Competitors or Brothers?
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CHAPTER 2:1-10
V.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.”
Why is Paul focusing on Jerusalem and almost
belittling it, I ask? The answer is obvious. It implies that the Galatians are
overly obsessed with the Jerusalem church and its leadership. They see it as an
ideal model of Christianity and as the fountain of spirituality for all
churches. Most of them, being Gentiles situated a long distance from Israel, would
have no natural reason for this kind of attention towards one of its cities.
Could this emphasis possibly have come to them through
Holy Spirit revelation? That certainly was not the case, because it is not His
way to pick out a physical place and declare it to be the center for Christian
instruction and example. He will point us to Christ and His cross. He will
bring us to inspired Scripture and teach us to come before God’s throne in
prayer. He will be concerned with spiritual blessings in heavenly places
No, this teaching was not something, to which the
Galatian were naturally drawn, and certainly, it did not have anything heavenly
in its content, but was something contrived by human sources to fulfill a
special interest for its perpetrators. Judaizers from Jerusalem had come
purposely to divert the Galatian’s attention away from grace and point them
towards works. The Galatians, simply, had been brain-washed.
Paul dares to demonstrate that, as far as he is
concerned, Jerusalem plays no outstanding role towards God’s interests in
Galatia. Before this chapter is over, we will see him severely criticizing Peter,
the outstanding and most influential Jewish leader. He is forced to do so to
awaken people to the error of the teaching, into which they have fallen. The
reason that this letter is written in your Bibles, is because similar
situations occur throughout church history.
Barnabas and Titus accompanied him on this trip. Titus
was probably taken along to give an example to the Jerusalem church of the
spiritual work being accomplished in the Gentiles. It probably occurred in Acts
15 and dealt with the very problem that Paul continues to solve in this letter.
However, although the stay at Jerusalem was profitable towards finding a
solution, Paul did not find it essential. He did not go there to get the
support of the apostles and elders in Jerusalem. He went there because of a
revelation that he received from the Lord, which may have also instructed him
to take Titus.
Albert Barnes confirms: “It is to be remembered that the design for which Paul states this
is, to show that he had not received the gospel from human beings. He is
careful, therefore, to state that he went up by the express command of God. He
did not go up to receive instructions from the apostles there in regard to his
own work…”
Paul has already shown to us, emphatically, that there
is only one gospel. However, for the apostle to the Gentiles, the gospel was
even better news among the non-Jews, than it was to the Jews. They were “separated from Christ, alienated from the
commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no
hope and without God in the world” (Eph.2:12). We, as the Syrophoenician
woman, have no right of access to Israel’s Messiah, except through faith
(Mk.7:24-30).
Something different about Paul’s teaching, however, compared
to the teaching among the Jews, is that he excluded all the Jewish
ceremonialism. Let this be a lesson to the trend in these times, when
non-Jewish people are returning to the celebration of Jewish feast days.
Herbert W. Armstrong taught his deceived followers to adopt these customs,
including the weekly Sabbath, and added the lie that the European and American
people were the lost tribes of Israel. All these are uninspired concepts
springing from corrupt minds.
Privately, Paul talked to a few of the leaders in
Jerusalem about the door that God had opened to the Gentiles, although they
already knew this through the ministry of Peter in Caesarea. He was careful,
with whom he conversed, and avoided public discussion, because he knew of the
Judaizing element that was there, which endangered the church. They might think
that his ministry was in vain and he wanted this journey to be completely
successful.
V. 3- 6. “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. 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.”
The leadership in Jerusalem had a clear understanding
of the gospel and knew it to be, for all people, a work of grace. The Gentile,
Titus, sat with them as an equal in the faith, and they did not require him to
be circumcised. However, once they opened this conversation to the general
body, a party of “believing” Pharisees protested and insisted that Gentile
Christians be circumcised and required to keep the Mosaic law (Ac.15:5). This
particular branch had already sent representatives to disseminate their tares
in Antioch (Ac.15:1) and it would not be long before they moved west into Asia
Minor. Later, Paul seemed to collide with them everywhere (see 2 Co.11:13, 26).
We can know, by following Paul’s arguments throughout
the letter, what kind of people these were and what they claimed to believe. They
lied and tried to discredit Paul’s teaching and credentials. There was
dishonesty among this whole branch of “believers”. The account states that they
were brought in secretly and that they slipped in… which brings up an
additional question… Who brought them in? The Jews, who came to Antioch, were
said to have come from Judea, so that they were not necessarily all from
Jerusalem, but also from surrounding churches. Years later, James tells Paul, “You see, brother, how many thousands there
are among the Jews of those who have believed. They are all zealous for the
law.” He persuaded Paul to take four Jews under a vow, to purify himself
and shave his head with them (Ac.21:20-24). You see the Jerusalem tendency to
hold on to ceremonial laws.
Showing again the
characteristic dishonesty of the false “brothers”, they found ways to covertly
observe what was happening in this conference between Paul and the Jerusalem
apostles. They were spies. They caused considerable trouble: “There had been much debate” (Ac.15:7),
until Peter recounted his initial experience with the household of Cornelius
and the outpouring of the Spirit upon them. He reaffirmed that salvation upon
Jew and Gentile was a work of grace.
On that occasion,
Peter mentioned a yoke (15:10) put
upon the Gentiles by the pharisaical party, and here Paul showed again that their
intention was to enslave. They would enslave believers to the law, to
themselves and to their particular party and system. Man-made religion can
always be recognized by this kind of slavery. Slavery is a personality trait of
the devil, but the purpose of the true gospel is to loose chains.
Paul, Barnabas and the
Jerusalem leadership worked no compromise to bring unity; they gave no ground
whatsoever. A change in one clause of the gospel of Christ would have been
disastrous for its future. Their thoughts were on the common believer among the
Gentiles and towards the preservation of the gospel through to the end of the
age, including this 21st Century. They preserved the opportunity to serve
God freely and develop a personal, working relationship with Him.
Above all, they were
concerned about the triumph of truth… “So
that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you”, and according to the essence of truth,
“no lie is of the truth” (1
Jn.2:21). Brothers in Christ are in
agreement with the following principle: Loyalty is not basically to people or
to a party or movement, but to truth. One small falsehood spoils truth and
cannot be tolerated among God’s people!
I want to point briefly
to the lack of professionalism and the unimportance of position in the early
church, which comes across through the terms, “who seemed influential” (v.2)
and “seemed to be influential” (v.6).
Of course, there must be pastors, overseers, and elders (all the same office)
among God’s people, and they are to be respected, but there is to be no hint of
superiority. They are all brothers and special authority is given by God to
some, so that they seem to be
influential. All this is in accordance with the teaching of Christ in the
gospels, establishing the principle, as Paul states, “God
shows no partiality”.
When Paul continues by
saying that the leadership in Jerusalem made no difference to him, he was not
saying roughly, “I don’t care about them, nor do I need them.” He is not being
disrespectful, but is simply upholding the premise, which he presents from the
beginning of this letter: His apostleship does not depend upon them nor do they
change in anyway, who he is and what he has to do. No man could add or take
away from his divine calling.
V.7-10. “On the
contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the
uncircumcised, 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.”
There was no laying on
of hands in this encounter, which would signify an ordination by a body of
elders to a candidate for the ministry, but simply a handshake among equals. Good
brethren in Christ recognize divine calling and in sincere fellowship, there is
an absence of envy and competitiveness. Where they treat one another as
brothers, the Lord will raise up, whom He will. If God has called, then God will
determine the boundaries or limitations upon the ministry, and no true fellow
servant will try to reduce or detain it. Nothing more has to be said, once it
has been determined that God is in control. It is settled; the Lord wants Peter
with the Jews and Paul with the Gentiles.
James, Cephas, and John, (notice again the term, “who seemed to be pillars”) because they are true servants of God,
filled with the discerning Spirit of God, come to agreement and fellowship with
Paul and Barnabas.
The leadership in
Jerusalem is particularly attentive to humanitarian ministry, and Paul shared this
concern with them. Since the subject is before us, let me comment on that which
is truly Christian compassion and that, which is not. First of all, we need to
recognize that someone can be humanitarian in nature without being born again. They
are compassionate from birth and the world gives us many examples of these good
people. In fact, society almost always applauds humanitarian effort. It is a
mistake to think that it is basically spiritual, when in fact, it can be full
of ugly pride.
I once heard a story
about a man in a certain town, who was known for love for his fellow man. It
was a self-sacrificial love. He would bring a homeless person into his house
and lend him his bed. He would empty his purse to pay a poor man´s bill and go
without his dinner to give it to a hungry beggar. His praise was on the lips of
every citizen and his name frequently appeared in the newspaper.
Then a stranger came
to town and, lo and behold, this fellow was even more generous than the first, more
willing to go without, in order to help his neighbor, and relieve the burdens
of the poor, Quickly, he got the attention of the public and they began to
forget about the one, who had for so long been outstanding among them because
of his charity. The first humanitarian also heard about the newcomer and
avoided him at all costs. So did the latter treat the former, crossing the
street, should be see him walking his way. We could lengthen this story, but I
think we have learned enough.
What is wrong here?
Paul said, “If I give away all I have,
and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love…” Just a
minute, Paul! I heard somewhere that love is not what we feel, but is something
that we do. Give away… deliver up my body…
is that not love? Ah, but the apostle is writing about God’s love, in contrast
to human love. He goes on, “Love does
not envy or boast; it is not arrogant” (1 Co.13:3-4). Here is where our two
friends in the story came short.
John said, “In this is love (true love, God’s
love), not that we have loved God but
that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1
Jn.4:10). Let’s go for just another minute to the gospel and compare the love
of a woman with an alabaster box of expensive ointment to the love of Jesus’
own disciples. You know the story; she pours it, in its totality, over Jesus.
The disciples reacted angrily, “This
could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor” (Mt.26:6-9). To
this, I will only add the ending to Jesus’ high priestly prayer to His Father: “That the love with which you have loved me
may be in them, and I in them” (Jn.17:26).
The love of the Lord
is not human love, in fact, it is entirely different. His love will motivate
us, first of all, to love God and do all to glorify Him. It will move on behalf
of our neighbor, prioritizing his eternal soul over his temporary needs. It
will work towards bringing him into a position, in which he will give glory to
God, by reconciling him to God.
This motivation will
come through the Holy Spirit within, and He will guide His yielded vessel and
empower him, in order to bring it to pass. Does the Holy Spirit work to relieve
the suffering of the poor? Of course, but always with the intention to help him
in a much higher way. Four things always characterize the work of the Holy
Spirit: It is spiritual, it is heavenly, it is supernatural, and it is eternal.
The only real good that can be done for the poor is by giving him that, which
he can take with him to heaven. “Yes,”
Paul says, “I also am eager to remember the poor.”
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