Galatians 2:1-5

Paul Accepted by the Apostles

1Fourteen years later I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also. 2I went in response to a revelation and set before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did this privately to those who seemed to be leaders, for fear that I was running or had run my race in vain. 3Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. 4This matter arose because some false brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. 5We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might remain with you.

Dig Deeper

Gangs are often a big thing for youth in the inner city. It isn’t just a way to spend time. It becomes their life. The gang determines your friends, your enemies, how you spend your time, where you live, and many other aspects of your life. For those who are involved in gangs, identifying with the gang that you belong to is a huge thing. The badges that identify each individual to their gang are huge. It is not something to be messed with, avoided if you are in a gang, or copied if you are not. It gets to the point where the identifying badges are nearly as important as being in the gang. Those familiar with gangs know that the most common of these identifying badges are tattoos, the colors of the clothes, and symbols on the clothing that are worn. These identifying badges mean a great deal as they separate "us" from "them" and keep the group together and cohesive in a very symbolic but important way.

In a very similar vein, this is how circumcision operated for the Jews. It was the identifying badge of the covenant between God and His people. It was the badge that constantly reminded them that they were God’s people and other people were not. Thus, whether or not one was circumcised was no small thing. It was far bigger than the ceremony surrounding it or the piece of skin that it entailed. It was virtually synonymous with being God’s people. To not be circumcised was akin to a wholesale rejection of God. Imagine the shock and horror, then, for Jewish Christians, especially extremely conservative and zealous Jewish Christians who heard that Paul was teaching the Gentile Christians that they did not need to be circumcised. How could they be the people of God? This was no small thing to have large groups of people running around claiming to be the people of God if they were not respecting the identifying badge that went with it. Without circumcision, in the eyes of the Jewish Christians, there was no way that they could or should be considered as part of God’s family. How could they be considered as such by such disrespectful behavior? Something had to be done, so a group of those who believed this way shuffled off to inform the Gentile Christians that Paul’s message was okay in so far as it went, but he had missed some very important items like circumcision and the importance of showing reverence for God by following His law. For Paul, though, it was all about entering into Christ. Living by faith because one was in Christ was the only identifying badge anyone needed; they no longer needed to rely on such things as circumcision. Thus, it all comes to a head in the issue of circumcision and who exactly God’s people are. Is it only about being in Christ and living by faith, or was there more to it than that?

Paul says that fourteen years later he went to Jerusalem again (whether it was fourteen years after his conversion or his first visit is not clear nor is it clear which visit to Jerusalem described in Acts this visit corresponds to - the one in chapter 11 or 15 - although it was probably his visit to the Jerusalem council in Acts 15). Paul went to lay before them the gospel that he had already been preaching for years. By this time it was too late for him to be influenced by them or receive his gospel from them. At this point all they could do is to reject it or accept it. Thus, in setting his message before them, Paul now does precisely what he had not done so many years before. Paul acts in a manner opposite to what he had done before because circumstances have changed. This shows him to be a wise and godly individual (by saying that he went due to a revelation he shows that he went purely because he believed that God told him to go) but opens him up to the charge of being weak-minded and inconsistent in the eyes of those who would think in a worldly manner.

When Paul says that he did this for fear that [he] was running or had run [his] race in vain, he does not mean that he worried that he was teaching a false gospel. He was clearly confident that he had been called by God and was answering that call (Gal. 1:1, 15-16). Paul is aware that his God-given commission would not be complete if there was a division between his Gentile churches and the leaders in Jerusalem. He went to confirm the unity between these two wings of God’s family not to confirm the gospel he was preaching. If Jerusalem denounced and disowned his Gentile mission then his work in evangelizing the Gentile world would be greatly frustrated. If the unity of the church was denied, it would greatly undermine the message of God’s one family that Paul had been preaching. The concept of all believers being one in Christ would not be destroyed (it would still be true) but it would be greatly damaged (of course this damage would be caused by the disobedience of men rather than the message of the Kingdom being untrue). Paul presented his message to the leaders in Jerusalem in the hopes that they would readily embrace his mission and his message, and that is precisely what they did.

The language in verse 3 is difficult to understand and demonstrated the great intensity of emotion that Paul was feeling. He was, evidently under pressure by some (probably at the council in Jerusalem) to get circumcised but he did not give in. The fact that it became such an issue, though, clearly left Paul upset and emotional. Paul had brought the Gentile Titus with him as a living example of the diversity in Christ that had come as a result of his Gentile mission. Yet, some, whom Paul calls false brothers demanded that he be circumcised. This is where it all came to a head. Would Titus be considered a brother because of his status in Christ or would he have to take on the badge of circumcision and become a Jew to be fully accepted as a brother? Paul calls these men false brothers because they would not accept Titus as a true brother unless he became a Jew. Paul says that they had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. This implies that their primary loyalty was to the tradition of their badges rather than the gospel of Christ or His church. They were adding adherence to the Jewish customs to entering into the life of Christ which means that they were not relying on His life at all.

Paul, with the blessing of the leaders in Jerusalem, had held firm and not forced Titus to be circumcised. The gospel that he had preached to them had been shown to be genuine. Those who lived by faith that they could die to themselves and enter into the life of Christ would enter into the one, true, and unified family of God; nothing more, nothing less.



Devotional Thought

Paul felt strongly that the only that mattered in determining who was and who was not part of the family of God was whether they had entered into the life of Christ as was evidenced by living by faith. Is this your sole standard in determining whether or not someone is your brother or sister or have you let other criteria seep into your thinking?