Galatians 2
BSASBPaul continues to show that his gospel came from God and not from men. The leaders in Jerusalem added nothing to it and welcomed him as a partner. Then he describes how he opposed Peter at Antioch, which leads to the heart of the letter: we are made right with God by faith in Christ, not by works of the law, and Christ himself lives in the believer.
Galatians 2:1
Paul tells of another trip to Jerusalem, many years after his earlier contact with the apostles. He did not go alone. He took Barnabas, a trusted Jewish believer, and Titus, a Gentile convert. Titus would become a living test of the gospel’s freedom.
BSA: accompanied (“in the company of”): Paul went as part of a team, not as a lone figure, and his companions were a witness to what happened.
Galatians 2:2
Paul went because God directed him, not because he was summoned. He laid out the message he preached to the Gentiles. He first met privately with the respected leaders, because he did not want his work to be undercut by division among believers.
BSA: revelation (“from God, a disclosure of truth”): The journey was prompted by God, which shows Paul was not answering to the apostles as superiors. in vain (“without result, to no purpose”): Paul feared that a split between Jewish and Gentile believers would empty his labors of their effect.
See also: Galatians 1:11-12.
Galatians 2:3
Titus was a Greek, and the leaders did not make him be circumcised. This was the clearest proof that Gentiles need not become Jews in order to belong fully to Christ. Paul points to a real person, not just an argument.
BSA: compelled (“forced, urged”): Nobody pressed Titus to submit to the rite as a condition of being accepted.
See also: Acts 15:1-2.
Galatians 2:4
Some people who claimed to be believers slipped into the community. Their aim was to watch how freely Gentile Christians lived and then bring them under the law’s rules. Paul calls this what it was: an attempt to take away the freedom Christ gives.
BSA: false brothers (“who claimed to be Christians but were not genuine”): They looked like family but did not share the gospel’s truth. spy on (“watch closely, inspect”): They came as secret observers, looking for something to use against believers’ liberty.
Greek: κατασκοπῆσαι (kataskopēsai, G2684) — “to spy out, to scout.” This word was used of scouts sent to look over enemy ground. Paul sees these men as hostile scouts in the church.
See also: Galatians 5:1.
Galatians 2:5
Paul and his friends refused to yield, not even briefly. The issue was not stubbornness or personal pride. If the gospel were bent on this point, the Galatians would lose the true message. Paul stood firm for their sake.
BSA: truth (“reality, accuracy”): The gospel is a fixed, accurate message that cannot be adjusted without being lost.
Galatians 2:6
Paul speaks respectfully of the Jerusalem leaders, yet he does not rest his case on their reputation. God judges by truth, not by status. The point is that these men gave him no new message and no correction of his gospel.
BSA: favoritism (“accept no man’s person, is no respecter of persons”): God does not judge by outward standing or fame, so titles carry no weight against the truth.
See also: Deuteronomy 10:17; Acts 10:34.
Galatians 2:7-8
The leaders saw that God had given Paul the task of reaching the Gentiles, just as he had given Peter the task of reaching the Jews. They recognized one gospel with two fields of work. The same God was powerfully working through both men.
BSA: entrusted (“given responsibility, committed”): The gospel was placed in Paul’s hands like a trust, which was not his own invention. at work (“being mighty, effective”): God’s power was visibly effective in both apostles’ ministries.
Greek: ἐνεργήσας (energēsas, G1754) — “worked effectively, was active in.” This is the word behind our ’energy’. Paul says God himself was the active force behind both Peter’s ministry and his own.
Galatians 2:9
James, Peter and John, whom many regarded as the pillars of the church, saw God’s grace on Paul. They offered the right hand of fellowship to him and Barnabas. This sealed an agreement: Paul and Barnabas would go to the Gentiles, and they to the Jews.
BSA: fellowship (“partnership, communion”): The handshake sealed a real partnership in one mission, not a mere polite truce. pillars (“supporting leaders”): These three were seen as holding up the weight of the church.
Greek: κοινωνίας (koinōnias, G2842) — “sharing, partnership.” The word means having something in common and sharing it. The apostles recognized that they shared the same gospel and the same Lord.
Galatians 2:10
The leaders asked only one thing: remember the poor. Paul was already eager to do this. Faith in Christ and care for the needy belong together. Freedom from the law does not mean freedom from caring about people in need.
BSA: eager (“zealous, diligent, making an effort”): Paul did not need to be pushed. Caring for the poor was already something he pursued with energy.
See also: Acts 11:29-30; Romans 15:25-26.
Galatians 2:11
Paul now describes a painful moment at Antioch. When Peter visited, Paul openly confronted him. This was not a quarrel over personalities. Peter’s behavior was out of step with the gospel, and it stood to hurt others.
BSA: opposed (“to stand against, to resist”): Paul took a firm public stand, not a quiet disagreement.
Greek: κατεγνωσμένος (kategnōsmenos, G2607) — “condemned, stood self-condemned.” The word points to someone whose own actions have already pronounced a verdict against him. Peter’s conduct contradicted what he knew was true.
Galatians 2:12
At first Peter ate freely with Gentile believers. When men connected with James arrived, he pulled away from the table. He feared what the circumcision party would think. Fear of people led him to act in a way that told Gentile believers they were second-class.
BSA: draw back (“withdraw, step away”): Peter pulled back little by little, not through a bold decision. separate himself (“set himself apart, isolate”): His new distance at the table divided believers who belonged to one family.
Greek: ὑπέστελλεν (hypestellen, G5288) — “was shrinking back, withdrawing.” This word can describe a sailor lowering a sail or someone quietly retreating. It pictures Peter shrinking away out of fear.
See also: Acts 10:28.
Galatians 2:13
Peter’s example was contagious. The other Jewish believers followed him, and even Barnabas, Paul’s close partner, was carried along. This shows how one leader’s compromise can lead many others astray, even good people.
BSA: hypocrisy (“acting insincerely, pretending to agree”): They acted against what they believed, putting on an appearance to please others. led astray (“carried away, deceived”): Barnabas was swept along like someone caught in a current.
Greek: ὑπόκρισις (hypokrisis, G5272) — “play-acting, pretense.” The word comes from the theater, where an actor played a part. Peter and the others were playing a role that did not match their true convictions.
Galatians 2:14
Paul saw that their conduct did not match the gospel, so he spoke to Peter in front of everyone. His question exposed the contradiction: Peter himself lived freely as a Gentile, yet his withdrawal pushed Gentiles toward Jewish customs.
BSA: walking (“living, conducting themselves”): The gospel is meant to shape the daily walk, not just belief. compel (“force, persuade”): Peter’s example put pressure on Gentiles, whether he meant to or not.
Greek: ὀρθοποδοῦσιν (orthopodousin, G3716) — “walking straight.” The word means to walk with a straight foot. Their steps were veering off the path the gospel marks out.
Galatians 2:15-16
Even Jews by birth know they are not made right with God by keeping the law. A person is justified, meaning declared righteous before God, through faith in Jesus Christ. The law’s works cannot do it, for anyone. So Jewish believers, too, put their trust in Christ.
BSA: justified (“declared righteous, made innocent”): This is a verdict from God, who declares the believer to be in the right. faith (“trust, confidence”): Faith here means relying on Christ himself, not on one’s own record.
See also: Romans 3:20-24; Ephesians 2:8-9.
Galatians 2:17
Someone might object: if Jews give up the law’s way and seek to be justified in Christ, they are no better than Gentile sinners, so is Christ promoting sin? Paul answers with a firm No. Christ does not serve sin. He removes it.
BSA: minister (“servant, attendant”): The objection suggests Christ is a servant of sin, an idea Paul rejects outright.
Galatians 2:18
If Paul went back to rebuilding the law as a way to be right with God, after tearing it down as a way of salvation, he would condemn himself. Going back would show that his earlier trust in Christ had been a mistake.
BSA: rebuild (“restore, reestablish”): Paul speaks of putting back what he had cast down, which would expose a contradiction in himself.
Galatians 2:19
The law itself pointed Paul to Christ and showed his need. Through the law he came to the end of trying to earn righteousness by it. That death to the law’s demands opened the way to a new life: living for God.
BSA: died (“no longer bound by its demands”): Its claim over him ended, as a debt ends when the debtor has died. live (“be spiritually alive”): The aim of dying to the law is life with God, not lawlessness.
See also: Romans 7:4; Galatians 3:24.
Galatians 2:20
This is the center of the chapter. Paul’s old self was put to death with Christ on the cross. Now Christ lives in him, and he lives each day trusting the Son of God, who loved him and gave himself for him. It is personal and intimate.
BSA: crucified (“put to death on the cross”): Paul counts Christ’s death as his own, with the old life truly ended. gave Himself up (“sacrificed, surrendered”): Christ’s death was a willing surrender, driven by love.
See also: Romans 6:6; Galatians 6:14.
Galatians 2:21
Paul will not cancel God’s grace by going back to the law as a path to righteousness. If keeping the law could make us right with God, Christ’s death would have been pointless. The cross shows that nothing else could do it.
BSA: set aside (“completely reject, frustrate”): To trust law-keeping for righteousness would make God’s grace ineffective. for nothing (“in vain, without purpose”): If the law could save, the cross would have been an unnecessary death.
Greek: ἀθετῶ (athetō, G114) — “I reject, I treat as nothing.” The word means to cancel or push aside something as if it had no force. Paul will not treat the grace of God that way.
See also: Romans 11:6.