09. Independent of the Judaizers - 2:1-10

Independent of the Judaizers - 2:1-10

Paul’s teaching was independent of human teaching (1:11-17) and independent of the Judean churches (1:18-24) but I want to add, independent also of the other apostles, that is, he was in fellowship with them but he was not sent by them. They recognized the work that he had done in Cilicia and they glorified God in him so there was a form of fellowship, but the point he was making was that he had not been sent by the Judean churches to go to Cilicia.

Now in chapter 2 his ministry is shown to be independent of the Judaizers (2:1-10). If you want to write a key phrase it is, Christian liberty. Further, we will see that it was independent of apostolic pressure (2:11-18). Paul was loyal to his mission even though people exerted tremendous pressure on him to change. Finally, the last point, he was independent of selfish interests (2:19-21). It is here we will see the life of Christ. This last section is already a transition to the doctrinal part of the epistle. Although chapters 1 and 2 are the historical portion, reviewing Paul’s history, by the end of chapter 2 he has already started to go into the doctrinal part which is filled out in chapters 3 and 4.

“Then after a lapse of fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus also with me …” (2:1)

We do not know from which point these fourteen years are to be counted, from his calling or from the time he went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas. There are all kinds of theories but let us just keep it very simple. At the end of Acts 14:1-28 we see that Paul and Barnabas had come back from the missionary journey, had given a report to the meeting in Antioch, and they stayed there for a while. Then “certain men which came down from Judea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved”(15:1). Here we have this challenge of the Judaizing teachers. They did not say, ‘You are Christians, and that is okay, but now you also need to be circumcised, you need to keep the law in order to live a holy life for God.’No, they said, ‘Except ye be circumcised, ye cannot be saved.’The first view is more subtle but very dangerous. It is an attack of the enemy to corrupt this new testimony of God’s grace. The gospel is one hundred percent grace and to put one percent law in it, as these enemies did, is to corrupt it. That is why Paul was so alert and so sharp in this matter because the enemy was there to starve the work of God. Today this can happen in many different forms, for example, people who say, ‘I have been baptized so I am saved.’We have this kind of teaching here.

Paul takes up this challenge. Why did they act thus? Because the problem came from Jerusalem and so they wanted to have the problem solved there. If they had not done this the possibility would be that two different fellowships would have been formed. A number of brethren (including Titus) went with Paul up to Jerusalem. In this we see God’s wisdom in the problem being solved in Jerusalem. Unity could then be kept. This explains the seriousness of Peter’s failure as recorded in Galatians 2:1-21, perhaps even after this special Jerusalem meeting (but this is not certain, it could have been before). We are never too strong not to fail. We may know the truth very well but that does not mean that we will always be faithful to the truth. We can learn from Paul’s example.

“…and I went up according to revelation, and I laid before them the glad tidings which I preach among the nations, but privately to those conspicuous among them, lest in any way I run or had run in vain …” (2:2)

How does this verse relate to Acts 15:2? “I went up by revelation”? There is no conflict. We have seen how important it was that Paul was not sent by men, that is why in Galatians 2:1-21 he made this point that even when he went up to Jerusalem he went by divine revelation. There is no conflict with Acts 15:2, it is simply God’s confirmation of the decision of the brethren in Antioch, “And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles: and they caused great joy unto all the brethren”(Acts 15:3). They were full of joy to hear the report of their missionary journeys and perhaps also Paul’s earlier work in Cilicia. Then, “When they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them.” But notice what happened in verse 5, “There rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses. And the apostles and elders came together to consider of this matter.”Then we have the details of what happened, and how finally after much discussion the conclusion was reached under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. It is wonderful to see this. This is the background to Galatians 2:1-21. Paul first had a private counsel with Peter and John and James to make sure that they understood each other so that there was not a difference of opinion. He had this private counsel with those who were of reputation, for he said, “Lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain.”Paul realized that if this challenge of the enemy was not countered, his mission would be in vain, and so he was very wise, first he had a private counsel, and then later a public counsel.

“…(but neither was Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, compelled to be circumcised;) …” (2:3)

Titus was a Gentile believer. He had not been circumcised and he was not compelled to be circumcised. His being with Paul and Barnabas in Jerusalem was again the wisdom of God. So here we have an object lesson. Titus was a living demonstration of the liberty of the gospel of grace for both Jew and Gentile believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is why it was so important. If Titus had been compelled to be circumcised it would have implied that Paul’s ministry had been in vain. But this decision in Jerusalem was a demonstration that the leaders agreed with Paul’s teaching; that they supported it. This was very important. Titus was the living demonstration of this agreement. The matter of Titus not being circumcised was not in conflict with what Paul did with Timothy in Acts 16:3. Timothy was half Jewish, his mother being a Jewess but his father a Gentile; and so Timothy was circumcised for a different reason, to have freely access to Jewish circles, to preach to them. So Timothy represents a different category than Titus; this was not a compromise either. Paul never compromised, as far as we know, although some of his actions may have given an appearance of compromise.

“…and it was on account of the false brethren brought in surreptitiously, who came in surreptitiously to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage …” (2:4)

We have seen in Acts 15:1-41 there were believers who used to belong to the sect of the Pharisees but this verse goes a step further. The enemy had sent into that public gathering false brethren, spies, to spy out the liberty of the brethren. The liberty they had in Christ Jesus was at stake. The enemy used these spies, these false brethren (not believers) to examine the territory preparing to return later with a greater attack, that was their purpose, but they were foiled by God and by the believers because the brethren stood firm on this point. We will see more later in this epistle about this contrast of bondage and liberty and why this liberty is so crucial.

“…to whom we yielded in subjection not even for an hour, that the truth of the glad tidings might remain with you.” (2:5) Being in this public counsel, or consultation, they were all together now. There was not one who yielded to this threat or to this temptation of the enemy. Why? What was at stake? “That the truth of the glad tidings might remain with you.”I want to add here, Paul preached the gospel. We see the historical account of this throughout the book of Acts, he was an instrument in God’s hands to convey the gospel. In Romans 1:1-32; Romans 2:1-29; Romans 3:1-31; Romans 4:1-25; Romans 5:1-21; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 7:1-25; Romans 8:1-39 we find a doctrinal exposition of the gospel. Now here in Galatians we have the defence of the truth of the gospel. The truth of the glad tidings is the issue in chapter 2 (e.g. v.14). It was challenged by the enemy who were believers from the Pharisees, Judaizers, but we see here that they were joined byunbelievers. The Pharisees wanted to keep the Christians as a Jewish sect and that is why they sent these spies in, they wanted to control this group. We do not know the exact reasons for this. Perhaps it was because of the Roman law which said that there should not be any new religions and so if the Christians, who were at this time mainly Jews, were seen as a new religion there would be conflict with the Roman empire and probably they wanted to avoid that. However, we cannot be sure but what is sure is that the enemy wanted to bring the brethren into bondage.

“But from those who were conspicuous as being somewhat - whatsoever they were, it makes no difference to me: God does not accept man’s person; for to me those who were conspicuous communicated nothing …” (2:6)

God does not accept man’s person and so Paul did not do this either. This is similar to what we read in 2 Corinthians 5:16, “So that we henceforth know no one according to flesh; but if even we have known Christ according to flesh, yet now we know him thus no longer.”Paul represented this new order of things that God had introduced on the basis of resurrection. This is the basis on which we stand and this has nothing to do with what is of the flesh. That is why Paul even went so far as to say, ‘Even if we had known Christ according to the flesh, we do not know Him that way any more, because we know Him now in the glory, crowned with glory and honour, and we serve Him as such, not as the One who was subject to the law.’The Lord Jesus Himself was perfectly subject to the law, He fulfilled the law, and now that law was being set aside. We will see this later in this chapter also and further on in this book. The Mosaic law has no claim on us any more. That is why we see Christ now as in the glory although we can, of course, learn from Him in His path here on earth. He is the model for us.

“…but, on the contrary, seeing that the glad tidings of the uncircumcision were confided to me, even as to Peter that of the circumcision …” (2:7) Does this mean there are two different gospels? No, there is one gospel but the administration, or the mission of it, was given to two different persons - to Paul to go to the Gentiles, and to Peter in connection with the Jewish work. So it is not that there are two different gospels, but it is two different missions that are confirmed here and they are in agreement with each other. They are not in conflict with each other.

“…(for he that wrought in Peter for the apostleship of the circumcision wrought also in me towards the Gentiles,) …” (2:8) This proves the point that I just made. There was unity. Why was this unity there? Because the One who worked in Peter was the same One who was working in Paul. That is where the unity came from. It was not a man-made unity, it was a divine unity, and they were subject to it. This is the wonderful example we see here. They were subject to God’s thoughts. The work of God in the believer, based on God’s work for him (through Christ); then the work of God with the believer, are wonderful themes to consider in detail, but we cannot do that now.

“…and recognizing the grace given to me, James and Cephas and John, who were conspicuous as being pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship, that we should go to the nations, and they to the circumcision …” (2:9)

James and Cephas and John recognized Paul’s apostleship, Paul’s calling, and this is called “grace”here. It is another beautiful touch. This is the first and also the last time in Paul’s writings that we have reference to the apostle John. He now joins them. This is another proof of the unity that was there, Peter, James, John and Paul were all united. How beautiful this is! Sometimes when we read James’Epistle we think, ‘This is in conflict with Paul’s writings. It does not make sense.’Martin Luther, the Reformer, had great difficulty in accepting James’Epistle but there is no conflict, rather it is a different approach. They are in perfect harmony under God’s control.

Here they gave to Paul and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship. Paul was not dependent upon man, his call was not from man but it did not mean that he was totally indifferent to fellowship. Here we see he had fellowship but it was in line with the thought of God and we should seek this also, Paul always sought it. This act was the expression of fellowship. It reminds us of Acts 13:1-52 when Paul and Barnabas went out on their first missionary journey and the elders laid hands upon them. This is also a form of fellowship. The laying on of hands has with it all kinds of connotations in the thoughts and teachings of man today but in Scripture it is just the expression of fellowship. This is what they expressed, and it is beautiful to see the harmony, the unity, and how they were interdependent upon each other. This is good to see. Although Paul maintained very clearly that the calling was from the Lord in the glory, there was no conflict there, and so they recognized these two different missions but they had one point to add.

“…only that we should remember the poor, which same thing also I was diligent to do.” (2:10)

If we just remind ourselves of the fact that the Lord Jesus became poor; how would that affect us, to think of the poor? The Lord became poor so that we who were poor might become rich. Paul did much to accomplish this promise. In Romans 15:1-33, after the third missionary journey, Paul stated his determination to go to Jerusalem with a collection for the poor saints. How much effort he put in among the mainly Gentile assemblies collecting money to help the poor in Jerusalem! There were thousands of believers in Jerusalem, often fiercely persecuted, and so they were in very difficult conditions, so there was a great financial need (partly also because of their early practice of selling and distributing all they had), and Paul was really committed to help. This desire is expressed in many of the epistles that he wrote, for instance 1 Corinthians 16:1-24, 2 Corinthians 8:1-24; 2 Corinthians 9:1-15 and Romans 15:1-33.