The Unknown Bible - Pastor Bevans Welder

Gentile Salvation
Gal 2:1-14

2-4-07

Paul had explained to the Galatians that his gospel was not of men but of the Lord himself – it couldn’t have been from men because no one had time to train him in those things.

Now he tells them [the Galatians] what happened years later (14 yrs later) to further prove that they had no need to be living according to the law.

THE CONFERENCE

1 – Paul Barnabas and Titus went up to Jerusalem – Acts 15:2 Titus was among the “certain other of them” – they went up to answer for the disputation that had taken place regarding the question of circumcision for the Gentile converts in Acts 15:1, 5

2 – He went up by revelation – in Acts 15:2 they determined that he should go but the Lord gave him assurance about going, like Acts 16:9; 18:9-10; 23:11; 27:23

He “communicated that gospel that I preach” so that they would understand that his gospel included some things revealed to him directly by the Lord and that it didn’t include the necessity for circumcision – Acts 15:12

He spoke to some of them “privately” – as in Acts 15:4 – he told them what was going on before the group met to keep the whole group from deciding to put the requirement of circumcision on the Gentiles after he had been telling Gentiles that circumcision wasn’t necessary

He was concerned “lest I had run in vain” – “run” as in 1 Cor 9:24-26 – “in vain” as in Gal 4:11 – he didn’t want to have done all this work only to have everything messed up by a bunch of Jews - the Lord had shown him that there was no need to circumcise and a group of men was about to teach something contrary to what the Lord had revealed to him

THE ATTACK OF FALSE BRETHREN

3-4 – Titus, a Gentile, was not compelled to be circumcised (though Paul had circumcised Timothy for testimony’s sake before the Jews in Acts 16:3, since his mother was Jewish) – the false brethren were unsaved Jews as in 2 Cor 11:26 who spied out their liberty in order to find fault with Paul and put his converts back under circumcision - their liberty was in Christ [Gal 5:1] – and the bondage was the law [Acts 15:10] – Titus was proof that Gentile converts don’t need to be circumcised in order to be saved

5 – Paul wouldn’t subject the truth to their bondage – like Titus 1:9-11

6 – These guys were big shots but they could add nothing to what Paul had said – and God wouldn’t care how important they thought they were – the only thing that is important is the truth, not the reputation of the man standing against it or for it

THE CONCLUSION OF THE CONFERENCE

7-8 - On the contrary, Paul showed them something – that the gospel to the Gentiles had been committed to him (Acts 9:15) in the same way that Peter preached to the Jews

9 – James, Peter and John (these were the Lord’s brother and the authors of the epistles in the back of the Bible – they would certainly seem to be pillars) perceived that the Lord had given Barnabas and Paul a ministry to the Gentiles – so they shook hands on it and sent them with blessings to preach to the Gentiles – Acts 15:22-29 – without requiring Gentile converts to be circumcised

10 – They gave them one additional instruction, remember the poor – 2 Cor 9:1, 12; 1 Cor 16:1-2

PAUL’S SUBSEQUENT REBUKE OF PETER

11-14 Paul got after Peter for his dissimulation – Peter was acting like it was all right to eat with the Gentiles as long as the LAW ABIDING Jews weren’t around to see him – this thing even affected Barnabas, which shows you how easily an apparently influential preacher can lead others astray – those law abiding Jews had really put the fear of men in them – Paul told Peter to his face that if you can live like the Gentiles, then the Gentiles can live like the Gentiles, and neither of you has any reason to live like the Jews who cannot even keep the law they profess (Gal 6:13) – anyway you are both saved the same way – you even said so yourself, Peter, in Acts 15:10-11 – so he told Peter to quit being pressured by the Jews to live according to the law