The Same Gospel is Entrusted to All

Transcript

GR 1145
2-21-99
The Same Gospel is Entrusted to All
Galatians 2:6-10
Gil Rugh



I direct your attention to Paul’s letter to the Galatians and the second chapter, Galatians, Chapter 2. Sometimes we’re studying a portion like we have in the first two chapters of Galatians and we need to remind ourselves of the pertinence of this section to our own situation today. This is not just an old historical argument and debate that was carried on in the days of the apostles. Paul has been arguing and demonstrating that he is an apostle, directly appointed by Jesus Christ and he has been entrusted with a message directly from God, the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is a message he did not receive from other apostles or other human instruments. Rather it is a message that God directly communicated to Paul.

I was thinking about the importance of this in the context of a book that I have been reading together with the staff. It’s a book that has had quite a wide influence among Evangelicals in recent years. It’s entitled “Experiencing God” by Henry Blackaby and Clyde King. And I want to read just a couple of excerpts from this book from Chapter10, and Chapter 10 is entitled, “God speaks to His people”. And he begins the chapter in this way. If anything is clear from a reading of the bible, this fact is clear. God speaks to His people. He spoke to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden in Genesis. He spoke to Abraham and the other patriarchs. God spoke to the judges, kings and prophets. God was in Christ Jesus, speaking to the disciples. God spoke to the early church and God spoke to John on the isle of Patmos in Revelation. God does speak to His people.

Now thus far in that statement we would heartily agree. God spoke repeatedly down through history, through individuals that He had selected to receive His revelation and then give it forth to His people. But listen to how he concludes this paragraph. He said God does speak to His people and you can anticipate that He will be speaking to you also. That last statement does not follow. He goes on later in the same chapter and says, does God really speak to His people in our day? Yes! God has not changed.

I want to say to you the fact of scripture is God does not speak to us today, as He spoke to Adam and Eve in the Garden, as He spoke to Abraham, as He spoke to the prophets, as He spoke to the apostles, as He spoke to John the apostle on the isle of Patmos. And repeatedly in this book he draws illustrations like this, from Old Testament situations primarily where God directly speaks. God does not speak that way today. If that were so, the argument of Paul in writing to the Galatians would be fallacious and wrong. Paul’s argument in these opening two chapters is I have a unique position. I am an apostle. Jesus Christ has spoken directly to me and thus I have an authoritative message. God does not speak directly to me. I regret to tell you that. It would be much more thrilling for you and me too if I could stand up and say God told me last night and to be in the line of present day false prophets, we would start, God told me last night you should give your money to this ministry. What does Paul argue in Chapter 1, verse 11 of Galatians? For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. Paul is arguing that his situation is unique. He does not say to the Galatians and God will speak to you also. No, God will speak to me, He has spoken to me Paul says, and what He has said to me is His message for you. God did not give me a direct message. What I have I received it from man. I was taught it by other men. Paul says that’s not how he got his. We need to be very careful in our day. It bothers me greatly that such a directly false doctrine would be tolerated within Evangelical circles, a doctrine that used to be associated only with hyper-charismatic kind of teachers who claim that God was speaking to them. And now we have a book that’s being used for bible studies and so on in Evangelical churches. At the heart of it is you have to learn how to recognize the voice of God and in this book the bible is only one of the ways that God speaks to you today. I say to you this is the only verbal communication from God to man. He will not verbally communicate to you directly.

Now sometimes we get confused because as believers we say well, God does speak. Yes, every time I read the bible he is speaking to me. That is true, but that’s not what he is saying. He is not speaking to me like Moses did. That shine you see on my face that cannot be compared to the shine on Moses face when he came down from the mountain. God does not speak to me directly.

So Paul is arguing on the uniqueness of his situation and they must recognize that the gospel he is preaching was given to him by God. The false teachers were trying to undermine Paul’s authority and the message that Paul preached by trying to tell people that he was an inferior apostle. He was not on the same level as Peter, James and John and the apostles that were centered in Jerusalem. And some of these false teachers had traveled north from Jerusalem to the city of Antioch and were claiming that Paul’s ministry was not a complete ministry. He was preaching an incomplete gospel, because the true gospel is it’s faith in Jesus Christ plus the works of the law that bring about salvation.

In Chapter 2 of Galatians, verses 1-l0 Paul is talking about a meeting he had in Jerusalem with the apostles who were centered there. He went up to Jerusalem for this meeting 14 years after his conversion. So he has had a ministry of some 14 years in walking with the Lord and proclaiming the gospel among Gentiles by the time he goes to this meeting in Jerusalem. The actual meeting and some of the details of it are recorded in the book of Acts and the 15th Chapter. We call it the Jerusalem conference. The result of that conference was it was demonstrated that all the apostles were in agreement that there is only one gospel. The gospel that God had directly revealed to Paul was the same gospel that had been revealed to the apostles at Jerusalem and it is the only gospel that can bring salvation to either Jew or Gentile.

In Chapter 2 of Galatians Paul had inserted something of a parenthetical fact here regarding Titus who went to Jerusalem with him. Titus was a Gentile, converted under Paul’s ministry. But even at that Jerusalem conference Titus was not required to be circumcised. In other words the apostolic leadership in Jerusalem recognized the genuineness of the salvation of Titus, even apart from circumcision and keeping the law.
Look in verse 4 of Chapter 2. Paul refers to the false brethren secretly brought in who had sneaked in to spy out our liberty and bring us back into bondage. Paul is very strong and clear. The apostles were in agreement on what the gospel is and what is required for salvation, faith in the gospel. Paul declares that anyone who brings any variation or altered gospel, is a false brethren. So these who had infiltrated the church and been accepted as believers were now revealed to be counterfeit, false brethren, those that he pronounced under the curse of God in Chapter 1 verses 6-9. If anyone preaches any other gospel he is accursed, under the curse of God, eternally condemned to hell. Paul believed that this was an issue worth fighting for, fighting ferociously for, because the gospel has to do with the eternal salvation of men.

Verse 5, he had said we did not yield in subjection to them, to these false brethren, even for an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you. And that’s crucial. If they had compromised on the truth of the gospel for peace and unity where would we be today? A gospel would have been passed along that was corrupted, that only resulted and men, women and young people having a false confidence in a gospel that could not save. We can be thankful for these who stood firmly for the gospel.

Now in verses 6-10 Paul is going to show that the other apostles at Jerusalem did recognize him as a fellow apostle and saw themselves as joined with him in fellowship in the ministry of that gospel. So there was really no conflict between Paul and Peter or Paul and James. It was the Judaizers, the false brethren, who had created dissension and division over a message that they were preaching which was not apostolic at all. Paul says in verse 6, but from those who were of high reputation. And really verse 6 picks up where he broke off at verse 2, so I said verses 3-5 are something of a parenthesis in thought. At the end of verse 2 he said, but I did so in private to those who were of reputation. Down in verse 6, but from those who were of high reputation. So he picks up the thought of talking about those of reputation. He’s talking about those apostles who will be named as Peter, James and John in verse 9, who were held up as the leaders among the apostles. The Judaizers had claimed, and we’ll see this later, that these apostles disagreed with Paul and they were the ones of stature. You see what happened, Peter, James and John are headquartered in Jerusalem. It’s a long walk, a long trip up to Antioch in the north and then over into the region of Galatia. You’ve either got to go by boat or you’ve got to take a dangerous and long land trip. So these Judaizers go into these regions where Paul had preached and said we’re from Jerusalem. Paul is not preaching the same gospel that Peter, James and John are. Let me tell you what Peter told me the gospel is. He said you have to believe in Christ plus be circumcised and keep the law. Paul has deceived you.

So we’re settling what these apostles that have been held up as super apostles, as we’ll see, really believed. But those who were of reputation. What they were makes no difference to me. Paul is not indicating here any disdain or lack of respect for these other apostles. What he is saying is that the emphasis that men like the Judaizers were placing on them did not impress Paul. The Judaizers were saying, Peter, James and John, they’re the great apostles. Paul, he’s really not significant. They used this argument repeatedly against Paul.

Back up a few pages just before Galatians, into II Corinthians and look at Chapter 11 of II Corinthians. Similar kind of battle Paul is having with these false teachers and Judaizers and he says in verse 4, for if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully. So you see the similar kind of context. Teachers coming, they’re preaching a different Jesus. Oh, they preach about Jesus but He is not sufficient in and of himself, its Jesus plus the works of the law. That’s a different gospel. But note what he says in verse 5, for I consider myself not in the least inferior to the most eminent apostles, to the super apostles, to the highest apostles, if you will, the apostles above others. You see these false teachers were again trying to come into Corinth, a long way from Jerusalem, a Gentile city, where Paul had preached and established churches. He established a church at Corinth and other churches in that part of the world, and saying, oh no, the apostles at Jerusalem, they’re the eminent apostles. Don’t listen to Paul. And Paul says I am in no way inferior to these super apostles.

Over in Chapter 12, the last part of verse 11 for time, for in no respect was I inferior to the most eminent apostles, even though I’m a nobody. And that may have been the accusation of these false teachers. The eminent apostles there in Jerusalem, Paul was a nobody. Paul says I may be a nobody, but I am not inferior in any way as an apostle to even the greatest of apostles. So the same argument is now being made in writing to the Galatians back in Galatians, Chapter 2. What they were makes no difference to me. And it seems that part of the argument here, what they were, tying to the background of these apostles in Jerusalem, men like Peter, James and John had been with Christ during his earthly ministry. They had been hand picked with Christ while He was on earth. They had shared with Him in his ministry over those three years. I mean you were going to accept this Johnny-come-lately apostle on the same level as Peter. I mean Peter walked along the shores of the Sea of Galilee with Christ. He traveled up to Jerusalem with Him on occasions. He ministered with Him. And now Paul comes on well after the fact and you think he’s on the same level as Peter, James and John? Forget it!

Well, Paul says whatever these apostles were, that makes no difference to me, that’s not really a factor. God shows no partiality. In other words, God doesn’t elevate certain of these men above others on the basis of human factors. Paul repeatedly in his letters and in other letters in the New Testament as well, this statement is made. God shows no partiality, God shows no partiality. So, doesn’t matter. Well, I’ve been a member of the church for a long time. Well, somebody else has been a member a short time. God doesn’t show any partiality. Peter and John served with Christ during his earthly ministry. That doesn’t make them more important than Paul. God shows no partiality on the basis of these matters. In fact Deuteronomy, Chapter 10, verse 17 reminds us that God is supreme and sovereign above all. He shows no partiality and He takes no bribes. I love the way that’s put. He shows no partiality and He takes no bribes. You know even today we sometimes think we bribe God. You know, we do something a little extra, so God owes me, or I put a little extra in the offering. I didn’t tell you this before the offering. And so you know, God owes me. God will be a little more partial to me. That’s not the way God operates. He’s not influenced by these human factors and activities. Doesn’t mean faithfulness is not important, but God’s actions are not shaped by who’s important in the human realm.

Well, those who were of reputation contributed nothing to me. Those of reputation, those who are being held up so highly. They contributed nothing to me. They added nothing to his authority as an apostle. They added nothing to the gospel, which he had received from Christ. So again, Paul is not belittling them but he is showing his independence from them. His apostolic authority was not dependent upon the Jerusalem apostles. His gospel message did not come from them, so they contributed nothing to him. He is an apostle by direct appointment of Christ. He has a message by direct revelation from Christ. That puts him on the same level. And so verse 7 says, “But on the contrary, seeing that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised.” We’ll break off there. Verses 6-10 are one of Paul’s long convoluted sentences and you think sometimes in my talking I get tangled up. Well, Paul here just puts one long sentence together and some of you are into grammar and that, you want to have fun, take a sentence like this and say you’re going to diagram it out and then you’re trying to find out, now where is his verb, now where did he go with this. Why did he just stop here, he never finished it. But this is one of those sentences.

On the contrary. Up to this point Paul has been emphasizing the negative side. I didn’t go to Jerusalem early on. I didn’t have conversation with the apostles. When I did have conversation with the apostles, they contributed nothing to me. Titus wasn’t required. All on the negative. But now we get the positive. Rather than adding anything to him and so on. What these apostles at Jerusalem did was recognize that Paul had divine appointment. That his message was authoritative as received directly from Christ, and he is recognized as a fellow apostle, on the same level as they are, with the same authority that they have. So on the contrary, seeing that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised. Note how that’s put. I had been entrusted with the gospel. Paul uses this expression several times. I’ll just say them quickly. I Corinthians 9:17, I Thessalonians 2:4, I Timothy 1:11, Titus 1:3. Now you have to get the tape to get those back. Each of those places Paul reminds his readers, I was entrusted with the gospel.

You note, the disciples are apostles at Jerusalem. Peter, James and John in particular recognize that he had been entrusted with the gospel. He didn’t receive the gospel from them. They recognized that God had entrusted it to him. So their part in this was simply to recognize what God had done. They didn’t add to Paul. He received nothing from them, but they did recognize, he has been entrusted with the gospel.

To the uncircumcised. The focus of Paul’s ministry was to the Gentiles. It becomes almost technical expressions. The circumcised are the Jews, the uncircumcised are the Gentiles. And that way of expression used repeatedly to identify them.

Paul had already traveled on his first missionary journey in Acts, Chapter 13 and Acts, Chapter 14. The Jerusalem conference is in Acts, Chapter 15. He had been a believer for 14 years. He had had an effective ministry up in the Gentile region of Antioch. So there were the fruits and results of years of ministry and labor. Peter, James and John recognized God had entrusted him with the gospel to be preached primarily among Gentile peoples. Just as Peter had been to the circumcised. Now this is important because you see what happens here. These leading apostles recognized that Paul had been entrusted even as Peter had been entrusted. They recognized Paul on the same apostolic level as Peter, and just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to preach it to Jews, Paul had been entrusted with the gospel to preach it to Gentiles. So their recognition, if you will, mutuality. Peter is not above Paul. Paul is not above Peter. They have both been entrusted with the gospel message to preach it to certain peoples. The focus of Peter’s ministry is to Jews, the circumcised. They have different spheres of ministry, but not a different gospel. We see Peter even expressed that as we move along. So Peter and Paul clearly recognized on the same level as apostles, recognized as having the same gospel, but different spheres of ministry, one to Jews and one to Gentiles.

Verse 8, ffor he who effectually worked for Peter in his apostleship to the circumcised effectually worked for me also to the Gentiles. There is a recognition by the apostles that it is God who is at work in Paul’s ministry, even as it is God at work in Peter’s ministry. The same God is at work in both of these men and that is why their ministry is effective. It is God who is effectually working to accomplish His purposes through Paul in ministry to the Gentiles, even as God is working effectually through Peter in ministry to the Jews.

Verse 9, and recognizing the grace that had been given to me. And that basically just repeats what he said in verse 7. In verse 7 he said, but on the contrary, seeing that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised. Another way of saying that is recognizing the grace that had been given to me. The grace that had been given to Paul was the gospel ministered to the Gentiles.

Turn over to Ephesians, Chapter 3, just after the book of Galatians is the book of Ephesians. Go to Chapter 3, Ephesians, Chapter 3 and verse 8. Look at verse 7, he’s talking about the gospel, the gospel of which I was made a minister, Ephesians 3:7, according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given to me according to the working of His power. See basically the same thing he said in Galatians, God effectually working in him, according to the grace that had been given him. To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ. That’s the grace that was given him. God bestowed upon him His favor in entrusting him with the gospel, that he might carry this message to Gentiles, that they might learn of Christ and believe in Him.

So Paul in defending his apostleship in I Corinthians 15 says, in verse 10, by the grace of God I am what I am. An apostle, undeserving and unworthy but by the grace of God I am what I am, and this grace was bestowed upon me to preach the gospel to the Gentiles.

Back in Galatians 2:9, James, Cephas and John. James was mentioned in Chapter 1, verse 19, as the brother of the Lord. He became the leader of the church at Jerusalem. We’ll see that in a moment when we go to Acts, Chapter 15. Peter, known as Cephas, were well familiar with. John is the son of Zebedee. He was one of the original 12 apostles. He was the brother of James. Not the James, the brother of the Lord, in verse 9, but James who also was one of the original 12. The James who was executed by Herod Agrippa in Acts, Chapter 12. So John’s brother James had already been executed by the time of the conference in Acts 15. He was executed in Acts 12 by Herod Agrippa. These three are recognized as pillars. And you’ll see Peter in John’s ministry are joined together in the book of Acts several times, in Acts, Chapters 3 and 4. John and Peter work together in ministry. In Acts, Chapter 8 its John and Peter working together in ministry. We’re, of course, familiar with John because he wrote the gospel of John, the epistles of John, the book of Revelation. These three were reputed to be pillars. In other words, these were viewed as the stalwarts, the leaders, those who were the strength of the church at Jerusalem. These gave to me and Barnabas. Barnabas sort of dropped out of sight here for a while. Paul did tell us in the opening verses of Chapter 2 that Barnabas was with him when he went to Jerusalem. But then he had focused attention on himself, but now he tells us these three recognized as leaders in the church at Jerusalem, lifted up by the Judaizers as the super apostles.

They gave to Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship. In other words, they shook our hand, expressing the fact, what, we are in agreement with you, we recognize you as fellow apostles and fellow ministers of the gospel, so that we might go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. So there’s no conflict among Peter, James and John with Paul and Barnabas, the Jerusalem apostles recognize, no, we give you the right hand of fellowship. We see us as joined together in common ministry. And we accept the fact that, as God’s intention, you go to Gentiles and we will focus on the Jews. So they will have different spheres of ministry.

Now that doesn’t mean that Paul never preached to Jews or Peter never preached to Gentiles. As we’ll see in a moment, Peter was the first to preach to the Gentiles in Acts, Chapter 10. But the focus of Peter’s ministry and the apostles at Jerusalem will be among Jews. In fact when Peter writes his two letters, I and II Peter, who are they addressed to? To the diaspora, to the dispersion, technical expression for Jews who have been scattered away from the land of Palestine. So even in his writing he has his focus, what, Jews. Did he not preach and minister to Gentiles. He would, sure. But the focus of the ministry God had given to him and other apostles in Jerusalem was to Jews. Where as Paul, he would often go to a Gentile city and look for the synagogue and go into the synagogue and start his ministry of the gospel in the synagogue. But then he would soon branch out beyond the synagogue and be preaching to Gentiles and establish churches in Gentile areas. So just different focuses. And Paul spends most of his life in ministry in Gentile parts of the world, establishing churches there.

But verse 10, they only ask us to remember the poor, the very thing I also was eager to do. And you say, oh, that’s a strange thing to add on here, talking about something as important as preaching the gospel and Paul’s going to Gentiles and Peter to Jews, and oh, by the way, Paul, remember the poor. Well, you know, is it that important? Well, I think in the context it is. He’s not just talking about the poor generally, he’s talking about the poor believers in Jerusalem. So it’s the poor saints in Jerusalem. So even though the apostolic leadership in Jerusalem recognized that Paul and Barnabas would focus on Gentile parts of the world, they asked them to remember in that ministry the poverty of the believers in Jerusalem. Because of famine, because of persecution the Jerusalem church lived in an extended state of extreme poverty and suffering. So they asked us to remember the poor. Paul had already done this in Acts, Chapter 11, verses 27-30, he had made a trip to Jerusalem, taking a contribution from Gentiles up to the suffering church in Jerusalem.

So what they’re saying is even though we’re going to have different spheres of ministry, let me ask you, don’t close out or forget about us in our need here. So if anything, what, the Jewish church at Jerusalem is expecting to benefit from Paul’s ministry, rather than the other way around, and Paul was very happy to commit himself to remembering Jewish believers in Jerusalem in their times of need.

Turn back to Romans, Chapter 15, Paul refers to this fact. In Romans 15 and we’re going to look at verse 25. Paul’s talking about his plans, future plans. He says what he’s doing now, in verse 25 of Romans 15, but now, I am going to Jerusalem serving the saints. How so? For Macedonia and Achaia, they’re two providences of Greece. Macedonia, the city of Philippi, would be in Macedonia. Achaia, the city of Corinth is in Achaia. In writing to the Corinthians, in II Corinthians, Chapters 8 and 9 Paul made reference to the collection that was being taken among Gentile churches for the believers in Jerusalem. So here he refers to it. For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. Here Paul does follow through on the commitment that he had and that he was asked to continue to have. So here we find him at a future date taking a collection from among Gentile churches and carrying that collection to Jerusalem. Yes, they were pleased to do so, to make a contribution, and they are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are also indebted to them in material things. I mean the Gentiles have reaped benefits from the Jews. All the Old Testament scriptures were given to who? Jews. The apostles that were used to establish the church. Paul himself is what? Jew. Jesus Christ, the Messiah of Israel, a Jew, our Savior. So we Gentiles reap benefits from the Jews certainly. So Paul is making a collection from Gentile believers, to take to help the suffering Jewish believers in Jerusalem in their time of poverty.

Turn over to the book of Acts if you would, before the book of Romans, the book of Acts, and go to Chapter 15, which is Luke’s account, writing the history of the early church, of that conference that was held in Jerusalem that Paul is writing about in Galatians, Chapter 3. And we’ve been here before and we saw the conflict that Paul got in when, verse 1 of Chapter 15, some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brethren. They came down to Antioch, Gentile city, where Paul was having a ministry, where Gentiles had been saved and they began to teach unless you’re circumcised, according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved. And it becomes clear as the records put together, and we’ll see this in a moment in Chapter 15 as well, these men who came down from Jerusalem claimed to be representing the apostles in Jerusalem. And they were claiming that this is what Peter, James and John were teaching in Jerusalem, you have to be circumcised to be saved.

So Paul and Barnabas and others go up to Jerusalem to have a conference to resolve this conflict and in verse 5 we were told that some of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed stood up saying it’s necessary to circumcise them, direct them to observe the law of Moses. This is the confrontation. The apostles and elders came together to look into this matter. After there had been much debate, Galatians 2 tells us that Paul met privately with the apostles in Jerusalem. There were evidently public meetings of the church. Now the apostles are ready to speak and Peter steps up first, as you might expect. Verse 7, Peter stood up and said to them, brethren, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe. He’s referring to Acts, Chapter 10 when God sent Peter to the house of Cornelius, a Gentile house, preach the gospel and Cornelius was saved. And God who knows the heart, testified to them, giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did us also.
And He made no distinction between us and them, between us Jews, Peter speaking, and them, referring to those Gentiles, cleansing their hearts by faith. That was the issue.
It’s important here. Peter is the spokesman. What is Peter declaring? That the gospel for Jews and the gospel for Gentiles is the same gospel, validated by God Himself. You’re saved by faith alone in Christ alone.

Now, therefore, why do you put God to the test, by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? Remember what Paul said about these false brethren in verses 4 and 5 of Galatians 2. They snuck in to spy out our liberty, to take us back into bondage. Peter says the same thing. You want to put God to the test, what, place a yoke upon our neck, place us back into bondage. And our fathers were unable to pass that test and neither were we. We couldn’t bear that load. We all failed. We all were condemned, because by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified in His sight. But we believe that we are saved through the grace of our Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are. You note what Peter says here. Peter, one of the super apostles, one of the apostles of reputation, one of the pillars. We believe that we, Jews, are saved in the same way as they, those Gentiles, are also.

You know what, circumcision and the works of the law are not necessary for the salvation of the Jew or of the salvation of the Gentile. Jews and Gentiles are both saved in the same way. Crucial statement. A declaration of what? The apostle Paul has been preaching the true gospel of Jesus Christ. The Judaizers are false brethren, a cursed of God, trying to take us back into bondage.

The people were silent when Peter got done. Paul and Barnabas got up and related further the great works that God had done in the salvation of Gentiles. Then when they’re done, verse 13, after they had stopped speaking, James answered, and this is the James the brother of the Lord, one of the pillars of the church, James, Peter, and John in Galatians 2:9, called the pillars. And he said, brethren listen to me, and he reiterates. Simon has told us the account of the salvation of the Gentiles under his ministry. This fits with what the prophets prophesied, that before the establishing of the kingdom of the Messiah on this earth, there will be salvation of Gentiles. So we should expect this. Then you come down to verse 19, Therefore it is my judgment. So you get the clear indication here that James is the presiding officer at this meeting, probably why his name is first in Galatians 2:9, it’s James and Cephas and John, and here he is the one who gives the verdict to which the apostles were in agreement. That we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles. Now what we ask is that they abstain from things contaminated by idols, fornication, what is strangled and from blood. For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.

You note, there is no issue about circumcision. There is no issue about the basics of keeping the Mosaic law. That is not necessary and we don’t need to trouble the Gentiles. Salvation is by grace through faith. But we would ask the Gentiles who were converted to Christ to be sensitive to Jewish sensitivities. I mean in all these Gentile cities there are Jews who are involved in the law and in the study of Moses. Be sensitive to them. You don’t have to go out of your way to offend them. This is the same thing Paul wrote to the Corinthians. He wrote to the Romans on the issue of Christian liberty. Look, if meat sacrificed to idols causes you a problem, I won’t eat meat sacrificed to idols. I’m not going to cause you a problem over what kind of food I eat. That’s the same thing they’re asking. Be sensitive to not cause problems that are not necessary. Just like if, you know, you’re going to come to my house for dinner and I know you have a conviction, you cannot eat pork, and I say to Marilyn, Marilyn, we’re having pork when they come over.
It doesn’t matter whether they like it or not, they will learn we eat pork at our house. Well, what would be the point of that? Is that the only thing we can eat? No. Then why would I cause an issue over that? I don’t need to. That’s all he’s saying here.

But on the other matters, the issue of salvation is resolved. Circumcision is not necessary, keeping the Mosaic Law is not necessary. Sensitivity and the proper use of liberty is necessary.

Come down to verse 23, the letter that is sent from this conference. They sent this letter, The apostles and brethren who are elders, to the brethren in Antioch, Syria, Cilicia, these are sent to Gentile regions. Since we have heard that some of our number, some from the church at Jerusalem, to whom we gave no instruction have disturbed you with their words, unsettling your souls. You see here what’s happened, and James and the apostles want to clarify and correct it. These people who have come from the church of Jerusalem and claimed to be representing us, had no instruction from us on this matter. They’re false brethren. It became clear, if you do not understand that salvation is by grace, if you think that you are saved by believing in Christ and doing good works, you are a false brethren, you are still under the curse of God for your sin.

So clearly, the leadership at Jerusalem takes a position in support of Paul, in the proclamation of a gospel of grace. It seemed good to us, having become of one mind.
Important, one mind, Paul, Barnabas, Peter, James, John, of one mind, to select men to send to you with our beloved Barnabas and Saul, men that we love well, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. So we send Judas and Silas with them. Judas and Silas now representatives from the church, so, you know, it’s not just Paul and Barnabas saying, oh yea, the leadership at Jerusalem agreed with us. Judas and Silas are there to say yes, they’re right, to appose any Judaizing influence. And, what, the stand for the gospel is maintained.

Let me review a few points that have been covered in the section we’ve gone over here.

l. This lines behind the whole argument, false brethren try to bring division and dissension to the church. False brethren, Galatians 2:4, false brethren try to bring division and dissension to the church, two areas, in doctrine and in personalities. They want to divide the church over doctrine, they want to divide it over personalities. They want to lead the church away from truth, the truth of the gospel and the word of God. They want to divide over personalities. Oh, Paul is not as important a person as Peter. Paul is not on the same level as John. That’s not the issue. The issue is what is the truth

2. God is sovereign in the selection and appointment of His workers. Verse 7 of Galatians 2, they recognize that Paul had been entrusted with the gospel of the uncircumcision. Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcision. God is sovereign in the selection and appointment of His workers. That would be true also of all the gifts in the body. If we would take the time to look in I Corinthians 12, where we’re told that God has placed each one in the body of Christ as He desired, sovereign in His appointment and His placement of His servants.

3. It is God’s enabling power that makes ministry effective. Verse 8, For he who effectually worked for Peter, effectually worked for Paul. Let’s never lose sight of the fact, true ministry, effective service for Jesus Christ is not just going through the motions.
You can go through the motions and nothing happens. Only the work of the sovereign God in a life makes that life effective in its service. That’s why we must constantly come before the throne of grace and ask for God to graciously work to use our service to accomplish His gracious work.

4. It is God’s grace that gifts us for ministry. Verse 9, recognizing the grace that had been given to me. You can summarize Paul’s ministry as God’s grace to Paul. The gospel entrusted to him to preach the Gentiles. And that’s true of all our giftedness if we just could branch it out here, because we have the charismatic gifts, not in the modern sense of the term, but in the I Corinthians 12 sense, gifts of grace. God has sovereignly bestowed upon each of His children the ability to serve Him, to function in the body, a gift to make you effective as you serve Him. It’s God’s grace that gifts us for ministry.

And finally and crucial in everything, there is only one gospel for Jew or Gentile. You know people today are still fragmenting over their church’s beliefs and another church’s beliefs, all these kind of things. It’s irrelevant. All that matters is what God has said. There’s only one gospel. We believe that Jews and Gentiles alike are saved by faith, that’s it. Isn’t it amazing that 2,000 years ago this matter was thrashed out and the apostles, under the direction of the Spirit of God, firmly stood and declared that there is only one way of salvation by faith in Christ, and yet even to this day there are deluded people who think by their good works, by their church membership, by their baptism, they will be accepted before God. That is tragic. That is an error of eternal importance. If you believe that you are on your way to an eternal hell, you are cursed of God. That’s what Paul said in Galatians 1. We must stand firm and clear and unshakable in our commitment to the truth of the revealed word of God, the gospel of Jesus Christ, that we are sinners, that we must have God’s salvation and in grace He has provided that salvation.

That salvation is found in the person and work of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who died on the cross, was buried and was raised from the dead. You must let go of your confidence and faith in everything else and believe in Him alone as your Savior, and when you do, Jew or Gentile, you will be gloriously and completely cleansed, forgiven and made new. You will experience the salvation of the living God. Let’s pray together.

Thank you, Father, for your marvelous grace. Thank you for the truth that was revealed to Paul, to Peter, to John, that truth that was written down and preserved by your grace for us today, that we might hear the message of the gospel and turn from ourselves, from confidence in our works, and place our faith in the Savior who loved us and died for us. Lord, I pray for any who may be here today who are false brethren, deluded into thinking that they are saved by Christ and their works. May their blind eyes be open to see and believe the gospel of grace even today. We pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.