Galatians 2:7

But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter; CONTRARIWISE. So far from adding any new light to ME, THEY gave in THEIR adhesion to the new path on which Barnabas and I, by independent revelation, had entered-namely, the innovation of preaching the Gospel without circumcision to the Gentiles. WHEN THEY SAW - from the effects "wrought" (; ). GOSPEL OF THE UNCIRCUMCISION - i:e., of the Gentiles, whose circumcision was not to be required. WAS COMMITTED UNTO ME - Greek, 'I had been permanently intrusted with, etc., as Peter was with,' etc. CIRCUMCISION WAS UNTO PETER. Peter originally opened...

7._But, on the contrary. _They immediately _gave him the right hand of fellowship_. (Galatians 2:9.) Consequently they gave their testimony to his doctrine, and without any exception; for they produced nothing on the other side, as is commonly done on debated points, but acknowledged that he held the same gospel in common with them, and was therefore entitled to the honors and rank of an associate. Now, one condition of this _fellowship _was, that they distributed the provinces among themselves. They were therefore equal, and there was no subjection on the part of Paul. To “give the right hands of fellowship” means here, to have a partnership settled by mutual agreement. _When they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed to me. _He asserts that he was not indebted to the apostles for the favor of being made an apostle by their consent and approbatio

1-10 Observe the apostle's faithfulness in giving a full account of the doctrine he had preached among the Gentiles, and was still resolved to preach, that of Christianity, free from all mixture of Judaism. This doctrine would be ungrateful to many, yet he was not afraid to own it. His care was, lest the success of his past labours should be lessened, or his future usefulness be hindered. While we simply depend upon God for success to our labours, we should use every proper caution to remove mistakes, and against opposers. There are things which may lawfully be complied with, yet, when they cannot be done without betraying the truth, they ought to be refused. We must not give place to any conduct, whereby the truth of the gospel would be reflected upon. Though Paul conversed with the other apostles, yet he did not receive any addition to his knowledge, or authority, from them. Perceivin...

Verse 7. _BUT CONTRARIWISE_] They were so far from wishing me to alter my plan, or to introduce any thing _new_ in my doctrine to the Gentiles, that they saw plainly that my doctrine was the _same_ as their own, coming immediately from the same source; and therefore gave to me and to Barnabas the right hand of fellowship. _THE GOSPEL OF THE UNCIRCUMCISION_] They saw, to their utmost satisfaction, that I was as expressly sent by God to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles, as Peter was to preach it to the Jews....

THE GOSPEL OF THE UNCIRCUMCISION - The duty of preaching the gospel to the uncircumcised part of the world; that is, to the Gentiles Paul had received this as his unique office when he was converted and called to the ministry (see Acts 9:15; Acts 22:21); and they now perceived that he had been specially intrusted with this office, from the remarkable success which had attended his labors. It is evidently not meant here that Paul was to preach only to the Gentiles and Peter only to the Jews, for Paul often preached in the synagogues of the Jews, and Peter was the first who preached to a Gentile Acts 10; but it is meant that it was the main business of Paul to preach to the Gentiles, or that this was especially entrust

EXPOSITION In the preceding chapter, St. Paul has been concerned to make clear the position that neither the gospel which he preached nor the commission which he held was derived from the older apostles- the history of the first years of his ministry showed this. The apostle is now addressing himself to a different subject; he wishes to show that his gospel, though not derived from the older apostles, had, however, while recognized as standing on an independent footing, received the sanction of their approval. This being his object, he had no occasion to refer in any way to visits which he may have made to Jerusalem between the one mentioned in Galatians 1:18 and the one here referred to. The tenor of his argument, therefore, so far, does not of itself determine whether this visit was either the one mentioned in...

BUT CONTRARIWISE, WHEN THEY SAW THAT THE GOSPEL,.... James, Cephas, and John, were so far from blaming or correcting anything in the apostle's ministry, or adding anything to it, that they highly approved of it; and as a token of their agreement with him and Barnabas, gave them the right hand of fellowship: the reasons of their so doing are inserted here, and in the following verse, and in the next to that: the reason here given is, because THEY SAW THAT THE GOSPEL OF THE UNCIRCUMCISION WAS COMMITTED UNTO ME, AS THE GOSPEL OF THE CIRCUMCISION WAS TO PETER; by "the uncircumcision and circumcision" are meant the Gentiles and Jews; see Romans 2:26 by the Gospel of the one, and the Gospel of the other, two Gospels are not designed, for there is but one Gospel, and not another. Paul did not preach one Gospel unto the uncircumcised Gentiles, and Peter another to the circumcised Je

Galatians 2:1. _Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also. And I went up by revelation,-_ He was sent by the church at Antioch, but the church there was guided by revelation, so that Paul is correct in saying, «I went up by revelation,» Galatians 2:2. _And communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain. But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised: and that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage:_ There were always some among the J

CHAPTER 2 _ 1. How Jerusalem had Confirmed the Gospel Paul Preached. (Galatians 2:1)_ 2. Peter's Failure; Paul's Rebuke and Testimony. (Galatians 2:11) Fourteen years passed by before he ever saw Jerusalem again. What wonderful years of service these years were! The great servant of Christ had preached the divine message in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. The day of Christ will reveal the blessed results of these years. Acts 15:1 must be read to see why Paul and Barnabas went up to Jerusalem. The same false teachers had visited the great Gentile center, Antioch, and taught “except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.” Then Paul and Barnabas were appointed to

A crucial negotiation on equal terms with the Jerusalem leaders, fourteen years later possibly reckoned from Paul's conversion; more naturally from his first interview with Peter. (The point is important for chronology and history (p. 654), but not for the study of Paul's teaching.) The occasion is stated as twofold: a Divine admonition, and a fear of running in vain. Verbally, the last words might mean that Paul needed reassurance as to the legitimacy of his teaching. But Galatians 1:1 forbids that sense, absolutely! What he feared was that his _future success_ might be imperilled, or even his _past gains._ The whole situation corresponds to Acts 15:1, and forbids attempts (p. 770) to identify Galatians 2:1 ff. with...