Galatians 2

The Apostles Accept Paul

2Then fourteen years later I went back to Jerusalem again, this time with Barnabas; and Titus came along, too.G1899G1180G2094G1223G305G3825G1519G2414G3326G921G4838G5103G4838G25322I 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.G1161G305G2596G602G2532G394G846G2098G3739G2784G1722G1484G1161G2596G2398G1380G3381G4458G5143G2228G5143G1519G27563And they supported me and did not even demand that my companion Titus be circumcised, though he was a Gentile

.G235G3761G5103G3588G4862G1698G5607G1672G315G40594Even that question came up only because of some so-called Christians 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.G1161G1223G5569G3920G3748G3922G2684G2257G1657G3739G2192G1722G5547G2424G2443G2615G2248G26155But we refused to give in to them for a single moment. We wanted to preserve the truth of the gospel message for you.G3739G1502G5292G3761G4314G5610G2443G225G2098G1265G4314G52096And 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.)G1161G575G1380G1511G5100G3697G4218G2258G1308G3762G1308G3427G2316G2983G3756G444G4383G1063G1380G4323G3762G16987Instead, 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.G235G5121G1492G3754G2098G203G4100G2531G4061G40748For the same God who worked through Peter as the apostle to the Jews also worked through me as the apostle to the Gentiles.G1063G1754G4074G1519G651G4061G2532G1754G1698G1519G14849In 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.G2532G2385G2532G2786G2532G2491G3588G1380G1511G4769G1097G5485G1325G3427G1325G1698G2532G921G1188G2842G2443G2249G1519G1484G1161G846G1519G406110Their only suggestion was that we keep on helping the poor, which I have always been eager to do.G3440G2443G3421G4434G846G5124G3739G4704G2532G4704G4160

Paul Confronts Peter

11But when Peter came to Antioch, I had to oppose him to his face, for what he did was very wrong.G1161G3753G4074G2064G1519G490G436G846G2596G4383G3754G2258G260712When he first arrived, he ate with the Gentile Christians, who were not circumcised. But afterward, when some friends of James came, Peter wouldn’t eat with the Gentiles anymore. He was afraid of criticism from these people who insisted on the necessity of circumcision.G1063G4253G5100G2064G575G2385G4906G3326G1484G1161G3753G2064G5288G2532G873G1438G5399G1537G406113As a result, other Jewish Christians followed Peter’s hypocrisy, and even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.G2532G3062G2453G4942G2532G846G5620G921G2532G4879G846G527214When I saw that they were not following the truth of the gospel message, I said to Peter in front of all the others, “Since you, a Jew by birth, have discarded the Jewish laws and are living like a Gentile, why are you now trying to make these Gentiles follow the Jewish traditions?G235G3753G1492G3754G3716G3756G3716G4314G225G2098G2036G4074G1715G3956G1487G4771G5225G2453G2198G1483G2532G3756G2452G5101G315G1484G245015“You and I are Jews by birth, not ‘sinners’ like the Gentiles.G2249G2453G5449G2532G3756G268G1537G148416Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.”

G1492G3754G444G1344G3756G1344G1537G2041G3551G3362G1223G4102G2424G5547G2532G2249G4100G1519G2424G5547G2443G1344G1537G4102G5547G2532G3756G1537G2041G3551G1360G1537G2041G3551G1344G3756G3956G4561G134417But suppose we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ and then we are found guilty because we have abandoned the law. Would that mean Christ has led us into sin? Absolutely not!G1161G1487G2212G1344G1722G5547G2147G846G2532G2147G268G687G5547G1249G266G3361G109618Rather, I am a sinner if I rebuild the old system of law I already tore down.G1063G1487G3618G3825G5023G3739G2647G4921G1683G384819For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God.G1063G1473G1223G3551G599G3551G2443G2198G231620My old self has been crucified with Christ.

It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.G4957G5547G1161G2198G3765G1473G1161G5547G2198G1722G1698G1161G3739G2198G3568G2198G1722G4561G2198G1722G4102G5207G2316G3588G25G3165G2532G3860G1438G5228G170021I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.G114G3756G114G5485G2316G1063G1487G1343G1223G3551G686G5547G599G1432