Defending the One True Gospel

Crucified with Christ

The Importance of Galatians

Today, we are going to study Galatians chapter 2. Before we dive in, let’s explore why the book of Galatians matters. It can be easy to tune out when we hear terms like “the law and the gospel.” However, this book is especially significant. Martin Luther regarded it as one of the most important texts in the entire Bible.

In this letter, Paul boldly asserts his authority as an apostle. He defends both his calling and the message he received directly from Christ. He confronts pressing issues: How are we made right with God? How are we made righteous? Paul makes it clear that salvation comes by faith alone, not by the works of the law. He exposes the dangers of false gospels and clarifies the true gospel of Christ.

Understanding the Role of the Law

Paul also wrestles with the role of the law. He explains its purpose and how it relates to believers under the new covenant. He challenges the distinctions between Jews and Gentiles in the church, emphasising our unity in Christ. Most powerfully, Paul explains the meaning of true freedom—freedom that releases us from bondage to the law. This freedom calls us to live lives of love and service as we walk by the Spirit.

This is not just an ancient religious issue. It remains a real and pressing question today. Even among sincere believers, confusion often arises over the relationship between faith, works, and the law. You may have heard people say things like:

• “We should follow the Old Testament law because Jesus did.”
• “Salvation is by faith, but you still need to live a certain way to prove it.”
• “Christians should obey the Ten Commandments, but not the other 603.”
  
  

Statements like these highlight how deeply the church needs to understand Galatians. Paul’s letter cuts through the confusion. It shows how the gospel transforms our relationship to the law and what it truly means to live by faith. The struggles faced by the early church in Galatia are still challenges for us today. Galatians provides the answers we need to walk in the freedom and grace of Christ, revealing a gospel just as radical now as it was 2,000 years ago. Amen.

A Brief Overview of Chapter 1

Now, let us turn to chapter 2. Before we dive in, let’s quickly recap chapter 1. Galatians was written by the Apostle Paul around AD 49, though it may have been as late as AD 55 or 56. The Galatians were Celtic people living in what is now central Turkey.

The main purpose of Paul’s letter was to correct the Judaizers—those who wanted to bring Christians back under the law. Paul insists that salvation is by faith in Christ alone. Adding anything to the gospel distorts it. This error has never gone away. Even today, many religions and movements try to add something to Christ.

The Passion of Paul

The letter to the Galatians is full of passion and argument. It is not always popular, but true believers love it. Some may think Paul is too passionate or too emotional, but his zeal is for the truth of the gospel.

As we move into chapter 2, Paul continues to address critics who compare him unfavourably to the “big apostles”—Peter, James, and John. These critics, many from the circumcision group, believed that Christians must believe in Jesus and keep the law of Moses. Paul strongly opposed this.

Paul’s Journey to Jerusalem

In verses 1–5, Paul recalls going up to Jerusalem with Barnabas and Titus. Titus, a Greek Gentile, was not compelled to be circumcised. This was crucial because false brothers had infiltrated the church. They tried to spy out the freedom believers have in Christ and bring them into bondage. Paul refused to yield to them, even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel would remain.

In verses 6–10, Paul explains that the senior apostles added nothing to his message. On the contrary, they recognised the grace of God in him. They gave him and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, affirming his call to preach to the Gentiles while they focused on the Jews. The only request was that he remember the poor—a task Paul was eager to do.

Confrontation in Antioch

Then in verses 11–13, we see Paul confronting Peter in Antioch. Peter had been eating with the Gentiles, recognising them as equals in Christ. However, when men from James arrived, Peter withdrew, fearing the circumcision group. Even Barnabas was led astray by this hypocrisy. Paul opposed Peter to his face because his behaviour compromised the truth of the gospel. Hypocrisy, Paul reminds us, is infectious and must be dealt with quickly in the church.

Justification by Faith

In verses 14–16, Paul explains his rebuke to Peter: “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile, how can you compel Gentiles to live like Jews?” Paul states emphatically that no one is justified by works of the law, but only by faith in Jesus Christ. He repeats this truth three times for emphasis: justification comes by faith alone, not by the works of the law.

Peter himself had already learned this lesson in Acts 10. God gave him a vision of a sheet full of animals, declaring that nothing God has made clean should be called unclean. Peter learned then that Gentiles were to be accepted as full members of God’s family. Yet here in Antioch, Peter acted against that revelation. Paul reminded him—and the whole church—that justification is by faith, not by law.

The Heart of Galatians

Finally, in verses 17–21, Paul makes one of the most powerful declarations of the Christian life: “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. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, then Christ died for nothing.”

This is the heart of Galatians. Salvation is by grace through faith. We live not by our works, but by Christ living in us. That is true freedom, and that is the gospel.

Amen.

Personal Prayer

Next time in Chapter 3, we find Paul giving strong correction to the Galatian churches. He uses a series of rhetorical questions to remind them of the true Gospel they had previously believed.