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GALATIANS - I Have Been Crucified With Christ
Studies in the Letter of Paul to the Galatians
PART 2: THE HISTORICAL EVIDENCES OF THE APOSTOLIC POWERS OF PAUL (Galatians 1:11 – 2:21)
3. The apostles’ conformity to salvation by grace (Galatians 2:1-10)
GALATIANS 2:1-5
1 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and also took Titus with me. 2 And I went up by revelation, and communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those who were of reputation, lest by any means I might run, or had run, in vain. 3 Yet not even Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. 4 And this occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage), 5 to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.
When Paul had experienced, during his long ministry, the triumph of Christ among the Gentile nations in the cities of Asia Minor, he went up with Barnabas, his fellow-worker in faith, to Jerusalem, the center of the lawyers, to confirm the truth of salvation by grace against the deceivers, who preached a holiness produced by keeping the law, beside Christ’s justification of the sinner. The Lord himself gave Paul a vision, and sent him for the purpose that the believers of Gentile origin might not adopt the Jewish rites, but become satisfied with the complete salvation in the cross, since they were free from all old procedures.
To demonstrate the Christian freedom, Paul came to Jerusalem, for Christ had delivered his bondservant from the Jewish prohibition of some foods and drinks, also from separation from non-Jews.
Paul knew that all men were sinful and justified in Christ. He was delivered from the requirements of the law, for Christ had fulfilled the law of God instead of us, and saved us from the literalism of the Jewish yoke. The Christian freedom also means freedom from sin, for we died with Christ to temptations, and the Spirit of his love dwelt in our hearts as a new law, giving us the power to carry out his directions. Thus, we are delivered from death, because the Spirit of the Lord who works in us is eternal life, and therefore, we are saved from all negative powers of the world, and are truly free to serve the living God with thankful conduct and longsuffering holiness.
In demonstration of this freedom, Paul brought Titus, his disciple who was not circumcised, for the power of God produced from the death of Christ appeared evidently in this gentleman to make out of the corrupt one a new man favored with love, truth, and purity. This young man did not know the branched provisions of the law, but he stood fast in his Lord without them. Titus was an incontestable proof of the true religion of grace.
Did you become, as Titus, a living evidence of the power of Christ? Do you still deny the power of the cross through your conduct? Before long, the leaders of Christianity recognized, in this first Ecumenical Council, the fruits of the Holy Spirit in Titus, through his cheerfulness, peace, and patience. Nobody compelled this Greek brother to keep the law and circumcision, when the Holy Spirit had circumcised him in his heart. Thus, by accepting the representative of the Gentile church, they also accepted the new churches themselves, with the principle of grace, and the free salvation, which was only worked out on the cross. However, some other believers did not trust the apostle Paul, for they did not imagine that man could be saved without keeping the law with all its extended ramifications, and they sought to build salvation on the works of man, not only on grace. Therefore, Paul attacked them publicly with love that the teaching of salvation by faith might not be weakened because of false opinion and judgment, and he proved to them than man can only be saved by faith in the blood of Christ, and not by the works of the law.
PRAYER: O heavenly Father, we thank you because you saved us from the bondage of law, of our sins, and of death, by the atonement of the Crucified, and you made us free to serve you in the power of your Spirit. Help us not to mix humanity with your grace, or seek to sanctify ourselves by human laws, but to hold fast to the salvation fulfilled on the cross, that we may glorify you with all those who are free in your Holy Spirit.
QUESTION:
- What is the Christian freedom?