Galatians 2.6-10
“And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me. On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.”
In this visit to Jerusalem, the gospel faced a crucial test: How would the respected church leaders in Jerusalem respond to Paul evangelizing and making disciples among the Gentiles?
First, they “added nothing” (v.6). The Jerusalem leaders endorsed the gospel of grace, and agreed that Paul was not modifying the gospel to be more attractive to Gentiles. They did not think that Moses needed to be studied and obeyed in order to be a “full member” of the church, and they did not think that circumcision and ceremonial laws and food laws needed to be followed.
Second, they officially recognized Paul’s calling to the Gentiles (vv. 8–10). The Jerusalem leaders acknowledged that God had separate callings for Paul and Peter. The Jerusalem leaders affirmed that Paul and Peter taught the same gospel, but each had a separate target for ministry: Paul with the radical, uncomfortable ministry of taking the gospel to the non-Jewish world, and Peter with the ministry to the Jewish people. The leaders acknowledged that God was at work in both missions.
Note that both Paul and Peter proclaimed the gospel to both Jews and Gentiles. The strategy was that Paul specifically targeted Gentiles, while Peter’s primary focus was the Jewish population. As the gospel won its way across the Roman Empire and through history, the converts became less-and-less Jewish and more-and-more Gentile.
Acts 15 provides more detail about Paul and Barnabas visiting the church elders in Jerusalem. I encourage you to read through these passages in Acts carefully so you can have a clear picture of what took place.
“But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.’ And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers. When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, ‘It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.’” (Acts 2.1-5)
Judaizers from Jerusalem had gotten wind of Paul proclaiming the gospel of grace to
Gentiles, and these Judaizers came down to cities where Paul and Barnabas were ministering and taught the new Gentile Christians that, in order to be saved, they had to be circumcised according to the law of Moses. Paul and Barnabas opposed these false teachers with “no small dissension and debate.”
The conflict was not resolved, so the fellowship sent Paul, Barnabas, and some others to Jerusalem to discuss the matter with the church elders. Yet even when they described all that God was doing among the Gentiles, the Judaizers stubbornly insisted the necessity for Gentile believers to keep the law of Moses.
“The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.” (Acts 2.6-11)
After much debate, the apostle Paul eloquently and boldly challenges the Jewish Christian leaders in Jerusalem to fully commit to the gospel of grace.
“And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written,
‘After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things known from of old.’
Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.” (Acts 2.12-21)
The Holy Spirit worked through Paul and Barnabas to bring clarity and conviction to the church elders in Jerusalem that it was not necessary for Gentile believers to adhere to the mosaic law in order to be saved. James, one of the chief elders, speaks for the group and confirms that the gospel message is grounded in grace.
