Galatians 2:6-10

Summary retelling of Galatians 2:6-10

Paul confirms that in spite of the false-brothers, those who seemed influential in the early church showed Paul no reason to force a strict obedience of the law onto Gentile converts like Titus.  In fact, they acknowledged that he had been called to the Gentiles just as Peter had been called to the Jews.  James, Peter (Cephas), and John all extended a hand of fellowship to Paul and Barnabas for their work among the Gentiles.  It was agreed upon that Peter, James, and John would continue to work with the Jews while Paul worked among the Gentiles.  They would be united in their remembrance for the poor.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

One of the main things that Paul is trying to establish in this passage is that there is nothing wrong with the Law for Jews, but there is no reason to mandate obedience to the Law for Gentiles.  To put it in a more modern church context: there is nothing wrong with singing to an organ, but not everyone has to sing with an organ.  Or you might say that there is nothing wrong with the ESV translation of the Bible, but other people can use a different translation and be just fine.  Paul’s point is really simple: we need to be firm in what really matters (salvation by grace through Jesus Christ) and be willing to be flexible on points that are non-salvation dependant.

Do you think we live in a flexible world?  Do you think human beings are flexible in most things?  Why do people stop becoming flexible?  How can we learn where to be flexible and where to not be flexible?

Second Thought:

Peter, James, and John all give Peter the hand of fellowship.  They want to do ministry with Paul.  They want to look upon Paul as being a team player.  Notice that the hand of fellowship is easy to give when we remember to have our priorities correct.  When our focus is on Jesus who saves us, it should be easy to get along with other people whose focus is on Jesus who saves us.

With whom do you have fellowship?  What is the root of that fellowship?

Third Thought:

Paul, Peter, James, and John all agree to remember the poor.  Here we can see the importance of service.  Service is applied faith.  Service is faith in action.  Service is an anticipated and expected response to salvation.  It is right for all of them to agree that they will remember the poor and ask to hold one another accountable for it.

What service do you really enjoy in life?  What service do other people enjoy?  What really makes service enjoyable?

Passage for Tomorrow: Galatians 2:11-14