Ep. 12 | Paul Safeguarding the Gospel of Jesus Christ

Speaker: Jesse Turkington

Summary: Paul's passion for the Gospel of Jesus Christ is front and center in this passage. We would do well to adopt his zealous vigor.

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Music created by Chad Hoffman
Artwork created by Anthony Kuenzi

Jesse’s Personal Notes:

Galatians 2:1-10

Introduction

Hey guys, welcome to Pickled Parables. My name’s Jesse.

Today we are gonna look at Galatians chapter 2. And we’re gonna explore the first ten verses. 

But you know, I realized as I was recording this that I was running out of time so we kind of end up skimming the last four verses. That’s my bad, there were some cool things that we could have explored there. I just mismanaged my time.

But the goal for this lesson is to understand Paul’s commitment to the gospel. This is the first time Paul directly mentions who within the church is opposing the gospel and what specifically they’re promoting. 

So the theme of this lesson is about how the gospel is complete in it’s message and how all of the apostles were in agreement with the content of that message.

So let’s jump into the text.

Galatians 2:1-3

In Galatians chapter one, Paul set up a defense for why his authority should be respected and why the message that he had shared with the people in Galatia was absolute and didn’t needed anything to be added to it.

So, near the end of chapter one, he addresses what appears to be specific accusations against him by explaining his call by God to preach to the Gentiles and then he detailed how his first interactions with the apostles in Jerusalem went. 

Now, as we enter chapter two, Paul continues this defense by explaining another interaction that he had with the apostles in Jerusalem and how they ended up agreeing with and affirming the message that Paul had been sharing with the Gentiles. Giving further proof that Paul was an accepted peer and that his message was as on point.

So, chapter one, and a good chunk of chapter two, is about Paul establishing the reason and the evidence for his call to apostleship and why the gospel that he preaches is absolute and complete. 

So, Paul starts chapter two by giving the set-up for this second encounter that he has with his fellow apostles. Galatians chapter two, verse one.

Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me.(Galatians 2:1 ESV)

 You know what, let me just add here before we go on and actually study these verses. When I talk about different chapter numbers and verses, I’m using them as a reference. 

When Galatians was written it wasn’t structured with chapters and verses. It was written like a letter that had continuous thoughts. 

Chapters and verses were added to it at a later time in order to help people like us study it the way that we’re studying it. 

Chapters were first added to the Bible by a guy named Stephen Langton, he was the Archbishop of Canterbury in AD 1227. And he wanted to help people navigate their way through the Bible.

And then several years later a Jewish Rabbi named Nathan added verses to … what we would call the Old Testament and then another guy known as Stephanus (he liked Nathan’s idea and so he) took Nathan’s idea and added it to the New Testament. 

Again, the idea that these guys had was that they wanted to help people navigate and refer to different parts of the Bible so that everyone could be on the same page. 

 Now in that type of service, chapters and verses are a wonderful thing but when we forget that and consider them to be like biblical content. We put too much of an emphasis on them and they begin to distort and cause a hindrance in how we read the Bible. 

Chapters and verses don’t always fit the flow of a book, especially letters (epistles), and so they can cause people to stop reading in the middle of a thought or a story and it becomes an interruption. 

So, I just wanted to pause and take this minute to make sure that you’re aware that chapter and verse divisions are not God-breathed and inspired. They were added to the Bible in order to help people find different places in it. Because it’s a really big book that has smaller books in it. 

So, I just wanted to provide clarity with that before we move on. 

Now, as Paul gives the set-up for this next visit in Jerusalem, he starts talking about a time that fits really well with a historical account that’s recorded in Acts 11. 

This is after Paul’s first visit to Jerusalem and when he left that time, he went to Tarsus in Cilicia and stayed there for a while. But we find out that in Acts chapter 11 that a guy named Barnabas went to go bring Paul back.

 This is Acts chapter 11, verse 22.

The report of this (which is context that would take a lot to explain. Simply put, a lot of people in a certain place were declaring themselves followers of the Way. So, “the report of this”) came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch (the certain place). When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose, for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord.

So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.

So, Barnabas went to find Paul in order to bring him back and help with the church leadership in Antioch.

 Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius). So the disciples determined (that), every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea. And they did so, sending it to the elders (there) by the hand of Barnabas and Saul. (Acts 11:22-30 ESV) 

So, this was before Saul started going by Paul. But Paul and Barnabas travelled to Jerusalem, carrying a relief package for the saints there. 

Now when Paul talks about this in his letter to the Galatians, he says in chapter two, verse one:

Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain. (Galatians 2:1-2 ESV)

So, Paul says this is fourteen years later. I’ll share with you, I’m uncertain if this is fourteen years after Paul’s conversion or if it’s fourteen years after his first visit to Jerusalem, that he talked about in chapter one. I’m uncertain because it could easily be either one and I don’t want to be dogmatic with something that is this optional.  

But just so that you know, I tend to lean towards Paul’s conversion as the starting point for this number because it fits the immediate context a little bit better in how he talks about his conversion in chapter one and then uses that as a launching pad and shares events that come after that. 

Saying things like, “After three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas” in verse eighteen and “Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas” in chapter two, verse one. 

 So, it seems to fit a little bit better with Paul’s conversion as the starting point but it’s not a hill I would die on. Just know that for this lesson I’ll be presenting it with that viewpoint. 

So, after fourteen years, Paul makes his way back to Jerusalem with Barnabas and he takes along with him a young guy named Titus. 

Barnabas was known as the son of encouragement and as we read in Acts chapter eleven, he was a good man filled with the Holy Spirit and filled with faith. And Barnabas had a history with Paul. 

In fact, the first time Paul went to Jerusalem, nobody in the church wanted to see him because they thought it was a trap. He was a persecutor of the church before his conversion so it makes sense where that fear would come from. But Barnabas took Paul and advocated for him and helped people meet with him. 

And it was Barnabas who went looking for Paul in order to have him come help with the church in Antioch. So Barnabas was a man filled with faith and ready to work with a scary guy who had formally made a living hunting Christians. So that really tells you everything you need to know about him.

Titus is not mentioned in the Acts account but he wouldn’t need to be because Paul and Barnabas were considered leaders in the church at Antioch and they were the men of leadership who took the relief package to Jerusalem. So, Titus wouldn’t need to be mentioned in the official account of Acts because it was not necessary to mention him. 

But Paul says that he took Titus along with him in this letter because he uses Titus as an example and proof in his personal defense of the gospel that he had preached. 

But it’s good for us to know; Titus was a young Gentile man who worked with Paul in different areas and was also being trained up by Paul to become a teacher. 

So, again Galatians 2:1-2 – 

Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain. (Galatians 2:1-2 ESV)

So the reason given for this trip to Jerusalem was because of a revelation. And this corresponds to Acts chapter 11 where it talks about a prophet named Agabus who prophesied about a famine.

Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius). So the disciples determined (that), every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea. And they did so, sending it to the elders (there) by the hand of Barnabas and Saul. (Acts 11:27-30 ESV)

So, they go to Jerusalem to deliver a relief package in order to help for when the famine came. And while they were there, Paul approaches some people who “seem to be influential,” so we can assume that this could have involved Peter, maybe James, and others, really whoever might have been there.

Paul approaches them for the purpose of affirmation. I set before them “the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain.”

Now this doesn’t mean that Paul was having second thoughts about the gospel or even fearing that he had preached an inaccurate message. Paul wanted to be confirmed and his message affirmed because those of the circumcision party within the church were promoting something different. And so, he wanted to be in agreement with the leaders in Jerusalem, in the face of this competitive idea.

Galatians 2:3-5

Verse three – 

But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. (Galatians 2:3-5 ESV)

Now these couple of verses are difficult to analyze because there’s run-on-sentences and multiply ideas within each other, so we’ll approach this thought-by-thought. 

The first thing is about Titus. Verse three – 

But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. (Galatians 2:3 ESV)

 So, this was the competitive idea that Paul was trying to kick back against. The circumcision party wanted to accept the Gentiles as (prahs-uh-lights) proselytes who received circumcision.

And that is really what this letter is addressing. Paul gives a defense for himself and his message and then he spends the rest of this letter uprooting the circumcision party’s teachings from the Galatian churches, who happen to be Gentiles. 

So he uses Titus here as an example, showing how the Jerusalem leadership worked in agreement to keep Titus from receiving circumcision. 

Now, if you’re unaware of what circumcision is, go ask your mom or better yet maybe even your dad and they can explain it to you. 

But. We will take time to address the biblical practice of circumcision in a later lesson. But just for the sake of our time for today, we’re going to save that conversation for another time. 

We might just take a whole lesson to talk about it because it’s a repeated subject that comes up in Galatians. So I guess, stay tuned for our lesson on circumcision. 

 But back to our text, Titus is spared from being circumcised despite a strong push from the opposing party. Paul says in verse four – 

Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— (Galatians 2:4 ESV)

Now, I want you to first notice the description that Paul uses as he mentions these people. Rather than the men of influence or reputation that he wanted affirmation from, Paul calls these people “false brothers.” So there is a clear distinction between these people. 

He says that these false brothers were brought in secretly to spy out the freedom that they had in Christ and they had a goal of taking people away from that freedom and put them into slavery. 

So these people must have appeared to have been orthodox Jewish Christians but their beliefs became exposed when the topic of Gentile salvation was brought up. 

Because their understanding of salvation came from performing works of the law. They clearly did not believe that salvation was offered as a gift by the grace of Christ (which is just a simple a summarization of the gospel message).

So, Paul calls them false brothers. And remember, the term brother or sister, in this context, is referring to fellow believers. So, he’s calling them fake believers. False brothers. 

The freedom that comes from Christ was thought of as like enemy territory, something that they need to spy out, and they wanted to capture it and enslave it. They wanted to make Gentiles proselytes to Judaism. And again, Gentiles were people who were not Jewish. So, they wanted to Judaize the Gentile Christians. 

But Paul said – 

Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in …  to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. (Galatians 2:4a and 5 ESV)

 So Paul explains that he defended the message that he preaches to people, in Jerusalem, and he was not only successful in it but supported by the men of influence. So this is high moment of victory that Paul wants to communicate to the Galatians. 

Because it demonstrates the accuracy of his message and it adds weight to his personal defense. 

… Now, I want to add here, a time when Paul did approve of circumcising a young man. In Acts chapter 16, we’re told about a man named Timothy. This is from Acts sixteen, verse one – 

Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. He was well spoken of by the brothers at Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily. (Acts 16:1-5 ESV)

Now I want to mention this because this is a separate event that seems similar to what’s in Galatians but it has different results. 

So, I’ll quickly list the reasons for why Timothy was circumcised and why Titus was not. 

1.     Timothy was partly Jewish and Titus was completely Greek.

2.     Also, Timothy was not being circumcised to be saved or Judaized. He was circumcised in order to help reach unsaved Jews because he joined Paul’s ministry of preaching in Jewish synagogues. 

Paul explains this mindset in 1 Corinthians chapter nine. He said – 

For though I am free from all (talking about the freedom of Christ), I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not myself being under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings. (1 Corinthians 9:19-23 ESV)

 Now Titus was not circumcised because this wasn’t for the sake of other people, this was considered a means for his salvation. Paul knew that there was no salvation outside of or in addition to Jesus Christ.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV)

Paul knew that if Titus was forced to be circumcised then the grace of Christ would have been rejected and the freedom that they had in Christ would have become slavery.

The gospel that Paul preached was universal and multi-cultural in nature. It was for everyone. And Paul didn’t want one culture to dominate over the others and he especially didn’t want anything to be added to the sufficient work of Christ. So he wasn’t being anti-Jewish, he himself was a Jew, he was protecting Jesus’ declaration of – 

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. (Matthew 28:19-20a ESV)

Galatians 2:6-10

And this gospel message that he was preaching was verified and approved by the apostles.

Galatians two, verse six –

And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me. On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised (to the Gentiles), just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do. (Galatians 2:6-10 ESV)

The conclusion from this statement is that Paul and Peter, and all the other apostles, were preaching the same message … to different people. 

The men of influence didn’t add anything to Paul, they didn’t take anything away from Paul, they gave him the right hand of fellowship signifying friendship and trust. 

They all had the same source of authority. It all came from God and they were partnering together with that understanding.

Paul was preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Conclusion

This was an important moment for the early church, because there were a lot of competing ideas popping up in the different churches. Some were caused by a syncretistic push of intermixing cultures and some were caused by selfish desires for personal power.  

Something that Paul says at the very end of this letter is:

It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. (Galatians 6:12-13 ESV) 

So something that these false brothers wanted was influence over others and that’s just another way of saying “personal power.” 

But Paul makes it clear that the gospel is complete and approved by the apostles. They were preaching the same message … to different people. It’s hard work to shepherd a multi-ethnic community of people who have very strong cultures. But Paul was up for the task and something that he had to establish was the absolute power of Jesus’ gospel.

So Paul’s defense is long and detailed because he is trying to establish that truth. 

Next week, we’ll start the transition from defense to correction.