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What does Galatians 2 mean?

Chapter Commentary:

Galatians 2 begins with a crucial meeting between Paul and the other apostles in Jerusalem. It ends with a magnificent description of being justified before God through faith in Christ. The prior chapter ended as Paul was explaining his conversion and subsequent study, leading him to begin preaching the same gospel he had once persecuted.

Eventually, Paul traveled to Jerusalem with Barnabas, a Jewish Christian, and Titus, a Gentile Christian. They had likely been sent from the believers in Antioch with relief for those suffering from a great famine. Paul took advantage of the occasion, though, to have a private meeting with the influential leaders of the Christian movement in Jerusalem, including the other apostles like Peter and John (Galatians 2:1–2).

To these other apostles, Paul presents the message about Jesus which he has been preaching to Gentiles in other parts of the world. He confirms it to be the same message they are preaching: that one cannot be saved by keeping the law. Salvation is found only through faith in Christ and his substitution for us in dying for our sin on the cross. The question for Gentile believers is whether they must start following the law after trusting in Christ. All of the apostles agree: this is not needed, and they say Titus does not need to be circumcised, as the law of Moses would have required.

Some in Jerusalem do not agree, however. Paul calls them "false brothers" who want to steal away the Gentiles' freedom in Christ. They want to make all Christians slaves to the law. The other apostles, though, recognize that Paul is an apostle in his own right and has been sent by Christ to preach to the Gentiles. Peter, James, and John express their official approval with what's referred to here as "the right hand of fellowship." This might have been some kind of overt, formal means of declaring their approval of Paul, so others would accept him (Galatians 2:3–10).

Later, though, when Peter comes to where Paul lives in Antioch, things don't go nearly so well. Peter has said he believes that Gentiles who trust in Christ are fully accepted in God's sight. So, while the traditional approach to Jewish law and customs would never allow a Jew to eat with a Gentile, Peter does so while in Antioch—for a while. However, when some followers of Jesus' brother James show up, men who still disapprove of Jewish Christians eating with Gentile Christians, Peter gets scared. This looks bad, he thinks. So he leaves the table. Because of his influence, all of the other Jewish Christians leave the table, too. Even Barnabas, Paul's partner in ministry, can't take the pressure.

Paul stands up and opposes Peter right to his face because of Peter's hypocrisy. If you now live as a Gentile—by eating with Gentiles—Paul asks, how can you force the Gentiles to follow all the Jewish rules and customs? This challenge, issued to a fellow apostle over such a sensitive issue, becomes the theme of Paul's message for the rest of the letter. There is no reason for a Christian to behave as if good deeds, traditions, or rituals are part of our salvation (Galatians 2:11–14).

Paul then begins to make his grand case that nobody can be justified—made righteous before God—by following the works of the law. Peter and Paul, though born Jewish, have both now been justified before God by faith in Christ. In fact, that's the only way anyone can be justified.

Finally, Paul declares he has "died to the law" and has come alive to God. How? By believing in Christ, he was crucified with Christ in a spiritual sense. His sinful self was executed by faith in Christ and then Christ came to take its place in Paul. Now, Paul insists, he lives by faith in Christ (Galatians 2:15–21).

Why did Christ give himself for Paul, and for us? Paul implies his motive is simple: Love (Galatians 2:19).

Galatians 2:1–10 describes an important meeting in Jerusalem between Paul and the other apostles. Paul is pleased to learn they preach the same gospel of God's grace through faith in Christ that he does. They agree that Gentiles should not be made to follow the law, and they endorse Paul's God-given calling to preach to the Gentiles. Peter, James, and John offer to him and Barnabas, his partner in ministry, the right hand of fellowship, a symbol of their support, approval, and unity with them.

Galatians 2:11–14 describes a difficult moment, when Paul was forced to confront another apostle for hypocritical behavior. Though Peter has declared his agreement that salvation is by faith in Christ and not the law, he seems hesitant to live out that truth if disapproving people are watching him. Peter's choice to step away from eating with Gentiles leads all the Jewish people in the room to do the same. For the sake of the true gospel, Paul opposes Peter to his face, calling out his hypocrisy. Peter had been ''living like a Gentile,'' by eating with them. How could he force any Gentile, then, to live under the law?

Galatians 2:15–21 contains Paul's grand statements about the difference between faith in Christ and following the law. Nobody can be justified in God's eyes by the works of the law, but only by faith in Christ. To believe in Christ is to be crucified with Him and to have Him replace your sinful self in you. Paul now lives by faith in the Son of God. More, Jesus gave himself for Paul's sin because He loved him. To say that a person can be made righteous by the law is to say that Jesus died for nothing.

Chapter Summary:

Paul holds a crucial meeting with the other apostles. Do they preach, as he does, that salvation can only be found through faith in Christ and not by following the law? He learns that they do, though ''false brothers'' in their midst are opposed to this gospel of God's grace. After receiving official approval from Peter and the others, Paul later opposes Peter for publicly trying to distance himself from Gentile Christians out of fear of how others might respond. Paul declares that justification comes only through faith in Christ and not by the works of the law.

Chapter Context:

In Galatians 1, Paul defended himself in order to defend the trustworthiness of his message. He made the case that he was a legitimate apostle. He shows in Galatians 2 that the other apostles stand with him in teaching the gospel of salvation through faith in Christ. He describes a moment in which he rebuked Peter for hypocrisy and then makes the case that only faith in Christ can bring justification for any person in the eyes of God. The works of the law can never make anyone righteous, or Christ would not have had to die.

Galatians is sometimes called “a short Romans” for its similar themes of justification and sanctification through faith. A group of Christians known as “Judaizers” were preaching a gospel of legalism, rather than grace. Paul’s main purpose in writing the letter to the Galatians was to reiterate the true nature of the gospel: we are justified (made righteous) and sanctified (made more Christlike) through our faith in Jesus Christ alone. This letter was probably written shortly before the church elders in Jerusalem issued their official refutation of the Judaizers, commonly called the Jerusalem Council.

Accessed 5/6/2024 12:11:06 AM