FOURTEEN YEARS LATER. Probably fourteen years after the visit mentioned in Galatians 1:18. [_Johnson_ thinks it should be measured from Paul's conversion to Christ.] This certainly is the Jerusalem Meeting _of Acts ch 15,_ and _Ramsay_ gives the date as 49 A.D. The church began in Jerusalem on Pente... [ Continue Reading ]
BECAUSE GOD. "The Twelve did not call me to Jerusalem! I want you to know that God himself sent me!" IN A PRIVATE MEETING. "Not wanting to cause trouble, I talked this matter over privately with Peter, James, and John. I had no doubts about the truth of the gospel I had been preaching, but if the ot... [ Continue Reading ]
WAS NOT FORCED TO BE CIRCUMCISED. The _circumcision party_ would expect Peter, James, and John (the "apostles of circumcision") to take their side in the argument. Paul was opposing centuries of anti-Gentile hostility. The future of the whole Christian church hung in the balance!!! Titus was the _te... [ Continue Reading ]
ALTHOUGH SOME MEN. The NIV adds "This matter arose" to show the source of the problem is the false brothers mentioned. These are certainly the ones mentioned in Acts 15:1. Paul's choice of words imply that these are a particular group (probably Pharisees) who have _infiltrated_ the churches with the... [ Continue Reading ]
IN ORDER TO KEEP THE TRUTH. Paul's motive was to preserve the _truth!_ If he had given in and allowed Titus to be circumcised, that would have compromised the truth. [In the case of Timothy (Acts 16:3), he could do it without compromising the truth.]... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO SEEMED TO BE THE LEADERS. Peter, James, and John. WHAT THEY WERE. "The fact that they were with Christ in his earthly ministry, does not make me any less an apostle, because God doesn't _play favorites_ on the basis of such things!" MADE NO NEW SUGGESTIONS. This was their chance to "set Paul str... [ Continue Reading ]
ON THE CONTRARY. "Not only did they not make any new suggestions, they did accept me as being an apostle equal with themselves!!! They saw that God had sent me to the Gentiles, just as He sent Peter to the Jews!!!... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR BY GOD'S POWER. "The same God made both Peter and myself apostles!!!... [ Continue Reading ]
RECOGNIZED THAT GOD. "These outstanding leaders in the church, James, Peter, and John, recognized that God had appointed me to this work, and had given me the same supernormal powers that they all had!!!" SHOOK HANDS. "They shook hands with Barnabas and me as a sign of our fellowship as servants of... [ Continue Reading ]
REMEMBER THE NEEDY. The NIV adds _continue_ to show it was something that was already going on and must be kept up. The TEV adds _in their group_ to show that this is concerned with one special group of poor, the Christians in Judea. The hostility of the Jewish leaders certainly made employment impo... [ Continue Reading ]
I OPPOSED HIM IN PUBLIC. "I want to show you that I am equal in authority to all the other apostles and that I have the right to oppose one of the apostles of circumcision' when they are wrong!!!" This was not a sharp confrontation, but a scolding _in public._ But it was serious in that what Peter w... [ Continue Reading ]
BEFORE SOME MEN. Peter had a vision (Acts 10:9-16), and he witnessed the Spirit come on Gentiles (Acts 10:44-47). This taught him that God had removed the barrier between Jew and Gentile. Knowing this, he ate with the Gentile Christians and thought nothing about it! BUT AFTER THESE MEN ARRIVED. Note... [ Continue Reading ]
THE OTHER JEWISH BROTHERS. EVEN BARNABAS. See how Peter's action set off a chain-reaction!!!... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN I SAW. Paul could see clearly the consequences of this action. Peter was being a hypocrite when he taught that all are one in Christ, and then acted as though the uncircumcised Gentiles were _unclean._ This was not an act of panic, but by taking the _easy way out_ to avoid trouble, Peter was pu... [ Continue Reading ]
WE ARE JEWS BY BIRTH. As Paul continues his public scolding of Peter, he adopts the language of the Judeans, and speaks of _Gentile sinners._... [ Continue Reading ]
YET WE KNOW. "We know by the Old Testament Scriptures, as well as by the Spirit God gave us, that it is not obedience to the Law of Moses, but FAITH in Jesus Christ that puts us right with God!!!" WE, TOO. "Peter, you and I who are Jews by birth, had to believe in Christ to be put right with God! Th... [ Continue Reading ]
IF, THEN. "But if we, in our effort to reach out through faith to seize Christ and be put right with God, must then _let go_ of The Law and put ourselves in the same group with Gentile sinners, does Christ then serve sin??? By no means!" The next verse explains.... [ Continue Reading ]
IF I START. "You, by again making The Law an obligation, are proving that what you were doing while you lived as the Gentiles do, was in fact a violation of The Law. That is, during the time you neglected it and did not follow its rules." This is in effect what Paul is saying to Peter.... [ Continue Reading ]
HOWEVER, I AM DEAD. "I and all the other believers DIED with Christ, killed by The Law itself, since its CURSE killed Christ. Now that the Law considers me dead, I am free to live for God!" Compare _Rom. ch 7._ I HAVE BEEN. "The way I died to the Law, was to share or be united to Christ's death on t... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT IT IS CHRIST. Under The Law, it was Paul the proud Pharisee who lived. But the old man died with Christ, and now it is Paul the Christian who lives. Or rather, it is Christ who lives in Paul! I LIVE BY FAITH. Faith _links_ Paul to Christ!!! Christ is the _vine,_ believers are the _branches!_ Com... [ Continue Reading ]
I DO NOT REJECT. "I do not reject God's grace, but you and the _circumcision party_ are doing it when you try to be put right with God through The Law. If The Law puts a man right with God, then Christ need not have died at all!" Motive is all important in Christianity. Paul himself could participat... [ Continue Reading ]