Gospel Unity

Well, good morning, church. Would you turn with me to Galatians chapter 2? We are looking at verses 1-10 today.

Galatians 2 · chapter mention

! As you turn there, I just want to express some thanksgiving for all the good things that have been happening lately in our church body,

the three-week women's Bible study that just concluded, the men's breakfast yesterday. I also continue to hear about good things happening in small groups.

How many of you, raise your hand, are part of a Trinity small group? It's like 90% of the church right here.

So, you know, I'm sure there were lots of hands at home too. You know, it's encouraging to see the Word of God reverberating in our church fellowship

as we build each other up in love, as Paul says in Ephesians 4. Well, let's go ahead and take a look at our passage in Galatians 2.

As we come to this text, let me pray for us. Father, help us now as we come to Your Word. Lord, would we be edified by Your Spirit?

Would we be built up in love? Would we be strengthened in our faith? Would we be renewed in our hope?

We ask this in Christ's name. Amen.

All right, Galatians 2, 1-10. Paul writes this,

Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus,

so that they might bring us into slavery, to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment,

so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.

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.

So, our passage today is about unity in the gospel, gospel unity.

Now, let's remember the context here.

In these early chapters of Galatians, Paul is responding to false charges and criticism

that he not only received his gospel message from the other apostles in Jerusalem,

but also that he had been misrepresenting the gospel that the other apostles preached.

In other words, there were false teachers in Galatia saying that Paul's message was both derivative and deficient,

kind of like a photocopy of a photocopy, all kind of blurry and darkened and faded.

They were saying that his gospel wasn't the real thing.

So, in response to these charges, Paul, in chapters 1 and 2 of Galatians, gives us some autobiography.

In fact, if you're looking for a handy outline of the book of Galatians, chapters 1 and 2 are biography,

Galatians 1 · chapter mention

chapters 3 and 4 are theology, and chapters 5 and 6 are ethics.

And Paul's going to walk through each of those as we go through this book.

But in these first two chapters, he's giving us some autobiography.

In chapter 1, we heard Paul tell the story of how he received his gospel not from the other apostles,

but directly from Jesus Christ himself.

In chapter 1, verses 11 through 24, Paul tells the story of how his apostolic message and ministry

were not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead,

which is how the book starts in verse 1.

So, last week we saw Paul respond to this false charge that his gospel isn't the real gospel

by showing how he received it directly from Jesus independently of the other apostles.

But today, in the passage we just read from chapter 2, Paul now argues that even though his gospel

doesn't depend on the other apostles, it is in fact the same gospel that they preach.

Here, Paul recounts how some of the apostles in Jerusalem, far from preaching a different gospel than Paul,

affirmed and validated Paul's gospel as their gospel too.

In other words, despite what the false teachers were saying to the Galatians,

Paul's gospel and what we might call the one true apostolic gospel are one and the same.

The gospel, the gospel, the gospel, the gospel, the good news, that God justifies sinners,

whether Jew or Gentile, by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, apart from our works.

That is the one true apostolic gospel.

So, don't let anyone deceive you or mislead you, Paul says.

This isn't just my gospel, Paul's saying.

It's the gospel.

God raised Jesus from the dead.

He is Lord and Christ.

And all who are united to the Lord Jesus by faith are released from all their guilt,

accepted as righteous in God's sight,

and become full members and participants in God's family and God's kingdom.

So, what we have here in chapter 2, verses 1 through 10,

is Paul recounting an episode from earlier in his life

where this apostolic unity in the gospel was affirmed and established.

And with the time that we have, I want to take a closer look at this gospel unity

because I think there are a lot of things that we can learn from it today.

I want to pull out three lessons for us.

The first one is this.

Gospel unity is worth pursuing.

Gospel unity is worth pursuing.

Look again at verses 1 and 2.

Paul says,

Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas,

taking Titus along with me.

I went up because of a revelation and set before them,

though privately, before those who seemed influential,

the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles

in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain.

Now, Paul here is most likely describing the visit

that he and Barnabas made to Jerusalem at the end of Acts 11.

If we pick up where our first Scripture reading left off this morning,

we read this.

It says,

Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch,

and one of them, named Agabus, stood up and foretold by the Spirit

how there would be a great famine all over the world.

This took place in the days of Claudius.

So the disciples determined everyone according to his ability

to send relief to the brothers living in Judea,

and they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Sahal.

So, we see there that Paul and Barnabas went up to Jerusalem because of a revelation

that a famine was soon to come, and they brought relief to the churches in Judea.

But while Paul is there, he makes an express point to go to the other apostles living in Jerusalem

and to make sure that they are proclaiming the same gospel.

Now, why does Paul go through the trouble to set up this private meeting?

Well, he says,

Now, Paul doesn't mean that he was worried over the accuracy or truthfulness of what he was teaching.

He wasn't sort of checking in with the Jerusalem apostles to see whether he had gotten it right or wrong, right?

He had been doing ministry for 14 years at this point.

According to chapter 1 of Galatians,

Paul was quite sure that the message he received was from Jesus himself.

It was the true gospel.

So, if Paul didn't have misgivings about his own preaching, what was he concerned about?

Well, Paul realized that if he and the leaders in Jerusalem were not on the same page,

then all his work among the Gentiles would be severely threatened.

Why?

Well, you know why, right?

Imagine Pastor Matt got up one week and said,

God saves sinners through faith in Christ, so believe in Him and be saved.

And then the next week I got up and said,

God saves sinners through faith in Jesus Christ,

if you also get circumcised and keep the regulations of Moses.

So, believe in Jesus, get circumcised, keep the law, and then you'll be saved.

Well, everything that Matt had done the previous week

would be severely undermined by me the following week.

And that's exactly what Paul didn't want to happen

between his and Barnabas' ministry in Antioch at this point in history

and the apostles' ministry in Jerusalem.

So, their gospel unity was worth pursuing.

Why?

So that their labors wouldn't be in vain.

As Paul and Barnabas pioneered the gospel work in Antioch among the Galatians,

they knew it was vital to establish the unity of the gospel message.

They needed to be proclaiming the same gospel

or else their labors would be in vain.

So they took the time to meet together

and to talk through what they believed and why

to make sure that they held the most important thing in unison.

Gospel unity is worth pursuing.

Now, today, this is important still.

It's important between local churches, right?

We want to partner with other churches

who believe and proclaim the biblical gospel.

Of course, it takes time to get to know other ministries

and other leaders in our city.

It takes time to learn about church planting networks,

with whom we're on the same page, right?

It takes time to get to know other congregations

throughout our region.

But this unity in the gospel is worth pursuing.

I'm incredibly grateful that Trinity can be a part of church networks

that hold the gospel in common,

whether it's our local Connecticut Baptist Association

or whether it's our New Haven Network,

Bridges of Hope with other gospel-preaching churches,

or whether it's the gospel coalition nationally.

We want to pursue this gospel unity.

You see, local churches aren't meant to be just little islands

pretending as if we can simply do it alone.

We need to pursue unity in the gospel with other churches

so that we don't run the race in vain.

But this isn't just true between local churches.

It's even more true within a local church.

Our unity here at Trinity is grounded in one thing,

the gospel of Jesus Christ.

If as fellow members of the church we don't hold the gospel in common,

then surely all our labors will be in vain.

I've actually witnessed churches where unity is not based on the gospel,

but on family heritage or mutual friendship

or on appreciation for a certain tradition

or on a worship aesthetic

or on similar, you know, interests in social causes.

And eventually, friends, those churches fall apart.

Most churches that splinter and die

or that wither in stagnation do so

because they haven't done the necessary and hard work

of pursuing unity in the gospel.

So at Trinity, we ask every incoming member,

tell me, what's your understanding of the gospel?

In a nutshell, what is this life-saving good news?

We want to ask that question and pursue it.

We want to make it a point to put the gospel front and center

because if we don't have unity in the gospel,

then we're simply running in vain.

And, you know, this isn't true just between local churches

or within local churches.

I mean, think about some of our most important relationships, right?

I think we can also say that pursuing unity in the gospel

is critical in something like marriage, for example.

If you're considering a potential spouse,

unity in the gospel is absolutely necessary.

If you don't share a common understanding of the gospel,

then your marriage simply won't have the foundation

to support you through all the ups and downs

and trials and joys of married life.

And if you're already married

and you find that you don't currently have this sort of unity,

then make it your regular, earnest prayer

that God would bring this about.

Call out to God.

Go to His throne of grace.

He hears your prayers.

So we see first that gospel unity here

is worth pursuing.

The next lesson we see is that

in our pursuit of gospel unity,

gospel truth must be defended.

In our pursuit of gospel unity,

the truth of the gospel needs to be defended.

We see this in verses 3 through 5,

where Paul says,

but even Titus, who was with me,

was not forced to be circumcised,

though he was Greek.

Yet, because a false brother

secretly brought in,

who slipped in to spy out our freedom

that we have in Christ Jesus

so that they might bring us into slavery,

to them we did not yield in submission

even for a moment

so that the truth of the gospel

might be preserved for you.

You see, Paul knew that the very truth

of the gospel was at stake

when these false brothers slipped in

to his meeting with the other apostles,

and they began, presumably,

to demand that Titus be circumcised

if he was going to have fellowship with them.

Now, why did Paul perceive

that the truth of the gospel was at stake?

Well, because they were adding

a necessary requirement to salvation

over and above what Christ had accomplished

through his death and resurrection, you see.

And whether these false brothers,

as Paul calls them,

thought of circumcision

as an act of moral obedience

or as an identity marker of being Jewish,

it doesn't really matter.

To require anything in addition

to Jesus' person and work

as a necessary condition of salvation,

as a necessary condition

to be accepted into God's family,

to put any other necessary condition

or requirement on top of what Jesus has done

is to jettison the very heart of the gospel.

So Paul here is unyielding, he says.

Now, if you know the story of Acts,

you know that in a little while

after writing the book of Galatians,

Paul actually does circumcise

another one of his young partners in ministry

named Timothy

before they go off

on another one of their missionary journeys.

So what's the difference?

Why be utterly unyielding with Titus

but then be super flexible with Timothy?

I mean, did Timothy sort of like

draw the short end of the stick here?

Like, what was going on?

Well, the difference is obvious, right?

The difference is that in the case of Titus,

circumcision was being made a requirement

for salvation.

It was being made a necessary part

of the gospel itself.

Whereas with Timothy,

it was done in freedom.

It was done willingly

in order to lower barriers

between himself and unbelieving Jews.

The one case threatened the gospel.

The other case was an expression of love

for the lost flowing out of the gospel.

That's a big difference.

And Paul saw the difference.

And in the case of Titus,

he was unwilling to yield at all

so that the truth of the gospel

might be preserved.

Friends, are we also willing

to be unyielding

when the truth of the gospel is at stake?

And like Paul,

are we motivated to be unyielding?

Not for the sake of our pride,

not for the sake of our reputation,

but for the sake of others.

Notice, Paul says,

so that the truth of the gospel

might be preserved for you.

In that moment in Jerusalem

with Titus and Barnabas

and the false brothers

demanding circumcision,

it wasn't Paul's pride

that was on the line.

It wasn't about Paul being right

and then being wrong.

It was all about

the Gentile believers

and whether they would be assured

and grounded

in the real freedom of the gospel.

Paul's heart in that moment

was beating for the men and women

who had turned to God from idols

to serve the living and true God

and to know the liberating grace

of the Lord Jesus Christ,

to be free from guilt and shame.

His heart was beating

for those who were once far off

but had been brought near.

How?

By the blood of Christ.

If Titus was forced

to be circumcised,

if Paul went along with it,

then the gospel of grace

for all people would be lost.

Do we see the truth

of the gospel in this way?

It's not just about

winning theological points

or being a part

of a certain tribe.

It's about the souls

of men and women

really coming to know

the life-changing power

of the gospel of grace.

It's about really knowing

the finished work of Christ

and the freedom from guilt

and dominion of sin

and the law.

So when we are unyielding

about central things,

the authority of Scripture,

the exclusivity of Christ,

the substitutionary work

of the cross,

justification by faith alone,

the bodily resurrection,

these core gospel truths,

when we are unyielding

on those things,

it's not because

we're being doctrinaire

or because we relish

a good theological fight.

It's because we love

the people for whom Christ died

and we don't want anything

to keep them from knowing

Christ crucified

and the real glory

of the gospel of grace.

So as we pursue gospel unity,

yes, the truth of the gospel

must be defended at times.

There can be unity in the gospel.

There cannot be unity

in the gospel

without the truth of the gospel.

So we don't yield

when the gospel is at stake.

And now we come to our last point.

We've seen that gospel unity

is worth pursuing

and we've seen that

in our pursuit of gospel unity,

the truth of the gospel

needs to be defended.

The last point is this.

In our pursuit of gospel unity,

not only must gospel truth

be defended,

but gospel love

must be expressed.

The love of the gospel

must be expressed.

Look again with me

at verses 6 through 10.

Paul says,

and from those who seem

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.

That is,

they added nothing

on top of the gospel, right?

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,

that is God,

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,

that's Peter, right,

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.

So you see,

the gospel produces

not just courage

that refuses to yield,

but it also produces love

that refuses to be partial

or partisan.

You see that here?

Notice how often Paul says,

what they were

makes no difference to me.

Yes, the apostles in Jerusalem,

James and Peter and John,

they seemed influential.

After all,

wasn't James

Jesus' brother?

Weren't Peter and John

part of Jesus' inner group

of the disciples

during His earthly ministry?

People, it seems,

had been looking up to them,

respecting them,

viewing these three

as pillars

in God's new temple,

the church,

viewing them as

more significant

than the other apostles.

apostles.

And as humans,

don't we have

a natural tendency,

right,

to kind of elevate

personalities

and then to create

kind of tribes

or cliques?

But Paul says,

look,

what they were

makes no difference to me.

God shows no partiality.

To some,

they might have seemed

more influential

than the other apostles.

To some,

they might have seemed

like the real pillars

of the church.

But Paul says,

their apostolic message

and their apostolic ministry

was in reality

no different than His.

Before the Lord Jesus Christ,

they were equal.

There was no partiality.

And that is what

the apostles affirm

in this moment.

They see that God

had given His empowering grace

both to Peter

and Paul alike

and to all the apostles.

Yes,

they may have had

different mission fields,

Peter primarily

to the Jews,

right,

Paul primarily

to the Gentiles,

although of course

there was lots

of overlap there.

But,

they have the same message,

the same empowering grace,

and most importantly,

the same Lord,

the Lord Jesus.

And that means

they can put

personality aside.

They can put

partisanship aside.

They can put

the opinions

of others aside.

and they can extend

the right hand

of fellowship

to one another.

They can reach out

across all of that

and give each other

the embrace

of gospel unity.

They can be genuinely

for each other's ministry

because they know

that they serve

the same Lord

and the same kingdom

and the same mission.

You know,

this is why we pray

for other local churches

regularly in our services.

praise God

that Trinity

isn't the only local church

in New Haven

that proclaims

the biblical gospel.

We couldn't even fit

that many people

in our sanctuary, right?

It's got to be more than us.

So, we pray

for other faithful churches

because we serve

the same Lord

and we preach

the same message

of grace

and we serve

the same kingdom

and we serve

the same king.

Just as Peter

and Paul

weren't in competition

with one another,

so we aren't

in competition

with Christ Presbyterian Church

or with Vox Church

or with Christian Tabernacle

or St. John's

or Elm City Vineyard.

If any church

proclaims

the biblical gospel

faithfully,

then we can extend

the right hand

of fellowship.

Now, that doesn't mean

that what we might call

our secondary doctrines

and practices

are completely irrelevant,

right?

I think there are

really good reasons

to preach

expositionally,

to practice

believer's baptism,

to sing old hymns

and contemporary songs,

to have a plurality

of elders,

to prioritize meeting

in person

rather than virtually

when it's not a snow day,

right?

I think I can give

some really good reasons

why churches

should do these things.

And I think it's good

to attend a church

that does these things.

But you know what?

Those things aren't

the gospel.

They aren't matters

of first importance.

Are they important?

Absolutely.

Some of them

are very important.

Are they of first importance?

No.

So we can extend

the love of the gospel

and the right hand

of fellowship

to our brothers

and sisters

with whom we may

disagree

about secondary issues.

We can partner

in ministry together

like we do

through Bridges of Hope.

We can pray

earnestly for each other.

We can worship

and work together

for Christ's sake

because we hold

the matters

of first importance

together.

But love doesn't

stop there.

Paul ends the passage

by saying,

only they asked us

to remember the poor,

the very thing

I was eager to do.

You see, friends,

we are saved

by faith

in Christ alone.

But saving faith

is never alone.

The faith

that unites us

to Christ,

the living Lord,

is a faith

that inevitably

issues forth

in love and good deeds.

In Christ,

we're a new creation.

The old has passed away,

the new has come.

Paul will say

a little later

in this chapter,

it's no longer

I who lives,

but Christ who lives in me.

Amen.

All his heavenly riches

and became poor

in our place,

he emptied himself

so that we,

through his poverty,

might become

spiritually rich.

And so,

having received

such a gift,

how could we not

now turn

to those in need

and seek

to meet their needs?

Now,

think about it.

Of course,

if I think

that my salvation

before God

is based

on something

I've done

to deserve it,

whether that be

my circumcision,

like the false teachers

in Galatians

we're teaching,

or my moral efforts,

or my regular

church attendance,

if I think

my salvation with God

is based on something

I've done

to deserve it,

then I am much

more likely

to view the world

through the lens

of who does

and doesn't

deserve

my help.

After all,

if God

only saves

those who

do something

to deserve it,

shouldn't I

treat others

the same way?

And,

if I think

I've actually

done something

good enough

or smart enough

or spiritual enough

to earn

God's salvation,

then how could

I not expect

others to be able

to pull themselves

up by their

bootstraps

and help

themselves?

But,

friends,

that's not

the gospel.

The gospel

says that you

and I

are sinners.

We've made

a wreck

of things

with God

and we can't

earn our way

out.

God's rescue

is completely

and totally

by grace.

When we were

dead in our sins,

Christ made us

alive.

In other words,

if you believe

in justification

by faith alone,

there's no way

you should view

the world

through the grid

of deserving

and undeserving

because you

and I don't

deserve anything

good that we've

received.

It's all of grace.

And that changes

how you see

those in material

need,

especially fellow

Christians.

The poor here

in verse 10

probably referred

specifically to

those suffering

churches in Judea

that Paul and

Barnabas and

Titus had gone

there to help

in the first

place.

And Paul says

he was eager

to help them.

And when we

read the rest

of Paul's

letters,

we see that

a large part

of his ministry

among the

Gentile churches

was organizing

a financial

collection that

would then be

sent back to

help those

Jewish Christian

churches in

Judea who

were materially

in need.

You see,

the gospel

of grace

cuts across

racial,

ethnic,

national,

socioeconomic

lines.

It creates

a whole new

humanity that's

bonded together

in love.

So we're

eager to help

when we hear

of needs.

But not

just,

not just

for our

fellow

Christians.

Historically,

Christians have

cared for the

poor whether

they're Christians

or not.

Why?

Because again,

is this not

the very

logic,

the very

heartbeat

of the

gospel.

Grace.

Amazing grace,

how sweet

the sound

that saved

what?

A pretty

good guy

like me.

No,

a wretch

like me.

I once

was lost,

but now

I'm found.

I was blind,

but now

I see.

When I was

an outsider,

Christ left

everything to

bring me in.

when I was

far off,

he went out

into the

far country.

I was

condemned,

so he was

condemned.

I was dead,

so he died.

I was poor,

so he became

poor.

And through

his death

and his

poverty and

his condemnation,

through that,

he rose

victorious

and rose

me with

him

and rose

you with

him

if you've

put your

trust in

him.

And do you

see that?

Do you

see then

that the

way to

life,

to real

lasting

resurrection

life,

isn't through

amassing

wealth for

myself,

but through

giving out

of any

abundance that

I have

to those

in need.

The way

to life

isn't through

ignoring the

poor or

the needy

or the

suffering of

this world,

but remembering

them.

And together

with all the

church,

letting our

resources meet

their needs

wherever we

can.

the very

thing I

was eager

to do,

Paul says.

Of course,

of course.

How could

the gospel

not make

you eager,

eager to

live out the

love of the

gospel because

we have first

been loved?

Let's pray.

Father in

heaven,

help us

to live

out this

gospel unity.

Unite us

as a local

church together

around this

wonderful,

life-saving

message of

Jesus crucified

and risen.

Lord,

help us to

forge good

relationships

with other

like-minded

gospel-preaching

churches that

we might advance

your gospel

all the more

winsomely and

effectively

together.

And Lord

Jesus,

help us

to be a

church of

unyielding

commitment to

truth and

passionate,

compassionate,

eager love for

those in need.

We pray this in

Jesus' name.

Amen.