Galatians 2:1-10

Paul Accepted by the Apostles

Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace. Recite the Lord’s Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.

1. The date of Paul’s trip to Jerusalem has long been contested, it was either 14 years after Paul’s conversion or after his return from Arabia after three years, so 17 years following his conversion.
2. Titus, a Greek, thus uncircumcised, was accepted by the believers in Jerusalem being led by Peter, which said to Paul that the content of his preaching was accepted.
3. However, mixed in with the believers in Jerusalem were troublemakers who insisted that it was yet necessary to follow the laws of the Old Testament. These persons were “secretly brought in” ––and the how of this remains a mystery. If these were successful, Paul says it would bring in “slavery” to the Law.
4. The believers in salvation by grace there in Jerusalem saw that Paul had been commissioned by God to bring the Gospel message to Gentiles (Greeks) and at the same time, Peter had been commissioned to bring the Gospel to the “circumcised” or Jews.
5. When this reality was clearly observed, the leaders of the church in Jerusalem gave to Paul and Barnabas “the right hand of fellowship,” and it was clear then that they were to go to the Gentiles and Peter and company would go to the “circumcised.”
6. One thing was asked of Paul and Barnabas however, that they were to “remember” the poor, which they readily assented to.