Having interrupted his narration of the Jerusalem meeting to describe the intrusion of the false brothers and the Titus test case, Paul now resumed the flow of his account he left off at the end of v. 2. In the Greek text vv. 6–10 constitute one long, convoluted sentence with several major ideas condensed into a difficult sequence of thought.[1] The Jerusalem leaders added nothing to Paul’s message. They recognized that it was from God. They approved its truthfulness and completeness. They endorsed Paul and received him as a fellow apostle.
The two key themes in this first section of chapter 2 are the truth of the gospel and the unity of the church. In a moment of crisis, Paul found it necessary to stand adamantly, stubbornly, uncompromisingly against the heretical doctrine and illicit demands of the false brothers.
6 And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me. 7 On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised 8 (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), 9 and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do. (ESV)
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- Other apostles recognized Paul’s message was from God, it truthfulness, and completeness.
- There was not a gospel for the Jews and a gospel for the Gentiles. There was and is one gospel, preached by two different apostles, to two distinct groups of people. It was and is the same message.
- Christians must be ready to stand united together and work collaboratively (with the Great Commission in mind) everywhere in the ongoing task of world evangelization.
- Paul knew, as we must also, that the gospel he preached was addressed to living persons, soul and body, in all of the their broken humanity and need for wholeness.
CLOSER LOOK:
Verse 6: Having completed his discussion of Titus, Paul resumed the narrative relating to his conference with the apostles in Jerusalem and declared that they “added nothing” to his message. They did not correct or modify Paul’s message but recognized its divine source and affirmed its truth and completeness. But why did the apostle speak in what appears to be a derogatory manner about some of the Jerusalem leaders? We do not know Paul’s tone of voice here as he spoke of those who seemed to be influential or important. We do not know if he was simply acknowledging his lack of information or whether there is a subtle “put-down” in his voice. In verse 2 he referred to them as “those who seemed influential” (or “those who were of reputation” NASB); in verse 6 he described them as those who seemed to be influential; and in verse 9 he finally named “James, Peter, and John” as those “who seemed to be pillars.” In view of the fact that Paul’s purpose in this passage was to emphasize his unity with the apostles, it seems best to explain these allusions as stemming from the fact that the Judaizers, in order to disparage Paul, had made much of the Jerusalem leaders. He may have been making the point to the Judaizers that his authority for what he preached came from God, and therefore, he was not intimidated by the Judaizers who, to bolster their own bluster, appealed to the Jerusalem apostles as their authority. It need not have been a slight of the apostles themselves, however. They may have been totally unaware of the controversy between the Judaizers and Paul. While there may be irony in Paul’s expressions, he declared that he was not awed by the past or present stations of James, Peter, and John. Indeed, they endorsed Paul’s message and received him as an equal. The basic drift of the passage points not to opposition or confrontation between Paul and these leaders but rather to their fundamental unity and reciprocity in the shared task of fulfilling the Great Commission. At the same time, it must be admitted that this way of describing the Jerusalem authorities does convey a note of reticence and hesitation. In all likelihood, this reflects the polemical context of the Galatian letter.[2]
While Paul recognized the leadership roles of James, Peter, and John (v. 9) as “pillars” of the Jerusalem church, he pointed out that they were in no way superior to him in their understanding of the gospel. The fact that they “added nothing to” his message meant that the other apostles were satisfied with Paul’s understanding of the gospel.
Verses 7–9: Further, James, Peter, and John recognized that Paul had been divinely commissioned to preach the gospel to the Gentiles (i.e. “uncircumcised”), just as Peter had to the Jews (“circumcised”). Thus Paul jolted the Judaists by declaring that the leaders in Jerusalem approved of his mission to the Gentiles.
It should be noted that Peter and Paul did not preach two gospels, as might be inferred from the KJV rendering, “the gospel of the uncircumcision” and “the gospel of the circumcision.” There were not two different gospels, one for the uncircumcised Gentiles and another for the circumcised Jews. There was one gospel though it was preached by different apostles to two distinct groups of people. The reason the apostles concluded that Paul’s commission was equal to Peter’s was the fact that God gave success to both as they preached. The primary scope of Paul’s apostolic ministry was to the Gentiles (Rom 11:13), while Peter’s apostleship was, first and foremost, targeted toward the Jews. The fact that God worked effectively through Peter in reaching Jews and just as effectively through Paul in reaching the Gentiles was strong evidence to the leaders in Jerusalem of Paul’s apostolic commission (Rom 1:5).
This was sealed by James, Peter, and John in their extending to Paul and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship. This was a sign of agreement and trust and an indication to all present that they endorsed the division of labor whereby the Jerusalem apostles were appointed to evangelize the Jews and Paul was entrusted to carry the gospel to the Gentiles. It indicated full recognition of Paul by the representatives of the Jerusalem church.
Verse 10: The only request from the leaders in Jerusalem was that Paul “remember the poor” which he affirmed he was “eager to do.” It had been concern for the poor which brought Paul to Jerusalem in order to bring them financial relief (cf. Acts 11:29–30). It was the same concern that motivated him on his third missionary journey to raise large welfare offerings for needy Christians in Jerusalem (cf. 1 Cor. 16:1–3).[3] Such offerings would alleviate human suffering, but they would also demonstrate genuine concern on the part of Gentile Christians for Jewish Christians. This in turn would help promote unity and love among believers and help prevent the kinds of misunderstandings that were undermining the Galatian churches.
[1] Timothy George, “Galatians,” in The New American Commentary: Galatians (Nashville: B&H, 1994), n.p.
[2] Timothy George, “Galatians,” in The New American Commentary: Galatians (Nashville: B&H, 1994), n.p.
[3] Donald K. Campbell, “Galatians,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, eds. John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1985), 595.