Verified and Unified - Galatians 2:1-10

Quality control.

It's a good thing.

We love, we need quality control.

We need the things that we consume, the things that we buy, the things that we interact with to be checked, to be tested.

The cars that drive us around as we are behind the wheel have been inspected, have been tested, have gone through rigorous inspection so that we can get from place to place with a higher degree of assurance and safety.

Though accidents still happen, though mistakes are still made, sometimes quality control and things get past the inspection that are supposed to be a certain way, and turns out that they're not what they seem to be.

And as we look to our text today in Galatians chapter 2, I'd like you to start thinking about the things that you interact with.

Galatians 2 · chapter mention

When we look at Paul's words and his defense, his testimony, the quality control that he's going to bring to his readers, he's going to assure them.

He's going to assure them that look, this gospel that I'm bringing you has been tested.

It has been checked.

It is authentic.

It is officially the real thing.

Now, you might buy clothes that have a certain quality control.

You might find little stickers somewhere that might show or indicate that something has been inspected by.

Am I crazy here?

No.

He's not crazy.

And is he bringing, in fact, the original authentic gospel and it is passing the test.

Now, the things that we use in our life, the things that we believe in, the things that we trust to get a job done, we'd like them to do what they're supposed to do.

Am I right?

If you fire up your tractor and you want to go plow a field as a farmer, your livelihood depends on the tools that you use.

Now, the things that you use in this life, specifically the things that you learn, you want to be learning the right things, the things that are actually going to help.

Now, earlier today, I was interacting with some students that were studying for a test, studying for anatomy quiz.

And it's important for our medical professionals to know their stuff, to know how the human body works.

What's more important for you, but more than your physical well-being, is your spiritual well-being.

You need to know that the gospel that you are interacting with, you need to know that it is the right one and that it is effective to save.

That's really important for us tonight.

So let's dive into our text this evening, Galatians chapter 2.

Galatians 2 · chapter mention

We have 10 verses to work through.

And I hope that Paul's checkup and check-in with the apostles in Jerusalem are going to encourage us to look closer to the gospel, to look closer to the only way that we can be saved, and it's only through Jesus Christ.

It's not through anything else, anything added to or taken away from.

Verse 1, chapter 2.

Then after 14 years, this is Paul, 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, privately with the people later named in this text.

James, Cephas, who is Peter and John, going to those who are influential, those who are leading.

Paul is making his way after 14 years.

How many of you are not yet 14 years old in this room?

There's a handful.

There's a handful.

Yeah.

There's a handful.

Imagine that.

Paul's been grinding for the gospel.

He's been going faithfully with steadfast love from the Savior.

He's bringing this gospel message faithfully for 14 years.

Imagine your entire life up to this point has been for one purpose: making disciples for Jesus Christ, giving them the gospel.

That's what Paul's doing.

14 years he's grinding, he's going and going and going.

Have you heard?

Have you heard?

Have you heard?

Surely they haven't heard yet because I haven't been to that town.

You need to know the gospel.

This is Paul's desire.

He's faithfully preaching the gospel.

So he goes up to Jerusalem after 14 years.

He brings some friends, Barnabas and Titus, and this gospel that he he goes, he's proclaiming to the Gentiles.

The gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, he is going to have his work checked for quality control.

He's going to these influential people who seemed influential and saying, look, this gospel that we both agree to is is, are we on the same page here?

Is this the real deal?

Is this the same gospel that you're preaching?

Because I've been preaching this for 14 years.

I'm getting some flack from the haters.

I'm getting some flack from the Judaizers who are saying, you don't have the right gospel, Paul.

You don't have the real deal.

We do.

Paul is going to talk to some influential men, some people that are working hard for the gospel as well.

And he says, I went after I got this revelation, though privately before those who seemed influential.

I'm bringing this gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain.

He wants to be sure.

He wants to be aligned.

He wants to be double checking so that these people would back down.

Listen, all these false accusations of me not having the right gospel, I went and talked to the big dogs in Jerusalem.

I went and talked to the guys at the top, and they're confirming.

I didn't need their approval.

I didn't need their check mark.

I didn't need their nod because I know my gospel is authentic.

I know that it passes every quality control standard because it came straight from the Lord Jesus Christ.

We saw that in chapter one of Galatians.

It comes straight from Jesus himself.

Now that's something that we need to do on a regular basis.

We need to be checking our work.

We need to be checking what we're saying.

Does it align with what the word of God has said?

It's easy to quote from memory, and sometimes Sadie and I will be in a conversation and I'm recalling something completely different in the way that she would recall it.

Oftentimes I will recall the details as being a little more casual.

We're actually, Sadie would, my wife would say, the details in and around this vent were actually kind of kind of intense, kind of hard.

And for me, I'm like, well, it didn't, it was just kind of a passing season.

It's like, no, that was actually a really hard time for us.

You don't remember that?

I'm like, well, it happened, yeah, we're it's over, right?

So we're we're here.

We need people to help us recall what actually happened.

And that's what Paul's doing.

Hey, this gospel, this Lord Jesus Christ, the one who you interacted with in the flesh while he was here on earth before he ascended, this is the same Jesus that I met on the road to Damascus.

He blinded me, he revealed himself to me in glorious light and he changed my heart.

We need to be checking ourselves.

We need to be checking that this gospel that we have an understanding of is aligned and embedded in the foundation of the scriptures.

Let's write this down for point number one.

Match the gospel to the scriptures.

Match the gospel to the scriptures.

At this time, at this point in time, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, those gospels that we're familiar with, the beginning four books of the New Testament, they had not yet been written.

They had not yet been written.

So Paul goes to the guys who saw Jesus face to face.

He goes straight to the source.

The Lord has ascended.

Jesus is reigning in heaven.

And his disciples, who he said, go, your task now is to go and make disciples.

They've been doing that since Jesus ascended.

So Paul is double checking and making sure, guys, am I doing this wrong?

Am I incorrect?

Am I running in vain?

Is all this work, all this effort for nothing, for loss?

Because if I don't have the right gospel, I'm wasting my time.

I'm steering people in the wrong direction.

I'm telling people incorrect details about this God that has made himself known to us.

I want to make sure that I have it right.

And we need to be doing the same thing.

We need to have a correct and accurate understanding of who Jesus is according to what he has revealed to us.

And that's the Word of God, the Bible that we have in our hands today.

It's so, so, so important.

It's so important for us today.

It's so important for Paul thousands of years ago.

We carry on in verse 3.

Paul's continuing.

He says, but even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek.

Now his whole his whole stick with the Judaizers is the law of Moses needs to be added to the gospel, and if not, you're not you're not really saved.

That's that's the message.

That's the gospel of those who would who would seek to undermine the work of Christ, undermine and take away from the work that Paul has been doing for the Lord.

They're seeking to dilute, distort, and twist the gospel, and they think that following the first five books of the Old Testament, the Torah, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, following the different laws of Moses, adhering to the tradition of circumcision, circumcision, and adhering to the different feasts and festivals, if you're not doing all these things, then you're not saved.

But if you do, then you are saved.

That's what the Judaizers were trying to do.

They were trying to preach this and it was it was getting some traction.

So Paul is defending the gospel because he does not want to see people bound by the law.

He does not want to see people buying and subscribing to, turning their bell on for notifications to these false gospel preachers.

Because the false teachers, the Judaizers, are leading people not to heaven, not to be with Jesus, but to be permanently separated from him.

That's the danger.

That's the seriousness of Paul's mission.

He wants to make sure that his gospel, the gospel that was given directly to him from Jesus, is being clearly preached, not distorted, not manipulated with, not tampered with.

This is a serious business for Paul.

And he's saying, look, my Greek friends, Paul's a Jew, he's got dual citizenship.

My Jewish friends are saying, no, we don't need to be circumcised.

We don't need to be following the laws of Moses to be saved.

That's not what Jesus has said.

That's not what Christ taught us.

Even though he's a Greek, he doesn't need to be circumcised in order to be saved.

In verse 4, we carry on.

Paul says, yet because of false brothers secretly brought in, who slipped into spy out our freedom that we have in Jesus Christ, so that they might bring us into slavery.

There's some behind the scenes manipulation happening.

There's some things being being taught, being spread, being talked about in back rooms.

And they're trying to undermine the work of the gospel.

False brothers, those who would claim the name of Christ.

Yeah, we're Christians.

We're of the same family of faith.

Sneaking in, manipulating, tampering with, trying to dissuade people from the true gospel.

This is serious business for Paul.

False brothers, because of these guys, false brothers, enemies of the cross, you could say.

False brothers employed by Satan to draw people away from the gospel that saves.

They're slipping in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus so that they might bring us into slavery.

Slavery to what?

Slavery to the law.

Slavery to a works-based righteousness.

How many of you have perfectly obeyed your mom and dad this past month?

Raise your hand.

The past week?

The past week perfectly?

You guys are prime examples.

Following directions from your parents, ultimately those directions are from the Lord as you're submitting to your parents.

You cannot do that perfectly.

So how how can a perfect resume, a perfect resume save you when you can't when you can't keep it?

You cannot perfectly obey the law from your parents, their commands, their expectations.

How can you perfectly adhere to the laws and regulations, the traditions that are set from the laws of Moses?

How it's a it's a fool's errand.

You're set up for failure.

Paul is saying, why would you submit to this slavery to the law?

You've been freed in Christ.

He said on the cross, it is finished.

We sang tonight, there's no more debt that I owe.

There's no more list of things that you need to do to earn your salvation.

Paul is attacking this lie that the enemy is dispensing.

People are buying it.

People are buying it.

And they're looking to Paul like, hey, like, what's up with your gospel?

I'm working my way to heaven.

I got Jesus and I'm doing good things.

I'm almost there.

I'm working, I'm working, I'm working.

I'm running my way to heaven.

No.

Paul is saying, these people are slippery, they're slimy, they're finding their way in to spy out the freedom that we have in our Lord that they might persuade us out of it.

No.

Paul goes on, says, hey, they tried, but they failed.

Verse 5, to them we did not yield in submission.

Even for a moment.

They didn't get us, not once.

They didn't trick us.

They didn't manipulate us.

They didn't pull us away with tricks and schemes.

Not for a moment.

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

This is the message to the Galatians.

We held strong through the trials, through the storms, through the tactics of the enemy.

We held strong for the sake of the gospel so that you might have the real deal.

So that way you might have the real gospel.

He cares so much about the integrity of the gospel that he is saying, look, they tried, but they failed.

We held strong.

We held firm.

We do not back down.

We fought them off with the truth from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, there's going to be times in your life when you're going to need to stand firm for your faith.

There's going to be times in your life when you need to stand firm for the gospel and defend it.

When asked in the future, you might talk to a coworker, you might talk to someone on your street and say, hey, like, what do you think about heaven?

I think a lot of people in this world are thinking they're good.

They're going to heaven.

They're good enough.

Their goods outweigh their bads.

Their mistakes are small compared to the good things that they're doing.

That's a dangerous lie to buy.

That will lead you to hell.

Because there's not enough good things that we can do to earn our way to heaven.

Because we have failed only one time.

One failure disqualifies us from perfection.

Just one.

One.

And I can think of all the times I've failed just over the past week.

Over a lifetime, we're thinking, all my rights outweigh my wrongs.

That's a dangerous place to be.

That's a works-based gospel.

When we go door to door with people and talk about, like, hey, if God was to ask you, why should you be let into heaven?

Most people say, like, oh, I'm a good person.

I don't do terrible things.

I I go to church occasionally.

I write my mom a letter on her birthday.

I take her out to dinner, you know, on my birthday.

She wants to hang out with me.

I'm doing these good things, these things that are kind, these things that are loving towards other people.

That's why God is going to let me into heaven.

That's that's not true.

That's not true.

And if you if you have friends that are thinking that, if you might, if you might try to engage with someone that that has that has that mindset, I would like to encourage you to say, well, how many good things is good enough?

How do you know?

How can you have a confidence that a certain number of good works is good?

How many goals do you need to score for God in order to be let into heaven?

Is it one?

Is it a hundred?

Is it a thousand?

The answer is you you can't do enough good things.

You cannot earn your way to heaven.

Let's write this down for point number two.

Reject a works-based gospel.

A works-based gospel.

Reject it.

Absolutely not.

Reject it.

Combat the lies of the enemy.

Combat a works-based gospel with Christ's work.

With Christ's work.

Verse 6.

And from those who seem to be influential, what they were makes no difference to me.

God shows no partiality.

And from those who seem to be influential, those people I say who seemed influential, added nothing to me.

Paul is going on to say, look, this gospel that I'm bringing, I went and double checked with the brothers in Jerusalem, those who would be leaders, who would be influential.

And they didn't, they didn't put a stamp of approval on my gospel.

They didn't add anything.

To me.

The gospel that I had is the one of one.

They're not going to add any kind of trim or ribbon or any kind of sparkle to it to make it better.

It's the same one, it's the only one.

No partiality.

God, as he sees a sinner who responds in faith, repentance in faith, whether you're from the continent of Asia, whether you're from the continent of Africa, it doesn't matter where you're from, where you grew up, who your parents are, what religion you formerly were a part of, if you are submitted to Christ, if you are saying Jesus is the only way to heaven, without his work on the cross, without his perfect life that is applied to mine, the righteousness that he had, he gives to me, without the blood of Christ washing my sin away, I am doomed.

I am destined for hell.

And out of the kindness and love and mercy that God had for a sinner like me, I am saved just by believing that he loved me and he died for me.

His perfect life is accredited to my account.

Because Jesus was good enough, he says, if you believe in me, you have eternal life.

That's the only gospel that's going to save you.

Not the gospel, believe in Jesus and do all these good things, do all these good works.

No, Jesus looks at those who are of his own nationality, those who were offspring of Abraham, and he looks to the Gentiles.

He looks to every human being created in God's image and says, I don't have a favorite, I don't have a bias.

If you believe in me, you will be saved.

That's what verse 6 is speaking to.

God shows no partiality.

There's no difference in the eyes of God.

Whether you're a Gentile believer, whether you're a Jewish believer that is following Christ as the Messiah, there is no difference.

As long as you have Christ, you have everything.

Paul goes on in verse 7.

He says, on the contrary, when they, meaning the influential people that are in Jerusalem, we're going to see their names here in just a moment.

On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, that is the Greek, those who are outside of the household of God, outside of the people of Israel, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised.

He's making a contrast here.

He's like, look, my gospel is for these people, just like Peter's gospel is for those people.

We're preaching the same gospel.

The gospel that was entrusted to me.

The gospel that was for the Greek.

That's Paul's people.

That's his mission.

That's his assignment from God.

Go to those who are not from Abraham.

Go to the surrounding nations and bring the gospel, calling people to repent and believe.

Verse 8.

For he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the uncircumcised, sorry, to the circumcised, worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles.

This gospel, he's double checking, he's crossing his T's, he's dotting his I's, he's like, look, this gospel is applicable to anyone who would turn to Christ for forgiveness, who would bend the knee and call Jesus Lord, who would call him master.

It doesn't matter who your who your daddy was, doesn't matter where you grew up, doesn't matter what your upbringing was, doesn't matter if you made varsity as a freshman, doesn't matter if you were a first chair, it doesn't matter if you're a first in class, doesn't matter what color your skin is.

No, this gospel saves and God shows no partiality.

He has no favorites.

He has no favorites.

He goes on to say, speaking of the leaders here, those of influence.

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.

Now the enemy loves to divide, to split up, to weaken through disruption, through chaos, through a lack of reconciliation.

When God's people are not unified, when they are not fixed and focused on the mission at hand, the enemy seems like like he has an upper hand, like he is winning.

And there is some disruption that is going on in the household of God.

Now, as people that are redeemed, people that would call Jesus Savior, Lord, Master, you're going to lead me.

It's up to God to save.

And we have a role in partaking and making disciples.

If you are saved, you have a role to play in God's plan for redemption.

You get to bring this gospel to those who are lost, to those who are wandering without a shepherd.

That is our main objective in the Christian life, to bring God glory and to make disciples.

Now, when we're not unified in that, we're less effective.

When we're not unified in understanding that God is eager to have any person of any color, any ethnicity, he is eager to see people repent, eager to see people turn from their sins, to turn away from their wicked, wickedness and turn to Christ, the only one who can save.

Paul is saying, I've looked I went to Peter, James, and John.

These guys seem to be pillars.

There's some edginess to how he's saying this.

Once they perceived, once they saw that this gospel and this mission, this objective that I had to go and reach people that are not of Abraham, they gave me the right hand of fellowship.

In other words, they dapped me up and said, All right, bro, let's let's run it.

Let's go.

Let's do this.

They did it.

They said, hey, it seems like we're on the same team here.

Seems like we're all pulling the same direction.

We all want to see the same outcome happen for those who are from Abraham and those who are not from Abraham.

They are excited.

They show respect.

When the gospel is shared, it was double-checked.

There's quality control affirmed.

And past, there's a unity.

There's a verification going on.

And they they extend the right hand of fellowship.

Paul's saying, look, the top dogs in Jerusalem, we're all on the same team.

Peter, James, and John, the main leaders, they have nothing against my gospel.

It's the same gospel, in fact.

So as we look to the Galatians, the people that would be reading this letter that Paul's writing, he's saying, like, who else do I need to go to?

They don't give me a green check mark or affirm me in any ways because they don't know they're not adding to the gospel.

We have the same one.

I've been grinding at this for 14 years.

Fourteen years I've been making disciples, I've been faithfully following after the Lord Jesus to go and make disciples of every nation.

The right hand of fellowship was extended.

So let's write this down for point number three.

For us, just like Paul is looking to Peter, James, and John and saying, it seems like we're unified.

Let's write this down for point number three.

Work in unity for the gospel.

Work in unity.

It's not this team versus that team.

It's not NL versus AL.

It's not AFC versus NFC.

It's none of that.

We're all on the same team here.

There's to be no rivalry.

There's to be no unhealthy competition where you're trying to think my gospel is better, the way that I'm delivering it is better.

I'm more effective because I have a unique spin on this.

No.

The gospel that saves is the gospel that saves.

It's the work of the Spirit.

It's the work that God uses through his word, faithfully, boldly, and lovingly preached.

It's the gospel that saves.

And Paul is saying, look, you're trying to undermine me.

You're trying to tell me that my gospel is off, is out of bounds, is off the map, off the res.

This is not it.

My gospel is the same gospel as those who walked with Jesus face to face.

Same gospel.

Our mission, our people group, our target, the Gentiles.

Your target?

The Jews.

We're all seeking to save souls through the gospel.

The gospel is the power of God into salvation.

It's what we use, it's the bold message that calls people to be reconciled to their maker.

And Paul is saying, look, let's stop getting this mixed and twisted.

Let's realize, Judaizers, my gospel is the same as the gospel of Peter, of James, and of John.

We're unified.

You're trying to divide us.

Satan, you're trying to disrupt this gospel message that's being proclaimed.

We're not going to have it.

We're not going to have it.

So go and get lost.

Go bother somebody else.

The final verse draws our attention to those who would be still in Jerusalem and having some needs.

During Pentecost, people would make their way to Jerusalem from the surrounding regions in the Middle East, and they would go there to meet collectively.

And the people that had, the Jews specifically, that had been there for Pentecost, had, some of them had been converted, had been changed from the inside out.

And they were there only for a short time with minimal belongings.

They didn't bring their whole house or whole life and go to Jerusalem.

So these men, Peter, James, and John, John are asking Paul, hey, help out where you can.

Remember them.

Remember the poor.

And Paul is saying, that's my life.

I love that.

What else can I do?

How can I help?

He was there for that purpose, to minister to people, to care for people, to share the gospel with people, to those who are lost and without a shepherd, to those who are both physically, both tangibly and spiritually poor.

That is Paul's mission.

That is his aim is to is to help.

And he's trusting in God to do that.

Now, as you think about today, August 16th, 2026, your understanding of the gospel matters more today than it ever has.

What is your understanding of the gospel?

What is your understanding and relationship between the things that you choose to do, the works that you decide to go and accomplish, and the gospel?

Because if you are adding to the equation of salvation where works is in the mix, this is a dangerous place to be.

And that's what Paul is defending against.

If you have repentance and faith and works equal salvation, that's the wrong gospel.

But if you have repentance and faith, that's all you need to be saved.

You repent from your sins and you put your faith in Christ for salvation, that gives you salvation.

And in salvation, God has work for you to do.

Now this relationship between works and faith can be a tricky one because sometimes we you might hear the evidence of your faith is seen in the fruit, in the works, and the evidence of your salvation, because a new person, a new creation, a new heart is going to desire to follow God, to obey Him.

And typically that looks like doing things, the way you choose to speak, the way that you choose to think, the way that you choose to act.

Now, this encouragement that I have for you at the end of the sermon is this.

Are you concerned more about obeying Christ, loving Him, or are you more concerned about assessing and evaluating the fruits or the good works and then looking to Christ and saying, Am I good enough now?

Am I ready?

Am I in?

You need to look to Christ and say, There's nothing I can do outside of what you've already done.

There's nothing I could do to get to heaven outside of trusting and believing in you, turning from my sin.

If you're looking to Christ and saying, I'm ready to obey you with my life, I'm ready to follow you with all that I am.

You've done so much for me.

You call the shots, you direct me, you lead me, you guide me now.

And everything else is just obedience to the king.

That's that's the place to be.

There's a comfort in that, in knowing that your sins are forgiven, your debt has been paid, and now you have a new master.

It's no longer Satan, it's no longer your flesh.

You seek to love and serve others, serve God, serve the people who have not yet responded to the gospel.

Your life is not your own.

Your life is now, it belongs to Jesus because he is the one that purchased you.

You are his possession.

So I hope that's an encouragement to you as we as we think about Paul's defense against those who would say, but you need to have works in order to be saved.

No.

I hope you have some really rich discussions as we continue on this evening, but I'm going to pray and then we will we will break for some discussion time.

God, it is it is a hard thing to understand when a young mind is trying to understand where they stand before a perfect and holy God.

God, help them to see clearly the gospel.

Help these students to see clearly these two critical terms, repentance and faith.

And God help help them to see that their greatest need is to not work their way and achieve and collect trophies to be pleasing in your sight.

It's it's simply to lay them at your feet, to lay all that we are before the cross and say, the man that that died there was enough.

The man that suffered for me saved me.

The man that was perfect in every way, did not sin, but yet was treated as a criminal.

His death, his life, his resurrection is what saves me.

God help these students to have faith.

Give them the gift of faith, please.

We pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.