Studies
in
Jew & Gentile
C
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A
P
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2
Introductory Thoughts
• Paul’s battle with the Judaizers
– Mentioned in Lesson 1
– Troubled church in early days… (What to do
with the Gentiles)
• In Galatians 2, the Apostle
references a meeting in Jerusalem
with the other Apostles
– Our text: vs. 1
– Acts 15:1-4, 12, 22-29
The Jerusalem Council
• The Lord gave Paul the responsibility
to preach to the Gentiles
– Our Text: Galatians 2:2; Acts 9:15; 15:12
Acts 9:15 ; 15:12
But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a
chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before
Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel...”
“Then all the multitude kept silent and
listened to Barnabas and Paul declaring how
many miracles and wonders God had worked
through them among the Gentiles.”
The Jerusalem Council
• The Lord gave Paul the responsibility
to preach to the Gentiles
– Our Text: Galatians 2:2; Acts 9:15; 15:12
• Paul would not compromise with
these False Teachers
– Our Text: Galatians 2:3-5
– Though Timothy was circumcised, Titus (a
Greek) would not be
– Contrast with accommodating attitude of Paul
in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23, esp. 22)
1 Corinthians 9:22
“To the weak I became as weak, that I
might win the weak. I have become all things
to all men, that I might by all means save
some.”
(Servant unto all… to the Jews
became as a Jew… to them
without law, as without law…
that I might gain them that are
under the law/ that are
without law…)
The Jerusalem Council
• The Lord gave Paul the responsibility
to preach to the Gentiles
– Our Text: Galatians 2:2; Acts 9:15; 15:12
• Paul would not compromise with
these False Teachers
– Our Text: Galatians 2:3-5
– Though Timothy was circumcised, Titus (a
Greek) would not be
– Contrast with accommodating attitude of Paul
in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23, esp. 22)
• Paul’s ‘right hand of fellowship’ (2:9)
Paul’s Rebuke of Peter
• Peter was rightly rebuked for his
hypocrisy (Our text: 2:11-14a)
– Especially grievous, as Peter was the first
preacher to the Gentiles (cf. Acts 11:16-18)
Acts 11:16 - 18
Then I remembered the word of the Lord,
how He said, ‘John indeed baptized with
water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy
Spirit.’ 17 If therefore God gave them the same
gift as He gave us when we believed on the
Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could
withstand God?” 18 When they heard these
things they became silent; and they
glorified God, saying, “Then God has
also granted to the Gentiles
repentance to life.”
Paul’s Rebuke of Peter
• Peter was rightly rebuked for his
hypocrisy (Our text: 2:11-14a)
– Especially grievous noting Peter was the first
preacher to the Gentiles (cf. Acts 11:16-18)
• Rebuke was public because the sin
was public
– Note the difference between this situation and
the private sin of Matthew 18:15-17
Matthew 18:15 - 17
Moreover if your brother sins against you,
go and tell him his fault between you and him
alone. If he hears you, you have gained your
brother. 16 But if he will not hear, take with
you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of
two or three witnesses every word may be
established.’ 17 And if he refuses to hear them,
tell it to the church. But if he
refuses even to hear the church, let
him be to you like a heathen and a
tax collector.
Paul’s Rebuke of Peter
• Peter was rightly rebuked for his
hypocrisy (Our text: 2:11-14a)
– Especially grievous noting Peter was the first
preacher to the Gentiles (cf. Acts 11:16-18)
• Rebuke was public because the sin
was public
– Note the difference between this situation and
the private sin of Matthew 18:15-17
• The Argument (Our text: 2:14-16)
– Gentile is as worthy as the Jew in Christ
Crucified with Christ
• Context surrounding Gal. 2:20
– Redemption is found in Christ, not the law (cf.
vs. 16)
– Redemption is found in Christ, therefore we
should not desire to resurrect the law (cf. vs.
18-19)
– Life is in Christ!
• As Christians, our sole purpose in
life is to live worthy of our calling as
His bondservants
– Note Paul’s attitude (Philippians 1:21, 27)
Philippians 1:21, 27
(21), For to me, to live is Christ,
and to die is gain.
(27), Only let your conduct be worthy of the
gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and
see you or am absent, I may hear of your
affairs, that you stand fast in one
spirit, with one mind striving
together for the faith of the gospel.
Concluding
Thoughts
• The council in Jerusalem settled
once and for all that all men are
welcome into the kingdom of God
• As such, respect must be given to all
equally as brethren in Christ
• As for us, the life that we live should
be for Christ, and for Christ alone
(“Christ lives in me”)