You can almost feel Paul's anguish and passion while reading this chapter.
Three things stand out to me:
1) Which trip to Jerusalem? (v.1)
2) Peter vs Paul - temporary conflict (v11)
3) "If righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose." (v21)
On the first item, when reading this portion it seems that Paul is describing his trip to Jerusalem that is recorded in Acts 15 - council in Jerusalem on the topic of circumcision. That seems to fit best with the "after 14 years" and the circumcision topic. There is another visit that Paul made in Acts 11:30 that we don't have any details on except for the fact that Paul and Barnabas were bringing financial help for the believers in Judea who are undergoing difficulty due to famine. It could very well be the Acts 11 visit that is being referenced but he says in Gal 2:2 that the purpose of the trip was to make sure that he was not running in vain which matches the Acts 15 trip and not the Acts 11 trip.
On the one hand it doesn't really matter which trip it was. The only reason that it is interesting is trying to put together a timeline of events to see when the letter to the Galatians was written and how other events fit in. It seems to me that the Acts 15 visit fits best, which then would mean that the letter to the Galatians was written after the letter to the Thessalonians. Obviously, either way it doesn't change the message or meaning.
When we read about the conflict between Peter (Cephas) and Paul in verses 11-14 it is rather shocking at first. Often we have this false notion that the "hero's" of the Bible are perfect. We think, "If Peter and Paul are both following Jesus and are leaders in the church, how is it possible that they could have a conflict?" The clear answer is that just like you and I, Peter and Paul are both still humans with a sinful nature. While they/we have been made new in Christ and have put away the sins of the flesh, at times the sinful nature still raises its head on occasion. In this instance Peter was led astray temporarily due to peer pressure of the religious crowd. Group pressure is something we all need to be careful of. The "group" can be family, friends, church brothers and sisters or coworkers and can be one person or many. In this situation, we don't directly see Peter's response, but it is implied that he then came around and agreed with Paul's position.
At the end of the chapter Paul in his building argument is saying that we cannot be saved by obeying the law. In this situation, people had gone to the Galatian believers and had told them that they cannot be true believers and cannot be saved unless they are circumcised and obey the law. Paul is refuting that lie by clearly stating that they came to Christ Jesus by faith in him, not by obeying the law. He ends with the powerful statement, "If righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose." (v21). In other words, he proves that the law is not the source of righteousness or salvation as some are claiming. If that were so, then Jesus didn't have to die, but that is ridiculous because God would not have gone through such difficulty if it weren't necessary. Jesus said that his blood purchased our salvation. If we claim otherwise, we are calling God a liar.
For us today, we don't usually wrestle with being circumcised to be saved, but we often have false ideas about our standing with God and our salvation being dependent on our exact obedience to things like reading our Bible every day or always having a right attitude. The truth of the Scripture and the great news of the gospel is that our salvation was purchased by Jesus Christ apart from our works and it is a gift from God! We are saved and forgiven by trusting in Jesus Christ and turning from our sin (repenting). Jesus does want us to obey him and he says that if we love him we will keep his commandments (John 14:15). But our salvation is based on a covenant relationship that we enter into when we trust in Jesus. It is based on his love for us and his faithfulness and not our own. After we trust in Jesus, we are to turn from sin - especially repeated sins (1 John 3:6-10) but when we sin, and we will (just as we read about Peter doing wrong in this chapter) our salvation is not immediately lost. We are told in 1 John 1:9 to confess our sins and he will forgive us an purify us from all unrighteousness. When we do not read our Bible on a given day, God doesn't stop loving us or think that we are bad. He wants us to spend time with him reading and praying because he loves us and wants to spend time with us and wants us to know him and love him more. There are some days when things are just crazy busy or we are sick or things happen that prevent us from spending time with God. But just as a parent wouldn't be upset at his/her children for not spending time with them on a given day of sickness, stress or difficulty, neither does God get upset with us. On the other hand if not spending time with God is a regular situation, if we truly love God, we would want to change that because we are missing him. Our relationship with God is/should be based on love, not based on performance or fear.
Father God, I thank you for your love! I thank you that you take imperfect, sinful and rebellious people like me and you love us and save us and change us. I thank you that you keep working with me and changing me even when I sin. You forgive me and cleanse me when I turn to you and you are good and you are faithful and you are loving! I love you and I thank you, Lord Jesus!
Three things stand out to me:
1) Which trip to Jerusalem? (v.1)
2) Peter vs Paul - temporary conflict (v11)
3) "If righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose." (v21)
On the first item, when reading this portion it seems that Paul is describing his trip to Jerusalem that is recorded in Acts 15 - council in Jerusalem on the topic of circumcision. That seems to fit best with the "after 14 years" and the circumcision topic. There is another visit that Paul made in Acts 11:30 that we don't have any details on except for the fact that Paul and Barnabas were bringing financial help for the believers in Judea who are undergoing difficulty due to famine. It could very well be the Acts 11 visit that is being referenced but he says in Gal 2:2 that the purpose of the trip was to make sure that he was not running in vain which matches the Acts 15 trip and not the Acts 11 trip.
On the one hand it doesn't really matter which trip it was. The only reason that it is interesting is trying to put together a timeline of events to see when the letter to the Galatians was written and how other events fit in. It seems to me that the Acts 15 visit fits best, which then would mean that the letter to the Galatians was written after the letter to the Thessalonians. Obviously, either way it doesn't change the message or meaning.
When we read about the conflict between Peter (Cephas) and Paul in verses 11-14 it is rather shocking at first. Often we have this false notion that the "hero's" of the Bible are perfect. We think, "If Peter and Paul are both following Jesus and are leaders in the church, how is it possible that they could have a conflict?" The clear answer is that just like you and I, Peter and Paul are both still humans with a sinful nature. While they/we have been made new in Christ and have put away the sins of the flesh, at times the sinful nature still raises its head on occasion. In this instance Peter was led astray temporarily due to peer pressure of the religious crowd. Group pressure is something we all need to be careful of. The "group" can be family, friends, church brothers and sisters or coworkers and can be one person or many. In this situation, we don't directly see Peter's response, but it is implied that he then came around and agreed with Paul's position.
At the end of the chapter Paul in his building argument is saying that we cannot be saved by obeying the law. In this situation, people had gone to the Galatian believers and had told them that they cannot be true believers and cannot be saved unless they are circumcised and obey the law. Paul is refuting that lie by clearly stating that they came to Christ Jesus by faith in him, not by obeying the law. He ends with the powerful statement, "If righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose." (v21). In other words, he proves that the law is not the source of righteousness or salvation as some are claiming. If that were so, then Jesus didn't have to die, but that is ridiculous because God would not have gone through such difficulty if it weren't necessary. Jesus said that his blood purchased our salvation. If we claim otherwise, we are calling God a liar.
For us today, we don't usually wrestle with being circumcised to be saved, but we often have false ideas about our standing with God and our salvation being dependent on our exact obedience to things like reading our Bible every day or always having a right attitude. The truth of the Scripture and the great news of the gospel is that our salvation was purchased by Jesus Christ apart from our works and it is a gift from God! We are saved and forgiven by trusting in Jesus Christ and turning from our sin (repenting). Jesus does want us to obey him and he says that if we love him we will keep his commandments (John 14:15). But our salvation is based on a covenant relationship that we enter into when we trust in Jesus. It is based on his love for us and his faithfulness and not our own. After we trust in Jesus, we are to turn from sin - especially repeated sins (1 John 3:6-10) but when we sin, and we will (just as we read about Peter doing wrong in this chapter) our salvation is not immediately lost. We are told in 1 John 1:9 to confess our sins and he will forgive us an purify us from all unrighteousness. When we do not read our Bible on a given day, God doesn't stop loving us or think that we are bad. He wants us to spend time with him reading and praying because he loves us and wants to spend time with us and wants us to know him and love him more. There are some days when things are just crazy busy or we are sick or things happen that prevent us from spending time with God. But just as a parent wouldn't be upset at his/her children for not spending time with them on a given day of sickness, stress or difficulty, neither does God get upset with us. On the other hand if not spending time with God is a regular situation, if we truly love God, we would want to change that because we are missing him. Our relationship with God is/should be based on love, not based on performance or fear.
Father God, I thank you for your love! I thank you that you take imperfect, sinful and rebellious people like me and you love us and save us and change us. I thank you that you keep working with me and changing me even when I sin. You forgive me and cleanse me when I turn to you and you are good and you are faithful and you are loving! I love you and I thank you, Lord Jesus!
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