Galatians: Lesson 4

Overview

Preserving the Gospel: Paul at Jerusalem

When Paul went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas and Titus Galatians 2:1-3, the issue at stake was nothing less than the heart of the gospel. Some were teaching, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved" Acts 15:1-2. Paul did not travel to Jerusalem to receive further instruction or to seek permission—he went to bear witness to what God was already doing among the Gentiles and to preserve the true gospel for the whole church. He overcame his opponents not by force of personality but because the Holy Spirit, who had so visibly descended on the Gentiles, confirmed the truth of what he proclaimed: justification by faith in Christ alone, apart from works of the law.

Circumcision and the Question of Motive

Paul's actions toward Titus and Timothy can look contradictory until we see his motive. Titus, a Greek, was not compelled to be circumcised, because the false apostles were demanding it as a condition of salvation. To yield there would have been to surrender the gospel itself. Timothy, however, Paul did circumcise Acts 16:3—not under compulsion of the law, but out of brotherly love, so that nothing would distract Jewish hearers from the gospel. Likewise, when Paul later participated in temple purification rites Acts 21:25-27, he was not seeking justification through the law. The law remains holy and good; it has every right to teach us to love God and neighbor, to live in chastity, temperance, and patience. But it has no right to tell us how we are saved. That is the gospel's business alone.

The False Gospel of Conditions

The false gospel Paul opposed was not a denial of faith but the addition of conditions to it—the claim that faith saves only when furnished by works of the law. The truth is the opposite: good works are the embellishment of faith, not its foundation. Faith is itself a gift of God, not our own doing, so that no one may boast Ephesians 2:8-9. Human reason, as Luther put it, "mumbles"—endlessly tallying what I have done and what I have left undone. But faith looks away from the self to Christ, the Son of God, given over to death for the sins of the world.

Pastoral Application: Living in Liberty

Though we may not argue today over circumcision, the church in every generation invents new conditions for salvation: if you don't do this… if you haven't done that… This is why we must remain vigilant, even willing to be the one who breaks the cycle in our own family or congregation. Practices like private confession in our tradition are not conditions of salvation but proclamations of it—the gift of hearing personally that you, by name, are forgiven for Christ's sake. To hear that we are not under the yoke of the law is profound relief. It is the freedom to breathe, the freedom to serve our neighbor not from fear but from a faith that cannot help but spill over in love. The gospel does not tell us what we must do; it tells us what Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has done for us. Hold fast to that liberty—it is a matter of life and death.

Transcript

Heavenly Lord, we thank You. We thank You so much for Your Word. Your Word is truth and 5s

Your Word. Your Word delivers us. It delivers us through hearing that we are saved by the 10s

blood of Jesus Christ. Lord, we ask that as we study Your Word in this time, that You 18s

would open Yourself to us, that You would guide us, and that You would call us to Your 24s

self to love You even more deeply, and that we would be enriched by what You have to 31s

say to us through Your Word. Lord, we thank You for this time. We thank You for the time 38s

to be together, and we praise You for being the God that You are, the God that loves us, 43s

the God that calls us, the God that claims us, and the God that is always with us. We lift 48s

this to You in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Okay. All right. So let's open up to the 53s

book of the Galatians. We are going to go to Acts in a second here. Let's go to Galatians, 61s

the second chapter, and we're going to be going to the book of Acts in just a second, so 68s

we don't need to get super, super, I'm just keep this book marked. Galatians chapter 74s

two, just beginning in the first verse, then after 14 years I went up again to Jerusalem 80s

with Barnabas taking Titus along with me. I went up in response to a revelation, then 90s

I laid before them, though only in a private meeting with the acknowledged leaders, the 96s

gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles in order to make sure that I was not running 102s

or had not run in vain. But even Titus, who was with me, was not compelled to be circumcised 108s

though he was a Greek. Okay. So now we're going to hit pause for a moment. Let's go over to 114s

the book of Acts. So this is the first book right after the gospel. So if you go to your 122s

left, you're going to find it. We're going to go to Acts chapter 15 where we see this 127s

this council at Jerusalem happening. A council at Jerusalem was taking place because there 135s

were people, beginning in verse one of 15 of the book of Acts, certain individuals came down 145s

from Judea and were teaching the brothers, unless you are circumcised according to the custom 152s

of Moses, you cannot be saved. And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate 158s

with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to 163s

discuss this question with the apostles and their elders. So Barnabas and Paul or Paul and Barnabas, 168s

they head up to Jerusalem or down to Jerusalem, over to Jerusalem. They go to Jerusalem and they are 177s

going to have this council because there is a big dissension happening where there are some that 185s

are saying that you have to be circumcised. You have to be circumcised. And the opponents of Paul, 191s

they actually had an example of Paul's doing that stood against him. That was an example of him 200s

violating or seemingly violating his own persistence in not having to be circumcised. So if you go to 210s

Acts 16th chapter, Acts 16 verse 3, verse 3, it says Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him and he 223s

took him and had him circumcised because of the Jews who were in those places. For they all knew 235s

that his father was a Greek. So here, Paul, who had been saying and his gospel is you don't have to be 242s

circumcised and now he does have Timothy who has been circumcised. If we go over to Acts chapter 21 250s

verses 25 through 27, Acts 21 verses 25 through 27, he is visiting in Jerusalem and there is an issue with what is going on. 260s

As the Gentiles who have become believers, we have sent a letter with our judgment that they should 283s

abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols from blood and from what is strangled and from 288s

fornication. So when Paul had gone up originally to Jerusalem and said, you know, nope, this is the 293s

gospel, this is the gospel, this is the gospel and we are not forcing people to be circumcised. 300s

It was decided by the elders that a letter would go out that indeed that they are saved by grace 306s

and that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols from blood and from what is 316s

strangled and from fornication. So they are saying you are saved by grace and not you don't have to 320s

be circumcised, you do need to do these things and it is just living that holy living. So Paul is back 328s

in Jerusalem and it says, Paul took the men, the men that are with him and the next day having 337s

purified himself, he entered the temple with them making public the completion of the days of 342s

purification when the sacrifice would be made for each of them. So Paul had Timothy circumcised 347s

and he was back in Jerusalem at that point later in the book of Acts and he was following the 356s

temple laws. He was following the Jewish laws that right of purification and following what the 362s

Jewish law said was to be done in order or in accordance with the law. But we have to understand 370s

that Paul was not doing these things under the compulsion of the law and we are going to talk about 379s

this more but Timothy was not circumcised. If we go back to Acts 16, verse 3, 386s

we find that it says that Timothy, Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, he took him and had him 401s

circumcised because of the Jews who were in those places. For they all knew that his father was 411s

a Greek. He was doing this, he had Timothy circumcised out of a brotherly love, a concern for those 418s

that they would be preaching to. For those, so the Jews that they would be sharing the gospel with 427s

wouldn't have anything to distract them from hearing the gospel. And so it was out of concern 437s

for his Jewish brothers and sisters that he had Timothy circumcised. It was out of a brotherly 446s

love for them. God gave the law. That is absolutely clear. We have the law. God gave the law. It was for 455s

the good of Israel. It is for our good even today. And for the Jews of that day and for many of us, 465s

it is impossible to break the habit of the law. We are accustomed to following rules. Even those of us 475s

who don't like rules are accustomed to following rules and it's hard to break the habit of being a 487s

law abider. Note, I am not saying go out and test the laws of the land or test the laws of God. I 496s

am saying we have a habit of then turning that into our rule, into our salvation giver, into our 504s

justification, our righteousness. And so Paul was being conscious of that. He was being loving and 514s

caring of that because he knew that the law and upholding the law, that was ingrained in those who 526s

grown up in the Jewish tradition. It was part of how they experienced life. And so he didn't want 534s

that to get in the way where they would look at Timothy and say, how can he be telling us this, 545s

he's not even valid under the law. They needed to be able to hear the gospel. And so Paul was not 552s

letting anything get in that way or in the way of that. God is long suffering and full of mercy. 561s

I love this from Luther. We dare not abuse the patience of the Lord. We dare no longer continue 569s

in error now that the truth has been revealed in the gospel. I love that. That idea of God being so 575s

patient and merciful with us that he is even patient with us in our insistence in being law 585s

abiding. And it's not the matter of being law abiding. It's a matter of clinging to the law, 594s

to seek for our salvation. He is patient with us. But why would we continue in error 601s

when the gospel and the truth of salvation in Christ has been made known to us? Why would we continue 612s

in error? Every single week when we have the words of institution, one of the pastors holds the 622s

cup up and says that Jesus Christ took the cup and he said, this cup is my blood. It's the new 632s

covenant in my blood, shed for you. It's a new covenant. We have a covenant with God, the Jewish 639s

people have a covenant with God that is sustained in the law, sustained in what they need to do. But 647s

in Christ there is a new covenant. It is a covenant of liberty, a covenant of freedom, a covenant 655s

that Christ has done for you under the law what we cannot do for ourselves. Why would we cling to 662s

the old covenant when the new covenant has been declared and made known to us? And God gave his 675s

own life for that new covenant. Paul held fast to the liberty of the gospel. He absolutely 686s

resisted anyone who wanted to force the practice of the law upon the Gentiles. When he went up to 697s

Jerusalem to discuss this with his opponents, his opponents didn't overcome him. They didn't 709s

convince him or outrank or outrule or out decide him, but he overcame them. And I would dare to 720s

say that it was not him overcoming them, but that it was the work of God through him as he held 730s

steadfast to the gospel, remaining the gospel, his opponents couldn't not agree. They couldn't 737s

overcome the gospel because the gospel is truth. The deliberation in the conference in Jerusalem 752s

was whether or not the observance of the law was for justification. And Paul's answer is that I 762s

have preached faith in Christ to the Gentiles and not the law. He wasn't asking or seeking permission 768s

or for the people in Jerusalem to say, yeah, this is okay. He wasn't seeking. He was telling them, 776s

this is what I have been doing. And he and Barnabas were there as witnesses to what God was doing 783s

with the Gentile communities, that they were indeed receiving the Holy Spirit. And if the Holy 790s

Spirit, if God was not okay with what, Paul and his group was preaching the gospel, and the Holy 797s

Spirit stopped them from entering into Asia. The Holy Spirit was very clearly directing them. 807s

Surely the Holy Spirit would not have descended upon the Gentiles if they were not receiving the gospel. 813s

Paul and his group were doing what were called to do. They were preaching and proclaiming the truth. 825s

It is the Holy Spirit that does the converting. It is the Holy Spirit that works in us. 833s

The Holy Spirit was working through Paul, working through Barnabas, working through Titus, 842s

through Timothy, for the good of those that would be stirred by the Holy Spirit to know the truth 849s

and to know salvation. He said, if the Jews want to keep the law and be circumcised, that's fine. 859s

Paul was not trying to keep anyone who longed to be circumcised from circumcision. 868s

But he said, you have to have the right motive. What is the motivation behind this? Because if the 877s

motivation behind circumcision is that by doing so, I'm going to be saved or I'm going to be one 884s

notch closer to justified, no, don't do it. This is why he did not have Titus circumcised. 890s

Remember he had Timothy circumcised out of brotherly love, out of concern for those 901s

because he didn't want to impede the gospel being heard. Just the same, he did not want to impede 906s

the gospel being heard. So he had to remain stubbornly steadfast for those in Jerusalem and who were 917s

trying to make the law stick and hold for justification. He could not let that go. 928s

Paul wasn't condemning circumcision in itself, but he protested against it being made a condition 940s

for salvation. A condition for salvation. It wasn't a sin to receive it, but it had no bearing on 947s

salvation and it shouldn't be forced upon the Gentiles. That whole idea of a condition for salvation. 958s

Just look that sink in. In our modern church, we don't generally have a big to-do over circumcision, 968s

but we certainly have plenty of to-do's that come down to being conditions for salvation. 979s

Okay, I'm going a little bit off of what I have, but that's okay because I think this is a good, 991s

a good tangent moment that applies. Okay, in the Catholic church, and we talked about this earlier 995s

in this adult ed series, in the Catholic church, confession was a condition of salvation. 1003s

Confession is a condition of salvation. We have confession in the Lutheran church. We do it 1013s

corporally, as a corporate body every Sunday, we confess our sins as a whole, but when we have a 1019s

sin that continues to gnaw and won't stop pestering our conscience and keeps dragging us and 1029s

holding us, we have the freedom to come to a pastor and have confession, a private confession. 1041s

It is not a notch or a condition of salvation, but it is a gift to the church. It is a gift for us 1054s

to receive once again the beautiful word of absolution. When we have a private confession, 1064s

as we do it in the church body, we don't, well, I don't know, maybe you do, but generally we don't say 1073s

very specific things allowed. And I know that from behind the altar, we don't say, 1082s

and Donna, you are forgiven, and Pam, you are forgiven, and Stephen, you are forgiven. 1091s

It is yes, you are all forgiven. But in a private confession, you come in and we have that time, 1097s

and you confess in a more intimate setting, more intimately. It can be scary, but it's a gift, 1106s

because then you also receive that very personalized word that you personally have been 1113s

redeemed in Christ, and by, or for His sake, you have been forgiven. It is not a condition of 1120s

salvation. It is the proclamation of salvation, and there is a big difference between the two. 1130s

Many thought that Paul was preaching the gospel in vain, because he was keeping the Gentiles 1142s

free from the yoke of the law. I tell you what, one of the insights that someone shared with me 1149s

about reading through Galatians, one word, and it just absolutely rings true, hearing that we are not 1157s

under the yoke of the law is relief, relief, being able to actually take a deep breath. 1167s

I have sinned, and yet I am forgiven. It is relief. It is so incredibly freeing, and any of you that 1184s

have had a faith journey where you have gone through a faith life of being held burden yoked 1201s

to the law, where you have been given many conditions for salvation to hear that you are free, 1211s

and that that freedom is real, and it's yours. It is such freedom, and it's such a beautiful 1220s

relieving word to receive. The modern church still struggles with this, 1228s

receiving or having or making conditions of salvation. If you don't blank, you can't necessarily 1241s

be saved. If you haven't blank, I'm not going to say that you're going to heaven. 1251s

Well, praise the Lord, we can say, Christ died, so blank, I am forgiven, and I do have eternal life 1266s

in him. Paul's visit to Jerusalem was not with the intent of receiving further instruction on how 1276s

to proclaim the gospel better. It was with the point of preserving the gospel for all of the church. 1285s

He was preserving the gospel for all of the churches in Galatia, all of the Gentile churches, 1292s

all of the church, even for the Jews. For the Christian church, he was adamant and steadfast 1302s

because he had to preserve the true gospel. The true gospel is that we are justified by faith alone. 1310s

We are not justified by deeds under the law. The false gospel is that we are justified by faith, 1319s

but not without upholding the law, not without the deeds of the law. The false apostles that had 1327s

been coming in behind Galatia, the false apostles, that he was coming up against in Jerusalem, 1339s

they were trying to teach this false gospel. That there were added things, that works of the 1347s

the law, under the law, were needed. The modern church admits that the faith is the foundation of 1357s

salvation, but oftentimes, and I say the modern church because this is found across all denominations 1364s

of the Christian church, that added cause that faith can save only when it's furnished with good works. 1373s

But it's the exact opposite. It's the exact opposite that gospel declares to us that good works 1385s

are the embellishment of faith. We cannot have an active faith, or we don't have an active faith 1392s

that cannot just or won't just spill over. We can't help ourselves. When we have an active 1403s

faith, when we know that we are saved by grace through faith and Christ and Christ alone, 1411s

the Holy Spirit is working in us and through us and we just can't help ourselves. 1418s

But we want to do good. We want to serve others. We want to love others because it's the 1427s

Holy Spirit working through us. Faith justifies because faith invites us to know and believe 1435s

Christ our Redeemer. Faith is a gift from God. I love that in Ephesians where it says that this 1445s

faith is a gift of God. It's not your own doing. So no one can boast. It is a gift of God. And 1454s

faith is how we come to know or that we do know Christ, the Son of God, and that he is our Redeemer. 1463s

Human reason only thinks in terms of the law. I love how Luther says it mumbles. Human reason mumbles. 1472s

It's just a great, great description of us. It just mumbles. Human reason, 1481s

thinks in terms of the law. It mumbles. This I've done. This I haven't done. It's so concerned with 1492s

the South. It's so egocentric. What have I done? What have I not done? What can I do? What can I not do? 1499s

Thinking, we fool ourselves thinking that there is direction for us in salvation outside of 1509s

the salvation we have freely in Christ and Christ alone. Faith looks to Christ the Son of God 1517s

given to death for the sins of the whole world. When we are turning our eyes from Jesus, 1525s

we are turning them instead to the law. We are seeking for something in the law that cannot be 1531s

found. Those who don't have an idea of what faith is cannot easily teach faith to others. 1539s

And that's where I think with the church, we get into a sticky position and why we find 1550s

conditions for salvation abounding in much of the modern church. Because when one person is taught 1560s

a condition for salvation, then they're going to take that to the next generation and maybe even make 1572s

it better and add more conditions. And then they're going to take it and grow on that. 1578s

We have to remain steadfast, even if it is that you are the one that is called to break the cycle 1588s

in your generation, breaking the cycle of conditions for salvation and remaining steadfast in 1598s

proclaiming truth be the one to break the cycle. Paul was breaking the cycle of Judaism. 1609s

He was breaking the cycle of Judaism for the good of the church, which we praise God 1618s

have the freedom because he remained steadfast by the gift of the Holy Spirit. 1628s

Luther said that they were willing, that he and his cohorts were willing to make concessions to 1635s

the papus or to legalism, but we cannot give up the liberty of conscience which we have 1642s

in Christ Jesus. We cannot give up the liberty of conscience which we have in Christ Jesus. We 1651s

refuse to have our conscience bound by any work or law so that by doing this or doing that we are 1662s

or by not doing this or that we are damned. We have to remain adamant to the gospel and the truth 1670s

of the gospel or else we lose it. And I love how he says it is a matter of life and death. 1682s

It cannot and I know it sounds like oh my gosh this is pretty extreme but it is. It is 1695s

extreme. It is a matter of life and death in the gospel. We have complete life fully provided for 1709s

you in Christ. We are not called to walk every day with a conscience that is burdened 1719s

by the law. The law has its purpose absolutely no question about it but the gospel has to be held 1738s

in its purpose and its purpose is for that freedom, for salvation. Luther says our subrenises 1758s

right because we want to preserve the liberty we have in Christ and in preserving it we are able 1767s

to retain the truth of the gospel unimpeded. There are people who will push back and say well 1773s

the law is given by God. It is holy and divine. Absolutely. It is the holy divine law of God. And if you 1783s

follow it completely to the very letter of the law to the very spirit of the law the extent 1794s

to which it reigns and rules yes you will be perfect. So show of hands. None of us, none of us, 1803s

I guarantee you all of us could go back and think just through this morning and go oh shoot. 1822s

The law is divine and holy and it will remain divine and holy. No one is arguing and no one should 1832s

argue against the holiness of God's holy law at all but the law has no right to tell you that you 1846s

must be justified by it. The law has the right to tell us we should love God. The law has the 1860s

right to tell us we should love and serve our neighbors. We should live in chastity, temperance, 1870s

patience, etc. But it cannot tell us. It may not tell us how we can be delivered from sin, death, 1877s

and hell. It is the gospel's business to do that. The law has its place. 1886s

The gospel has its place. The gospel tells me not what I must do but what Jesus Christ, the son of 1898s

God, has done for me. Titus was not circumcised because it was being demanded by the false 1907s

apostles under and according to the law. Do any of you ever hear someone like they tell you to do 1921s

something in your first instinct is to say, mm-hmm. Me too. And generally that is because 1930s

I'm a sinner and I want to do the opposite of what someone tells me. This is not that. 1939s

This is not Paul saying, oh you're telling me to do this so I'm not going to absolutely not. This is 1946s

Paul in a righteous steadfastness to the gospel saying no. Titus is not going to be circumcised 1953s

because you are trying to demand it as a condition for salvation. Absolutely not. If you would come 1968s

to us with brotherly love, with a thought of being helpful, then we can talk. 1975s

But we are not going to succumb to a false gospel and he remained steadfast in that. 1985s

I told you at the beginning of this class, this is like, I think I held it together pretty well. 1998s

Because this is really exciting. This is cartwheel inducing freedom. It is leaping for joy because 2012s

the gospel is ours and the gospel is that we are saved. The law has its place in your life. Praise God. 2022s

But it does not have the right. It does not have the right to tell you how you are to be saved. 2036s

The gospel comes in and says you are dead under the law. There is no hope for you under the law. 2047s

But Christ. Christ lived the perfection. Christ died the death under the law and He rose victorious 2059s

over it and He gives that to you. That is the gospel. So as we face our daily lives, 2071s

this is the witness that we are called to bring. We are called to bring the truth of what the 2083s

gospel is and what redemption really means and how we receive it. 2090s