Validation for Paul’s Gospel to the Gentiles

Miserable, poor, blind, and naked. and we were in that state, spiritually of our own doing, and we deserve nothing from God. And yet God reached out to us and lavished His grace upon us. Amen.

And so when we meet the needs in the physical realm of people through a ministry such as this, we are, we are practicing the gospel. We are reenacting the gospel. And so this is a great opportunity to reenact the gospel and just to re-experience the gospel by showing the same generous love that has been given to you and I, unworthy sinners that we are. Anyway, man, there's a lot of people here today.

I'm nervous. and just want to encourage you guys to be patient with us. We understand that as our attendance is growing, that we're running short on seats, and I know that's a challenge for some of you, but we are working fast and furious with EFC. And coming up with some ideas on how we can reconfigure some things to make seating.

More accommodating for you guys. So just be patient with us, by the beginning of 2008, so that's coming up. We very well may have our service times and stuff reconfigured to where there's a more even distribution of people in our 1st and 2nd service so as to make for more space. And so be praying about that and, and be patient with us and keep coming, keep attending until then rather than going to some other church that's not quite as crowded.

but anyway, let me have you guys turn in your Bibles to Galatians chapter 2. While you're turning, I'll just say it's good to be back with you guys. Donna and I. those of you that are visiting, Donna is my wife.

we went to Israel for 10 days and, really had a wonderful time. We got to be in Caesarea and we were in the theater in which Paul the Apostle would have stood as he stood before King Agrippa and gave his defense of the gospel. And that was a thrill. We were in Joppa where Peter had his vision of the sheep descending with the unclean animals, and God called Peter to go to Gentiles.

and we drove on the road to Damascus, where Paul was traveling when Christ appeared to him and called him, not only saved him, but called him to preach the gospel to Gentiles. And really we, we spent time on the Sea of Galilee and And by the Dead Sea and even had some prophecies read to us about the day in which the Dead Sea will be teeming with life and trust me, there is no life in that thing at all. It's just all salt. The sand of it, as you just look through the water, water in the shallow parts is just nothing but salt.

But one day the Bible prophesized that there will be a river that runs from Jerusalem into the Dead Sea, and it will be teeming with with life, and we spent time in Jerusalem as well on the Mount of Olives in the Garden of Gethsemane. There was actually an olive tree. On the slope of the Mount of Olives where the Garden of Gethsemane was, there, there's an olive tree that is over 2000 years old. It was there and alive when Christ was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane.

And being able to walk where Jesus walked and where Paul walked. And the disciples walked. It, it served to add color to our faith, and made our faith a little more three dimensional than it was and was very confirming. so we saw the the tomb, the garden tomb, and I can testify firsthand, it's empty.

So, but I thought about preaching a message today on just all that we learned, but I decided against that because I'm still digesting it. It will be for a while, and I figured it's going to be coming out in sermons in the months and years to come anyway, so you guys will get the full benefit of, you will end up benefiting from the insights and the experiences that we had while there and hopefully one day we as a church can take a trip. to make it available, announce it years in advance maybe so we can start saving up money and many of us can go together.

But it was just a wonderful thrill to be able to go and, and if I can just say this, we, we flew back from Israel, and it was a 16 hour flight, landed in LAX last Sunday morning at 6:30.

And, And we ended up getting to the house in time for, for me, because I slept well on the plane, so I was feeling actually pretty good. So I was actually able to make it to the service last Sunday. And I just want to encourage you guys being in Israel was awesome. It was a life transforming experience, but being here last Sunday as I sat here, listening to the message, worshiping with you guys, and being led in communion.

I've never attended a communion service at Cornerstone before. I've always been the one leading it. And as Carlos led in communion, I was sitting here thinking, this is just as good as anything in Israel. It really is.

So go to Israel if you've never been there. If you've been there, go again. But realize that God's presence is here. And what we have here is just as special as anything you'll find in the Holy Land.

So that's an encouragement to you guys, and the blessing that you are to me. Anyway, Galatians chapter 2. We are continuing in our study of the Book of Galatians. And I'm gonna pick up where Carlos left off, last Sunday, and so we'll be picking up in chapter 2, verse 1.

And my goal this morning is to cover verses 1 through 10 and the title of the message is Affirmation of Paul's Gospel to Gentiles, specifically as it came from the Jerusalem apostles. Now, I know that As you have struggled with various issues this week, I know that you've not woken up on any morning just saying, I just I just wish I knew what the attitude of the Jerusalem apostles was towards Paul's Gospel. That would help me immensely in some of these deep spiritual battles that I'm facing each day this week.

I know that this is not a title that would like grab your attention, but it is reflective of what we're going to learn today.

And it will help you to appreciate the legacy that we have been left this gospel of grace that we walk in each day, and that our spiritual life depends on. A guy like Paul was beaten, imprisoned, stoned, mistreated in every way that you can imagine, because he refused to make any concession on this gospel that we cherish. And so let's just savor this historical legacy of the unfolding of the gospel and even the events that Paul narrates for us in Galatians 2. But real quick, I Preparing this message, I was reminded of something that happened a couple of years ago.

I was witnessing to a guy, he was in my office, his wife was in my office, and they were having marital problems. She was a believer, he was not. So, I figured part of helping their marriage would be to get this guy saved. And so, I began to share the gospel with him, and I shared with him the bad news of the gospel that he is a sinner before a righteous and a holy God and an infinitely good God.

And the wages of his sin is death, eternal separation from God because of his sins, and, showed him from the scripture how there is nothing that you can do to save yourself, or even to make one iota of a contribution to your own salvation. But then I began to share with him the love of God for him and the good news of the gospel and how that God loved him so much that God sent Christ to die on the cross and to shed His blood and to take upon Himself the wrath of God that this man in front of me deserved for his sins, and God ascended him to his right hand.

And now God says to this man, I looked at this man in the face and I said, Here's what you need to do to be saved. Just look to Jesus, admit your bankruptcy, that you can't do anything to save yourself or even make a small contribution to your own salvation, and simply believe in Jesus.

And in his finished work on the cross, and I said, if you do that instantly, your sins will be forgiven. You'll become a child of God, and you'll be clothed with the righteousness of Jesus. And I was pretty pumped as I was sharing that, the feeling, the gospel's so awesome, and I can't believe I get paid to say this stuff to people. And so when I got done, I said, so what do you think?

Are you ready to do this? And he said no, and I said, Well, why not? He said, because I've got a problem with it. And I said, What's the problem?

And here was his answer. It's too easy. It's too easy. How many of you have ever had someone say that to you?

As you've witnessed to them, OK, a few of us. I don't recommend this. I've never said this to anyone before, and I've never said this since, but to this guy on this occasion, I said, if this is too easy for you, can I suggest Judaism as an alternative if you want something that's more challenging. I can hook you up with an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, and you can go through that process.

I said, because the process of becoming a convert to Judaism is a year-long process at least where you have to learn the Hebrew language. Enough to become functional in it. You're going to have to learn the 613 regulations that are in the Old Testament law. You're going to need to be discipled and how to go about applying yourself to those laws and build fences around them to appropriate degrees.

In addition to that, you're going to need to live amongst a Jewish community for a year and near the end of that process, you're going to have to undergo circumcision. And I said, and if you've already been circumcised, and this is true, guys, if you've already been circumcised, The rabbi will take a sharp pin anyway and will prick you down there just enough to make you hurt and to make you bleed. And then after that you will undergo an exam by a group of Orthodox Jewish rabbis where they will pummel you with questions and examine your level of knowledge and commitment to Judaism, and after that they will determine whether or not you are a fit candidate for conversion to Judaism.

And if they say yes, then you can undergo water baptism.

And so I said, if you want something more challenging than the gospel I just shared with you, let me suggest that alternative, and I can get you hooked up with an Orthodox Jewish rabbi. Well, I don't want to be crass, but as I was talking to the guy, he was sitting like a normal guy does with his legs apart, but as I progressed, his legs just Came together. really tight. And when I said, So are you interested in that?

he said, Absolutely not. So I said, well then, can we just come back? to Christ. And I shared with him, I said, what, you say it's too easy, but actually, It's hard.

Impossibly hard. It's so hard. To believe in Jesus that only those who have been supernaturally enabled by God can take that step. what makes it hard?

To look at Jesus and say, I believe in Him for my salvation means that you must conclude that you cannot save yourself and that you cannot even make one iota of a contribution to your salvation. That is impossibly hard. And I saw it by the grace that God gave me to just show him the attractiveness and the genius of that gospel, and he listened attentively and glory be to God. 30 minutes later he bowed his head and prayed to receive Christ as his Lord and Savior.

But nonetheless, that complaint of that young man. is the complaint of many. It's in the hearts of mankind, and that is, it's too easy. It's too easy.

Throughout the centuries, there have been many who felt that the gospel was too easy, and so they rejected it altogether. And throughout the centuries, even back to the first century, there were people who actually did believe in Jesus and called themselves Christians who felt that this gospel was too easy. And so, They sought to add things to the gospel so as to make it more challenging and more befitting, they felt to something so worthy as salvation. And so there were people even in Paul's day that if you came to them and said, What must I do to be saved, they would say, Well, you got to believe in Jesus, but you also need to be circumcised in order to be saved.

We saw this a few weeks ago, how, for example, in Acts 15:1, the Church of Antioch had begun and it was predominantly a Gentile congregation, and they believed in Jesus. They hadn't been circumcised and yet they were, they were born again believers in Christ. But then there were some people who came down from the Church of Jerusalem who claimed to be authorized. representatives of the church of Jerusalem, and they came into this church and got in the faces of these Gentile believers, and they said to them, unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.

It's great you're believing in Jesus, but you must also be circumcised. And it is this lie, it is this addition to the gospel that Paul is primarily seeking to address in the book of Galatians. You say, Well, how do that he's dealing with the subject of circumcision? Well, A cursory glance at the book of Galatians would reveal many times where Paul speaks of the subject of circumcision.

Chapter 2, verse 7, he uses circumcision and uncircumcised. Chapter 2, verse 8, circumcised 2 verse 9, circumcised. 5 verse 2, circumcision. 5 verse 3, circumcision.

5 verse 11, circumcision. 6 verse 12, circumcised. 6 verse 13, circumcised, and later in verse 13, circumcised. In addition to these references, Paul in his teaching makes it very clear the place of circumcision in God's economy today, where he says in chapter 5 verse 6, For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything but faith working through love.

In chapter 6, verse 15, Paul says, Neither is circumcision anything nor uncircumcision. But a new creation. That's his conclusion. In God's economy, in the gospel economy, whether a person is circumcised or not, whether they're Jew or Gentile, makes no difference to God.

It means nothing. The only thing that means anything is faith that works through love and a new creation. And we've seen Paul as he has presented the Gospel in Galatians. if you want to just sum up the gospel as it's presented in Galatians, you go to the very beginning of the body of the letter where Paul says Christ gave himself for our sins so that he might rescue us.

He points their attention to Jesus and says, Get your eyes off of yourself and look to Jesus and look what he did. At his contribution to your salvation. He gave Himself for our sins so that he might rescue us. We don't rescue ourselves.

He rescues and saves us. And so the only thing left for us to do to be saved and to be made righteous is to believe in Him. Galatians 2:16, a man is not made righteous by the works of the law, but through faith. In this Christ, Who died in order to save us.

We put our trust in the person in the work of Christ in order to be saved. In fact, so clear does Paul want to be in this letter that he basically says this, not only is salvation through putting your trust in Christ alone, but if you add anything to your faith in Christ, if it's 99% Christ and 1% circumcision, Or something else. Paul says in chapter 5, verses 2 to 4, he says, if you add anything else, you cut yourself off from Christ, and he is of no saving benefit to you. See, Christ will not share his glory with another.

He doesn't want to hear you in heaven saying, Oh, I just thank the Lord for Christ and for myself, just that we together could, could contribute to my salvation. God doesn't want to hear that for all of eternity. All he wants to hear for all of eternity is Jesus Christ. Glorified.

That's it. And so Christ is the one who accomplishes our salvation. And if we put our trust in Him plus anything else, then we cut ourselves off from Him. We fall from grace, and Christ is of no saving benefit to us.

And that is why this issue is so important. It's not an innocent little mistake. It is a serious mistake to add anything to trust or faith in Christ alone for salvation. Now, as we're trying to slide here into chapter 2, verse 1, very quickly, Paul's flow of thought, if you want to make it very simple, in chapter 1, verses 3 through 5, he presents the true gospel.

He points to Jesus and what Christ has done. to save us for the glory of God. And then in chapter 1, verses 6 through 10, Paul condemns any other gospel other than the gospel of salvation through faith alone in Christ alone. And then having done that, as Carlos preached so excellently last Sunday, Paul in verses 11 through 24, defends the divine origin of the gospel that he preaches to Gentiles.

And his basic burden is to show that the gospel I preach, I didn't get it from the 12 apostles in Jerusalem. I didn't get it through any other human being. I received it directly from Jesus, who appeared to me on the Damascus road. And so I am in every way equal to the other 12 apostles in Jerusalem that you guys hold in such high esteem now.

The Judaizers and those that were sympathetic to them, they held the Jerusalem apostles in very high esteem. They were up here, and Paul was down here. And Paul, at the end of chapter one, is trying to illustrate that, what, I am as much of an authoritatively commissioned apostle of Jesus as these other 12. Apostles are, and I received my gospel directly from him just like they did and so I am in every way a legitimate apostle as they themselves are.

But having communicated that Paul does not stop there. Coming in chapter into chapter 2, verses 1 through 10, Paul is now driven by a different burden. He's asserted his apostleship and the divine origin of his gospel. But now in chapter 2, Paul wants to demonstrate that the Jerusalem apostles And he are in complete agreement on the gospel.

They've actually had meetings where they've talked about this, and they are in complete agreement, and the Jerusalem apostles that you Judaizers hold in such high esteem and hold me in low esteem, I want you to know that I've talked to the Jerusalem apostles. I've met with them and I shared my gospel with them that you guys have a problem with, and they agreed with this gospel. And so that's what Paul is wanting to convey in this section of Galatians 2, and we're going to see in the early verses of the chapter where he presents his gospel to them, and then we're going to see 4 responses of the Jerusalem apostles to Paul's gospel.

But let's begin in verse 1.

By the way, I know there's a bunch of different translations represented here and you're welcome to use your own translation. I use the New American Standard, and if you just want for the sake of clarity to track with me, there is in your bulletin an insert that is the New American Standard edition of Galatians 2:1-10, so you can insert that in your Bible and maybe use that and consult this as we go along this morning. But look at what he says in verse 1. Paul says, Then after an interval of 14 years, I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along also.

Now when he says an interval of 14 years, some say that's 14 years after his conversion, some say it's 14 years after his earlier visit to Jerusalem that he speaks about in chapter 1, verse 18. commentators also try to figure out which visit to Jerusalem that is recorded in Acts is Paul referring to here. Does that make sense? In the book of Acts, Paul goes to Jerusalem 3 times, That might fit with this chronology.

And so which of those three visits is Paul referring to here? Some say it's what's called the famine visit in Acts 11 in which these events took place. Some say it's the Jerusalem council visit in Acts 15, wherein the events of Galatians 2:1 to 10 took place. There's a few scholars that suggest it's the Acts 18:22 visit to Jerusalem in which these events from Galatians 2 took place.

And you say, well, what, which one was it, Milton? Honestly, I don't know, and I am relieved to know that we don't really have to know that with any dogmatic certainty to understand what Paul is trying to convey in this chapter. I do know with dogmatic certainty that after an interval of 14 years, Paul went up to Jerusalem, OK, and that the events that he now describes actually took place. So let's go with that.

so after an interval of 14 years, I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along also. Paul is, he's a master at this stuff, a master of drama. Paul's going up to Jerusalem to settle this gospel issue, and he takes Titus with him. Titus was an uncircumcised Gentile.

And no doubt Paul was bringing him as a test case and bringing Titus with him so as to be provocative to the Judaizers that were there and to observe how the Jerusalem apostles would respond to him having an uncircumcised Gentile there with him, and Paul could then walk away from the Jerusalem. and, and cite Titus as a specific trophy of his gospel that he stands for and preaches. And we'll see this as it continues. Look at verse 2.

It was because of a revelation that I went up. The reason I went to Jerusalem is because Christ told me to go up to Jerusalem. I didn't go up to Jerusalem because the Jerusalem apostles sent for me and I was being sent to the principal's office and they were upset about what I was preaching. And so they called for me and commanded me to come.

No one told me to go, but by a revelation from Jesus Christ that was given to me. That's why I went up and I submitted to them the gospel which I preach among the Gentiles. Now, if you want to know something of the motive as to why Paul went up to Jerusalem, he explains that in verse 4. He says it was because of the false brethren secretly brought in, who had sneaked in to spy out our liberty, which we have in Christ Jesus in order to bring us into bondage.

Whatever caused this, it was caused by false brethren, people who claim to be Christians, who were trying to add circumcision to the gospel. They had been secretly brought in. They had sneaked in, they had spied out the liberty that we were enjoying Jew and Gentile, with the gospel of grace, and they were seeking to bring us back into bondage to the requirements of the law, such as circumcision. And it was in dealing with this that I received a revelation from Jesus Christ, and that is go to Jerusalem.

That's what he told me go to Jerusalem. These people sneaking in, spying out your liberty and adding to the gospel, they claim that the Jerusalem church is their authority. They claim to be authorized representatives of the Jerusalem apostles, and they hold them in very high esteem. And Christ said, Paul, go to those guys, go to the Jerusalem apostles, and present to them the gospel, because if you can present your gospel to them, and they totally agree with it, Then it will be a devastating blow and a powerful argument against these Judaizers that are trying to add to the gospel.

And so he says, because of a revelation, I went up and I submitted to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles, which again is a gospel of grace plus and minus nothing that does not include circumcision or any obedience to the works of the law. Look at what he says next. I did so in private. To those who were of reputation, that's the apostles in Jerusalem, for fear that I might be running or had run in vain.

Now that's the wording there gives you pause, because on the surface, it makes it seem like Paul is like, I went up there because I was actually starting to doubt. The truth of the gospel I was preaching and so I went up there and I met with them privately because I was afraid I was going to find out that I'd been wrong. Circumcision is necessary, and all of my ministry over the last 14 years has been in vain. That's one way of looking at it.

But actually, The reasoning is the opposite. Paul was not concerned about whether or not the gospel he was preaching was valid because he received it directly from the Lord. You don't doubt that which you have received from Jesus on the Damascus road. He was absolutely confident, but what he was concerned about was the Jerusalem apostles.

How would they respond to this gospel? And we already are going to, we're going to learn later in chapter 2 that Peter equivocated. On the gospel, not in his words, but in his actions. We'll learn about that next week, and Paul had to rebuke him.

And so Paul, these guys are human. Paul was concerned that, what, I might go up there and they might be feeling a lot of pressure from these Judaizers and they may end up sending me some conflicting, unconvincing signals or someone may end up saying something contrary and And so Paul and his humanness was like, what, I went up there and I met with them in private. I didn't want anyone in the room to pressure them. I wanted to know honestly exactly what they thought and give them every opportunity to say whatever they wanted to say, because if I presented my gospel to them and they gave me conflicting messages or disagreed with something, it would be a huge frustration to my ministry to the Gentiles, and it can undo much of the fruit.

That has been and could be born in my ministry to them. One commentator says this Paul's commission was not derived from Jerusalem, but it could not be executed effectively except in fellowship with Jerusalem. A cleavage or a split between his Gentile mission and the mother church of Jerusalem would be disastrous. Christ would be divided, and all the energy which Paul had devoted and hoped to devote to the evangelizing of the Gentile world would be frustrated.

And so Paul went to Jerusalem. A little concerned over maybe what the Jerusalem apostles would say. Part of his concern was fueled by the fact that no doubt these Judaizers were saying, Well, hey, it's the Jerusalem apostles that sent us, and they agree with us, and Paul's hearing this stuff. And so he goes to Jerusalem with a little bit of concern, but he meets with them in private, as he should have done.

To just make sure that there's a free exchange back and forth and that whatever he hears from them, he's truly hearing their heart and not something that they might be pressured to say or not say because of other people present in the room. So Paul submits the gospel to them. That he's preaching the Gentiles a gospel that excludes circumcision and any of the works of the law. And now beginning in verse 3, we see the four responses of the Jerusalem apostles to Paul's gospel.

Response number 1, the Jerusalem apostles did not seek to add circumcision to Paul's gospel. They did not seek to add circumcision to Paul's Gospel. Look at verse 3. Paul says, But not even Titus, who was with me, though he was a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised.

Titus was in the room with us, Jerusalem apostles, all of them circumcised Jews. And I was there and I had Titus. He perhaps was the only Gentile in the room. And if the apostles of Jerusalem felt that circumcision was important or necessary or helpful to salvation, they would certainly have suggested and compelled Titus, a Gentile believer in Jesus, to be circumcised.

But Paul says Titus, though he was a Gentile, was not compelled to be circumcised, and the Jerusalem apostles were completely disinterested. And whether he was circumcised or not, so they did not seek to add circumcision to Paul's Gospel, verse 4, but it was because this whole thing was an issue because of false brethren secretly brought in who had sneaked in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus in order to bring us into bondage, back into bondage to the requirements.

Of the law, such as circumcision. But look at verse 5.

We did not in the place from which we left to go to Jerusalem, and then even once we got to Jerusalem, no doubt he encountered Judaizers in Jerusalem also, we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour. Why? So that the truth of the gospel would remain with you. E Galatians.

Oh, I love this. think about this, guys, just, just from this passage alone, we learn a few things. Number one, there is such a thing as false brethren. Just, do you guys believe that?

there are people who claim to be Christians and claim to be believers in Jesus. And they're not true brethren. Now, that's not popular in our society today, even in many churches, we are so undiscerning. We've lost the will to discern, and even the theological capacity to discern.

And for us to conclude that someone's a believer, all that we need is for them to say that they're a believer. You say you're a brother, well, God bless you, brother. And that's all we need to hear, in order to just automatically, accept somebody as a brother or sister or a denomination or a church as a genuine brother or sister church in the gospel. But we learned from scripture that there is such a thing as people who claim to be Christians, but they're not genuinely Christians.

They may be religious, they may be devoted, they may read their Bible every day. They may have various rituals when they pray. Their, their pastors. And priests and fathers may wear really nice looking religious garb with unique looking collars and, and, and, and hats that you look at and go, wow, that's really impressive looking and they might have beautiful, fantastic looking church buildings that just really impress you.

In fact, when we were over in Israel, we went into some amazing churches that, you look at the architecture and the beauty and the artwork, and it just takes your breath away. There are people that in those very institutions that say that they're brothers and sisters in the Lord, but they are false. Brethren, you say, well, how do if someone's a false brother? Well, from this passage, one of the ways that we observe is, do they add to the gospel?

Do they add to the gospel? These false brethren that Paul is dealing with sought to add to the gospel. Believe in Jesus, but also do this, be circumcised, do this work of the law, and then you will be complete and you will truly be saved. That's all Paul needed to know, to know that I'm dealing with a false brother.

Do you believe in salvation by faith alone in Christ alone? Do you believe in that? And if you say that you don't and say, Well, I believe that, but also this and this and this, Paul would say, I know now that I'm dealing with a false brother. There are other kinds of false brothers, but there is a category of false brethren who are false, and they're revealed to be false because they add to the gospel of grace.

And then I love this from Paul's example. When we make gospel concessions with such false brethren, we betray the gospel and are true brothers in Christ. There is such an effort today. And the ecumenical movement for Christians to fall all over themselves to not offend, those who are not believing in the true gospel, and let's just celebrate what we, what we're all about and, and what we agree on.

And let's just, sign this accord that celebrates our unity with one another and we'll call each other brother and sister, and they compromise the gospel. And when they do that, what they're doing? They're betraying every genuine brother and sister in the Lord in their quest. To be accepted by and to be unified with false brothers and sisters in the Lord.

And I love Paul's mindset. In verse 5, Paul's like, what, I was in Jerusalem 100, hundreds of miles away from you guys. And I was feeling the pressure from Judaizers to compromise. And, but I want you to know I did not give an inch.

I didn't yield to them for even an hour so that the gospel would remain with you. In other words, I was thinking about you. When I was in Jerusalem. And I was gauging my actions accordingly.

If I compromise here, what will this do to my brothers in Galatia? What will this do to their hold on the gospel? It will hinder the work of the gospel in their lives. It will send them a confusing signal.

The gospel truth may not remain with them the way that it should. And so Paul was like, I want to be faithful to the gospel, and I want to be faithful to you, my true brothers and sisters in the Lord. And so I will never give an inch to any false brother or sister who adds to the gospel. Well anyway, his point is I submitted my gospel to the Jerusalem apostles, and they did not seek to add circumcision to my gospel at all.

A second response of the Jerusalem leaders to Paul's gospel is that they did not seek to change or add to Paul's gospel in any way, not just circumcision, but they heard me present my gospel, and they didn't modify it or seek to change it or add to it in any way, shape, or form. Look at verse 6. He says, but from those who were of high reputation, you see the word reputation three times in this section again, because the Judaizers held the Jerusalem apostles in very high esteem and Paul in low esteem.

So Paul says from those who were of high reputation, and then look at this, what they were makes no difference to me.

God shows no partiality. Well, those who were of reputation contributed nothing to me. Some look at verse 6 and say, man, it sounds like Paul's putting down the Jerusalem apostles. He's not at all.

What he's doing is responding to the unduly high esteem. That many had of the 12 at the expense of their respect for Paul. And Paul is like, what, God doesn't show partiality. And Paul would say, I want you guys to view me the same way.

In chapter one, what does he say? If I come to you preaching a different gospel that I've already preached to you, let me be damned to hell. that, that's his point. God is no respecter of persons.

What God cares about. is do you embrace the true gospel of salvation by faith alone in Christ alone? And if you betray that gospel, your standing, your status, your office doesn't mean anything. And Paul would say, I say that about the 12 in Jerusalem, I would say that about myself.

But he says those who were of reputation that are so highly esteemed by the Judaizers, they contributed nothing to me. He's not saying here that they tried, but Paul said, No, I already knew that, knew that, knew that, knew that. Actually, you guys, I'm thankful for this time we've had, but you've added nothing to my thinking. I've learned nothing from you.

That's not his point. His point is they didn't even try. They heard his gospel and they were Paul, we, we, there's no, nothing defective in what you're saying. We find no defect anywhere.

And there's no need to change or modify or add anything. We really like what you have to say here. And so they didn't contribute, nor did they try to add or modify anything. Now that's very significant and probably at this point as the letter is being read in the Galatian churches, any Judaizers are slinking in their seats and trying to disappear because Paul is silencing them.

By referring to his time with the Jerusalem apostles and how they responded. In fact, Paul levels another devastating blow. Not only did they contribute nothing, nor did they try, but the Jerusalem leaders recognized that Paul's gospel preaching ministry was actually of God. They concluded that.

Look at verse 7. But on the contrary, not only did they try, did they not try to change or modify or add anything to, the message I preach when I preach the gospel, but on the contrary, seeing that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised just as Peter had been to the circumcised. Verse 8, for he who effectually worked for Peter and his apostleship to the circumcised effectually worked for me also to the Gentiles. Let me explain that briefly.

When Paul says that he was entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, that's Gentiles. He's not saying that he never preached to the circumcised. He did. You read through the Book of Acts everywhere Paul went, he would go to the synagogue first, and then only after he would get booted out of the synagogue would he go to the Gentiles and But he preached to Jews and Gentiles, and then he speaks of Peter as being A commissioned to be an apostle to the circumcised, that's the Jews, but does that mean Peter only preached to the Jews?

No. If you read the Book of Acts, Peter went to Cornelius's household, who was an uncircumcised Gentile. And shared the gospel with Cornelius and his household, and Cornelius and his household got saved that day. If you read through 1 Corinthians, you see Paul speaking about Cephas, indicating that Peter had at some point made his way to the Corinthian congregation and had ministered and had preached the gospel there, and there were actually people in the Corinthian church, no doubt Gentiles, along with Jews that were actually born again.

Believers as a result of Peter's gospel preaching ministry there in the city of Corinth. And so these are not hard and fast divisions, but Paul's point is that predominantly my ministry is the Gentiles and predominantly, though not exclusively, the Jerusalem Apostles and Peter's ministry is to the circumcised Jews that are in Israel. But nonetheless, he's saying that verse 7, the Jerusalem apostles saw, they recognized that I had been entrusted with the gospel. They saw that my gospel preaching ministry was truly of God.

And then 1/4 and a final response of the Jerusalem apostles. is that they affirmed their own fellowship with Paul's gospel preaching ministry. They affirmed their own fellowship, and you can use the word fellowship, friendship, agreement, partnership. Any of those words would work fine.

They affirmed their fellowship in partnership and agreement with Paul's gospel preaching ministry. Look at verse 9. And recognizing the grace that had been given to me, James and Cephas and John, these are the big three in Jerusalem. James and Cephas and John, all the Jerusalem apostles were held in high esteem.

These guys were held in the highest of esteem. Amongst them, James and Cephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship so that we might go to the Gentiles predominantly and they to the circumcised predominantly. They actually extended their hand and gave us the right hand of fellowship. Now what does that mean?

What does it mean when we welcome a new member in the Cornerstone and we tell you that they'll be out in the lobby or on the grass in front of the nursery building? Please go by and give them the right hand of fellowship. What does that mean? When you extend your right hand to someone like that, what it means is, we are brothers, we are partners.

We are in league with one another. For the apostles of Jerusalem to do this to Paul and Barnabas, what they're saying is we fellowship with you in this gospel. We are partners with you in this gospel, and we agree with you. We, we are through this physical gesture.

Conveying our complete agreement. We don't want to change anything about what you're saying. We don't want to change anything about your ministry. In fact, we extend our hand to say we are one.

We are unified in this message. There's no powerful, no more powerful physical gesture coming from the Jerusalem apostles than that to silence the Judaizers for them to know, wow. The apostles of Jerusalem are in complete agreement with Paul. Paul then says, I will confess to you that they did ask one thing of me.

And here's what they asked. They only asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was already eager to do. So it's not like I care about the poor now since they asked. I was already eager and please understand guys, when the Jerusalem apostles say remember the poor, they're not saying, Hey Paul, just, just a word of advice, remember the poor throughout the world.

what they're really saying? Remember the poor in the Jerusalem church. Because they were wracked by a handful of famines, and there was great need and great deprivation. We learned about that even in the Book of Acts.

And so they're basically saying, hey Paul, remember us, OK? We don't want to add anything to your gospel, but as you go, could you just not forget about us, remember us, remember, the needs that are here and the poor that are among us, and Paul would have said, you have my heart on this. I, I will remember you and I, I already had a desire to do that. And that's why you read through Acts, in Acts 11, Paul takes a contribution to them in Jerusalem during a famine.

And then even after that you read through 1 Corinthians, even 2 Corinthians, the book of Romans, and I think there's one other book somewhere where Paul speaks about this contribution for the saints that he was rounding up from the various Gentile churches in order to take those funds to the needy in the Jerusalem. church. And so, but even that shows connection. Hey Paul, remember us.

Remember the poor among us. And so here's basically what happens in Galatians 2:1 to 10. Paul wants the Galatians to know that the Judaizers or that the Jerusalem apostles that the Judaizers hold in such high esteem, and they're coming at you saying you've got to be circumcised, and we know we're right because the Jerusalem apostles are. Agree with us.

In fact, we are official delegates from the Jerusalem church. Paul would say, I know they're wrong, and you should know they're wrong, because I actually in an earlier debate about this, I actually went up to Jerusalem about this very issue, and I presented my gospel to them and They didn't add circumcision. They didn't seek to change or modify my gospel in any way. In fact, they recognized and verbalized the fact that my ministry was truly of God, and they gave me the right hand of fellowship and conveyed very tangibly.

That my ministry was of God and they were in complete agreement with the gospel that I preach to Gentiles. And I am sure that the Galatian believers at the end of verse 10 wiped their brow and said, Wow. I'm relieved to know that the gospel I believe in is intact. I am a child of God, and I don't have to be circumcised.

This is very important to them. They would be sitting on the edge of their seats listening to this. For us, we have to go back into this era and step away from our day to day grind and try to enter back into this ambience in which Paul is speaking. But for the Galatian believers, this is This is what they were dealing with each day.

Some of them were waking up the week before in a sweat thinking, I thought I was saved, but maybe I'm not safe. Maybe I should be circumcised. Maybe it's necessary. Maybe it's not, but maybe I should get circumcised just in case it is necessary.

And what do you think? And they're talking about this with one another and they're agitated and they're thinking, Well, maybe I thought I was saved, but if I'm not saved, then what about these spiritual experiences that I've had over the last couple of years? Maybe they're not even genuine. And if it's not even genuine, and I thought it was of God, then I've been self-deceived all this time.

And if I've been so self deceived all this time, then who's to say I'm not going to be deceived about anything else? And I had put my trust in the Gospel that came through Paul, but if I can't trust him, who says he was commissioned by Jesus, then who can I trust? they're, they're unsettled. Paul says in Galatians, they're troubled.

They're disturbed over this. And so they would drink in this text. like a person drinking a tall glass of water in the desert and be very affirmed and very encouraged by the time they came to chapter 2, verse 10. let me just say a few things, just Actually, a couple of things and then we'll wrap this up.

Understand, guys, that the apostles of Jerusalem and Paul preach the same message, and we actually see that clearly communicated in 1 Corinthians 15. Paul, in the beginning of chapter 15 says, I make known to you the gospel that I preach to you that you believed in. And then he recounts the gospel. And then in verse 9, he says this, for I am the least of the apostles and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God, but by the grace of God, I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain.

But I labored more abundantly than all of them. Who is all of them? The apostles, that's the only thing that it can be referring to. And then he says, yet not I, but the grace of God with me, whether then it was I or they, who is they?

The other apostles. Thus we preach, and thus you believe, we preach the same gospel. Now it just so happens that the Jerusalem apostles, yeah, everyone in their congregation is circumcised, because they're Jews, not because that is a requirement. We preach exactly the same gospel.

And so here's just I'm going to make two application points. Number 1, the early church was unanimous about the gospel of justification through faith alone in Christ alone, and so should we., we may disagree. In fact, we got, we got a lot of issues that people in our church disagree on when it might come to, eschatology or the tongues issue and spiritual gifts and what have you, but And there are other important doctrines than this doctrine of justification that we should be unified on, but given what we're talking about this morning, We must be unified on this doctrine.

of justification, through faith alone in Christ alone.

Paul was so concerned about this unity that he traveled to Jerusalem to foster this unity and to make sure that it was clearly communicated. So let us unify around this. And even when we might disagree on other issues, we talk about those things in a spirit of charity. That's what I love about Cornerstone.

Even though there's a degree of variety on other doctrinal issues, we are agreed on the fundamentals, and when we talk about these other issues, we can do so in a spirit of charity and in love because we know we're brothers and sisters in the Lord. Amen. And so let's be unified on this doctrine, and I'm not just talking about a unity that we enjoy with one another, but where we link arms and we're willing to stand against contrary gospels and to watch each other's back and be unified as we fight together for the true gospel.

The second point of application is this, and the final point of application is we should never make the smallest concession to false brethren who add to the gospel of grace.

You're going to be tempted to. But never. Your attitude needs to be, I did not yield to them for even an hour. Because I wanted to be faithful to the gospel and to my genuine brothers and sisters in the Lord.

Don't ever give away any part of the gospel. Two quotes from Martin Luther, he had to deal with this issue in his day. He was battling with the Roman Catholic Church that at that time had added to the gospel of grace, and Martin Luther, he came to the realization that man, we're justified by just faith, by believing in Jesus. And so he began preaching that.

And he got into a lot of trouble for that, stood before, the diet of worms and, and, and other occasions where he had to take a strong stand for the gospel. And there were people even who agreed with Luther who were like, Luther, what, for the sake of unity, can you just Can you, can you make any concessions? Why are you so stubborn on this issue? And listen to what he says about this in response.

He says, our stubbornness on this issue is pious, and it's holy. For by it, we are striving to preserve the freedom we have in Christ Jesus, and to keep the truth of the gospel. If we lose this, we lose God, Christ, all of the promises, faith, righteousness, and eternal life. We give away this crisis of no benefit to us at all.

And so Paul says the world will look at us and say your stubbornness is unholy and it's offensive. But Martin Luther says, no, it's pious. And it's holy In fact, he goes on to say this. He says, if the Pope will grant unto us, that God alone, by His grace through Christ doth justify sinners.

He's just saying, if the Pope would just acknowledge this, that yes, God is the only one that justifies God alone, by His grace through Christ doth justify sinners. Martin Luther says, we will kiss the Pope's feet. He will be our friend. We have nothing against him as a person.

If he will make this statement and affirm this gospel truth, we will kiss his feet. But since we cannot obtain this from him, We and God are against him above measure, and will give no place, no, not one hair's breadth to 100 emperors, nor 1000 popes, not to the whole world. We will never make any concession, not one hair's breadth of a concession. To anyone who would seek to add anything.

To the gospel of grace. We can be thankful for men like Paul who are willing to be beaten and stoned. Because he would not give a hair's breadth away to those who sought to compromise the gospel, and we can be thankful for men like Martin Luther also, who had the same unwavering commitment, and the baton is now passed to you. And to me.

Are we going to turn right around and start giving stuff away that Paul was stoned for not giving away? And betray our genuine brothers in the Lord. Betray the Lord. Desert Him.

And betray the gospel. Are we going to carry on That firm, unyielding allegiance to the true gospel of grace, knowing that the salvation of sinners utterly depends upon us getting this right. Let's bow our heads and pray and ask God to help us. To be this church.

To be these kinds of believers that, we're not mean. We don't hate people. But we love Christ and we love the gospel and, and we know that there are people out there who want to compromise the gospel. But will we be a church that gives away a hair's breadth here and there?

Until little is left. Or will we guard Be guardians of the gospel. This gospel we savor and walk in day by day. Lord, The task before us is great.

We thank you for the example of Paul. Lord, we're not making this stuff up. we're just reading the Bible, and this is what we see in the Bible. We see the presence of false brethren.

We see a man standing firm for the cause of Christ. At great expense personally to himself. We see him seeking to demonstrate the unity of the church and to foster that unity by going straight to the Jerusalem apostles and to settle this matter. But a man who would not yield in subjection.

To false brethren for even an hour. May we as a church be the same. For the glory of Jesus and the glory of His gospel. And to the praise of the glory of your grace.

And though the world may say your stubbornness is offensive, And it's wrong that we would understand that this stubbornness, like the stubbornness of Paul, is pious. It's holy And it's required of us. And it's one of our ways of being faithful to you and faithful to those to whom we minister. Continue to take us, Lord, into the heart of the gospel, as we continue working through this book and help us to live and walk in the grace of the gospel through the days of this week.

In Jesus' name, we ask these things, and all God's people said, Let's stand together.