Paul defends himself and the Gospel he preaches to the Galatians. A group of false teachers have clearly arrived at this network of churches perverting the glorious grace of God the apostle proclaimed. The Judaizers have told these new believers that while Paul had good intentions, there was a big problem with what he taught them.
First of all, they accused him of going rogue without any accountability to the “true” gospel of Jesus and “real” apostles. Second, they seemed to say that he didn’t tell them the whole truth. If they wanted to follow Jesus, they needed to become Jewish first. Become circumcised. Follow the law. The whole deal.
Paul combats those lies with facts. He was no rogue apostle. God had tapped him on the shoulder and sent him to Jerusalem. There he met with both Peter and Jesus’ brother James to double check that his message to the Gentiles was the real deal. He wanted “to make sure that I was not running or had not run in vain” (Gal 2:1-2).
The apostle points out that when he hung out with Pete and Jim, he took Barnabas and Titus with him. Titus’ presence is especially important because he’s not Jewish. Yet these church leaders didn’t shut him out. As a matter of fact, “Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek” (v3).
If becoming Jewish is soooooooooooooo important in being a follower of Jesus, then why didn’t Pete and Jim insist on Titus’ circumcision? Hmmm? Clearly, the false teachers didn’t get this one right.
Paul then gives us his assessment of the folks who twisted his message to the Galatians. "Yet because of false brothers secretly brought--who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus so that they might bring us into slavery" (v4).
He makes is VERY clear. These dastardly dudes knew EXACTLY what they were doing. Their perversion of Jesus' grace was absolutely intentional.
He describes them as "false brothers." This is the Greek noun ψευδαδελφος/pseudadelphos. Take a closer look. Seem familiar? It's a compound word meaning "false” (ψευδα-/pseuda-) "brother” (-αδελφος/-adelphos).
The original language indicates not only means that these are brothers fake, but lying and deceitful. They were sneaky, scheming Pseudo-Brothers. They had earned the trust of the gullible Galatians only to lead them down the path of legalism.
Paul says that these Pseudo-Brothers infiltrated the church with the intent to do great harm. Again, the Greek lets us know just how diabolical these pretenders were. He describes them with the adjective παρεισακτος/pareisaktos and the verb παρεισερχομαι/parieserchomai. They mean something or someone secretly smuggled in.
In terms of espionage, they were moles. That's a sleeper agent that goes into deep cover as a member of an organization. They gain not only vital information but the trust of those around them. At just the right time, they sabotage from the inside. That's exactly what these Pseudo-Brothers were doing among the Galatian disciples.
Not convinced of their evil intentions? The apostle goes on to tell us that they actually acted as spies in the midst of the Galatians. The Greek verb is κατασκοπεω/kataskopeo.
It's another compound word meaning to look (-σκοπεω/-skopeo) around (κατα-/kata-). These Pseudo-Brothers were snooping around. They had gone undercover and were gathering intel on Jesus' followers in the region.
What was their fiendish plan? Paul tells us. "So that they might bring us into slavery" (v4). Like so many others, Jesus had set the the Galatians free. Free from the bondage of sin. Free from the bondage of rule keeping. Free from the bondage of idolatry. Free from the bondage of self.
These Pseudo-Brothers sought to subtly enslave them once again with a counterfeit gospel that was actually no Gospel at all. This was their end game. This was their mission.
This is a reminder that the greatest enemy of the Gospel within the church is legalism. How easily we fall for a counterfeit version of Jesus' salvation. There must be something WE must do. Simply accepting what He has done for us isn't enough.
They try to dupe us into thinking there's gotta be more! But there's nothing more we can do to earn or maintain the grace with which Jesus drenched us at the Cross. That's exactly why Christ shouted, "It is finished!!!!" (Jn 19:30). Goodnight. Game over. Drive home safely. The fat lady has sung. You can put it in the book.
There is NOTHING more we can do. Nothing. Zip. Zilch. Goose egg. Jesus did it all. Believing the the Good News is as simple as embracing the perfect life and brutal death Jesus provided for each one of us as our divine Substitute.
Peter condemns such false teachers for promising freedom while themselves being "slaves of corruption" (2Pet 3:17). Like the Galatians, we can't let any corrupt Pseudo-Brothers take our freedom away from us.
As a result of His perfect life and brutal death, Jesus is the ultimate Freedom Fighter. He did all of this so that we could be free. Paul describes it as "our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus" (v4). Freedom in Jesus. Liberty in Christ. I can celebrate that ALL DAY! I can sing about it ALL NIGHT!
Later the apostle tells us, "For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery" (Gal 5:1). He tells the Romans about "the glorious freedom of the children of God" (Ro 8:21). God's Spirit plays a critical role here too. "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom" (2Cor 3:17).
This is a battle. A spiritual battle. The Pseudo-Brothers versus the Freedom Fighter. While Jesus has won the war, there are still battles like the one Paul writes about in Galatia. And they are still going on today. Just remember, that the ultimate Freedom Fighter is on the winning side.
©2012
Jay Jennings
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