Paul Accepted by the Apostles
2 Then after fourteen years, I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also. 2 I went in response to a revelation and, meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders, I presented to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. I wanted to be sure I was not running and had not been running my race in vain. 3 Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. 4 This matter arose because some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. 5 We did not give in to them for a moment so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.
6 As for those who were held in high esteem—whatever they were, makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism—they added nothing to my message. 7 On the contrary, they recognized that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the uncircumcised, [That is, Gentiles] just as Peter had been to the circumcised.[That is, Jews; also in verses 8 and 9] 8 For God, who was at work in Peter as an apostle to the circumcised, was also at work in me as an apostle to the Gentiles. 9 James, Cephas [That is, Peter; also in verses 11 and 14] and John, those esteemed as pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles and them to the circumcised. 10 All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along.
Paul Opposes Cephas
11 When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. 13 The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.
14 When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?
15 “We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles 16 know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in [Or but through the faithfulness of … justified on the basis of the faithfulness of] Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.
17 “But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! 18 If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker.
19 “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”[Some interpreters end the quotation after verse 14.]
NOTES:
2:1–10 Paul’s second journey to Jerusalem, according to
Galatians, involved a private meeting with those of repute (Gal 2:2). At issue
was a Gentile, Titus, and the question of circumcision, which false brothers (Gal
2:4) evidently demanded for him. Paul insists that the gospel he preaches (Gal
2:2; cf. Gal 1:9, 11) remained intact with no addition by those of repute (Gal
2:6); that Titus was not compelled to accept circumcision (Gal 2:3); and that
he and the reputed pillars in Jerusalem agreed on how each would advance the
missionary task (Gal 1:7–10). Usually, Gal 1:1–10 is equated with the “Council
of Jerusalem,” as it is called, described in Acts 15. See notes on Acts
15:6–12, 13–35, the latter concerning the “decree” that Paul does not mention.
2:1 After fourteen years: thirteen or more years, probably
reckoned from the return to Syria and Cilicia (Gal 1:21), though possibly from
Paul’s calling as a Christian (Gal 1:15). Barnabas: cf. Gal 2:9, 13; 1 Cor 9:6.
A Jewish Christian missionary, with whom Paul worked (Acts 4:36–37; 11:22, 25,
30; 12:25; 13:1–3; 15:2). Titus: a missionary companion of Paul (2 Cor 2:13;
7:6, 13–15; 8:6, 16, 23; 12:18), non-Jewish (Gal 2:3), never mentioned in Acts.
2:2 A revelation: cf. Gal 1:1, 12. Paul emphasizes it was
God’s will, not Jerusalem authority, that led to the journey. Acts 15:2 states
that the church in Antioch appointed Paul and Barnabas for the task. Those of
repute: leaders of the Jerusalem church; the term, while positive, may be
slightly ironic (cf. Gal 1:6, 9). Run, in vain: while Paul presents a positive
picture in what follows, his missionary work in Galatia would have been to no
purpose if his opponents were correct that circumcision is needed for complete
faith in Christ.
2:3 Not even a Gentile Christian like Titus was compelled to
receive the rite of circumcision. The Greek text could be interpreted that he
voluntarily accepted circumcision, but this is unlikely in the overall
argument.
2:4 False brothers: Jewish Christians who took the position
that Gentile Christians must first become Jews through circumcision and
observance of the Mosaic law in order to become Christians; cf. Acts 15:1.
2:5 The truth of the gospel: the true gospel, in contrast to
the false one of the opponents (Gal 1:6–9); the gospel of grace, used as a norm
(Gal 2:14).
2:7–9 Some think that actual “minutes” of the meeting are
here quoted. Paul’s apostleship to the Gentiles (Gal 1:16) is recognized
alongside that of Peter to the Jews. Moreover, the right to proclaim the gospel
without requiring circumcision and the Jewish law is sealed by a handshake.
That Paul and colleagues should go to the Gentiles did not exclude his
preaching to the Jews as well (Rom 1:13–16) or Cephas to Gentile areas.
2:9 James and Cephas and John: see notes on Gal 1:18, 19; on
Peter and John as leaders in the Jerusalem church, cf. Acts 3:1 and Acts 8:14.
The order here, with James first, may reflect his prominence in Jerusalem after
Peter (Cephas) departed (Acts 12:17).
2:10 The poor: Jerusalem Christians or a group within the
church there (cf. Rom 15:26). The collection for them was extremely important
in Paul’s thought and labor (cf. Rom 15:25–28; 1 Cor 16:1–4; 2 Cor 8–9).
2:11–14 The decision reached in Jerusalem (Gal 2:3–7)
recognized the freedom of Gentile Christians from the Jewish law. But the
problem of table fellowship between Jewish Christians, who possibly still kept
kosher food regulations, and Gentile believers was not yet settled. When Cephas
first came to the racially mixed community of Jewish and Gentile Christians in
Antioch (Gal 2:12), he ate with non-Jews. Pressure from persons arriving later
from Jerusalem caused him and Barnabas to draw back. Paul therefore publicly
rebuked Peter’s inconsistency toward the gospel (Gal 2:14). Some think that
what Paul said on that occasion extends through Gal 2:16, 21.
2:11 Clearly was wrong: literally, “stood condemned,” by
himself and also by Paul. His action in breaking table fellowship was
especially grievous if the eating involved the meal at the Lord’s supper (cf. 1
Cor 11:17–25).
2:12 Some people came from James: strict Jewish Christians
(cf. Acts 15:1, 5; 21:20–21), either sent by James (Gal 1:19; 2:9) or claiming
to be from the leader of the Jerusalem church. The circumcised: presumably
Jewish Christians, not Jews.
2:13 The Jews: Jewish Christians, like Barnabas. Hypocrisy:
literally, “pretense,” “play-acting”; moral insincerity.
2:14 Compel the Gentiles to live like Jews: that is, conform
to Jewish practices, such as circumcision (Gal 2:3–5) or regulations about food
(Gal 2:12).
2:15–21 Following on the series of incidents cited above,
Paul’s argument, whether spoken to Cephas at Antioch or only now articulated,
is pertinent to the Galatian situation, where believers were having themselves
circumcised (Gal 6:12–13) and obeying other aspects of Jewish law (Gal 4:9–10;
5:1–4). He insists that salvation is by faith in Christ, not by works of the
law. His teaching on the gospel concerns justification by faith (Gal 2:16) in
relation to sin (Gal 2:17), law (Gal 2:19), life in Christ (Gal 2:19–20), and
grace (Gal 2:21).
2:16 No one will be justified: Ps 143:2 is reflected.
2:17 A minister of sin: literally, “a servant of sin” (cf.
Rom 15:8), an agent of sin, one who promotes it. This is possibly a claim by
opponents that justification on the basis of faith in Christ makes Christ an
abettor of sin when Christians are found to be sinners. Paul denies the
conclusion (cf. Rom 6:1–4).
2:18 To return to observance of the law as the means to
salvation would entangle one not only in inevitable transgressions of it but
also in the admission that it was wrong to have abandoned the law in the first
place.
2:19 Through the law I died to the law: this is variously
explained: the law revealed sin (Rom 7:7–9) and led to death and then to belief
in Christ; or, the law itself brought the insight that law cannot justify (Gal
2:16; Ps 143:2); or, the “law of Christ” (Gal 6:2) led to abandoning the Mosaic
law; or, the law put Christ to death (cf. Gal 3:13) and so provided a way to
our salvation, through baptism into Christ, through which we die (crucified
with Christ; see Rom 6:6). Cf. also Gal 3:19–25 on the role of the law in
reference to salvation.
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