Lesson 2
CONTENDING FOR THE TRUE GOSPEL
Galatians 2:1-21
Memory Verse: 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
Introduction:
The general scope of the chapter is to show that Paul did not receive the gospel from man; that he had not derived it from the apostles. He did not acknowledge his indebtedness to them for his views of Christianity and they had not set up authority over him, but, rather, that they had welcomed him as a fellow-laborer in the work of the Lord. Paul contended for the faith as much as or perhaps, in some cases, more than some of the other Apostles.
Now in the 21st Century we must understand that the gospel must be contended for as much as was in Paul’s day. There can not be compromise or adjustment to the gospel today any more than there could have been two thousand years ago. Many want to take from the Word of God or add to it today, but either way that would be a tragic error.
I. CONTENDING FOR THE GOSPEL IN JERUSALEM vv. 1-10
A. Paul before the Council, vv. 1-5.
1. The time of his appearance, v. 1. Was it fourteen years after his conversion or fourteen years after his first visit? 1:18, “Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days.”
2. Why Paul was there? v. 2.
a. God’s “revelation” (the command of God) caused him to go, v. 2; Acts 16:9, “And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.”
b. Paul was sent by Antioch Church, Acts 15:1-4.
1) Notice that when certain men began to preach that a person could not be saved except he be circumcised, Acts 15:2, “When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.”
2) Modern day “peace-at-any-price-compromisers,” who would sell out the truth, have no leg to stand on. In my opinion they are “false brethren,” v. 4, “And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage:”
c. The gospel was of SUPREME IMPORTANCE and had to be CONTENDED FOR with all their might, Jude 1:3, “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”
If the Church at Antioch and the Church at Jerusalem had compromised on this critical issue the truth of God would have been abandoned. (The student should carefully read Acts 15:1-35, and see even more about this case.)
d. Paul went to Jerusalem to reveal what he had preached among Gentiles, 1 Corinthians 15:3, “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;”
3. Titus, a TEST CASE, vv. 3-4.
a. Paul and the delegation were sent and brought on their way, BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE CHURCH at Antioch, Acts 15:3, “And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles: and they caused great joy unto all the brethren.”
b. Titus, a GENTILE, was NOT required to be circumcised, v. 3.
1) He was most likely included in the “certain other of them,” mentioned in Acts 15:2.
2) If Titus the Gentile, was not required to be circumcised, then no believing Jew or Gentile would ever be required to conform to the law of Moses, v. 14, “But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?”
c. False brethren tried to require Titus to be circumcised, v. 4. They are described in Acts 15:5, “But 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.”
4. Paul was UNYIELDING to any change of the Gospel, v. 5.
a. Paul did not give these Judaizers even an hour of attention, Jude 1:3, “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”
b. That the great principle of the Christian doctrine which had been taught to the Gentiles might continue, 1 Thessalonians 2:13, “For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.”
B. The Decision at Jerusalem, vv. 6-10.
1. They DID NOT ASK Paul TO CHANGE his message, v. 6. See v. 9.“Paul refers to the Big Three (Cephas, James, and John). He seems a bit embarrassed in the reference. He means no disrespect, but he asserts his independence sharply in a tangled sentence with two parentheses.” —A. T. Robertson, Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament.
2. They recognized that Paul and Peter were led of the Spirit, vv. 7-8.
a. Peter to the Jews, Acts 2:14-41. This did not mean that he would be preaching another gospel, but that he was going to Jews who were already circumcised. Peter did go to Gentiles on certain occasions. This included Cornelius a centurion of the Italian band, (Acts 10).
b. Paul to the Gentiles, Acts 9:15, “But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:” Paul also preached to Jews on many occasions. In fact in his missionary journeys he would go to the synagogues first and preach to them. They usually ended up throwing him out, and then he would go to the Gentiles.
3. The Jerusalem leaders approve ministry of Paul and Barnabas. v. 9. This James was not one of the original apostles, but he was the Lord’s brother. I believe that he was the pastor of the Church at Jerusalem, 1:19, “But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord’s brother.”
4. Their special request, v. 10.
a. Paul and Barnabas had already been remembering the poor, Acts 11:27-30, “And in these days came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch. And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar. Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judaea: Which also they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.”
b. The poor here, are the Judean Christians who were in a state of poverty that had already lasted for a number of years.
c. The Bible nowhere teaches that the churches are to take care of all the poor. The Scriptures teach that those who are able to work, must do so if they want to eat, 2 Thessalonians 3:10, “For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.”
II. CONTENDING FOR THE GOSPEL IN ANTIOCH vv. 11-21
A. The Mistake of Simon Peter, vv. 11-13.
1. Paul stood up for the truth, v. 11.
2. Peter ate with Gentiles, which was right, v. 12.
3. When the Judaizers arrived, Peter quit eating with Gentiles, v. 12.
4. Others followed his example, v. 13.
B. Paul Contends With Peter, vv. 14-15.
1. Paul rebuked Peter publicly, vv. 11, 14. This would rule out Peter having Papal authority, since Paul could correct him. The issue was greater than Peter or Paul!
2. Peter a Jew, had lived as a Gentile, yet he was compelling Gentiles to live as Jews. This was inconsistent, v. 14
C. Paul Contends For Justification by Faith, vv. 16-21.
1. No man justified by the Law but “by the faith of Christ.” v. 16.
2. Paul clearly declares that a person is justified by faith in Romans 4. This chapter should be read carefully.
3. Jews in turning to Christ admit their sinfulness, v.17.
4. Jews in turning to Christ admit the law cannot save, v. 17; Galatians 5:4, “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.”
5. To go back to the law would be a transgression of the Law, vv. 18-19.
a. The Law was to show our need of the Savior, Galatians 3:24, “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”
b. The old man under the Law was crucified with Christ, Romans 6:6, “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” After having been crucified with Christ and having been led to Christ by the Law, it would be a sin to depart from Christ and go back to the Law!
6. The believer crucified with Christ, v. 20.
a. This is a matter of “knowing” and “reckoning,” Romans 6:6, 11, “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
“Reckon” does not mean to guess or hope. It means to “impute,” “count,” or “account.” It means to reckon inward, count up or weigh the reasons, and to deliberate. ELB
b. We believe Christ died because God declared it, and not by feeling. “It means that the effect of the death of Christ on the cross was to make him dead to these things, in like manner as he, when he died, became insensible to the things of this busy world.” Barnes.
c. The believer identified with Christ, in death and resurrection, v. 20; Romans 6:6, “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.”
d. We live by faith. v. 20. “Paul has the closest personal feeling toward Christ. ‘He appropriates to himself, as Chrysostom observes, the love which belongs equally to the whole world. For Christ is indeed the personal friend of each man individually.’” (Lightfoot).
e. The personal nature of Christ’s love and death for me. v. 20. John 14:20, “At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.”
f. Christ did not die in vain. v. 21; Isaiah 49:4, “Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my work with my God.”
g. “Frustrate” is “ATHETEO” which means “to do away with something laid down, presented, or established … to nullify, to make void; to set aside, disregard, to thwart the efficacy of anything, nullify, make void, frustrate to reject, to refuse, to slight.” Mark 7:9, “And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.” Luke 7:30, “But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him.”
h. If our salvation came in part or in whole from the Law or works, it would nullify the grace of God and the Lord’s death would have been in vain!
–Lesson by E. L. Bynum; Revision by Art Davison