Dividing the Task

"Instead, they saw that God had given me the responsibility of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as he had given Peter the responsibility of preaching to the Jews. For the same God who worked through Peter as the apostle to the Jews also worked through me as the apostle to the Gentiles. In fact, James, Peter, and John, who were known as pillars of the church, recognized the gift God had given me, and they accepted Barnabas and me as their co-workers. They encouraged us to keep preaching to the Gentiles, while they continued their work with the Jews." (Galatians 2:7-9 - New Living Translation)

The other Apostles freely acknowledged that the Holy Spirit was blessing the ministry of Paul even as He was their own. They publicly demonstrated their unity with Paul and Barnabas. There was no jealousy or envy, but a spirit of rejoicing in the work of the Lord.

When Paul refers to the gospel for the uncircumcised and the gospel to the circumcised, he is not saying that there are two gospel messages. He is talking about the ministry of the Gospel. His ministry was focused on the Gentiles. At this time, at least, the other Apostles were focused upon ministry to the Jews.

This dividing of the ministry was in no way exclusive. Paul often shared the gospel with Jews. Peter was the first apostle to preach to the Gentiles. Certainly, he would do this again as God gave opportunity. However, both parties acknowledged that Paul’s ministry was especially fruitful among the Gentiles and Peter’s ministry had been very fruitful among the Jews.

Man's Opinion Or God's

"But from those who seemed to be something—whatever they were, it makes no difference to me; God shows personal favoritism to no man—for those who seemed to be something added nothing to me." (Galatians 2:6 - New King James Version)

Men held James, Peter and John in high regard. However, that did not make Paul and the other Apostles inferior in God’s eyes. These men had nothing to add either to Paul’s apostolic authority or to his understanding of the Gospel.

It is kind of ironic that today, some Christians tend to exalt the Apostle Paul and downplay the importance of the other Apostles. This is the exact attitude that Paul was battling here. He considered himself equal with the Apostles. He would not tolerate being considered inferior. Neither did he ever seek to exalt himself above them.

Paul was a great Apostle. But just because we do not know many details of the ministry of the others does not mean we should consider them inferior. We do not know what Apostles such as Timothy or Andrew did. They may have had ministries as great as Paul’s. We do not know.
 
We should not judge people according to man’s opinion of them. We should judge people as God judges. Some of the greatest people, from God’s point of view, live faithful Christian lives out of the lime light of public view.

A Victory For Grace

" Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek." (Galatians 2:3 - New International Version)

Titus was fully accepted by the Apostles as a fellow Christian without being circumcised. The Apostles were united in their stand against those who wished to impose the Old Testament law upon Gentile Christians. Paul won his victory over his opponents.

"This matter arose because some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you." (Galatians 2:4,5 - New International Version)

These verses would seem to refer back to the private meeting Paul mentions in verse two. Paul is explaining another reason why he sought to meet with James, Peter and John before the public meeting was held. He knew that at the public meeting these false brethren would be in attendance. He wanted to present his case in full without the distraction that these people would cause.

Paul says that, at least, some of his opponents were not even true believers. They had entered into the Christian community under false pretenses in order to undermine the truth of the Gospel. Rather then accepting the freedom that we have in Christ, these spies were seeking to bring Christians, both Jew and Gentile, back under the bondage of the Old Testament Law.

Paul did not consider compromising with these enemies of the truth for even a second. Paul was always willing to compromise on the non-essentials, but when it came to doctrine, and especially the way of salvation, Paul would not be swayed for any reason. To compromise would have undermined the salvation of innumerable souls

A Private Meeting

"It was because of a revelation that I went up; and I submitted to them the gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but I did so in private to those who were of reputation, for fear that I might be running, or had run, in vain." (Galatians 2:2 - New American Standard)

Paul’s opponents might argue that, better late than never, Paul finally went to get the approval of the more important Apostles. Paul says that this was not so. The reason that he was willing to bring this issue to Jerusalem was because of a revelation. We don’t know the details of this, but God, by some means, told Paul to go to Jerusalem to meet with the Apostles there.


Paul gives us some details not recorded in Acts. Assuming that Paul is writing of the same meeting as recorded in Acts chapter fifteen, we learn that Paul meet privately with James, Peter and John before the more public discussion started. He did this to ensure that his case would be clearly understood and that he might have the full support of these three men who were of reputation. James was the pastor of the church. Peter and John were the most respected of the Apostles.

Paul does not mean when he says that he did this lest he had run in vain that he had any doubts about either his message or his Apostleship. What concerned him was the potential for a split between Jewish and Gentile Christians. This would have been a great setback to the Gospel ministry. Most Christians at this time were Jewish. To lose their support and assistance would cripple Paul’s ministry for years.