Galatians 2:1-21 (NASB)
This chapter starts by continuing where chapter one ends. Paul is telling his testimony and detailing his relationship with the other apostles. He’s doing this in order to set the stage for the points he will make later in the letter. And as we will see, he feels very passionate about what he is writing, for there is much at stake.
Before we begin, I want to clarify something. It’s important to note that Paul is referencing two different events in this chapter. He first mentions a trip he made to Jerusalem. Then later, he mentions one that took place in Antioch. It’s important not to mix these two events up.
Let’s dive into this chapter, beginning with the first 2 verses. Galatians 2:1-2 says, “Then after an interval of fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along also. 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 somehow I might be running, or had run, in vain.”
We should date this mention of 14 years from what he says in chapter 1: that he went to Jerusalem to get to know Cephas, which, by the way, is the Aramaic name for Peter. So then, fourteen years after that time, Paul returns to Jerusalem and takes Barnabas and Titus with him. There is significant debate about this trip amongst scholars. Was it the Jerusalem Council that Acts 15 mentions? Or was it a separate trip, either before or after the Jerusalem Council? After researching it, my conclusion is that the Bible isn’t clear, and we cannot know for certain. The NASB titles this section as “The Council at Jerusalem.” They think it is the same meeting as Acts 15. But I disagree, and instead agree with others, like N.T. Wright, who dates the meeting Paul is describing as before the Jerusalem Council. But regardless of the timeline, I think we can deduce this meeting was not the same meeting as the council meeting, for Paul states that he submitted the Gospel he preaches, “in private to those who were of reputation.” The Jerusalem Council was not a private meeting. The main reason people think it is the same meeting is because this issue that prompts Paul to write to the Galatians is the same issue being debated then. I recommend that you take a moment and read Acts 15 to read the whole debate, but this issue was so divisive that it was an ongoing topic of dissension among the believers.
Did you notice in these opening verses that Paul uses the present tense in the middle of telling about his trip to Jerusalem? He says “I submitted to them the gospel which I preach.” Paul is making the point that he hasn’t changed his gospel. He has not abandoned the Gospel for a false gospel.
Let’s continue to verses 3-5 which say, “But not even Titus, who was with me, though he was a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. Yet it was a concern because of the false brothers secretly brought in, who had sneaked in to spy on our freedom which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to enslave us. But we did not yield in subjection to them, even for an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.”
First, maybe you have wondered how anyone would possibly know who had been circumcised or not. At that time in history, people used to bathe in public, only separated by gender. So it would be pretty easy for men to notice whether another man was circumcised or not. I guess they could have hid that information if they wanted too, but because circumcision was so important to the Jews, they would have been directly asked if a new covert had been circumcised or not, and so that would have meant lying to cover it up.
Second, Paul is emphasizing that he did not waver in his beliefs, not even for one hour. Again, he is obviously frustrated by the apostles, who did waver in the truth of the gospel. He goes on in verses 6-10 to say, “But from those who were of considerable repute (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no favoritism)—well, those who were of repute contributed nothing to me. But on the contrary, seeing that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised (for He who was at work for Peter in his apostleship to the circumcised was at work for me also to the Gentiles), 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. They only asked us to remember the poor—the very thing I also was eager to do.”
Like we saw in chapter one, Paul is feeling the need to defend himself as a reputable person in authority. He knows that he does not have the pedigree that those who followed Jesus while He was among them had, for Paul was converted later on. He doesn’t hold the status that Peter, John, and even James who though he didn’t follow Jesus until after the resurrection, because of his status as Jesus’ brother heard Jesus preach and knew Him directly. Paul knows his testimony is different from theirs, but he wants the Galatians to know that those men all approved of him and gave him the “right hand of fellowship.” They knew and supported his outreach to the Gentiles. They knew and approved that he was going to be taking the gospel to the uncircumcised. And Paul knows that the Galatian believers highly esteemed the apostles and looked to them as “pillars” of the church.
But now, Paul is going to take his gloves off. Verses 11-21 are a pretty severe rebuke of Peter. He tells what happened at Antioch. Looking first at verses 11 -13, he says, “But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For prior to the coming of some men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to withdraw and separate himself, fearing those from the circumcision. The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy.”
We do know that Antioch was before the Jerusalem Council. Paul is using that past confrontation of Peter as an illustration to these Galatians that they should not let anyone persuade them to follow a different gospel. Paul wants them to know that never has he changed from the calling that God gave to him. When Peter was deceived, Paul did not change his position. He mentions, though, how even Barnabas was deceived. That is why Paul is urging the Galatians to not abandon the Gospel of Jesus, and that is why Paul says that Peter was behaving like a hypocrite. This is a harsh word. In my opinion, there are few things worse to be called. According to Strong’s Concordance, this word is hupokrisis, and it means: “a reply, answer, playacting, hypocrisy.” Peter was putting on an act; deceiving people.
In verse 14, Paul details what he told Peter, and masterful speaker that he is, he had begun his confrontation of Peter by asking a simple question: “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?’”
Paul calls Peter out and says he’s been living like a Gentile. I think we can assume that means, not only has he been eating with the Gentiles, which was a violation of Jewish law, but he has probably also been eating the food that had been considered unclean by Jews. In essence, Paul is saying, ‘Peter, you’ve been eating bacon and now you want to insist that the Gentile Christians have to be circumcised? Stop being a hypocrite!’
He continues to explain his stance in verses 15-21, “We are Jews by nature and not sinners from the Gentiles; nevertheless, knowing that a person is not justified by 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 works of the Law; since by works of the Law no flesh will be justified. But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Far from it! For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, I prove myself to be a wrongdoer. For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live for God. I 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. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”
One of the most concise and unambiguous explanations of the doctrine of justification by faith that can be found in the Bible is found in verse 16. Let’s read it again: “nevertheless, knowing that a person is not justified by 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 works of the Law; since by works of the Law no flesh will be justified.” This is the Gospel that Paul did not waver in preaching. This is what the Galatians had abandoned. The reason Paul was compelled to make a defense for his authority, and to point out the hyprocrisy of Peter, is because he needed to defend this Gospel.
But before we get further, let’s go back to verse 15, which says, “We are Jews by nature and not sinners from the Gentiles;” for it’s important to know what he is saying in that sentence. Paul, and these Galatian believers he is writing to, are a unique group of people. From birth, they were Jews and have followed Judaism and the Law, and then they became followers of Christ. So, to understand exactly what he is saying in these verses, we have to hold that context in our minds. As he says in verse 16, but “even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the Law.” He says this because formerly, before Jesus died on the cross, they were justified by their adherence to the Law. If they followed the Law and offered proper sacrifices at the Temple, then they were justified before God. Now, because they are “seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found sinners” does not mean they are sinners because they have quit following the Law. The Law merely reveals that they are sinners, which is ultimately the whole purpose of the Law. Paul says, “For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live for God.”
If following the Law could have provided true righteousness and the declaration of freedom from guilt, there would have been no need for Christ’s sacrifice. There would have been no purpose or benefit to humanity from his death. But even as it was, the Jewish people, even those keeping the Law to their best ability, needed to participate in the sacrificial system at the temple. That is because no one is able to obey the law perfectly, and that is why the law cannot justify us. The only One who could follow the Law to perfection was Jesus Christ.
That last verse, Galatians 2:21, is a hint at what all of Galatians is ultimately about. Reading it again, it says, “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”
Righteousness does not come through the Law, as verse 16 said, “but through faith in Christ Jesus.” So does that mean keeping God’s law is unnecessary? How do we fit this together with other Bible verses that expressly state our need to obey God? Is Paul saying our actions do not matter at all? Or is he making a different point? As you will see, if you keep reading, Paul will come to those points later on in the letter. It is faith in Christ that saves us, but as we must remember, faith that has no works is not faith. Faith is only proved through our actions.
The bottom line in this chapter is that the Galatians were falling victim to this same trap as Peter had fallen into. They were saying that unless the Gentiles kept the Jewish laws, they were not included as believers. These Galatians were excluding the Gentiles, just as Peter and these other “pillars” of the faith had refused to eat with Gentile believers. Can you imagine it? How must the non-Jewish believers have felt? Hey, Peter, come and sit with us, but instead of joining you, he pretends not to hear and sits down at another table. They were clinging to the old Jewish traditions, instead of to the Gospel of Jesus.
Paul speaks directly to that moment of separation and bigotry when he writes verse 20, which is perhaps the most well-known verse of Galatians. He says, “I 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.”
Paul is saying that all that he was before is now crucified on the cross with Jesus. All of his prior identity it is dead and gone. It is not his pedigree nor adherence to the law that gives him righteousness. It is his faith in the Lord Jesus. Saul is gone; he is dead. He no longer lives, but Christ lives in him. Now, with that new identify in Jesus, that means there is no separation among believers.
What do you think the lesson for us today is in this text? The Galatians were excluding believers who did not follow the Law as they thought it ought to be followed; they were insisting the men be circumcised. And Paul chastises them for it. They were wrong to exclude people based on whether they were circumcised; whether they were Jewish or Gentiles.
We are wrong if we think applying this letter means that we should accept all people who claim to be Christians. Being Jewish or being circumcised was not an issue of sin. This is a topic for another day, but the Bible is clear that if believers are in willful sin, they should be excluded from fellowship until they repent and are restored. So the lesson is not that obedience to God’s Word does not matter. How do we apply this today?
It’s a unique situation they are in, in Galatia. It’s difficult to apply their situation to us today. That is because at that moment in history, those Jewish believers were having to change their learned theology about their Jewish faith and adopt the new theology Jesus brought. They wanted to keep holding on to their old way of thinking, their old traditions.
As I said, I think trying to apply this text to be about not needing to follow God’s laws would be incorrect. For Jesus did not abolish the law. That is not what Paul is arguing about with them. Paul clarifies that point in 1 Corinthians 7: 19 when he says, “Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is the keeping of the commandments of God.”
I think a better application for us today is to ask ourselves what old ways of thinking do I need to abandon? Now that I am a follower of Jesus, what ideas am I still holding on to that I need to let go of? Have I adopted any recent distorted ideas about the Gospel? Or what ideas in society have I adopted long ago that I still need to change?
These men are all a product of their upbringing. What things in our upbringing do we still believe that we need to correct and bring into alignment with Kingdom of God thinking? It can be a slow train to turn off a track you’ve been traveling for a long time. Peter was conditioned to think one way. He was taught his whole life one way of thinking and now he needed to change. It can be hard to do this, as we see in his example.
We are in societies that have ingrained in us many different ways of thinking. To undo these wrong ideas from our minds takes a lot of effort, and I think it also is not a onetime thought adjustment. Again, just look at Peter. God had clearly spoken to him on that rooftop and told him, “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy” (Acts 10:15). Then, after God led him to a Gentile’s home, Acts 10:28-29 says that Peter explains, “You yourselves know that it is forbidden for a Jewish man to associate with or visit a foreigner; and yet God has shown me that I am not to call any person unholy or unclean. That is why I came without even raising any objection when I was sent for. So I ask, for what reason did you send for me?” Yet, here in Galatians, we see that Peter fell victim again to the influence of others and reverted to old ways of thinking. That is why Paul called him a hypocrite.
As chapter one warned, these Galatians were being deceived by a different gospel. A different gospel that proclaimed that in order to be saved, instead of grace, believers must still follow all the old laws, including the ceremonial laws, specifically circumcision. We know from reading more of the New Testament that these were the people who wanted all Gentiles who became believers to follow all the Jewish food laws as well.
The reason I agree with the scholars who date this letter before Acts 15 is because of what Peter says in Acts 15:6-11. It says, “The apostles and the elders came together to look into this matter. After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, ‘Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us; and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. Since this is the case, why are you putting God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our forefathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.’”
I have a hard time imagining Peter being this adamant about being saved by grace to then turn around and refuse to eat with the Gentiles. It makes more logical sense that Peter listened to Paul and was convinced that the Gospel of Jesus Christ says that there is “no distinction between us and them.” It just took time for Peter to fully apply this new way of Kingdom thinking.
As we look at the next chapter, we will see this is not the end of Paul’s argument. He still has a lot of things to say in order to convince these Galatians to change their mindset. As we study this letter, let us pray that the Holy Spirit would reveal to our hearts and minds any areas where we have distorted the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Let us pray that God would correct that in us and the truth of the Gospel would remain with us.
Pray: Heavenly Father, we pray that You would undo from our minds any distortions of the Gospel. Please forgive us. Please help us, by Your Holy Spirit, to rightfully discern Your Word, and to hold fast to the Gospel that Jesus has given us. Help us not to be deceived. Help us not to fall victim to the pressure from the society we live in to change or alter Your Word. Help us to follow You our whole lives. In Jesus’ Name we pray, amen.
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