galatians 2

8/7/2019 Galatians 2

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Jeffrey Price NT520 Galatians 2 12

Section 1 Introductory Matters

The apostle Paul has set forth in this momentous letter to the churches in Galatia to declare thegospel of grace, life and freedom to them once again. He is ferverently and adamantly writing them to

preserve their very lives in Jesus Christ. From the very beginning, Paul is concerned with both

establishing his authority as an Apostle, but more importantly that being an Apostle of Jesus Christmeans bringing the message of salvation to the people of God. Paul simultaneously declares his

authority in Christ; being sent not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the

Father,[1] while also declaring the message of salvation he brought to the churches both previouslyand now in this letter.[2] Unfortunately, the Galatians were being influenced by those who brought a

different message of salvation than the one Paul originally preached, and thus the urgency of this letter

to correct and remind the Galatians of truth.

The impassioned plea with the churches in Galatia that Paul clearly articulates in Chapter 2comes on the heels of the establishment of his authority and the authority of his message in Chapter 1,

but it quickly moves on to a strong admonishment of the Galatians in Chapter 3. He repeatedly calls

them foolish[3] for grasping at a salvation that does not exist in the flesh or by the works of the law.This is quite ironic in light of the true and living Spirit of Christ that works in the heart by faith, but is

difficult to see by worldly standards. The Galatians, in an attempt to grasp something tangible in the

flesh, were looking for nothing more than a fools errand of self-salvation. We now set our sights onChapter 2 of Galatians where Paul continues to build the case for his apostolic authority and ends with

a resolute declaration of the gospel of grace only found in Jesus Christ.

From the very beginning of the chapter we find some level of controversy that relates to thetiming of Pauls letter. There is a clearly drawn connection from Pauls letter to the Jerusalem Council

dated 50 CE, but there is debate whether Paul wrote before or after the council. The visit to Jerusalem

in Galatians 2 is so closely connected with the subject matter of the Council of Jerusalem of Acts 15

that the two must be regarded as independent accounts of the same visit. [4] If Acts 15 and Galatians 2are independent accounts of the same event, then clearly the letter was written after 50 CE. However,

others contend that since Paul does not mention the verdict that circumcision was not necessary for

salvation it is hard to see why he should omit all mention of such a significant support to hisargument,[5] since the message of salvation in connection with the law was the focal point of the

problem in Galatia. In the end, it is difficult to ignore the clear and present relationship of the same

issues being dealt with, and it is far more likely that Galatians was written around the same time as 50CE.

The key issue surrounding the Jerusalem Council and of great concern to Paul in Galatians 2

was the gospel, and if the law and customs of Moses would be bound to all for salvation, this would

essentially diminish the power of salvation in Christ alone.[6] Requiring circumcision or any of theother ceremonial laws would in effect make Christ alone insufficient for salvation, and require Christ

plus whatever cultural, ceremonial, or moral laws the cultus of religious power demanded for

salvation. For Paul the gospel itself was life, and to rob the gospel of the power to save would meandeath to Paul, death to all those that believe in Christ and a vain death for Christ himself.

Knowing the importance of the gospel to Paul, the question we ask ourselves is how the gospel

relates to Christology, the doctrine of Christ, to Soteriology, our doctrine of salvation, andEcclesiology, our doctrine of the church. Much has been made recently of what the primary message

of the gospel is and what it is not. As all doctrines of the faith are, these three are all interrelated and

connect in ways that make them all important. Who Jesus Christ is, the perfect life he lived as a God-man, the sacrifice he took upon himself to the point of humiliation, and the exaltation of his

resurrection and ascension to heaven, is obviously important to followers of Christ. Of major

importance to Christians, also, is the relationship we have to one another in the body of Christ called


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the Church. Neither of these precious doctrines can be diminished in importance, and Paul weaves

them so closely together throughout his letters, but these are letters to people in the church who are

struggling to understand what Christ has done for them. Without the doctrine of salvation, man

foolishly looks at the God-man and sees only a brutal death, and at the church as nothing more than asocial club. It is our salvation, in Christ Jesus, that connects us to him and to one another. It is this

salvation that Paul calls to our attention again and again throughout his letter of faith to the Galatians.

No letter makes clearer than this one the importance of living out all the implications of salvationthrough the cross. [7]

Section 2 Outline

1 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas

o taking Titus along with me.

o 2 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.

3 But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be

circumcised, though he was a Greek.

o 4 Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in--who slipped in to spy out ourfreedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery

5 to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment,

so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.

o 6 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. 7 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

8 (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the

circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), 9 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.

10 Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was

eager to do.

11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face,

o because he stood condemned.

o 12 For before certain men came from James,

he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back andseparated himself, fearing the circumcision party. 13 And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even

Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.

14 But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel,

o I said to Cephas before them all, "If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not

like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?"

15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners;


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o 16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in

Jesus Christ,

o so we also have believed in Christ Jesus,

o in order to be justified by faith in Christ

and not by works of the law,

because by works of the law no one will be justified.

o17

But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ,o we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not!

18 For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor.

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

o 20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives

in me.

o And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me

and gave himself for me.

o 21 I do not nullify the grace of God,

for if righteousness were through the law,

then Christ died for no purpose.

Section 3 Tracing the Train of ThoughtBeginning in 1:13 2:10, Paul recounts his biographical history with a single purpose in mind. He was

a persecutor, an enemy of God and of the young Church, but God intervened in his life. But when hewho had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son

to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles. [8] Paul, was not on a mission of his own

undertaking, nor was it convenient for him, but he was called by Jesus Christ. Pauls story is one ofunbelievable grace, in the face of every obstacle, and yet he was perfectly equipped for the task that lay

before him. God was going to use the totality of his life, as a Jews Jew, to take his message of hope,

unity, salvation and life to the Gentiles. Paul was on Gods mission, and no man, not even another

Apostle would prevent him from sharing Gods message with the world.While the other Apostles received their authority in part by being disciples of Jesus Christ during his

earthly ministry, Paul did not receive his authority from them or anyone else other than God, it camebecause of a revelation[9]. Pauls biography reveals the Apostolic authority of his preaching, theconfirmation this received from the other Apostles and the assurance to both the original readers and us

today, that there is no other teaching in Scripture than that of Jesus Christ. There is no dichotomy

between Jesus and Paul, or Paul and the other Apostles, but their gospel message is a single message oftruth, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. [10]

As we briefly looked at in the introduction, Galatians 2 relates Pauls perspective on the

Jerusalem Council of 50 CE. Again, he does not view himself as needing their approval, but he does

show a level of respect and deference to their authority by first going privately to them. They weredealing with the issues of circumcision, relationships between Greeks and Jews and most importantly

the gospel that had been revealed to them all through Jesus Christ. This was a defining moment in

Church history, and as it may seem to be a divisive one it was the moment that the Church showed itstruest unity setting the stage of what was to come. There is no difference in our standing before God.

And if there is no difference in our standing before, God, there should be no differences in our standing

with one another. [11] Put another way, there is only one Christ, one truth, and one gospel.Therefore, there is only one ultimate freedom worth fighting to preserve.[12] That was a freedom that

the Jerusalem Council fought against the false brothers[13] to preserve, and the freedom that Paul

was fighting to preserve in the hearts and minds of the church in Galatia. The result of this meeting

was the confirmation of the gospel preached by Paul as being one and the same as the other Apostles,and the resolution that Paul had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had


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been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised. [14] The verdict of the council would both unify

Peter and Paul, and simultaneously put them on a collision course.

You see, Paul was not only dealing with a random bunch of gospel obfuscators, he was also forced to

contend with Peter himself, the very man he was just united with in gospel purpose. Peter hadforgotten that the gospel was not about the cultus work of man to circumcise or not, but was about the

completed work of Jesus Christ upon the cross. Peter was ignoring the unity that he had in Christ with

the circumcised and uncircumcised alike when he refused to dine with the uncircumcised, affectivelymaking them second class Christians. According to the letter of the law this was entirely

appropriate[15], but it ran in contrast to the very foundation of the gospel of unity Peter proclaimed to

believe and affirmed in Jerusalem. Paul had no other choice, but to rebuke Peter and remind him of hissinful heart, and though Gentiles were unclean due to their lack of circumcision, Peter was equally

unclean if he thought he was made clean by works of the law instead of faith in Jesus Christ. There is

none but Paul that has his eyes open, and sees the offense of Peter, of Barnabas, and the other Jews that

dissembled. They do not see their offense, but rather think they do well in bearing with the infirmity ofthe weak Jews. Wherefore it was very necessary that Paul should reprove their offense, that is, that

they swerved from the truth of the gospel. [16]

Following his rebuke of Peter and the lack of unity in Christ that he was exemplifying, Paul turns to theGalatians and reminds them once again what it is to truly be unified in Christ. He draws out the

distinction between faith or grace and law and works, for several reasons. First, he is continuing to

drive home the point that he was making at the beginning of the letter that there is only one gospel.Second, it was this issue between faith and works that was causing confusion and led to the need for the

Jerusalem Council meeting to clear up the issue. Third, Peter was clearly struggling with this issue still

and needed to be reminded again of the truth he worked to preserve with Paul. Finally, Paul is layingthe ground work for the Galatians to understand that their inheritance comes from the promises of

Abrahams seed, and not the law given to Moses in Chapter 3. And to help them understand the

allegory of Sarah and Hagar in relationship to Gods people being free children of Sarah, not the law-

driven man made attempt at promise shown in the seed of Hagar in Chapter 4. Interestingly enoughthough, circumcision is given to both Isaac and Ishmael as a sign of Gods covenant promises, but only

Isaac who is a child of faith is united to Christ, and even though Ishmael is circumcised too he is not

free in Christ.We now get into the climax of Chapter 2, and as has been demonstrated, this is the crucial argument for

understanding Chapters 3 and 4. There has been a steady build up in Pauls argument for his Apostolic

authority, but now he is singularly focused on helping the Galatians understand the gospel. This iscritical to Paul and more important than anything else which is why he so ferverently drives home this

point, yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ,

so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of

the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. [17] Are we justified by works of thelaw or by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone? If we are not capable of saving ourselves, as

Hagar and Ishmael shows us, then it must be a gracious act of God to bring us to faith in his son Jesus

Christ. To be in Christ, is to be justified by faith in Christ and to be justified by faith in Christ is tohave salvation which is Pauls gospel message.

The connection between our Christology and Soteriology is never more evident than it is on this point

here. Jesus Christ lived the perfectly obedient life, without transgressing the law, and yet he waspunished for the transgressions of the law. He was humiliated, hung upon a tree as a cursed man, and

died. However, the story does not end there as he was resurrected by the Father, ascended into heaven,

glorified and exalted. The humiliation that we experience by the law, teaching us about ourtransgressions is to show us that we are not perfect like Jesus Christ. However, we are not left in our

despair driven there by the law, but are raised up by grace to taste and experience faith in Christ. It is


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by being justified in Christ that we too are exalted with him in resurrection life, and are given the

promises of God that we will live and not die.

It is the interplay between life and death that Paul concludes and crescendos with in the finale of

Chapter 2. He changes from his use of we to I in the closing verses 18 21. For through the lawI died to the law, so that I might live to God. [18]It is almost paradoxical or an apparent contradiction

to think of dying leading to life, and being crucified with Christ as living. But what is of most critical

importance to understand is, It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I nowlive in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. [19]For the

gospel is the life of Jesus Christ lived in and through the believer, by faith, because Jesus Christ first

loved us enough to take our sin upon himself and die on our behalf. He tasted humiliation, so that wewould be exalted with him in glory.

Section 4 Theological Issues

Now let us turn to three significant theological issues that are dealt with in Galatians 2. First and

foremost, there is the question of what is the gospel? This was of importance to the Jerusalem Council,to Paul, to the churches of Galatia, and to the Church down through the ages to todays reader and post-

modern culture. Our post-modern culture struggles continuously with definitions because of the

shifting sands of subjectivism, but for our Church Fathers there is no shifting sand as it relates to thegospel. There certainly was no question in Pauls mind as he received it directly from Jesus Christ as a

revelation. The gospel was and is the transforming truth from darkness into light, from death to life,

from flesh to Spirit, that Jesus Christ was humiliated for our sin, so that we might be exalted in hisrighteousness.[20] Paul preached this message again and again throughout his epistles and throughout

Galatians. The gospel ushered in freedom for the captives, by setting them free from sin and restoring

them unto life. Paul pays particular attention to the freedom we have in Christ from the transgressionrevealing power of the law here in Galatians 2. The question of freedom and the law then dominates

the vital and powerful paragraph 2:11-21. [21] This is not to say that the law is evil, or that it stands

in opposition to the Gospel. On the contrary, the law as part of Gods revelation is part of the gospel.

It simultaneously reveals both Gods perfection, and our imperfection, humbling us and exalting God,but as stated earlier the gospel does not leave us here. Christ takes on our humiliation and our sin, so

the believer can say, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives

in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gavehimself for me. [22] The gospel gives us life, but not just any life. The gospel gives us the very life

of Jesus Christ ushering into our hearts the Kingdom of God, restoring us to perfection and exalting us

in our present and future resurrection life lived in the service of our King.The second question we must deal with relates to the first. What is justification? The gospel is being

justified through faith in Jesus Christ, so that he lives in us. Justification then carries with it the legal

connotations of being a transgressor before Gods law court, and though we are guilty we are declared

to be righteous. Through, by and in Jesus Christ, the unrighteous sinners receive the judgment of therighteous King who fulfills the promise to Abraham by taking on the transgression of his people.[23]

N.T. Wright would say that justification is the verdict of God himself as to who really is a member of

his people. [24] The problem with this limited definition is that while justification does declare to uswho really is a member of the covenant family of God, it does so by declaring the unclean are clean,

the uncircumcised are circumcised, the unrighteous are now righteous. And it is through this

righteousness of Christ that has been imputed to us, that we are now members of the covenant family ofGod. Righteousness goes beyond being merely a status enjoyed by Gods true family[25], but it as

Paul says the grace of God that the dead are now living in Christ Jesus who has made them holy.

Why does any of that matter to you or to me? What does it matter if we are righteous, or how we arejustified by faith through Jesus Christ? It matters because it directly affects our identity in Christ. This

is where we find common ground with Wright that the gospel is a rising into the new identity defined

by the Messiah himself, whose faithfulness unto death has brought his people out of the old age and


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into the new.[26] Who we are in Christ, is our identity in Christ as an adopted member of his family,

justified or declared righteous despite our works to the contrary, and exalted to resurrection life because

It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.[27] Jesus Christ has given himself for us,

taking on the transgression of the law that would humiliate us, and given us life his life, for thosewhom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.[28] Taste life and live

not in bondage to the law, but in the freedom of Christs victory over death.

BibliographyBarclay, William. The Letters to the Galatians and Ephesians. Edinburgh: The Saint Andrew Press,

1976.

D.A. Carson & Douglas J. Moo. An Introduction to the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan,2005.

Luther, Martin. Commentary on Galatians. Grand Rapids: Fleming H. Revell, 1988.

Ryken, Philip Graham. Galatians. Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing Company, 2005.

Walter A. Elwell & Robert W. Yarbrough. Encountering the New Testament. Grand Rapids: BakerAcademics, 2005.

Wright, N.T. Justification. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2009.

[1]Gal 1:1 ESV

[2] the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age (Gal 1:3-4 ESV)

[3] Gal 3: 1, 3[4]D.A. Carson & Douglas J. Moo 2005, 463

[5]Ibid, 464-5

[6]Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved (Act 15:1 ESV)[7]D.A. Carson & Douglas J. Moo 2005, 475

[8]Gal 1:15-16 ESV

[9] Gal: 2:2 ESV[10]Gal 2:5 ESV

[11]Ryken 2005, 44

[12]Ibid, 40

[13] Gal 2:4 ESV[14]Gal 2:7 ESV

[15]Barclay 1976, 18

[16]Luther 1988, 85[17]Gal 2:16 ESV

[18]Gal 2:19 ESV

[19]Gal 2:20 ESV[20]For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2Cor 5: 21)[21]Wright 2009, 114[22] Gal 2:20

[23]When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between thesepieces. (Gen 15:17)[24]Wright 2009, 121

[25]Ibid, 121

[26]Ibid, 120

[27] Gal 2:20[28] Rom 8:30

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