Day 4 - Galatians 2:1-10

 Then fourteen years later I went back to Jerusalem again, this time with Barnabas; and Titus came along, too. 2 I went there because God revealed to me that I should go. While I was there I met privately with those considered to be leaders of the church and shared with them the message I had been preaching to the Gentiles. I wanted to make sure that we were in agreement, for fear that all my efforts had been wasted and I was running the race for nothing. 3 And they supported me and did not even demand that my companion Titus be circumcised, though he was a Gentile.

4 Even that question came up only because of some so-called believers there—false ones, really—who were secretly brought in. They sneaked in to spy on us and take away the freedom we have in Christ Jesus. They wanted to enslave us and force us to follow their Jewish regulations. 5 But we refused to give in to them for a single moment. We wanted to preserve the truth of the gospel message for you.

6 And the leaders of the church had nothing to add to what I was preaching. (By the way, their reputation as great leaders made no difference to me, for God has no favorites.) 7 Instead, they saw that God had given me the responsibility of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as he had given Peter the responsibility of preaching to the Jews. 8 For the same God who worked through Peter as the apostle to the Jews also worked through me as the apostle to the Gentiles.

9 In fact, James, Peter, and John, who were known as pillars of the church, recognized the gift God had given me, and they accepted Barnabas and me as their co-workers. They encouraged us to keep preaching to the Gentiles, while they continued their work with the Jews. 10 Their only suggestion was that we keep on helping the poor, which I have always been eager to do.


Terrie's Comments:

It is important to have mentors in the faith so we remain steadfast in the right direction.  It is also important to know the truth for ourselves and to trust the witness of the Holy Spirit in us so that we remain on the right path that God has for our lives.  It is important because we need to be able to discern what comes from God and what does not.  Many things may seem scriptural in our world at first glance but when we examine them according to the scripture and the inward witness of the Holy Spirit they don't line up.  If we are not careful to examine things for ourselves we can become enslaved by the belief structures of others that don't quite line up completely with what the Bible actually says. 

It is important to not put any person in the place of God... God's word should trump what anyone else says.  We are all human and we all know how communication is flawed because of it's very nature.  What we hear may not be what the person said or what they meant to say or what the intended to say or what they intended for you to hear..... the possibilities are endless. 

Paul respected his elders in the faith but wasn't ready to put them in the place of God.  He readily and eagerly accepted what they said when it lined up with God's word to him.  Because Paul had a right perspective on the authority of God vs People in his life, he was able to not be sidetracked by people who contradicted the word of God.   

Tori and I have decided to have WORD STUDY WEDNESDAYS!!!  HURRAY.  What this means is that we will be choosing word or words to look up in the original Greek or Hebrew so we can understand better the original intent of the passage :-)  We hope that this will be of benefit to all of you :-) 

The word enslave in verse 4 comes from the Greek word katadouloo.  It means to enslave utterly: - bring into bondage.  The word katadouloo only appears 2 times in the Bible.


Tori's Comments:

"God revealed to me that I should go" I guess that's what he did during all of those years... digging deep into God and seeking Him.

We have to be careful not to add chains to ourselves, and not to choose traditions over Christ. Or anything over Christ, really. 

They accepted them as co-workers? How cool that they were so supportive and encouraging. Of course, they would've seen Paul and Barnabas as family members.

The word Revealed in verse 2 was translated from the Hebrew word Apokalupsis it means disclosure, appearing, coming, lighten, manifestation, be revealed, revelation.  The word Apokalupsis appears 18 times in the Bible.


Take our personal comments or leave them. We would love to hear what stood out to you about today`s passage and how it encouraged you. Tell us in the comments below!