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Galatians Chapter 2
- Galatians 2:1 Then fourteen years
after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus
with me also.
- 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.
- 3 But neither Titus, who was
with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised:
- 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:
- 5 To whom we gave place by
subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel
might continue with you.
- 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:
- 7 But contrariwise, when they
saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me,
as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter;
- 8 (For he that wrought
effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the
same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:)
We see hints here of the cause of trouble.
Paul was explaining that the apostles never demanded that the
Gentiles be circumcised to be saved. They recognized that the same
God who called them and worked with them (the Jews) in signs
wonders and miracles also worked with Paul. They saw that God was
saving uncircumcised Gentiles as well. They knew that Jesus was the
way of salvation and it was not necessary for the Gentiles to have
to be circumcised in order to receive the full gift of God, which is
salvation, by faith in Jesus Christ.
Some were trying to add to the gospel by
telling people they needed to be circumcised in order to be really
saved. Circumcision is good for health reasons but it has nothing to
do with the salvation of the soul. The blood of Jesus was sufficient
to take away sins. Circumcision does not take our sins away. It
was a covenant between God and Abraham, continuing until the second
covenant was made. Jesus made the way for a new covenant that
brought salvation not only to the Jews but the Gentiles also.
I don't think the book of Galatians is trying
to tell us that since we are saved by grace it doesn't matter what
we do, we would still be saved. It doesn't encourage us to go back
into the bondage of sin and expect salvation because of the grace of
God. We become servants to whoever we decide to serve. If we choose
to return to a life of sin, we will be back into bondage from which
Jesus Christ came to save us. If we are Jews and choose to go back
under the law of Moses and trust in the works of the law to save us,
then we have fallen from the grace provided through Jesus Christ. We
then become under bondage again to do the whole law which as we have
seen before is impossible.
The book of Galatians is written to emphasize
the salvation through Jesus Christ and show that this wonderful
gospel is for Gentiles as well as Jews. In Christ there is no wall
of separation. I will add here that the gospel is for all races that
will believe. No race is exalted above another when they come to
Christ. He breaks down that wall of separation. We do have to come
through Christ. Without the Spirit of God dwelling within us there
will always be friction between the races. There will always be
cultural differences, divisions and disputes because of different
upbringing and traits.
Through Christ we become one in the body of
Christ. I will say this plainly and I say it with love. The church
of Jesus Christ should not have any racial hatred or bigotry. I'm
not talking about what the world calls bigotry. We must preach and
warn against any sin in the spirit of love and meekness. I'm talking
about exalting ourselves above another race and thinking we are
superior. Thinking God has chosen our race, denomination, church or
group above another is dangerous.
We all have to be saved by the same method;
repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. We all have nothing that we
achieved by our own works or natural talents. The mercy and grace of
God saves us all in the same way. We have nothing that we did not
receive. Man, woman, Jew, Gentile, Black, White, Oriental, and any
other race is the same through Jesus Christ. I will add here that
this latter day move to put down all white men is not the right
spirit either. It also stirs up hate. The feminist movement stirs up
hate against men. Everyone that stirs up people and cries for their
rights need to be careful not to stir up hate against others. The
group that you stand up and protest against may have rights too.
Hate can be stirred up on either side of the fence. That is why we
don't get along.
The blood of Jesus has broken down that wall of
separation. This is the only power to bring lasting peace and end
racism. When I see and read about countries fighting and warring
against each other because their religion is different or because of
a past grudge, or because of the differences in races it troubles
me. People blow up buses, schools and buildings, killing little
innocent children for vengeance and it is mind-boggling. Yet I
realize it is so easy to yield ourselves to that spirit of hate.
Jesus Christ can make us free of that if we let
Him. Let us yield ourselves to His spirit and be filled with LOVE
instead. Be filled with the Holy Spirit, be filled with the pure,
free, refreshing presence of God that frees us from the old nature.
Let prejudice, pride, hate, be gone from our lives forever. The Holy
Spirit sheds the love of God abroad in our hearts. We have no
business calling ourselves children of God and hating someone of
another race.
We see by studying these scriptures that some
were coming in to spy on Paul and Barnabas. They didn't like the
liberty they had in Jesus Christ. They wanted to go in and find
something to accuse them of. Let us not desire to find fault in our
brothers and sisters in the Lord. This doesn't mean that we overlook
sin and not correct it but we should not have the attitude that we
go in purposely to find fault either. By love serve one another.
Love will cause us to correct sin because we do not want any to be
lost. We do not want those we love destroying their testimony or
messing up their lives, but love also will not let us desire to find
fault, look for faults and get on the phone or social media to expound their faults
to someone else. That is not walking in love.
-
Galatians 3:9 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
the circumcision.
- 10 Only they would that we
should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to
do.
- 11 But when Peter was come to
Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be
blamed.
- 12 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.
- 13 And the other Jews
dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was
carried away with their dissimulation.
- 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?
We see Peter here succumbing to the pressure
of pleasing men instead of God. Paul boldly corrected him. See how
easy it is to fall prey to prejudice? Just get with a group of
people who have a reason to gripe and feel justified in their cause
and see how easy it is to get carried away with hate and bitterness.
As Christians we should run and avoid it like the plague. We must
not hate others because of their religion, denomination or color.
Paul and Barnabas was given the approval of
the pillars of the gospel. They saw the calling of Paul to preach
the gospel to the Gentiles. Paul was a changed man once he received
the gospel. This is an example of how a former man who persecuted
those that were different in their religious beliefs than he thought
was the right one. He was
changed by the gospel of Jesus Christ and became a preacher of the
gospel. He knew first hand how the power of God worked to
change a person from the inside out and that outward religious
rituals could not change one thing within us. It takes the power of
the Holy Spirit after the gospel is preached to make a hardened
sinner into a child of God. To see people go back under
religious prejudice and fault finding would hinder the gospel and
Paul had to confront it head on. He hated to see any true believer
in Christ forsake the trust we have in Christ for salvation and
return to trying to earn our salvation by the works and rituals of
the law which was fulfilled and done away with in Christ.
-
Galatians 3:15 We who are Jews by nature,
and not sinners of the Gentiles,
- 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.
Paul makes it clear what saves us. Not
keeping the works, rituals, and feasts of the law but by faith of
Jesus Christ and believing in Him.
-
Galatians 3:17 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.
- 18 For if I build again the
things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.
Here we see that Paul is not preaching that
through Christ we are allowed to go back into sin and still be
saved. Christ is not the minister of sin. If we backslide and return
to our old ways after receiving Christ, we are building the things
that was destroyed when we came to Christ. Christ makes us free from
the curse of the law and free from sin. We still have the power to
choose like Peter did. Let us be determined to choose the
righteousness of Christ instead of trying to establish our own
righteousness without Christ. Submit to the righteousness of Jesus
Christ, receive the word and the Holy Spirit that gives power of
sin. We must daily yield to His Spirit.
-
Galatians 3:19 For I through the law am
dead to the law, that I might live unto God.
- 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.
- 21 I do not frustrate the grace
of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is
dead in vain.
We can't be good in ourselves. Christ now lives
within us to take away that desire to sin. We then can have power to
walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Jesus
Christ makes us free. DC
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