In our text, Paul shifts from standing with Peter to uphold the truth of the gospel to opposing Peter for failing to live in line with that truth. If Peter can quickly forget the gospel's implications and veer off, how much more should we be reminded of the gospel's truth and its implications for our lives?
In A Meeting and a Mandate (Galatians 2:1-10), we explore Paul's defense of the gospel and the unity of the early church around one unchanging truth: salvation comes through faith alone in Christ alone, not by works. Discover how the gospel frees us from striving for acceptance with God and produces a life of joyful obedience through the finished work of Jesus.
In the main body of Paul’s letter, he addresses a question: How do we know that the gospel Paul preaches is the true gospel? Paul answers by describing his personal experience of God’s grace, his reception of the gospel from God rather than from man, and the apostles in Jerusalem affirming the gospel he received from God. By looking at Paul’s story, we will see his defenses against the troublemakers’ attacks and how he illustrates the gospel of grace through his own life.
In love, Paul uses the strongest possible language to convince the churches in Galatia that when a gospel of Jesus plus anything else is preached, it is not the gospel at all. Any revision of the gospel leads to its reversal. If the true gospel is so crucial and each generation has been tempted to veer off and add things to it, how can we ensure that the gospel we believe is actually true? Why does it matter for us to be uncompromising about the gospel?
The book of Galatians is all about the gospel. When we are tempted to say that the gospel is Jesus plus anything else we want to add for salvation, we turn to another gospel, which is no gospel at all. In Paul’s greeting and introduction, he gives us a brief yet comprehensive outline of the gospel message. We will discover who we are, what Jesus did, what the Father did, why He did it, and why God must get all the glory forever and ever.