The True Gospel is Reaffirmed to the Galatians Volume 4

Paul testifies about the Counsel at Jerusalem

Galatians 2:1-10

Paul now turns from his documentation of his defense of his ministry and the true Gospel to a counsel that was convened by the Apostles in Jerusalem that Paul received Divine revelation from our Lord Jesus that his presence was needed. Paul was not summoned to this gathering or meeting by the Apostle Peter, James, or John, but it was Christ who summoned or called him officially to attend these meetings. This took place some 14 years after Paul’s last visit to Jerusalem when he first met Peter, James, and John (Galatians 1:18). Paul received Divine revelation from our Lord Jesus Christ to take this trip to Jerusalem. The desire of our Lord Jesus was that Paul would testify to the first Apostles (Peter, James, and John) that he preached the same Gospel of Grace as they did. Our Lord wanted Paul to stand firm in the liberty of the Gospel and to repudiate, renounce, and refuse to recognize the Jews who taught that the Jewish ceremonial law (and circumcision) was mandatory or required for salvation.

This is no doubt why Paul brought Titus (an uncircumcised Gentile convert to Christ) that they might witness Christ speaking in and through Titus just as He did through Paul. It was not our Lord’s desire to have Paul confirmed by the Apostles there, for He had already confirmed, commissioned, and counselled Paul on all the truth of Himself in an even much deeper manner as He did with the men walking on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35), read also Dr. Luke’s account of the counsel in Jerusalem in Acts 15:1-35. It was Christ desire to have all of His true Apostles together to agree on the truth of the Gospel and to squash the Judaizing men who were sent in to “spy out” or the Greek word kataskopeo which means someone sent in to be a watcher or to inspect insidiously with harmful intentions as their end goal. These Jews were sent no doubt by the present unredeemed, unregenerate, and unsaved leadership of the Jewish Religious Sanhedrin with the motive of corrupting the followers or Body of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul had unfortunately been made aware of some of their successes in the Churches of Galatia and this is the reason for his letter to all of them. Therefore, it stands to reason that he would include (in this letter) an over view of what transpired with him and the other Apostles at that or those meetings. Paul wanted the Galatian Churches to know that anyone declaring that anything else needed to be added to “faith in Jesus Christ” will bring the recipients of that message and “way of life” into bondage or enslavement to those methods, rituals, or rules and no closer to Christ. This is the way Paul wrote of these same Judaizing men who were corrupting the Corinthian believers, “For you, being so wise, tolerate the foolish gladly. For you tolerate it if anyone enslaves you, anyone devours you, anyone takes advantage of you, anyone exalts himself, anyone hits you in the face.” (2 Corinthians 11:19-20).

Paul’s view of these Judaizing men was that they were “fools” or the Greek word aphron which means to be stupid or ignorant, unwise or morally unbelieving. All the Jews that were “blinded” in spiritual darkness wanted to reject or cast off the idea that Jesus Christ was God’s Messiah as Paul wrote in this manner to the Roman believers, “What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, just as it is written, ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, And he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.’” (Romans 9:30-33). The majority Jewish population was in then and still in now spiritual darkness thinking that “works” is what gets them close to God and they have rejected the “Chief Cornerstone” Christ Jesus our Lord and so it was then their relentless purpose and plan to introduce “works” into those who are calling on the Name of Jesus for salvation.

Why? Because they cannot see their need for Christ yet, because God has blinded their spiritual eyes until the fullness of the Gentile elect be brought into faith in Christ and again as Paul wrote exactly in this manner to the Roman believers, “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.” (Romans 11:25). Therefore, Paul fully understood the Jews motivation for their actions in trying to corrupt the followers of Christ and bring them into bondage and Paul will use this word bondage some six (6) times throughout the entirety of this epistle to the Galatians, but his aim and goal was to open the Galatian Churches spiritual eyes to this deception and prevent them from the corruption. Paul declares that their teaching deception was not given any credence, acceptance, or believability, not even for an hour he writes.

Paul declares that the very purpose of our Lord Jesus Christ was accomplished at the counsel because Peter, James, John, and the other first Apostles of our Lord Jesus saw that he was given the same and only Gospel message that they too had received from our Lord Jesus and in so doing gave to Paul and Barnabas the “right hands of fellowship”, meaning their full acceptance of these men as truly commissioned and sent by our Lord Jesus Christ to the unbelieving Gentile world. They only petitioned Paul to not forget about the poor saints in Jerusalem who had lost so much under the Roman persecution they were under there, and thus we then see the reason for Paul’s words to the Corinthian believers in 2 Corinthians 8 and 2 Corinthians 9, for Paul had witnessed firsthand with his own eyes the suffering the Jewish converts were under, not only by virtue of the Romans, but also from the majority of the spiritually blinded Jews in Jerusalem as well.

My own Personal Note: It was Christ who called to order this counsel in Jerusalem, bringing all of His 12 Apostles (Paul being one of the 12) together along with as many other true believers that could attend, so they would all be of “one mind” and on “one accord” that they would stand firm in their liberty in Him and they would expose the false teaching “works system” that He destroyed and did away with by His death on the cross as Paul declared in Colossians 1:13-29.

“The great controversy in Paul’s career was over the initial rite of Judaism. It would have been comparatively calm, if he had been willing to admit that Christianity was a sect of Judaism, and that men must become Jews before becoming Christians. His contention was that the ceremonial aspect of the Law did not apply to converts from heathendom. Gentile sinners had the right to go directly to Jesus Christ for salvation, without traveling around the circuitous route of Judaism. When men insisted on the outward rite, he resisted it with all the fiery vehemence of his nature, Galatians 2:3; Galatians 2:12. But when his opponents were willing to admit that circumcision was not essential, he administered it to one of Jewish blood, as a concession to the weak and uninstructed, Acts 16:3. What blessed intercourse the four men here named must have enjoyed together! James would tell of the earlier biography of Jesus, in the home of Nazareth; Peter would dwell upon his own fellowship with Christ throughout our Lord’s active ministry; John would unfold Jesus’ inner life, as he afterwards did in his Gospel; Paul would tell of that revelation of the risen Christ on the Damascus road. Note that God must work in and for us, if we are to succeed in the gospel ministry. See Galatians 2:8.” F.B. Meyer

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…