Galatians 2

Commentary

Galatians 2:1-2

1. Then after fourteen years I went up to Jerusalem again with Barnabas, taking Titus along too. 2. I went there because of a revelation and presented to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did so only in a private meeting with the influential people, to make sure that I was not running — or had not run — in vain.

Fourteen years after his conversion, Paul made a second visit to Jerusalem, where he met privately with the apostles to discuss the gospel.

Some identify this meeting with the events of Acts 15, but that identification is mistaken: Acts 15 records a public discourse and debate, not a private meeting. It more likely occurred during the period of Acts 11, going unmentioned there precisely because the discussion was private.

Paul brought Barnabas and Titus along with him.

Galatians 2:3-5

3. Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, although he was a Greek. 4. Now this matter arose because of the false brothers with false pretenses who slipped in unnoticed to spy on our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, to make us slaves. 5. But we did not surrender to them even for a moment, in order that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.

When Paul met with the council, he had Titus with him, an uncircumcised man. If circumcision were genuinely a matter of salvation, Titus would have had to be circumcised on the spot. Theological debates are easily conducted in the abstract; they become far more difficult when they bear directly on the person in the room.

Titus was not required to be circumcised, which indicates that the Jerusalem council sided with Paul.

Paul had encountered the Judaizers before, and he never yielded to their demands or their pressure. The question remains as to who admitted them into the church, since the language implies that someone did. They were surveying the church with a view to usurping its control and leadership.

Galatians 2:6

⁶ But from those who were influential (whatever they were makes no difference to me; God shows no favoritism between people ) — those influential leaders added nothing to my message.

Paul may appear to be speaking condescendingly of the apostles here, but he is not. His criticism is directed at the Judaizers and at their estimation of the apostles. Paul’s point is that the apostles did not confer his authority upon him; he received it from Jesus.

Paul also makes clear that God shows no favoritism. These men were influential in the service of Christ, but God was not going to use them exclusively to accomplish his work.

Galatians 2:7-9

⁷ On the contrary, when they saw that I was entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised just as Peter was to the circumcised ⁸ (for he who empowered Peter for his apostleship to the circumcised also empowered me for my apostleship to the Gentiles) ⁹ and when James, Cephas, and John, who had a reputation as pillars, recognized the grace that had been given to me, they gave to Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship, agreeing that we would go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.

They agreed wholeheartedly with Paul and with his calling, and they permitted Titus to remain uncircumcised.

Galatians 2:10

¹⁰ They requested only that we remember the poor, the very thing I also was eager to do.

God’s heart for the poor is evident here. When we find ourselves engaged in theological debate, we cannot compromise on the things God values.

Galatians 2:11-13

¹¹ But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he had clearly done wrong. ¹² Until certain people came from James, he had been eating with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he stopped doing this and separated himself because he was afraid of those who were pro-circumcision. ¹³ And the rest of the Jews also joined with him in this hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray with them by their hypocrisy.

Paul confronted and rebuked Peter. Peter had compromised out of fear of those around him, and because he was a leader, others followed his example and compromised as well. Leading by example is a powerful thing. Even Barnabas found himself drawn away from the gospel by Peter.

This demonstrates that the gospel holds authority even over the apostles, an argument Paul made in similar terms in 1:8-9.

Our leaders are sinful as well, and at times require correction; we should be willing to offer it.

Galatians 2:14

¹⁴ But when I saw that they were not behaving consistently with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “If you, although you are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you try to force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

Peter was not living consistently with the gospel. Paul confronts him publicly because Peter’s sin carried public ramifications.

Galatians 2:15

¹⁵ We are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners,

Paul adopts a note of sarcasm toward Peter here, exposing the fact that Peter’s conduct had cast the Gentiles as second-class citizens.

Galatians 2:16

¹⁶ yet we know that no one is justified by the works of the law but by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by the faithfulness of Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.

This is a foundational truth: we are saved by faith and not by works. Yet whenever anything is added to the gospel, it becomes works. Paul makes it plain that the works of the law cannot justify us.

Galatians 2:17-18

¹⁷ But if while seeking to be justified in Christ we ourselves have also been found to be sinners, is Christ then one who encourages sin? Absolutely not! ¹⁸ But if I build up again those things I once destroyed, I demonstrate that I am one who breaks God’s law.

The accusation may have been that in setting aside the law they were promoting sin, an objection comparable to the one addressed in Romans 5-6. Paul emphatically denies that Christ promotes or encourages sin. On the contrary, reintroducing the law only demonstrates our greater need for grace (Rom 5:20).

Galatians 2:19

¹⁹ For through the law I died to the law so that I may live to God.

We have died to the law. The law did not die; we died to it. And we are now a new creation.

Galatians 2:20-21

²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. ²¹ I do not set aside God’s grace, because if righteousness could come through the law, then Christ died for nothing!

We have been identified with Christ. Our objective position before God is in Christ, having died and been raised with him. The old man is dead, and we are now a new creation.

This pairs well with Romans 6, where Paul explains this position and how we are to know it, consider it, and present ourselves to God in light of it.

All of this would be rendered pointless if we returned to the law after Christ died for us. Our sin has been paid in full; why would we exchange that for rules and regulations?