Shocking Truths from Galatians 2

Warning:  Reading this material may lead to a change in your thinking and your behavior!

Galatians 2 includes the main proposition of Paul which he unfolds in the ret of the book.  The key passage is Galatians 2:15-21.  It may not mean what you thought it did.

The problem in Galatia is that the insistence by some that Gentiles live like Jews is destroying the gospel Paul is preaching.

Gal 2:1-10:  Paul, Peter, James, John, and Barnabas are united in their understanding of the gospel; however, they agree to different fields of work for Peter (Jewish) and Paul (Gentiles).  False brothers have sneaked in the door and are imposing a Jewish flavor of Christianity on Gentiles.  Paul refuses this due to the revelation of the mystery of the gospel which he has been given direct by Christ--that Jews and Gentiles are now one united family with all on equal footing.  He unpacks this mystery in Ephesians.

Galatians 2:11-14:  Paul rebukes Peter because he has walked against His theology for reasons of convenience and expediency.  Peter has come to believe as Paul does due to his vision of the sheets coming down in Acts and his experience with the Gentile Cornelius.  But now Peter is influencing others to separate the family of God into two-- his actions are encouarging the idea that one must follow Jewish ways to be fully Christian.

Galatians 2:15-21:  Paul's main point.

* The failure of many to understand proper biblical teaching on freedom, law, the OT, etc. comes from a misunderstanding of the ways in which Paul uses the term "Law."  In the context of Galatians he is defining law as a Jewish system of living based on the Torah, following the Jewish calendar, adopting even other laws that have been added to God's revelation (i.e. man-made Jewish rules and traditions).

1.  All Christians at that time (whether Jew or Gentile) realized that being declared not guilty before God (Justified) was never based on the works of the law.  In other words, neither the Old Testament nor Jewish life at that time believed in a salvation by works.  The law was given to a people already redeemed, not as a means by which people could be "saved."  This was generally understood then and is generally misunderstood by Christians today.


2.  The idea of doing the law (or good works) in order to be saved is not a Jewish or biblical idea.  It arose as a problem because Jewish Christians were imposing the law and Jewish lifestyle on Gentile Christians.  The Gentile Christians, being confused, then began to dip into the bag of Judaism to try and please God--rather than live according to the freedom they really had which did not require them to be Jewish--adopt all the laws of the Torah, the Jewish calendar, etc.

3.  They and we are declared not guilty through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ.  This is a different reading of Gal 2:16 than in most of our translations which emphasize our exercise of faith.  This translation here regarding the faithfulness of Jesus shifts the focus onto Him and all that He did.  Do I have to follow Jewish law?  No,  Jesus faithfully kept the law--Jesus fulfilled the law.  He did it!  He kept it!  He did what Israel failed to do.  And He has forgiven us (and all OT saints prior to Jesus)  for our failure to keep the law.  Jesus is the Servant of the Lord.  He is Israel.  And so are all His people (those "in Christ.". . . Jew and Gentile.)  This is the blockbuster truth, the mystery, that Paul unfolds in his writings--a teaching  which was opposed both then and now.  Simply put, family membership with God means we are all part of ONE family.  The dividing wall of the Jewish law (requiring Gentiles to adopt a Jewish flavor) has been broken down.  There is great freedom in the family--defined as Israel or the Church.  Call the family what what you will.  Israel and the Church are both clearly the same thing according to Paul.

4.  What about the Jewish law or OT law then?

a.  Jesus fulfilled it by perfectly doing it.
b.  Law led us and leads others to Christ.  The attempt to do "law" on our own leads to bondage, to woe is me, and eventually to repentance and a crying out to God for rescue.
c.  The law of God is now internally in our hearts (Hebrews 10:16) because of the Holy Spirit and is now called the perfect law of liberty (James 1:25).  Christians want to please God and we can do so by the power of the Holy Spirit.  We now "do the law" by the power of the Holy Spirit.
d.  The law as a religious system that is required for salvation has been abolished.  The law as that which is holy, righteous and good is now something we want to do and can do because of the Holy Spirit.
e.  Doing good (or doing law) still applies.  It always has.  If we call Him Lord and do not do what He says we are not part of the Kingdom.  James says we are declared not guilty by works and not by faith alone.  HUHHH?  What?!!!! 
f.  God's law is His will.  Doing it is evidence that we are truly God's people.  We love Him and love people.  Failure to do so means we are not legitimate children-- but fakes.  This holy will of God is not a Jewish set of rules or codes or laws on paper that we impose on others. Rather, the law is holy living rooted in love.  The fruit of the Spirit in Gal 5 is nothing less than Spirit-filled law keeping.
g.  If law does not apply, let's trash the ten commandments and the Sermon on the Mount.  One key to understanding these things is the Holy Spirit and what He does with the law--things not understood or taught in the church very well perhaps. Another key is that we are declared not guilty due to the faithfulness of Jesus who kept the law (often totally missed in Galatians 2:16 and elsewhere)

Practical Ramifications and summary:

1.  We do not impose on other members of God's family a set of external rules by which they prove to us that they belong in the family:  don't do this, can't do that, do this, gotta do that.

2.  In our mission work and evangelism we don't require others to adopt our practices in order to be fully Christian.  For instance, overseas we see lots of legalistic practices (no drinking, no pants for women, etc.) imported from Western legalistic Christianity.  Or we want their churches to practice Christianity according to the models we have adopted.

3.  It is simply not true that the law is bad or that the OT taught a salvation by works.  Nor did Jews ever teach an idea of being rescued by doing good works.  Legalism is a human invention that results when we impose on others an external way of displaying Christianity that God doesn't require.

4.  Keeping the law still applies--not the system of law-keeping and regs as found among first century Jews nor a fast set of rules on paper.  No, the perfect law of freedom as that Holy will of God, rooted in love, framed in the Ten Commandments, summed up as loving God and loving our neighbor.  We want to keep it because the Holy Spirit has put in in our hearts now and given us the power to please God by doing good works (which we were rescued to do).

5.  Galatians does not teach that freedom comes from abolishing the law.  It teaches that an external system of law-keeping is not required to prove legitimate family membership.  Law (doing good) still applies--people freed through Jesus and filled with the Holy Spirit live a life of faith working through love (Gal 5:6)

* The failure of many to understand proper biblical teaching on freedom, law, the OT, etc. comes from a misunderstanding of the ways in which Paul uses the term "Law."  In the context of Galatians he is defining law as a Jewish system of living based on the Torah, following the Jewish calendar, adopting even other laws that have been added to God's revelation (i.e. man-made Jewish rules and traditions).

Galatians 1:5-2:5: Distorting the Gospel

People and churches have been guilty of distorting the gospel.  Do I?  The trouble in Galatia was caused by folks that had good intentions and strong convictions.  However, they stymied the gospel and disturbed the freedom of  people in the community of faith.  Galatians 2:4 tells us that false brethren secretly sneaked in to spy out the freedom that Paul and the Gentiles were enjoying--in order to bring them into bondage.

Some of the Jewish Christians that Paul was dealing with during this time were having a hard time coping with the  "new" message that Paul was bringing (a message he repeatedly says he got by revelation direct from God).  His message was that Gentiles do not have to be circumsised, do not have to follow the Jewish religious calendar, do not have to adhere to a Jewish lifestyle in accordance with laws the Jews held dear.  Many of the Jewish believers were saying- "Oh, yes they do."

Are we guilty of limiting the grace and freedom of Christ by imposing the same limitations on others?  We often do so in the name of fighting for pure theology.  Here are some things commonly mis-understood about Paul in Galatians and his other writings:

1.  Paul did away with the law for Christians:  False.  Rather, he pointed out that there is no way to come into a proper relation with the living God by keeping the law--as some of the Jewish converts were maintaining.  The Holy Spirit empowers us to want to keep the law after we are saved by grace through faith.  This is clear in Hebrews and in Paul's writings also.  The law is holy, righteous, good.  We that belong to Christ have been rescued by grace to do good works--i.e. we delight to please God by keeping His commandments.  This new freedom through the Spirit changes the works of the law into what James calls the "law of perfect freedom."  If you don't know Christ then the attempt to do the law only leads to bondage.  The law leads us to Jesus and then presto-- by the infilling of the Holy Spirit we want to keep the law (here thinking of the moral law rather than the ceremonial and civil laws the Jews were insisting on.)

2.  God has two tracks of redemptive work for two different people:  one for the Jews and one for the Gentiles.  False.  Paul defines the mystery that was revealed to him in Romans and Ephesians as the fact that Gentiles and Jews are now one family.  It can be called Israel or the Church.  Choose whatever you like.  The truth is that everything has always been by grace through faith (OT and NT).  Furthermore, law factors in as applicable in OT and NT.

So, in Galatians Paul is insisting that this "new" message he is promoting is not according to man.  He is not changing the game and setting up a distorted, false gospel--this is what Paul was being accused of.  After all, he was not one of the original apostles.  Thus Paul insists that the authority for his message was direct from the Lord by revelation (on the Damascus road and afterward).  In fact, he was such a committed Jew that he would be the last one to want to preach a message damaging the faith.  As a true Jew he has street cred!  Nevertheless, God has told him things that ensure freedom for all people who come to Christ.  All are rescued the same way and all are equal.  There is no inequality for anybody and there are no special rules or hoops that someone has to go through to be reconciled to the living God--all are declared not guilty through faith in Christ Jesus.  There are no additional requirements.  Let us not add any ourselves to the people we are trying to reach.

Summary:

1.  We distort the gospel when we impose on people required rules that simply do not apply.
2.  There is one family of God and when someone comes to Jesus by faith they are a brother or sister.
3.  The law still applies because the Holy Spirit puts it on our hearts.  It is just that one cannot be rescued from sin by keeping the law.
4.  Jesus the Messiah gave Himself for us so that we might have true freedom and proclaim a clear message that leads to real freedom for others.
5.  Some Christians promote a false gospel that leads people back into bondage.  What are you proclaiming?

Introduction and Galatians 1:1-4

The People of Galatia (see above map): It is interesting that the Galatians originally came from the Danube River basin which flows through southern european countries to the Black Sea. The people from that region spread out. Among them are those we know through history as the Gauls, the Celts, and Galatians (who spread SE into present day Turkey).

The churches of Galatia: There is some debate regarding the location of the churches of Galatia, some opting for the northern Galatia theory and others choosing the southern territory. We have chosen to believe that Galatians was written around 49 A.D. to churches that Paul established and visited during his first missionary journey as recorded in Acts 13-14-14:23

Importance of Galatians: Since this book is probably the first of Paul's writings understanding it is crucial to grasping the rest of Paul--particular in regard to his views on certain topics and words that come up throughout his writings--law, salvation, freedom, abrahamic covenant, etc.

Paul’s Opponents were Christian Jews from Jerusalem who thought it necessary to be circumcised, follow the Jewish calendar, be rightly related to the Abrahamic Covenant, and live the Christian life by a Jewish understanding of the law. They sought to undermine or discredit the authority of Paul. They wanted to avoid the persecution associated with the cross and wanted to boast in Gentile circumcision.

There are two extremes to which Galatians (and Paul) point. The first is a legalism which adds to the gospel things that God never intended to add. The second is libertinism which takes the liberty or freedom we have in Christ to an extreme which rejects or distorts the new role of the law of liberty. (A common misunderstanding of folks is that the law is completely done away with-- yet it is God's law that is written on our hearts by the Holy Spirit as part of the new covenant.)

Topics and Theology in Galatians (and Paul): The Family of God, the Law, God’s Covenants, Gospel, Grace, Freedom, Christian Living

Other NT Books mentioning Galatia: 1 Cor 16:2; 2 Tim 4:10; 1 Pet 1:1

Read Galatians 1: 1-2: This introduction is unique in Paul's writings and he is defending the authenticity of his apostleship and direct authority from Christ, speaking to and against his opponents.

F.F. Bruce speculates the following as to what the the Jewish Christians (Paul's opponents) may have been saying(pp xcvi and xcvii in Longenecker commentary): “The Jerusalem leaders are the only persons with authority to say what the true gospel is, and this authority they received direct from Christ. Paul has no comparable authority: any commission he exercises was derived by him from the Jerusalem leaders, and if he differs from them on the content or implications of the gospel, he is acting and teaching quite arbitrarily. In fact, Paul went up to Jerusalem shortly after his conversion and spent some time with the apostles there. They instructed him in the first principles of the gospel, and seeing that he was a man of uncommon intellect, magnanimously wiped out from their minds his record as a persecutor and authorized him to preach to others the gospel which he had learned from them. But when he left Jerusalem for Syria and Cilicia he began to adapt the gospel to make it palatable to Gentiles. The Jerusalem leaders practised circumcision and observed the law and the customs, but Paul struck out on a line of his own, omitting circumcision and other ancient observances from the message he preached, and thus he betrayed his ancient heritage. This law-free gospel has not authority but his own.”

A forgotten theme and topic in Galatians is that the gospel is for everyone and there can be no discrimination. There is one gospel. There is one family of God. There are not two people of God with two different plans (a Jew and a Gentile plan). The mystery of the gospel has united all people under the one original plan of God from the beginning--to bless all the nations through the seed of Abraham and thus fulfill the promises and covenants of the Old Testament.

Back to verse 1: To read of Paul’s Direct Commission From Jesus: Acts 9:15; Acts 22:17-21; Acts 26:15-17

Verse 2: all the brethren with me: Paul and those with him are united in the message of Galatians. Paul was not a lone ranger and was always surrounded by other believers.

Verse 2: to the churches of Galatia: a circular letter which would have traveled around to the various churches in the region.

Read Gal 1:3-4

Verse 3: Grace is the cause of the gospel. Peace is the effect of the gospel.
Verse 3: From God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Paul unites the Father and Jesus and considers them equals. To reject Jesus Christ as God is to sever yourself from God the Father.
Verse 4: The work of Christ= he gave himself for our sins: Isa 53:5-6, 12; Mark 10:45; Eph 5:2,25; 1 Tim 2:6; Titus 2:14
Verse 4: Purpose in the death of Christ: To rescue us from this present evil age.
Practical Applications (read the passages below)
1. Intersection of Two ages. The age to come has crashed in the present age.
2. James 4:4; 1 John 2:15; 1 John 4:4; 1 John 5:4-5; 1 John 5:19
3. John 12:31; John 16:11; John 18:36; Rom 12:1; John 15:19; John 16:33; John 17:6; John
17:15-18
4. 1 John 3:8

Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. The rescue operation mentioned in verse 4 is one that effects all of creation. We are rescued from one age by the entry of a person from another age, the Lord Jesus Christ. Heaven has crashed into earth. Jesus died in our place for our rescue.  Let us not misunderstand as if to think that God intends to take us out of the world or that this world in itself is evil. Rather, the ways of the world system (which follows in a rebellious pattern of sin and enmity with God) need not control us. Christ came to give us a permanent rescue from the penalty and power of sin.  Because of Jesus we should be grateful and want to do the things which are pleasing to Him--in effect keeping the law, loving God and our neighbor.  More on this later.