An Exposition of Galatians

OVERVIEW: To underscore that he is a special apostle of Christ, Paul records in this chapter two former occasions on which he openly confronted important leaders of the church on the gospel of grace, and prevailed.
    The first took place in Jerusalem, where "false brethren" had infiltrated the church and wanted to bring the church back under the law. But Paul stood firm, refusing to let his Gentile protégé Titus be circumcised. He won the support of the top three church leaders.
    The second encounter occurred in Antioch, where Paul was ministering. Peter, often the spokesman for the original twelve apostles, was visiting that city. Knowing that God has extended the gospel to all people, he saw fit to eat with Gentile believers. But when he later started to observe the law just to placate some influential Jews, Paul exercised his authority and publicly rebuked Peter for having behaved hypocritically.
    Recalling what he had said to Peter then, Paul emphasizes that no one can be saved by observing the law. The only way to be freed from the law is to die to the law, and that can be accomplished only by our having been crucified with Christ. This retroactive death of ours is effected when Christ gives us His faith to believe in Him. That’s why our salvation is entirely by grace.

Verse 1: Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also.

    Like the three years noted in verse 18 of the last chapter, the fourteen-year span here is not specifically recorded in Acts. Both periods, however, probably fell somewhere between Acts9:25, which tells of Paul being let down by the wall in a basket in Damascus, and verse 26, which speaks of his going to Jerusalem.
    This particular visit of Paul to Jerusalem was not among any of those described in Acts. The word "again" in this verse indicates that Paul had previously visited Jerusalem. Presumably, the first one was the 15-day visit mentioned in Chapter One. On this trip, Paul was accompanied by Barnabas and Titus.

    Barnabas. We first read about Barnabas in Acts 4, which talks about the early Christians sacrificially selling their possessions and giving the proceeds to the apostles for distribution to the needy. In that context, we read in verses 36 and 37: "And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, the son of consolation), a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet." He gave sacrificially.
    The word "consolation" can also be translated "encouragement." So, Barnabas is also called "Son of Encouragement." The following account, recorded in Acts 11, shows how Barnabas lived up to his name:
    At that time, a large number of people had become believers in Antioch. "Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch. Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of

heart they would cleave unto the Lord" (v.22,23).
    Barnabas exhorted, or encouraged, those new believers to stay true to the Lord with all their hearts. That’s a splendid example for all of us to follow. We need to exhort and encourage new Christians to grow in the Lord by abiding in the Word of God.

    Titus. We do not read too much about Titus in the Bible, although one of Paul’s letters in the New Testament was addressed to him.
    We do learn from II Corinthians 7 that when Paul was in Macedonia, he was severely prosecuted by the Jews. Often beaten and stoned, he was constantly living in fear for his life. But he writes, "Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by coming of Titus. And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you…" (vv.6,7).
    Thus, even as Barnabas showed that believers are to encourage other believers, Titus illustrated that we are to comfort one another.

Verse 2: And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain.

    The Apostle Paul went to Jerusalem in response to a revelation from God. There, he met with those who were "of reputation" in the church and discussed with them the doctrines that he had learned from Christ and had since been preaching.
    Paul emphasizes that the talk he had with the church leaders was a private one. Reason: "lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain." He is suggesting, in other words, that the gospel might be perverted if it were discussed in a public meeting.
    You see, among the congregation at Jerusalem, there were no doubt many new believers , who did not yet have a sound understanding of the Word of God, especially in light of the recent death and resurrection of the Messiah. There were also many "false brethren", as Paul calls them in verse 4, who claimed to be Christians but nevertheless were unbelievers. In an open meeting, Paul could easily be outnumbered by such uniformed or misinformed people. If so, he would then have run in vain.
    This teaches us that Biblical truth must never be changed in submission to public pressure or to accommodate public consensus. When questions arise over the meaning or application of an important doctrine, they should be carefully researched against what the Word of God says and then discussed privately among spiritually mature and Biblically informed Christians.
    As it was in Paul’s day, it’s an unfortunate fact that not all members of a church today are true believers. Those unbelieving members, according to Ephesians 2:2, walk "according to the prince of the power of the air." In other words, they are ruled by Satan, who, of course, is the enemy of the church. Consciously or not, therefore, these unsaved members are working against the church.
    Moreover, not many Christians really spend time to study the Bible and familiarize themselves with the commands of God. As a result, their collective views are often contrary to what the Bible teaches.

    Woman teachers. The broadening desire to follow social trends, in fact, is the reason why fewer and fewer churches remain faithful to God’s Word regarding woman teachers in the

church. In I Timothy 2:12-15, the Bible makes it crystal clear that "I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety."
    The reference to Adam and Eve and childbearing indicates that this command has its genesis way back in the Garden of Eden. After Eve had been deceived by the serpent, God said unto her, "I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee" (Gen. 3:16). Contrary to the common excuse, therefore, this command has nothing to do with social custom of the time.
    Despite that, more and more church leaders are allowing women to teach adult men or even to a pastor. Why? They would rather appease some segments of the congregations than to stay faithful to what God commands. To paraphrase what this verse is saying, "Those church leaders have run in vain; their service is of no value to God"

Verse 3: But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised:

    The early church, especially the Jewish believers, had to make a major mental adjustment. For almost 2,000 years, the law of Moses had required that every male identified with the nation of Israel be circumcised. In fact, some of the ceremonial activities, the offering of animal sacrifices in particular, dated all the way back to the days of Cain and Abel, the first children of Adam and Eve.
    But all those ceremonial activities were figures pointing to the coming Messiah. When Jesus died on the cross, He permanently fulfilled all the ceremonial requirements. Thus, God says in Colossians 2:16,17: "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days; which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ."
    That is why New Testament believers no longer observe the Passover, the different feasts, the seventh day Sabbath, and the laws concerning clean and unclean food. Nor do they have to be circumcised. To do so, in fact, would constitute a denial of the fact that Christ did come and die on behalf of his people.
    Having been taught by the Lord Himself, Paul fully understands the reason for this sudden change. So, he noted here that even though Titus was a Greek, a Gentile, he was not compelled to be circumcised.

Verse 4: And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage:

    The reason Paul brings up the subject of Titus’ not having to be circumcised is that some "false brethren" have infiltrated the church. They want to bring the church back into bondage by spying on the liberty that believers have.
    To understand what "our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus" means, let’s go to John 8. We read in verses 31 and 32: "Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth,

and the truth shall make you free."
    The Jews then asked in reply: "We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?" Because they are offspring of Abraham, they considered themselves to be God’s chosen people.
    Jesus then answered in verse 34, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed."
    Here, Christ teaches that whether a person is a blood descendant of Abraham or not, unless he is saved, he is in bondage to sin. Before we became believers, we were all enslaved to sin. That bondage put us under the wrath of God. But the Son of God, having died for our sins and then resurrected, has freed us from that bondage. This, then, is the liberty we now have in Christ Jesus.
    In this verse, Paul is telling the Galatians that, unaware to others, false brothers have been brought into the church. These intruders have been examining the liberty that believers enjoy, trying to find fault in it. Insisting that circumcision is still required to be saved, they are trying to bring believers back to the bondage of sin.

    Jerusalem Council. The problem the early church had with these false brothers, who were called Judaizers, was persistent and widespread. Later, some of them went to Antioch and again insisted that circumcision was a requirement for salvation. That resulted in Paul and Barnabas going again to Jerusalem, and the assembling of the so-called Jerusalem Council.
    We read in Acts 15:2: "When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question." Instead of a private meeting with just a few church leaders, this time they discuss the subject openly before the apostles and the elders in Jerusalem.
    The Jerusalem Council was convened after Paul and Barnabas had completed their highly successful first missionary journey. As a result, according to Acts 15:4, when they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church, and the apostles and elders.
    The Council then met to consider whether Gentiles had to observe the law of Moses. After having heard the miraculous works that God had done through Paul and Barnabas among the Gentiles, the Council decided that it was not necessary for any person to observe the law of Moses to become saved.
    In a letter to the Gentile believers in Antioch and nearby cities, they declared: "For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; that ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well" (vv. 28,29).

    Application today. Does the directive of the Jerusalem Council apply to us today?
    The command to abstain from meats offered to idols was, for all practical purposes, later rescinded. Paul writes in I Corinthians 8:4: "As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing

in the world, and that there is none other God but one."
    In the same letter, he later elaborates: "But if any man say unto you, This offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that shewed it, and for conscience sake: for the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof: Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other: for why is my liberty judged of another man’s conscience? For if I by grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks? Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God" (10:28-31).
    In other words, because we know that an idol is nothing, eating food that has been offered to an idol is not wrong. Why should we be denounced for eating something for which we have given thanks to God? But if we are dining with someone who would be offended by it, then we should not eat it. Upsetting that person’s conscience would not bring glory to God.
    The command to abstain "from blood, and from things strangled" continues today. It is the blood of Christ that covers our sins and gives us eternal life. So, the only blood that we are to partake of is that of the Lord Jesus Christ. The reason strangled animals are not to be eaten is that their blood has not been drained. So, the prohibition against eating blood applies.

    Fornication. To abstain from fornication, of course, is a command that continues throughout all times. The reason God specifically warns against this sin is twofold. First, the Bible says, "Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body" (I. Cor. 6:18). Our body is the temple of God; it must be kept holy.
    Secondly, God uses physical fornication to typify spiritual fornication because He likens the relationship between husband and wife to that of Christ and the church (Eph. 5:32). God warns in the Third Commandment, "Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them (idols), nor serve them; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me."
    Idolatry is spiritual fornication. Anytime we worship anyone or anything other than the only living God, we are engaged in spiritual fornication. God says in Colossians 3:5 (NKJV), "Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry." Thus, when God tells us to abstain from fornication, He is telling us to flee from any kind of covetousness.

Verse 5: To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.

    Not for a moment did the apostle Paul submit to the pressures that were being brought to bear. He did not yield to any suggestion that salvation involves anything more than grace. And he is now telling the Galatians to similarly reject such heresy to that the true gospel, the gospel of grace, might remain in their churches.
    The question of circumcision, of course, is hardly a problem in today’s church. But we do have all kinds of counterfeit gospels that are being preached, gospels that sound like the real thing but are in reality false. Earlier in this study, we called your attention to some of the grace-plus-works gospels that are being taught in Christendom. We are never to yield to such teaching, so that the truth of gospel continues with us.

    Another counterfeit gospel that is widely circulated is that which is brought to our front doors typically by a pair of "missionaries." They preach "Christianity" in which Jesus Christ is but a sinless person, not God. That, of course, is heresy. If Christ were not eternal God, we would have no sin-bearer, no Savior. No created being, however righteous he might be, could possibly withstand the wrath of God on the cross that would otherwise be poured on all believers on Judgment Day. Only God Himself can.
    How do you deal with such false prophets? The Bible says, "If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; for he who greet him share in his evil deeds (II John 10,11). We are not to welcome them into our home.
    Sometimes, those of us who are somewhat familiar with the Bible are tempted to debate with them, hoping that we can convert them. But the Bible says, "No." We must remember that He is wiser than we are and knows more about the situation than we do.

Verse 6: But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man’s person for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me:

    Paul says here that some of the people in the Jerusalem church seemed to be important. But whether they were or not did not make any different with him, because God isn’t impressed by how important a person looks. Besides, these seemingly important people added nothing to the truth that Paul had been preaching.
    The point Paul is making here, and indeed throughout these chapters, is that the truth he teaches was given him by God through direct revelation. Convinced that he stands correctly on the issues in discussion, he is not going to let anyone, no matter how important they are or appear, to change the truth.
    This is a very important principle for us to learn. None of us are taught by God through direct revelation, of course. But we now have the complete written Word of God, the Bible. If we study the Bible diligently and carefully, constantly seeking the help of the Holy Spirit, we will come to truth.
    Now, some ministers holding important title or theologians holding high positions in ministries may preach certain doctrines that sound appealing. Or certain well-known seminaries may teach some theories that are highly popular. But unless those doctrines and theories are in harmony with everything else the Bible teaches, we are not to accept them as truth. Our ultimate authority must be the Bible. The Word of God alone is our divine guide in all matters of life.

Verses 7,8: But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter; (For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same mighty in me toward the Gentiles:)

    The early church divided the people they ministered into two general groups (1) the Jews, that is, the blood descendants of Abraham, whom they called the circumcised; and (2) the Greeks, a catch-all phrase for all non-Jews, whom they called the uncircumcised.
    So, this verse is saying that, instead of the Apostle Paul being intimidated by those important looking people in the church, they were actually impressed by the fact that Paul had been commissioned by God to

bring the gospel to the Gentiles, even as Peter had been assigned to minister to the Jews.
    Realizing that the God who was doing mighty work with Peter was doing mighty work through Paul as well, they knew that the two apostles were serving the same God and proclaiming the same gospel.
    Interestingly, the Roman Catholics make a big thing of Peter’s being the head of their church. The fact is, the Bible declares here in this verse that Peter’s chief concern was with the Jewish people. (The Catholic Church, of course, is basically a Gentile church.) The Apostle Paul was the one who ministered in Rome.

Verse 9: And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto circumcision.

    When the Lord Jesus Christ was on earth, three apostles were particularly close to Him. They were Peter, James, and John. Are these three the same three?
    Cephas is indeed Peter. When he was first brought to Jesus by his brother Andrew, Jesus said to him, "Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas" (John 1:42). Cephas is his name in the Hebrew language. Paul identifies Peter by his Hebrew language. Paul identifies Peter by his Hebrew name here no doubt to emphasize Peter’s Jewish ministry.
    The John here is most probably the apostle John. He was active in the early church.
    But this James is not the apostle James. The latter had been killed by Herod before this letter was written (Acts 12:2). The James here is the Lord’s brother. Paul made reference to this fact earlier in this epistle. In Galatians 1:19, he said he saw "James, the Lord’s brother" during his 15-day visit in Jerusalem.
    Born of Joseph and Mary, James was actually the half-brother of Jesus. While Christ was ministering on earth, James did not believe in Him (John 7:5). After the resurrection, though, he was converted and became the leader of the church in Jerusalem.
    The word "seemed" in this verse is from the same Greek word that was translated "of reputation" in verse 2 of this chapter. These three leaders, in other words, are reputed to be the pillars of the church, the men who held up the church in those crucial transitional days.

    Right hand. The three perceived the grace that was given unto Paul; they recognized Paul’s special gift of ministering the gospel. So, they gave him and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship. In the Old Testament, shaking or striking hands was a gesture that represented a willingness to pay for someone else’s debt.
    We read, for example, in Proverbs 22:26, "Be not thou one of them that strike hands, or of them that are sureties for debts." It teaches spiritually that we should never agree to pay the spiritual debts of other sinners; only Christ could and did. Incidentally, "proverbs" is translated from the same Hebrew word as "parables."
    Job echoed that idea when he appealed to God, "Lay down now, put me in a surety with thee; who is he that will strike hands with me?" (17:3). In the New King James Version, that verse reads, "Now put down a pledge for me with Yourself. Who is he who will shake hands with me?" So, to shake hands is to express a close relationship.
    The right hand, in particular, pictures the close relationship that exists

among believers. We read in Ephesians 2:4-6, "But God, who is rich in mercy, for great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved); and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." Christ is seated at the right hand of God and, therefore, so are we.
    In the parable where Jesus separates she sheep from the goats, the right side also signifies believers (Matt. 26:33,34). And God says in Ecclesiastes 10:2, "The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left."
    Thus, when the Jerusalem church leaders gave the right hand of fellowship to Paul and Barnabas, they were expressing their total agreement with these two brothers.

    Fellowship. "Fellowship," translated from the Greek word koinonia, is a popular word today in many church circles. But in the minds of many, it merely means social gatherings of churchgoers, or some outward show of love or affection for one another. All of this is good, but it falls far short of the full implication of the word koinonia. Let’s look at some examples of how that word is used in the Bible:
    •Philippians 1:5: "For your fellowship in gospel from the first day until now…" Here, fellowship has to do with the gospel. It means that there is a common understanding as to what the gospel really is.
    •Philippians 2:1: "If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit…" This indicates that when we believers fellowship with one another, we also have fellowship with God the Holy Spirit. That’s because we are all indwelt by the Spirit.
    •Philippians 3:10: "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death." This speaks about the fellowship of His sufferings.
    In this world, Jesus warned, we will have tribulation. But He also said in Matthew 5:11,12: "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you" When we go through trials for His name’s sake, we fellowship in the sufferings of Christ.
    •I Corinthians 1:9: "God is faithful If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit…" This indicates that when we believers fellowship with one another, we also have fellowship with God the Holy Spirit. That’s because we are all indwelt by the Spirit.
    •I John 1:3: "That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." Here, we have fellowship with our heavenly Father.
    •I John 1:3: "That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." Here, we have fellowship with our heavenly Father.
    Koinonia, then, is the kind of fellowship among believers that finds its roots in their common salvation through Christ’s sufferings and in their common fellowship with all three persons of the Godhead. That’s how wonderfully rich the word koinonia is.
    •In Corinthians 10:16, Koinonia is translated "communication": "The cup of blessings which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?" This verse is, of course, talking about the Lord’s Table.

    Thus, the fellowship of believers is a deep, rich and eternal union that is far more than having social gatherings together and showing some kind of superficial love. It is the fellowship that exists because we are partakers of the broken body and the shed blood of Christ, without which we would remain condemned sinners.

Verse 10: Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do.

    As noted earlier, the meeting Paul is talking about here is a private one with just a few church leaders. The Jerusalem Council took place later. At the end of this meeting, the church leaders in Jerusalem merely tell Paul and Barnabas to remember the poor.
    Is this a directive telling Christians to become deeply involved with eliminating poverty in the world? At first glance, that certainly seems so. But a careful study of what the Bible teaches elsewhere reveals that this verse is not talking about the physically poor.
    In His infinite wisdom, God has put a conscience in even the heart of unsaved man so that in the world, there is still some milk of human kindness. As the unsaved world sees with their physical eyes the physical suffering of the poor, in often marshals its resources and energies to bring help. That is God’s common mercy on mankind.
    Believers, of course, should sympathize with those suffering from poverty. But as good stewards, we are to use what Lord has entrusted to us primarily in and for the eternal Kingdom of God. In the Old Testament, for example, when God commanded His people to care for the fatherless and the widows, it was always in a congregation context. In fact, God told the nation of Israel not to have anything to do with outsiders.

    Case History. In the New Testament, a clear-cut application of that principle is recorded in Acts 11:27-30.
    "And in these days came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch. And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the spirit that there should be great dearth (famine) throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar. Then the disciples, every man according to ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren when dwelt in Judaea: Which also they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul." The relief was sent on to the brothers in Judaea.
    When Jesus was on earth, there were many beggars in the land. And when the apostles were sent out, they must have seen many who were suffering from malnutrition. But we do not find recorded anywhere in the Bible that either Jesus or the apostles provided them with food or other material things.
    True, Jesus fed the 5,000 and the 4,000. But they were not physically poor. The disciples had wanted to send them home so that they might have some food to eat. Nor did He ask the disciples to feed the multitude with their resources. Rather, Jesus was just giving a picture of the nature of salvation. Even as He feeds those who are physically hungry, the Gospel feeds those who are spiritually hungry. In the historical context, feeding also demonstrated the creating power of the Lord Jesus.

    Bigger task. The truth is, God has assigned to us a task of helping the kind of poor that the world knows nothing about. These are the spiritu-

ally poor that the world cannot see. When we look at the unsaved through the spiritual eyes that God has given to us, we see billions of sinners heading for hell. This is infinitely more horrible than any physical malnutrition.
    This truth shines through brightly from the parable of the rich man and Lazarus that is recorded in Luke 16:19-26. From the world’s vantage point Lazarus was the one who required compassion. He was a poor beggar. He sat outside the gate, suffering from malnutrition. The dogs licked his sores. In contrast, the rich man had fame and food and friends. He had everything going for him.
    But what God wants us to see is the eternal state of affairs. There, Lazarus had everything going for him; he was I Abraham’s bosom, a picture of his being in heaven in Christ. The rich man, on the other hand, was under the curse of sin. The moment he died, he was on his way to hell. And so, he is the one that we are to be concerned about; he is spiritually bankrupt.
    That’s why Paul said in this verse that remembering the poor was the very thing he was eager to do. Paul, of course, subsequently proved to be a super evangelist, not a philanthropist.

Verses 11,12: But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.

    Peter was the apostle who was personally told by God through a vision that the cross had abolished the ceremonial laws. This incident is recorded in Acts Chapter 10.
    In a nutshell, one day in Joppa, while Peter was praying on the roof, he became hungry and fell into a trance. In the vision, he saw a sheet being let down from heaven with all kinds of animals in it. God told him to kill and eat. When Peter said he would not eat anything impure, God told him not to call anything impure that God has made clean. After this had happened three times, the sheet was drawn back up to heaven.
    Immediately after that, the Holy Spirit told him to go to Caesarea and minister the gospel to the Gentile family of Cornelius. At the house of Cornelius, Peter confesses, "Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him" (vv. 34.35).
    Having learned from that experience that God is not a respecter of persons, Peter realized that it was perfectly proper to eat with Gentile believers. So, when he visited Antioch, he did just that. But later, when some people from the church of Jerusalem headed by James came to Antioch, Peter started separating himself from the Gentiles. Reason: some of those from Jerusalem were "of the circumcision," that is, they were among those who insisted that Gentile believers had to be circumcised.
    In his fear of them, Peter decided that he had better stop eating with the Gentiles. In doing so, he inadvertently slipped back under the law, effectively denying that salvation comes from grace alone. So, the apostle Paul openly told Peter that his behavior was contrary to the Word of God.
    Normally, it is not wise to confront another believer publicly. When it becomes necessary for us to correct someone who has gone astray, we should do so privately and lovingly. But Peter as a leader of the church,

and when a leader sets a bad example, he must be corrected openly.
    Note that this account does not suggest in any way that Peter lashed back at Paul. There is no indication of any argument. Judging by what the Bible says of him, Peter no doubt admitted at once that Paul was right when he was told of his mistake. The mark of a devout believer is his faithfulness to the truth.
    Similarly, when a preacher or teacher of the gospel is told that he has been teaching a doctrine that is not scriptural, and if he finds that he has indeed been wrong, he should not let his own pride get in the way of correcting himself. Moreover, he should make his correction known to those he has been teaching so that they are not misled by his former error.

Verse 13: And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation.

    The words "dissembled" and "dissimulation" in this verse can both be translated hypocrisy. In other words, the other Jews who came with Peter acted hypocritically also. They knew that they should no longer consider Gentile believers unclean, but in practice, they followed Peter’s example and separated themselves from the Gentiles. Even Barnabas, of whom the Bible has so many good things to say, was carried away and momentarily practiced the same kind of hypocrisy.
    Considering that the Jews had followed the law for thousands of years, we can understand how difficult it was for them to reverse traditions. But God has put this letter to the Galatians into the Bible not just to give us some historical facts. He wants us to know the true meaning of salvation by grace and to realize that even great Church leaders like Peter and Barnabas are fallible.
    Sometimes, Christians trust their church fathers very implicitly. Some trust Martin Luther, others trust John Calvin. Still others trust Schaffer, or Wesley, or Moody. They have great following because they were champions in the faith in their day. Indeed, what they did speak and write about is Biblical most of the time. But we must remember that they, being human, were not infallible. The Bible in its entirety must be our ultimate authority for truth.

Verse 14: But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?

    Because Peter’s hypocrisy had led other believers down the wrong path, causing them to behave in an unbiblical way, the Apostle Paul corrected Peter in front of all of them.
    He said, in effect, "If you, being a liberated Jew, live like a Gentile—that is, if you are now living under grace and know that you, like the Gentiles, need not observe the Jewish law—why are you forcing the Gentiles to live like the conventional Jews, who must follow the law?" It’s a rhetorical question, of course.

Verse 15: We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles.

    Moved by the Holy Spirit, the Apostle Paul is using the words "Jews" and "Gentiles" here in the spiritual sense. Thus, "Jews by nature" are those who trust the Lord Jesus Christ; and "sinners of the Gentiles," those who are still unsaved sinners. That’s why he says we who are "Jews by nature."
    You see, before we are saved, we

are by nature children of wrath. In Ephesians 2:3 we read: "Among whom also we all had our conversation (or behavior) in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature of the children of wrath, even as others."
    But when we become saved, a change takes place. In II Peter 1:4 puts it: "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." We partake of the divine nature of Christ; we become God’s children.
    But why are believers called Jews? Because God declares in Romans 2:28,29: "For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God."
    Here God defines that, insofar as His salvation program is concerned, a Jew is one who has experienced the circumcision of the heart, not that of the flesh. This idea is reinforced in Philippians 3:3, where God, speaking to a church that includes both Jews and Gentiles, says, "For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh."
    This is one of those "mysteries" that God had hidden for long ages past, but was finally revealed in the New Testament. To truly understand Old Testament prophecies, therefore, it is imperative that we take all these new information and definitions into full consideration.

Verse 16: Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

    This highly positive statement, which describes the wonderful salvation God has provided for us, may surprise those who have been brought up with the idea that only after we have demonstrated faith in God will He save us.
    First, let’s define what does "justified" mean. It means that we have become just; we no longer stand as criminals before the bar of God’s justice. And we have become so, as the first statement of this verse shows, not by obeying the commandments or by doing any other kind of works.
    But notice the second phrase. It reads, "but by the faith of Jesus Christ"; we are justified by, or out of, the faith of Jesus Christ. This truth is repeated in the next phrase: "even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ." And in verse 20, Paul writes, "And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God." Thus, three times in this passage, God says that we are saved by—that is, out of—the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ.
    Unfortunately, the word "of" has been changed to "in" in the most newer translations. In the Greek test, the word Christ is clearly in the genitive case, which denotes possession. Strictly translated, the phrase should read "Christ’s faith." In fact, there is no preposition anywhere in this verse that could be translated "in."
    But most translations and commentaries, instead of taking the original Greek word at its face value, have arbitrarily changed the word to "in," mainly because the word "of" doesn’t fit their understanding of the phrase.

But that changes what God has in view.

    Faith of Christ. The truth is, God is saying here that we are not justified by our works nor our own faith, but by the faith of Christ. The same truth is found Philippians 3:9, which reads, "(that I may) be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." You see, the focal point is on the faith of Christ—His faithfulness in obediently doing what was required by God’s law to save us and in giving us the faith to trust in Him.
    Do you know that if we had manifested faith in Christ on our own, it would be a work of ours? Yes, indeed. That’s because I John 3:23 declares: "And this is his commandment, that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment." To believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you see, is a command of God, a law of God. Therefore, if we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ on our own in an effort to become saved, we are keeping the law.
    But we cannot be saved by keeping the law. So, where does this leave us? It means that the faith that has saved us is the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what Ephesians 2:8 emphasizes, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God." Therefore, when we begin to trust the Lord Jesus Christ, it is the evidence that God has begun to save us by giving us His faith.
    In the second half of this verse, Paul reminds Peter that they themselves have believed Christ in that they might be justified by the faith of Christ, not the observance of the law, because the act of obeying God’s command cannot save anyone.

    Power of God. To further understand that believing in Christ on our own is never the basis for our salvation, let us look at a couple of verses in Romans 1. In verse 16, God states through the apostle Paul: "for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth: to the Jew first, and also to the Greek."
    We have already learned that believing is an evidence of the fact that God is saving us. So, the verse is in effect saying: "It is the power of God that is manifested when we see the evidence of salvation in every one that God has saved, and that evidence is the fact that he believes."
    Then verse 17 elaborates: "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by (that is, out of) faith." From whose faith to whose faith? Not from ours, since we don’t have faith of our own. It is from, or out of, the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ to our faith. It is out of His faith that our faith comes.
    Here again, the phrase "from faith to faith" is a direct and correct translation from the Greek manuscript. But somehow, many Bible versions have arbitrarily changed it to "from first to last" or some other phrases. And so, the just shall live by faith. That is, we live out of the faith which comes from the Lord Jesus Christ. That is where our believing enters into the picture.
    Actually, God gives repentance, as well as faith, to those who are being saved. We read in Acts 5:31, where Peter is speaking of Jesus, "Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins."
    To give repentance means we get

no credit for our repentance. Both the faith (by which we believe) and the repentance (by which we turn away from our sins) are gifts of God. They all come out of the faith and the perfect work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
    So, we must never think that we merit anything that would count toward our salvation. As the closing phrase of Galatians 2:16 states, "for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified." So, whenever we try to do a work to merit our salvation, we are only digging the hole deeper into hell.

Verses 17,18: But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.

    The skeptic may say at this point, "Now, if I indeed believe that Christ has given me the desire to repent and to trust Him, and yet I find myself still engaging in some besetting sins, would it not imply therefore that Christ is the minister of sin, or that He promotes sin? Shouldn’t I, therefore, continue to observe the law to ensure my salvation?"
    To that hypothetical question, the Apostle Paul answers, "God forbid. No way! That cannot be!"
    If a Jewish believer, who has already been justified by the perfect obedience of Christ, places himself back under the obligations of the law, he is in effect restoring the law that has been nullified. He is re-building the record of his sins that has been destroyed. Then, he has made himself to be just another sinner, who is headed for hell.

Verse 19: For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.

    Paul now goes on to explain why we must now go back to the law. When we become saved, we died to the law. How did that happen? Through Christ’s meeting all the demands of the law on our behalf.
    The meaning of "dead to the law" is amplified in Romans 7. Verse 1 reads, "Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? This verse is speaking of the condition of mankind before they are saved. We were ruled over, and in bondage to, the law. WE were constantly examined by the Word of God according to its standard.
    Now, verses 2 and 3: "For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be marred to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man."

    Marriage relationship. Here, God uses the marriage relationship between two people to illustrate the spiritual marriage between mankind and the law. God indicates that before we are saved, we were married to the law. When two people are married, they stay married. Other than death, there is no Biblical basis for ending that union.
    For every human being, spiritually speaking, this marriage relationship is a grievous one. Every time we sin, we are guilty of spiritual adultery against our husband, which is the law. And Deuteronomy 22:22 teaches that an adulterous wife is to be stoned to death, which is an Old Testament figure pointing to eternal damnation.
    Now, because every human being is spiritually adulterous, the law to

which we are married demands the death penalty. That death penalty is the second death, eternal damnation. Even if we die physically, the law, our husband, will still be pointing an accusing finger at us when we are resurrected on the last day, demanding eternal damnation for us.
    How can this awful marriage be broken? We cannot divorce the law. What God has joined together, let not man put asunder. Only death can break a marriage. But the law will never die; the Word or God exists eternally. The only way for that marriage to be broken is for us to die spiritually; that is, for us to suffer eternal damnation. But no man can spend an eternity in hell and come out at the other end. Hell is forevermore.

    Sin substitute. But s our sin substitute, God, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, took our place in experiencing eternal death. When He went to the cross, He experienced eternal damnation on behalf of all who would believe on Him. Thus, the death of Christ has made us free forever from this marriage to the law.
    Wheat happened when this marriage between us and law was broken? We read in Romans 7:4: "Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God." We became married to Him who is raised from the dead. That is Christ Himself.
    Can you understand now why we are called the bride of Christ? Now that I am married to Christ, I find in my life an ongoing desire to do the will of God. This brings us back to Galatians 2:19, which explains why I am saved. I became dead to the law that "I might live unto God."
    And how may I live unto God? I go to the same law of God, the Bible, to learn how to be pleasing to God. My relationship to the Bible is entirely different from what it had been before I was saved. Now, I look upon the Bible as the guidebook on how to do it God’s way. I find it a joy to live my life His way because I love to please my Savior. When I sin, I feel troubled because I know it’s offensive to my Holy God, forgiving though He is.

Verse 20: I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

    We now come to one of the most marvelous statements in the Bible. It begins with "I am crucified with Christ." As one whom God had chosen to save, Christ took up Himself my sins in His crucifixion. Therefore, in principle, I was crucified on the cross in Christ. I have endured the second death.
    "Nevertheless I live." Why? Because I have become married to the Lord Jesus Christ, the victorious Savior. Now, Christ is life. And as His bride, I have been given eternal life. Having eternal life, I will never, never be threatened again by eternal damnation.
    In fact, in my spirit essence, I won’t even be adversely affected by my physical death. At the moment I die physically, I will leave my body and come into God’s holy presence to live and to reign with Him in heaven.

    No more ego. Verse 20 continues, "yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." You see, before I was saved, everything in my life was wrapped up in me. I am the

center of my life. I was nothing but a walking specimen of pride.
    But when I became saved, my ego died. In Christ, I came out at the other end of hell as a new creature, a new creature that has total fellowship with God, a new creature that wants to serve Christ implicitly. And so it is not I that is important any longer. Christ is everything to me.
    Admittedly, we do not see this in perfection in the lives of believers. The body still lusts after sin. And that is why we long for the end of time, when we have our resurrected bodies. Remember what the apostle Paul says in Romans 7? "O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin" (vv. 24.25).
    Our body, which has yet to experience the resurrection, still tries to drag us into sin. But in our resurrected soul, we find our life, our strength, our everything in the Lord Jesus Christ. We have been taken out of the dominion of sin, so that sin no loner rules over us. Therefore it is not I that lives, but Christ that liveth in me. I want Christ to be my master. Everything I have, I owe to Him.

    By God’s faith. Verse 20 goes on: "And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God…" The flesh is my body. Though my soul is saved, I still have to live out my life in this body, which is not saved. That is why we have struggles in our lives after we are saved. But God brings us right back to the source of our salvation—the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the faithful one who has effected every aspect of our salvation. And He is the one who will keep giving us strength to put to death the lust of our unsaved body.
    Living by the faith of Christ, we are now capable to do good works. They are called good works because we now have the right motivation. We are doing the work of God to please Him. We know that it has nothing to do with causing or keeping our salvation.
    This verse concludes with "who loved me, and gave himself for me." When we read this language, we have to bow our heads in humble adoration. We know, from everything that we read in the Bible, that if God waited for us to seek Him, or if God waited for us to seek Him, or if God waited until He could find something worthy in our lives to merit our salvation, not one of us would have become saved.
    And yet, somehow we have experienced the new life. We have been crucified with Christ. Who decided that we were to be crucified with Christ? Who decided that God would take that punishment on our behalf? It was God Himself. We were chosen in Christ from the foundations of the earth.

    Limited atonement. There are those who teach that Christ went to the cross to pay for the sins of every single human being. That idea is contrary to the Word of God. It fails to recognize what the covenant is all about; it fails to recognize the nature of the atonement; it fails to recognize that Christ came to save only His people from their sins.
    Remember we looked at the will or testament of God in an earlier study? Christ went to the cross not only to activate the terms of that will by His death, but also to qualify the beneficiaries of that will, which include only those who are named in the Lamb’s book of life, to receive their inheritance.

    Moreover, if Christ had gone to the cross on behalf of every last human being, then in no way could God demand that the unsaved stand for judgment on the last day. It would be a terrible violation of God’s justice, because all of their sins would already have been covered, including the sin of not believing in Christ.
    Those theologians who teach that Christ died for everybody further teach that only those who accept Him are the ones to whom this salvation becomes available. But this kind of teaching makes salvation a result of my work plus God’s grace.
    Remember, to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ on our own is a work. Obtaining salvation by obeying the command to believe on Christ is not the gospel of the Bible. The only true gospel is salvation by grade and grace alone.
    The fact is, as this verse underscores, it is God who loved me and gave Himself for me. The whole work was done by Christ. My good works, my repentance from sin, my trust in Christ as my Savior, they are all the result of God having saved me. Under no circumstances are they the cause of my salvation.

Verse 21: I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

    The word "frustrate" here means "to make void" or to consider something as though it were annulled. Paul is saying, in other words, that the grace of God is in full force.
    He then explains why: If a person can be saved by baptism, membership in the church, helping the poor, trying to be a good person, or any other work on his own, then Christ died for nothing. Why would the Son of God empty Himself of His eternal glory to become a lowly man and allow Himself to be humiliated, stoned, mocked, spat on, scourged and finally nail onto a cross to die if salvation could be attained by other means?
    No, God makes it crystal clear that even if a person rigorously kept the ceremonial law, it would not save him. If a person cannot be saved by keeping God’s law, how then can any other human action save him? Salvation comes only through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are saved by grace and grace only.