“The Truth of the Gospel” (Galatians 2:1-14)

What this episode covers

The Truth of the Gospel (2:1-14) Paul wrote the letter of Galatians to several churches he had planted a few years prior. A problem arose when false teachers taught a different gospel. In the first chapter, Paul explained that his authority and message came directly from Christ. In today’s passage Paul shows that he was fully accepted among the other apostles. They recognized that he was both called and commissioned by Christ. Two weeks ago we talked about the fact that the gospel always changes believers. Paul was a different person after he met Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus. His experience is not unique. Whenever someone comes to know the Triune God, they are changed. Always! At the same time, we must realize our tendency to live contrary to the calling we have received. Even those who have a very clear understanding of the gospel, can fall into grievous sins. Peter’s hypocrisy in this passage makes this clear. We cannot question Peter’s understanding of the gospel, yet he struggled to live in the unity the gospel brings. One common reason people aviod church is the hypocrites that attend. They preach one thing, but do another. We cannot deny this problem, but we can respond to it with the Truth of the Gospel. Read Galatians 2:1-14 We are going to look at three actions associated with the truth of the gospel, 1) preserving, 2) proclaiming, and 3) pretending. I. Preserving the Truth of the Gospel (1-5) Paul spent 14 years preaching the gospel without any supervision from the other apostles. He didn’t see another apostle until he met Peter and James three years after his conversion (1:18-19). And it wasn’t until after fourteen years that he formally met the other apostles (1-2). Paul is not contradicting everything he has already written in the first chapter by suggesting that he needed to have the other apostles authorize his message. He has shown that his apostolic authority came directly from Christ, not through any man. He knew he was preaching the one true gospel, but his concern was that the apostles were divided. One significant guest was Titus, a Gentile (3). This is where the Judaizers’ false teaching becomes clear. Their argument is stated in Acts 15:1, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” They believed in Jesus, but they taught that salvation also required circumcision. Paul points to the fact that even though Titus was uncircumcised, the other apostles did not require him to be circumcised. So, the Judiazers were wrong, unless the apostles mistakenly accepted Titus. They wanted to add something to faith in order to be saved, but Paul would not yield. They attacked the truth of the gospel, that we are saved by faith alone in Christ alone. Paul fights tooth and nail to preserve that truth. Athanasius, the bishop of Alexandria during the 4th century, was exiled five times by four Roman emperors. He was a bishop for 45 years, but 17 of those years were spent in exile. He was usually exiled because of his opposition to the Arian heresy (Jesus was created and subordinate to God). Men like Athanasius have rarely been the heroes of the church. Few stood with him then, and unfortunately, few would stand with him today. People want spiritual intimacy without doctrinal truth. But the truth is, you cannot have spirituality without theology. We must defend the gospel against false teachers. A church must be bold enough to face opposition that attacks the truth of the gospel. Maybe you haven’t always thought highly of the Bible. Church is a nice place to be with nice folks, but you’ve never really read the Bible much. Maybe you have seen how quickly churches divide over the seemingly smallest of things and you have come to the conclusion that it’s all up to someone’s individual interpretation. You believe one way, I believe another. God doesn’t really care about such petty details (i.e., Trinity, Hell, Person of Christ). Paul co

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