To Preserve the Truth of the Gospel

TO PRESERVE THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL

Galatians 2:1–10 Lesson 2

Key Verse: 2:5 Shp Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF 7-2011

“5 We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might remain with you.”

In lesson 1 we learned the core of the gospel and the uniqueness of the gospel. There is no other gospel except the gospel of Christ. From the first, the ministry to non-Jews was controversial. Rigid Jewish Christians tried to make Paul push his Gentile converts to become Jews: (i.e., to be circumcised and accept Jewish laws and rituals, in order to be full-fledged Christians.) Paul went to Jerusalem and laid the gospel he preached before those who had been closest to Jesus. He wanted to hold on to the truth of the gospel and protect the freedom believers have in Christ. The apostles in Jerusalem did not add or subtract from Paul's message. They recognized that God was working through Paul to bring Gentiles to God, just as God worked through Peter to bring the gospel to the Jews. They did not like some of the ways of life of the gentiles, but they realized that God loved them, just as they are, and had sent Jesus to die for the sins of all people. In this lesson we will learn how to preserve the Gospel truth and not give in to the trends today that seem to force us to compromise the truth of God. We will learn Paul's uncompromising attitude and the nature of the gospel.

Part I: We Did Not Give In For A Moment (1-5)

As we studied last time, after his conversion, Paul went to Arabia for three years, most likely to study the Bible personally and deeply. Then he went to Jerusalem and met Peter and James briefly. Afterward he spent time in Syria--where Antioch was, and Cilicia--where his hometown Tarsus was. In 2:1-10 Paul tells of a second visit to Jerusalem fourteen years after his conversion. Scholars disagree about the nature of this visit. Some say it was to attend the Jerusalem Council (Ac 15). But the word "privately" (2) seems to preclude this. Moreover, the words "in response to a revelation" tell us that he was not summoned, but inspired by the Holy Spirit. Most likely this visit is the one mentioned in Acts 11:30 (12:25). While delivering a relief offering, Paul had a private audience with Jewish Christian leaders. We can learn several things about Paul’s faith and attitude. Let’s see.
First, Paul did not give in for a moment. Look at verses 1-2. “Fourteen years later I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also. 2 I went in response to a revelation and set before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did this privately to those who seemed to be leaders, for fear that I was running or had run my race in vain.” In these verses Paul tells the Galatians how God helped him resolve a similar and previous crisis in the Antioch church. The gospel had worked mightily in Antioch in the hearts of Greek Gentiles. They became genuine Christians. Then some fake Christians invaded the fellowship. Paul exposed their motive. Look at verse 4, “. 4 This matter arose because some false brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves.” These fake Christians wanted to make Gentile Christians "slaves" of Jewish legalism, robbing their God-given freedom in Christ. They claimed the support of the Jerusalem church. So, young Gentile believers in Antioch were confused. They were wavering inwardly. Paul needed wisdom to help them. He must have prayed earnestly. Then he was inspired to visit Jerusalem. He brought Barnabas and Titus. He presented the gospel he preached to the Gentiles and put forth Titus as a fruit of his ministry. Look at Titus 1:4-5, “To Titus, my true son in our common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. 5 The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.” Titus was a genuine Greek…a Gentile. Yet he was a very sincere Christian and a leader of the Church. God was working powerfully through Titus. His changed life testified that the Gentile believers were being transformed into Christ's disciples apart from the help of Jewish legalism. Titus was the clear evidence. The Jerusalem leaders realized that Paul's message and ministry were the work of God and accepted Titus without compelling him to be circumcised. This set a precedent. In this way Paul defended the gospel and protected God's flock in Antioch.
However, it was not easy for Paul to stand on the Gospel truth. Look at verse 5. "We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you." There was severe pressure on Paul to not speak up and just give into the status quo. There were sharp disputes between Paul and the circumcision group. Paul was misunderstood. He must have been branded as rebellious and unorthodox. However, he did not give in for a moment.
Paul was not a stubborn and unyielding person. He was always ready to concede in cultural matters to win others over to Christ. We can see this in his dealing with Timothy. Timothy's mother was a Jewess, and his father a Greek. To Jewish thought, Timothy was a Jew. So Paul had him get circumcised. It was not for salvation, but to honor his true Jewish identity. Paul did not try to make Gentiles into Jews however, nor did he try to make Jews into Gentiles. Paul confessed in 1 Corinthians 9 that he became like the Jews to win the Jews, and like those not having the law to win them. Paul became all things to all people so that by all possible means he might save some (1 Cor 9:20-23). In regards to preserving gospel faith, Paul was uncompromising--a courageous fighter.
Here we can learn something here from Paul. Generally, we should concede in cultural matters. But in order to preserve the gospel and defend the faith of young Christians, we must not give into enemies of the gospel even for a moment. We must fight for the gospel truth as a matter of life and death. Last year Franklin Graham said, in regards to Muslims, "God loves them. I want them to know that they don't have to die in a car bomb, they don't have to die in some kind of holy war to be accepted by God. But it's through faith in Jesus Christ and Christ alone." As a result, the U.S. Army rescinded his invitation to speak at the national day of prayer. It was a painful rejection. But Mr. Graham did not waver in his stand for the gospel truth. He stood his ground. He was rejected by people, but accepted by God. Likewise, we must clearly and courageously stand on the gospel amidst spiritual forces that oppose the Gospel truth.
There are many “false gospels” that threaten to enslave our lives if we let them. All other religions, other than Biblical Christianity, threaten to impose on us, some set of rigid standards and laws that they claim as necessary to receive salvation and enter into some sort of relationship with God. There are philosophies of life that set out to capture our hearts and enslave us by its tenants and in doing so make us “slaves” of our sinful nature and drag us through life as if there were a ring in our nose. There are false Gospels, such as the “health and wealth” gospel, that says that people will be blessed by God even if they don’t pick up their own crosses and follow Jesus in their practical, daily lives. But we all know that with grace comes apostleship. With grace comes truth. With any love there is sacrifice.
Other “false” gospels burden us and hinder us from loving God and loving others. These false gospels may seem appealing at first. Why? They gratify our sense of self righteousness. They offer a way feel right before God using our human efforts. They offer a way for us to receive some sort of human glory and recognition. We feel that we are “growing” and getting somewhere with these false teachings. People who share any false Gospel experience some happiness in bring others over to their cause. They may even feel that they are doing a service to God and to humanity. But we must not let these false gospels infiltrate our hearts and our families and churches. Can you think of any other false gospels that are trying to enslave us today?
We must know that is only Jesus and what he accomplished on the mount of Calvary that gets us saved. This is the only good news of salvation! 1 Corinthians 15:4-5 reads, “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance[a]: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,” Repenting of our sins and believing the Gospel is totally enough to free our hearts from the power of sin and help to set us free to live by the truth and to live a life of love and service to God, loving God and loving others. The Gospel frees our hearts from condemnation and sets our hearts free with the love and the grace of Jesus.
We must never confuse spiritual and church discipline with a legalism. Sure we study the Bible a lot and promote daily prayer and other Christian activities. But participating in these has nothing to do with being saved and becoming a child of God. It all has to do with loving Jesus and getting to know Jesus better. It has to do with becoming a stronger Christian. We do not do it to be save or get more saved. We do it because we love Jesus and want to know him more.
Let’s face it. If we are going to stand our ground, in regards to the Gospel, we need to know what the Gospel has to say. According to a 2009 Barna study on religion,
“Bible reading has become the religious equivalent of sound-bite journalism. When people read from the Bible they typically open it, read a brief passage without much regard for the context, and consider the primary thought or feeling that the passage provided. If they are comfortable with it, they accept it; otherwise, they deem it interesting but irrelevant to their life, and move on. There is shockingly little growth evident in people’s understanding of the fundamental themes of the scriptures and amazingly little interest in deepening their knowledge and application of biblical principles.” We need to engage in regular spiritual disciplines like prayer and Bible study, not to get saved by legalistic activities, but to know what the Gospel actually is and what is says and then, by faith, stand our ground on the precious truth of God.
The kids must stand their ground in the Gospel. They are in an atmosphere were everything is expected to receive absolute acceptance. They are being taught that we should never discriminate, and we should not, but this attitude spills over into the spiritual realm in the hearts of Christian youth. For example people think that God has no requirements when it comes to entering heaven and dwelling eternity with Jesus. There is trend to think that as long as you are a sincere person and don’t hurt anyone, then that is enough. There is extreme pressure not to open our mouths and declare with boldness, that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life and that no one can come to the Father except through Jesus. (Jn 14:6) To do so means that you might loose some friends. But remember Galatians 1:10, “ Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ” In standing your ground, and not giving in for a moment, you will become closer friends to God.
Part ll: Paul’s Call And Mission From God Confirmed (6-10)
Second, there is one gospel but different preachers and mission fields. Look at verses 6-10. The Jerusalem leaders added nothing to Paul's message. (6) They did not say, "Your message was okay, but you are missing this main point." Or, "This part is irrelevant and unnecessary." Instead, they said, "Amen! What a beautiful, truthful gospel message." They confirmed that the gospel Paul preached was the same gospel they preached. Paul's gospel message must have revealed his deep understanding of the Gentiles and how the gospel was given to them. The Jerusalem leaders concluded that it was precisely God's work in him. That is not all. Look at verse 7, “On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as Peter had been to the Jews.” They realized that God called Paul to preach to the Gentiles, just as he had called Peter to preach to the Jews. The same God was working in and through both of them. So they recognized Paul as being on par with Peter. They gave Paul the right hand of fellowship, publicly acknowledging him as God's servant with the true gospel message. They agreed to serve God in their respective mission fields as coworkers in the gospel. They made only one request of Paul--that he continue to remember the poor--the very thing he was eager to do. (10)
Here we see that there is one gospel, but different preachers and mission fields. While the gospel that Paul preached was essentially the same as that of Peter, John and James, each one's way of expressing the Gospel and their emphasis was different. We see this clearly, as we compare their written works in the Bible. Their conversions, mission callings, educational backgrounds, life experiences, and personalities were all different. These distinctive factors affected how they presented the gospel. But it was the same gospel.
The gospel can be expressed in different ways, while retaining its essential truth. The gospel may be compared to water in a jar. The jar can be small or large; it can be round, square or triangular. However the water inside the jar is still water. In the same way, the gospel is still the gospel, though it is preached by different people in different languages and nations.
When we hear mission reports from different nations, we find that the people of each nation are different. However, we also realize that the same God is working through the same gospel message in people of each nation. It is God who appoints and uses gospel workers in each mission field. So we are to regard as partners all whom God is using to preach the true gospel. We should accept them as brothers and sisters in Christ, embracing our diversity.

God has given us a unique mission field. Some of us have been called to serve campus students through one to one Bible study and discipleship. Most of us have come from student backgrounds. We have felt the suffering of typical students. We know from personal experience that they suffer, not from hunger and lack of shelter, but from meaninglessness of life, boredom, loneliness, issues of acceptance and lack of hope. These are the issues that drove me deeper and deeper into sin and father and farther away from Jesus. These are the issues that Jesus and his Gospel solved in my life. Through the Gospel, Jesus filled my heart with his love, grace and forgiveness. He healed me and showed me the way to eternal life and how to have a personal relationship with him. He showed me that he wants to love all students. He led me to this mission field, so that my changed life can be a source of hope and inspiration to other college students. I thank God for our mission field. We are surrounded by beautiful campuses, intellectuals and our nation’s future leaders. It is a challenging mission field. We must recognize and pray for other mission fields of servants of God, and devote ourselves to whom God has called us to serve.

They all co-worked together. Look at verses 9-10, “James, Peter and John, those reputed to be 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 they to the Jews. 10 All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.” James, Peter and John were a team and Barnabas and Titus were a team. There were no lone wolves among them. They were unified. They were not just interested in their own business. They were interested in God’s work being done among them in their own respective mission fields. They were willing to be inconvenienced in order to travel together on a mission, a mission to preserve the Gospel among the churches. The work of God goes on though much faithful and committed co-working. We co-work together, not to be saved, but to become more effective Gospel workers, instruments through which Jesus can spread his life giving Gospel to a world in need.

In today’s lesson we learned that we must take a clear and absolute stand on the gospel of Jesus Christ. We must never waver in our faith, but stand firm and share the only Gospel that brings, life, forgiveness and the peace of God and eternal life. Thank Jesus for keeping us from becoming enslaved by false religions and false philosophies of life. Let us decided to stand firm and share the true Gospel with others. Let us dig deep into the Bible so that we know what the true Gospel is. You can not take a stand on something that you do not know it. Let us co-work with others as we take our stand with others believers around us. May the liberating and life giving true Gospel go forth across the NIU and Kish College and the people of DeKalb.

Part l: We Did Not Give In (1-5)

1. A. To what does “fourteen years later” refer? B. What motivated Paul to visit Jerusalem? (1–2,4) [Based on his use of the words “privately” and “in response to a revelation,” Paul’s trip to Jerusalem seems to be prior to his going to the Jerusalem Council, which was a public event and instigated by a sharp dispute and debate at Antioch with the circumcision group (Ac15:1–2).] C. Who was with him? D. In Paul’s mind, why was this matter so serious? (2b)

2. A. Who was Titus? (3b; Tit1:4–5) B. How did his presence with Paul in Jerusalem further validate the Gentile gospel ministry and set a precedent for all Gentile believers? C. Who were the “false brothers,” and what was their real motive in forcing Gentiles to be circumcised? (4)

Part ll: Paul’s Call And Mission From God Confirmed (5-10)

3. A. Read verse 5. How did Paul express his uncompromising spirit with the false brothers? (5a) B. Why did he oppose them so strongly? (5b) C. What is “the truth of the gospel”? (1Co15:3–4; Gal2:16)

4. A. What can we learn from Paul’s shepherd’s concern for Gentile believers? B. Why was preserving the truth of the gospel so crucial for the Galatians, and, for the history of Christian missions? C. How is the gospel truth being challenged in our time, and what can we do to preserve it? (5a)

5. A. How did the leaders in Jerusalem respond to Paul and his message? (6–9) B. How could they agree to part ways amicably and work for the gospel respectively? (8–10) C. How would the Jerusalem leaders’ acceptance help Paul in his Gentile ministry?