In these verses, Paul continues to describe to the Galatians the very important trip he made to the home office in Jerusalem (Gal 2:1). He met with the Apostle Peter and Jesus' brother James, two crucial leaders of the church (Gal 1:18-19). He took Barnabas, a Jew, and Titus, a Gentile with him. His mission: to make sure the Gospel he preached to non-Jews wasn't rogue (Gal 2:2).
Pete and Jim made a key decision regarding Paul's message when non-Jewish Titus "was not forced to be circumcised" (Gal 2:3). This not only affirms what Paul preaches but is certainly great news for Gentile men everywhere!
The apostle describes how these dastardly false teachers slipped into the Galatian churches in sleeper cells in order to sabotage the freedom the disciples have in Jesus (Gal 2:4).
Paul tells us when he and the boys were in Jerusalem, they didn't waver for an instant to the perverted gospel being spread by the Judaizers. "To them we did yield in submission even for a moment" (v5). This isn't a contradiction of what the apostle wrote to the church in Ephesus: "Submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ" (Eph 5:21).
When the truth of God's salvation and the eternal destiny of others is at stake, you must take a stand. We certainly are do so "with gentleness and respect" (1Pet 3:15). But we much stand strong against evil (Eph 6:13). And when it came to the counterfeit message spreading like a cancer in Galatia, Paul didn't budge. Not even for the blink of an eye.
The Apostle Paul stood rock steady because of what was at stake. "So that the truth of the Gospel might be preserved for you" (v5). This isn't about Paul. This isn't about his reputation. This isn't about what others thought about him.
This is about the message of Jesus the Gentile Galatians have embraced. This is about the Gospel they've heard. If Paul is wrong and these moles who've infiltrated the church are right, it changes everything. Everything.
Reading the phrase "the truth of the Gospel," I can't help but think of what Jesus said to His boys. "I am the way, and the truth, and the life" (Jn 14:6). The truth of the Gospel is Jesus Himself. As Henry Blackaby likes to say, Truth is a Person. Jesus is Truth. And Jesus is the Truth of the Gospel.
The Good News is not simply head knowledge or some mental acceptance. It is a relationship with the One who is the Truth. Jesus. Paul is fighting for Truth. Paul is fighting for the Galatians' personal relationship with Jesus.
The apostle twice refers to the heavy hitters he and his boys meet with in Jerusalem. "Those who seemed to be influential...those, I say, who seemed to be influential" (v6). Again, this is the Apostle Peter and James, the brother of Jesus. Paul uses a common phrase of the day to describe them (Gal 2:2, 9).
While the man from Tarsus understands who they are meeting, he really doesn't care. "What they were makes no difference to me" (6). What may seem like absolute arrogance is actually anything but. Paul understood who he was in Christ.
He understood that Jesus Himself handpicked him before birth (Gal 1:15). The risen Christ personally appeared to him and commissioned him as a full-fledged apostle (Gal 1:16; Acts 9:3-6, 15).
Paul's identity is not in himself. It is in Jesus and His righteousness. Because of that, he was bulletproof. This made him the perfect apostle. If you killed him, "to die is gain." If you let him live, "to live is Christ" (Phil 1:21). A little meeting with Peter and James wasn't going to shake Paul.
The apostle then makes a HUGE statement that is easy to blow right past. "God shows no partiality" (v6). The Greek here is very awkward. It literally reads "God does not accept the face of man." What in the wide, wide world of sports does this mean?
As a matter of fact, we find this same idea written in a similar Greek idiom in two other places. "God shows no partiality" (Acts 10:34). "For God shows no partiality" (Rom 2:11). Both times, it refers to God's offer of salvation to all people, regardless of race or ethnicity.
The original text uses the noun προσοπον/prosopon. It means face or outward appearance. Paul is telling us that God doesn't use facial recognition to identify us.
Remember the movie "Face Off"? Nicolas Cage and John Travolta had radical plastic surgery to actually become the other person. From looking at them, it was impossible to know who they were. That's because as fallen human beings, we look at the appearance. Too often we judge by facial recognition.
God isn't fooled by faces. Remember when He tapped Samuel on the shoulder and told him to go find the next king of Israel? "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart" (1Sam 16:7).
God doesn't rely on facial recognition. He uses heart recognition. That's absolutely foolproof.
Paul's meeting with Peter and James confirms what he knew all along. His message was indeed THE Message! Pete and Jim "added nothing to me" (v6). His Gospel lined up perfectly with their Gospel. Don't change a thing, they told him. It's perfect.
The reason they agreed is because they all heard it from Jesus' lips personally. Peter walked with Christ during His earthly ministry and saw the resurrected Jesus. James became a follower of his Brother after seeing Him rise from the dead (1Cor 15:7). Jesus mugged Paul on the Damascus interstate and personally delivered His message of salvation. The common denominator is Jesus.
The bottom line: Paul and his Gospel are good to go. What he preached to the Galatians is right on target. They are to forget everything those goobers told them and get back to grace.
©2012
Jay Jennings
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