Preachers and Pillars Galatians 2:1-4 (NKJV)

Preachers and Pillars Galatians 2:1-4 (NKJV) Vs. 1 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and also took Titus with me. Galatians 1:8 tells us that after Paul received Christ he went up to Jerusalem to see Peter and James, and stayed there for two weeks. Here in verse 1 he reminds us of his second visit to Jerusalem it was 14 years later. It s important to note that he took with him Barnabas and Titus. Two well respected men within the church. Barnabas was Jewish, even a Levite. And Joses, who was also named Barnabas by the apostles (which is translated Son of Encouragement), a Levite of the country of Cyprus Acts 4:36 (NKJV) His name meant son of encouragement. What a cool name and a lot to live up to, but that s exactly what we know of him. He was also a big time giver. having land, sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles feet. Acts 4:37 (NKJV) Committed to the ministry of the church, he sold his land and gave the money to further the kingdom. He was well noted among the church. Then there was Titus, who was a Gentile believer. To Titus, a true son in our common faith: grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior. Titus 1:4 (NKJV) Only Timothy and Titus were given the title son in our faith by their mentor, Paul. A son in the faith meant that Titus had no problem with authority; he came under Paul and served with Paul. Copyright 2014 Chris Fraley 1

If anyone inquires about Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker concerning you. Or if our brethren are inquired about, they are messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ. 2 Corinthians 8:23 (NKJV) Titus had a great respect for Paul, but he also had a great love for the body of Christ. Nevertheless God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus 2 Corinthians 7:6 (NKJV) But thanks be to God who puts the same earnest care for you into the heart of Titus. 2 Corinthians 8:16 (NKJV) Titus and Barnabas seemed to flow in the gift of encouragement they were guys that you want to be around! Whenever I see guys like this in scripture, I am reminded of my own life. What will be said of me? If there were only a few things said, what would they be? How about you? What would be said at your funeral or better yet, your tombstone? What would be said if there was only one sentence to describe you? These would be his companions as Paul would make his way to Jerusalem now for the second time; guys that were noted for their faith, their giftedness, and their heart for the kingdom. Notice Paul reminds the churches Vs. 2 And I went up by revelation, and communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those who were of reputation, lest by any means I might run, or had run, in vain. Paul s heart here is to remind the readers that the gospel was given to him by direct revelation, not from man, not from an institution, it came to him direct from Jesus Christ Himself. It made his message valuable, but also it placed value on his calling. And now that he was making his way to Jerusalem, he wanted to qualify the reasoning for doing so. Copyright 2014 Chris Fraley 2

Paul was not being asked to come to Jerusalem for questioning or for an apostolic blessing. He didn t need the apostle s approval to preach the gospel this was not a visit to Principle Peter s office. But the Lord had revealed to Paul that a meeting was needed with the leadership of the church in Jerusalem. Even though Paul came to Christ outside the avenue of the church, he had no problem maintaining fellowship with those within the church. Paul wants to make it clear that though he did not sit at the feet of the apostles and receive, he had no issue having fellowship with them they were on the same team. It says something about Paul and his desire to maintain unity. I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. Ephesians 4:1-6 (NKJV) It s something that is very important here among the leadership at Wildwood. We work hard at unity. We know we must model it if we preach it. We must model it if we want the body to walk in it. So we work hard at it, making sure we are all on the same page with one another, listening to one another, praying for one another, loving and serving one another, so that it flows from the top down. Paul s reason for this trip was to keep the unity of the Spirit. There was a contention rising up over the place of the Gentile believers within the church. Those who were Jewish believers were arguing that the Gentiles could be saved, but that part of that salvation was they needed to make themselves a Jew first, which would require coming under the Law of Moses, and then of course males were to be circumcised. So it was Jesus plus being a Jew, plus the law, plus the pain, and then you could be saved. So while Paul was in Jerusalem he works this whole thing out with the church leadership. Copyright 2014 Chris Fraley 3

That s why we read in verse 2 that he communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those who were of reputation [that being the apostles, the leaders of the church in Jerusalem], lest by any means I might run, or had run, in vain. I like this; Paul communicates that he is preaching the gospel to the Gentiles; not a modified gospel, but the true gospel that is centered on the finished work of Christ on the cross. But then he has a private meeting with the leaders and the apostles of the church and has a candid talk with them about the gospel he is preaching. Why? Why the privacy? Because he s smart. If there is some disagreement, let s don t air it out in front of everyone. What love and sensitivity on Paul s part! It would have been easy for him to say, I m right and anyone who disagrees with me is wrong, and I can t wait to get in their face publicly. But he didn t. He knew being right didn t give you the privilege of being rude. David Guzik Wildwood, we hold in our hand the Word of truth. Know it, embrace it, obey it, and share it, but make sure before you do that you dip your speech in love. Nobody will receive you if you re arrogant, puffed up, or a jerk. And most of all, you misrepresent our Lord, the one who died for the person you re speaking to. but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head Christ Ephesians 4:15 (NKJV) Notice Paul reminds the church, lest by any means I might run, or had run, in vain. Paul was running well and to be rude or arrogant and create tension and strife among the apostles would not be to his advantage. It could affect him, his reputation, and his ministry to the Gentiles, to do church planting, to do the things he was putting his hand to. Notice Paul will bring up his companions again, specifically Titus. Vs. 3 Yet not even Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. Copyright 2014 Chris Fraley 4

It s important to remember Titus was not Jewish in his background, he was a Gentile convert. And Paul lets the church know, the leadership, the apostles, the ones who had been with Jesus, who had also been given the gospel by Jesus Himself, they did not ask Titus to become circumcised. You might be asking, What s the deal with circumcision? In Judaism, circumcision was a symbol of the cutting away of the flesh it started with Abraham. It was a symbol of what had taken and continued to take place in the heart, the flesh being cut out, discarded. Sadly, it had become among the Jews a requirement; whether or not it was a desire of the heart it was a requirement. Circumcision and strict obedience to the Law of Moses went hand-inhand. For the Jewish boys circumcision happened at birth. For the Gentile who wanted to covert they would go through the circumcision ritual ouch! So Paul points out here, the apostles, the leaders of the early church did not ask Titus to be circumcised, which meant they did not believe that it was necessary for salvation. Contrary to the false teachers who were saying it was important. This is huge, this meeting, this decision is huge to Christian history. If the apostles fell prey to this, who knows what the gospel would be today? Who knows where the Christian faith would be today? We can be for sure it would be painful! And again, it would have diminished the work of Christ For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love. Galatians 5:6 (NKJV) For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation. Galatians 6:15 (NKJV) For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh Philippians 3:3 (NKJV) Copyright 2014 Chris Fraley 5

In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ Colossians 2:11 (NKJV) I am also impressed with Paul here. Remember, Paul is Jewish, he has been circumcised. He could have said, Titus, this is your problem, not mine. They have a problem with you, not me. I am washing my hands of this. You take care of it and let me know how it goes. But Paul knew that this issue was greater than Titus, it had to do with all Gentiles. If the Gentiles had to jump through this hoop, then the gospel has a problem it s not sufficient, it didn t complete the work, it doesn t stand alone. And this would create a problem with Paul s ministry of the gospel to the Gentiles. His message would have to change from put your faith in Christ to put your faith in Christ and circumcision, or put your faith in Christ and get baptized and you ll be saved, or put your faith in Christ and be a tithing member of the local church and you will be saved, or put your faith in Christ and dress in a suit and tie and hand out magazines and you ll get to heaven. This meeting changed all that and Paul knew it and that s why he did it, and we should be grateful. Now, notice here that even though the apostles did not fall prey to this there were others who did. Vs. 4 And this occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage) I believe it s important to note here that Paul calls these men false brethren, but they probably did not see themselves as false brethren. Why are they false brethren? Because they contradicted the gospel. Paul was really clear about these guys back in chapter 1 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if Copyright 2014 Chris Fraley 6

we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. Galatians 1:6-9 (NKJV) A false gospel is a false hope and it will leave you without hope on the Day of Judgment. So Paul calls those who preach a false gospel false brethren. Notice he says in verse 4, false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage) Notice the words secretly and stealth. These guys were not announced or introduced as false brethren at the door, there was no name tag that said false brethren which would have been nice, but that s not how they worked. They totally had an agenda from the minute they walked in the door to spy out the church s liberty in Christ and bring them into bondage. If you have ever paid off a credit card you know the feeling of no longer being in that bondage. The credit card companies know they no longer have you so they re calling, knocking, emailing, they re doing whatever they can to get you back into bondage. So too the legalist, both in Paul s day and in our day, wants to bring you into bondage, to put the chains of legalism on you so that it s a burden you cannot bear. Let me remind you today Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. John 8:36 (NKJV) Who sets us free? Jesus. Copyright 2014 Chris Fraley 7