Galatians 2:1-10

I wonder if you recognise these words.

Imagine there's no countries, it isn't hard to do,

nothing to kill or die for, and no religion too.

Imagine all the people living in peace.

You can probably all join in here, I won't sing it.

You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one.

I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will be its one.

I love the fact in the first verse, Lennon writes about,

imagine no possessions while he's sitting behind a Steinway piano in his mansion somewhere.

But it's a popular song.

It still is, 40, 50 years I guess, or 40 years after it's written.

Because people long to have unity.

They long to be one, don't we?

And it also contains a popular sentiment that religion is one of the things that divides us.

Religion and nationality.

People believe religion to be divisive, don't they?

We turn on the news, we hear about IS, we hear about Boko Haram,

we see the bloodshed propagated in the name of religion.

And we can see why people think religion is the problem.

And I don't know how you felt as we read these words from Galatians chapter 2.

Galatians 2 · chapter mention

But at first hearing it can sound like religion is divisive.

Here is this ancient argument 2,000 years ago,

people arguing about whether someone should be circumcised or not.

It sounds like typical religious trivia when we first hear it, doesn't it?

And yet as I said in the introduction,

what I hope to persuade you of,

is that actually the outcome of this meeting

was of eternal importance.

More important than life and death,

to me and to you and to all of us here.

So let's say a little bit about the setting.

The setting was Jerusalem, about 47 AD.

The meeting was set up by God, we're told in verse 2.

Paul went to Jerusalem because of Revelation.

In attendance, on one side we had Paul,

Barnabas, who was a Jew,

and Titus, who was a Gentile.

A non-Jew.

As well as Peter, James, John,

the apostles and influential leaders

in the church in Jerusalem,

and some false brothers,

who we'll hear more about in a moment.

Now what was the presenting issue under discussion?

Well, Paul tells us in verse 3, basically.

The issue was circumcision,

or the presenting issue was circumcision.

Even Titus did not have to be circumcised.

Now, what was circumcision all about?

Well, if we think ourselves into Jewish sandals for a moment,

circumcision was very important.

It was something God commanded their forefather Abraham

to do 2,000 years ago.

It was a sign.

A sign of belonging to God's people.

A sign of being in relationship with God.

You might say it was a badge of membership to God's people.

Funny place to wear a badge?

I know.

But it was a badge nonetheless.

And for 2,000 years they've been practicing this.

And so now we're faced with this question.

When a Gentile,

someone who's not a Jew,

someone like Titus,

exhibit A,

sitting in the corner of the room,

when he becomes a Christian,

does he have to be circumcised?

Now,

the heart of that issue really,

is what is required

for someone to be part of God's people?

What is required for somebody to be part of God's people?

What is required for somebody to be loved,

forgiven,

and accepted

by a holy God?

Is it

faith in Christ Jesus?

Or is it

faith in Christ Jesus

plus

being circumcised,

obeying Jewish laws,

doing certain things?

See,

that's the real issue.

What does it take

to be accepted

by the living God?

Now,

if Titus had to be circumcised,

if Gentiles had to be circumcised,

then what that would be saying is,

to be a Christian,

to be a follower of Jesus Christ,

you need to do certain things.

Yes,

you need to believe in him,

but then also,

you have to

fulfil

a whole series of laws.

And that would have

a knock-on effect as well.

That would mean that

if someone like Titus

did not

agree to be circumcised,

then in the church,

you have a

two-tier church.

You have the true believers

who'd gone all the way,

who'd embraced

Jewish identity

and Jewish law.

You have these

sort of second-class ones

who didn't really,

weren't really fully committed.

So that's what's at stake

at this meeting.

In the one corner,

you've got Paul,

a Jew,

Barnabas,

a Jew,

Titus,

a Gentile believer,

a non-Jew believer

in Jesus Christ.

In the other corner,

you've got these

false brothers

Paul speaks about

in verse 4.

They were probably

very committed

to the traditions

and teachings

they'd had.

They were probably

culturally conservative.

You almost hear

the arguments.

What's the damage?

We've circumcised

people for 2,000 years.

We shouldn't just

throw that out now,

should we?

They're probably

proud of their heritage.

So the question was,

which way would it go?

Who would win

this discussion?

Let's think through

what would have happened

if those traditionalists,

those culturally

conservative

false brothers,

as Paul calls them,

had won.

Well,

for any of us men here,

when we profess

faith in Christ,

we have to go down

to the local hospital,

have something done.

We have to embrace

the whole Jewish law.

No more bacon

butties

for lunch.

No more

prawn and avocado

sandwiches from M&S

if that's what you prefer.

Our cultural identity

would have to be Jewish.

Do you see why

Paul is so firm

about this?

See,

more importantly,

it wouldn't just mean

no more

bacon sandwiches.

It would mean

we were saying

our status before God

depended on

what we did.

Depended on how well

we kept certain

laws and rules.

And that's why

Paul stood firm

on it.

Look at verse 5.

See what he says.

And see why

he stands firm

on it.

To them,

the false brothers

that is,

we did not yield

in submission

even for a moment

so that

the truth

of the gospel,

the truth

of the good news

might be preserved

for you.

See,

Paul had huge foresight.

As he looked ahead

he saw this was

a big issue.

And he stood firm

on it.

Well,

for the sake

of the Galatians,

the sake of the

Gentile believers

he was preaching to,

but also for the

sake of you and I

here,

if you are assuming

you are not

for a Jewish

background.

Now what was the

outcome of the

meeting?

Well,

there were several

outcomes.

Look at verse 3.

Titus didn't have

to be circumcised.

Verse 6.

Even those who

seemed influential

added nothing to

Paul.

In other words,

they said,

yes,

the message

you are preaching

really is God's

message.

Now,

what are the

implications for us?

There are the

implications then.

What are the

implications for us?

I want to briefly

run through three.

the first is

it's only the

true good news

that creates

unity.

It's only the

true good news

message about

Jesus Christ

that creates

unity between

different people.

It's a message

that's for all

peoples,

all cultures,

every language,

every background.

And it's a message

that is,

first of all,

deeply humbling.

Because it says,

you have no hope

of being accepted

by God.

because you're a

sinner,

you're a rebel

against him.

It doesn't matter

how smart you are,

it doesn't matter

how religious your

background is,

you are a rebel

against God.

And the only way

to be accepted

by him is through

his son Jesus

Christ,

who died to pay

the penalty for

your rebellion,

arose to new life

to give you new

life.

So that's the

heart of a good

news message.

And it humbles

us all.

It doesn't matter

if, like me,

you've brought up a

Christian home,

being a church

or your life,

or whether you've

just wanted it

off the streets

to hear what

Christianity is

about for the

first time.

We're all in

the same boat.

Everyone's on a

level playing field.

No culture,

no race,

no individual

has anything to

contribute to this

rescue.

And that means

it's deeply

humbling,

doesn't it?

We all stand

on a level

ground,

a level playing

field before the

cross of Jesus

Christ.

Now think about

what would happen

if that were not

true.

If somehow my

obedience,

or my background,

or my learning,

or my culture,

contributed something

to me being right

before God,

then what would

that lead to?

It would lead to

pride, wouldn't

it?

It would lead to

pride, it would

lead to looking

down on other

people.

That happens in

almost every

religion, almost

every sphere of

life.

I don't know if

you've followed

the news recently,

that, for

example, with

the whole

transgender debate

and discussions,

Germaine Greer,

the famous

feminist, has

been barred from

speaking at

certain universities

because she

doesn't want to

call men who

become women

women.

Now leave

aside all those

issues for a

moment.

What fascinates

me is that some

people have now

decided Germaine

Greer, this

ardent feminist,

is beyond the

pale.

She doesn't

measure up to

standards.

Why?

But she's not

speaking the same

things that the

four or five of the

trans-gender debate

are speaking.

See what they're

saying?

You do not

measure up.

It doesn't

matter about

things you've

done in the

past, you do

not measure up,

you're out.

So even in a

secular, atheistic

environment, you get

these in-groups and

out-groups.

Because it's all

based on what

people have done,

whether people

believe the same

as me, whether

they're as

zealous as I

am.

And every

religion does

the same thing.

So the

gospel of Jesus

Christ is

completely different.

It says none

of us have any

hope, none of

us measure up.

It is only

through Jesus we're

put right.

See, the

gospel creates

unity.

The gospel

creates unity.

It says it's

only through Jesus

we can come.

Now probably

none of us have

ever worried about

whether someone's

circumcised or not.

and yet even

today, even in

our churches,

there's always a

danger we end

up creating new

rules that people

have to submit to,

to be a fully

fledged member of

the church.

So I think there's

some churches that

say, you have to

have been baptised

in our church to

be a member.

Well, that

creates a, that

adds to the

gospel.

It's not the

gospel, it's

Jesus plus, that's

no gospel.

It creates

division, not unity,

it makes second

class citizens within

the church.

Or I think of

other churches

that say, you

have to have

certain spiritual

gifts before we

know you really

are a believer.

You must be able

to speak in

tongues, for

example.

But what's that

doing?

It's causing

division.

It's saying

you've got to

have Jesus plus,

that doesn't

create unity, it

creates division.

Or I think of

other churches

where if you

don't hold to a

certain understanding

of Genesis

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

chapters 1 and

2, then

you're probably

not really a

Christian.

Now don't

get me wrong,

don't hear what

I'm not saying.

I'm not saying

it doesn't matter

what you believe

about Genesis

1 and 2, I

believe it does.

We should all

reach biblical

conclusions about

that.

However, as soon

as we say you

have to agree

with me on this

particular issue,

then what do

we say?

We're saying you

need Jesus plus,

and therefore we

destroy the gospel.

We destroy the

unity, and we

create a kind of

two-tier church.

those who are

in, and those

who aren't quite

in.

See, because the

gospel creates

unity, we must be

careful to preserve

the gospel, not

requiring anything

in addition to

faith in Jesus

Christ, to be a

believer, either

explicitly or even

implicitly.

What's the first

implication?

The gospel creates

unity.

But secondly, we

look at this

meeting, we see the

gospel defines the

boundaries of our

unity.

So it's not just

everybody's in, the

gospel defines the

boundaries of our

unity.

You can see that in

verse 4.

Paul talks about

these people who

are false brothers.

They're claiming to

be true, they're

claiming to be

faithful to Jesus

Christ, but actually

weren't.

Why?

Verse 4.

They slipped in to

spy out our freedom

that we have in

Christ Jesus, so they

might bring us into

slavery.

In other words, so

they might create new

rules for us, force

us to follow their

ways.

Now, if we'd met

these people, I'm

sure we'd have

found them very

sincere, I'm sure

we'd have found

them very plausible,

probably very loving

in their attitude,

probably they knew

the scriptures very,

very well indeed.

But they were

false brothers,

Paul says, because

they were not

holding to the

gospel that creates

unity.

They were saying

you need Jesus

plus circumcision.

And if you add

anything to the

gospel, you destroy

it.

Imagine for a

moment, visiting

the Louvre in

Paris, I've used

this illustration

before, it's the

only one I can

think of.

Imagine you're

standing there in

front of that

great masterpiece,

the Mona Lisa.

And you get to

the front of the

queue, it looks

great, there's

thousands of

tourists behind

you.

You think, you

know what, Leonardo

may have been a

great man, but that

smile is pathetic.

You get your pen

out of your pocket,

assume somehow you

can get there and

add a little smile

onto Lisa so she

looks a bit happier.

Now, apart from the

fact, all the

alarms would go off,

and you'd be

arrested in

milliseconds, would

you have added to

the masterpiece or

would you have

destroyed it?

Destroy it, right?

Same with the

gospel, you add to

it, you destroy it.

And it doesn't

matter how sincere

people are, it

also doesn't matter

what their status

is.

Do you notice how

many times in this,

verse 2, verse 6,

Paul talks about

those who seemed

influential, the

pillars of the

church who seemed

influential.

influential.

What Paul's saying

is it doesn't

matter how

influential people

are, how

powerful they

are, what's

important, what's

vital, is they

stick to the true

gospel.

That's why if you

look over the

column to chapter

1, verse 8, he

says there, even

if we or an angel

from heaven should

preach to you a

gospel contrary to

the one we preached,

let him be accursed,

let me cut off from

God.

The standard of

what is right is

not whether people

are sincere and

zealous, it's not

whether they're

respected and have

authority.

The standard of

what is right is

what God has

revealed, the

gospel message he

has revealed.

So you see this

gospel that creates

our unity, that

brings us together

whatever our

nationality and

background, is also

the gospel that

limits our unity.

There cannot be

unity in Christian

mission between

people who do not

believe this good

news message about

Jesus Christ.

So the message

unites us and

defines the

boundaries of our

unity.

Why is that so

important?

Why is it so

important we don't

say, well yeah

Jesus plus a bit of

this will be alright,

Jesus plus agreeing

with me on this

doctrine, Jesus plus

obeying these

certain ways in our

church.

Why is it so

important we don't

add to the gospel

like this?

Well I'll give you

three reasons very

briefly.

First of all as

soon as we do it

robs the church of

its unity.

It allows room for

human pride and

looking down at

other people.

Here it would have

meant the Gentiles

are second class

Christians.

So it robs the

church of its

unity adding to

the gospel.

It also robs God

of his glory.

It robs God of

his glory because

the gospel is all

about what God

has done not what

we do.

And thirdly it

robs believers of

our security and

joy.

It robs believers

of our security and

joy.

In other words

it always has

thought of have I

done enough?

Have I been

circumcised fully?

Have I kept all

the rules?

Do I fail to do

this?

Am I lost?

We end up with

massive insecurity

in the legalism

that comes with it.

That's why it's

so important.

So the gospel

creates our unity

it defines the

limits of that

unity and

thirdly the gospel

propels us forward

in unity with a

purpose.

So you look at

that in verses

7 to 10.

There's this

discussion they

realise that Paul

has been sent to

the Gentiles.

Peter, one of the

other apostles has

gone to the Jews

and they look on

they hear what's

happened.

Verse 9

When they perceived

the grace that was

given to me they

gave the right hand

of fellowship to

Barnabas and me.

In the Roman world

that was a way of

sealing a contract.

Shaking hands,

the right hands.

It was a way of

sealing a contract.

They're saying yes

you've got a mission

from God to go

preach this good

news message to the

non-Jews around the

Roman Empire.

Go for it.

Get on with that

purpose.

Meanwhile, Peter and

the others, verse 8,

will keep going to the

Jews around us in

Jerusalem.

So this unity

was kind of a unity

in mission.

A unity to make the

good news of Jesus

known.

Unity in purpose.

Unity united in

preaching to lost

people, but also

united in sharing

with the needy

people in God's

family.

Look at verse 10.

I can find verse 10.

Here we go.

Only they asked us

to remember the poor,

the very thing I was

eager to do.

This is a practical

outworking of being

saved and loved by a

God who is generous,

by the Lord Jesus

Christ who was rich

yet gave himself,

became poor and

gave himself so we

and him might become

rich.

A natural expression

of that, extension of

that, is that

Christians should be

generous people.

We can be generous

because we're joyful.

Because our identity

is not in the money

we have, but in the

Saviour who has

rescued us.

So you see the

Gospel creates unity

amongst diverse

people.

It defines the unity

amongst diverse

people.

And it propels us

forward in unity.

In the message, in the

mission God has given

us.

The mission to preach

to the lost people.

And to share with the

needy in God's family.

Which is what that is

particularly referring to.

Now not everyone in

this room is going to

be a Gospel preacher

in the sense that I am

standing up here

talking to a room full

of people.

Yet we all have

opportunities day by

day to talk about

the Lord Jesus.

I remember a few

years ago I talked

to a friend of mine

who was in his late

twenties.

He was a bit sad

really.

He was doing very

well in his job.

His wife had two

children at that

stage.

I think we've got

three now.

He said, Stuart,

when we were at

university, my wife

and I, my fiancé

she was then, we

really thought the

Lord would send us

off as missionaries

somewhere to preach

the Gospel in some

far off land.

And we now feel

we're like second

class citizens.

I said, Mike, tell

me about your day.

Tell me what you

do.

His wife was very

involved in the

mothers and toddlers

group.

Mike was working

hard at work but

working in a way

that dawned the

Gospel.

He built up

relationships with

his colleagues.

He was often

praying for his

friends and work

colleagues.

So Mike, you're

doing what God

has called you to

do.

You are seeking to

share the Gospel

where you are.

You're seeking to

share with needy

people in God's

family.

Don't feel second

class.

Just rejoice in

this good news

message that you're

saved not because

you're a missionary

in Thailand or

wherever, not

because you're a

good person, but

because Jesus

died at Christ

died on the

cross for you.

The Son of God

loved you, gave

his life for you,

and now you are

his.

So in gratitude

preserve this

Gospel which

brings unity.

Preserve this

Gospel which

defines and

limits our unity.

And preserve this

Gospel which

sends us forward in

unity to do the

work God has

given us to do.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.