor to our sin? Of course, not! Don’t even consider the thought!” Notice that none of us are perfect; yet we can’t blame Jesus because we still sin; He isn’t responsible for our actions; we have free will and have chosen to ignore the Holy Spirit living within us. Remember, if people accuse Christians of not being perfect, agree with them; we aren’t perfect, only FORGIVEN!

2:18

“For if I, or anyone else who have taught that the observance of the Law of Moses is not essential to being justified by God, should change and teach or intimate that now it IS essential; I have torn down what I had taught and believed and prove myself a sinner and transgressor.”

2:19

Paul assures us that he worked himself to death trying to live up to the Jewish law and please God, but it didn’t work, because it is impossible! So Paul quit being a “law-man” and chose to be ‘God’s man’. The Holy Spirit within him enabled Paul to be a reflection of Jesus.

2:20

Paul says he identified himself so completely with Jesus that he had been crucified with Christ. His self-pride and ego were no longer in control, only the Holy Spirit was in control of his life. The life Paul now lived was in True Faith, he completely reliance on, and trusted in, the Holy Spirit to guide, direct, sustain and empower him. Why? Because Paul clearly recognized that his sin had put Jesus on the cross and Jesus had chosen to die for him while he was yet a sinner. Because of that great sacrifice of Love, for Paul’s eternal life, he would NEVER turn back. Oh, that we would have the same kind of strong faith and belief and have such an attitude of gratitude and recognition of what Jesus has done for us. Yet, we don’t really ‘get it’ because if we did, we would be like Paul, totally given over to the Holy Spirit within us. Totally sold out for Jesus Christ.

2:21

“Therefore I, Paul, do not treat God’s gracious gift as something of minor importance, and by so doing defeat it’s very purpose. I do not set aside and invalidate, frustrate and nullify the Grace of God. Why would I give up and abandon my personal relationship with God through Jesus? If rule-keeping legalism, religious rules and the like could make me righteous, then Jesus Christ died for no purpose and in vain; His death was unnecessary and a waste.” Note that this would mean that God made a mistake! We know that God NEVER makes mistakes; all He does is for our Eternal Good!

Pray about your attitude and actions; do your actions and attitude reflect your appreciation and thankfulness of God’s Grace and Mercy? If not, what is keeping you trapped in sin? Remember, you are NOT FREE, if you are trapped in sin! Pray now to accept your forgiveness from God through the death and resurrection of Jesus. It is time to put away your own selfishness, pride, arrogance, and self-sufficiency and rely on Jesus as your Lord, God and Savior. Thinking you can ‘do it yourself’ or be ‘in control’ of your life is an illusion! God is in control, you are only able to work, pray, live and breathe because of the Power of God. Think carefully about it: Even your body, mind and soul were created by God, and are a GIFT to you. You do NOT even OWN yourself!! You must choose to crucify those fleshly actions that drag you down into sin and misery. Any other action or belief is pure foolishness!