Galatians Chapter 2

Opposition to the Judaizers

¹ Fourteen years later, I went up to Jerusalem again, that time with Barnabas, and took Titus along. ² I went up, directed by revelation, to lay out for them the message I was presenting to Gentiles. I met privately with the recognized leaders so I wouldn't be running or had run for nothing. ³ They didn’t consider it necessary to circumcise Titus, a Gentile. ⁴ That trip came about because false believers had slipped in to spy out the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to enslave us to the Law. ⁵ To maintain the truth about the good news, we didn’t back down for one minute. ⁶ The recognized leaders in Jerusalem didn’t contribute anything to me. (Who they were didn’t matter. God doesn’t pay any attention to that.) ⁷ Instead, they saw that God had entrusted me with presenting the good news to the uncircumcised like he’d entrusted Peter with presenting it to the circumcised. ⁸ The One at work in Peter’s apostleship was at work in mine for the Gentiles. ⁹ James, Cephas, and John—recognized pillars—shook hands with me and Barnabas to go to the Gentiles. They’d go to the Circumcision. ¹⁰ The only thing was, they wanted us to remember the poor, and I was eager to do that.                                                                                                                                 

Gal 2:1-10

Paul Confronts Cephas (Peter)

¹¹ When Cephas came to Antioch, I confronted him because he’d condemned himself. ¹² Before some men came from James, [the Lord’s brother], he’d been eating with the Gentiles. But when they got there, he started separating himself because he was afraid of the Circumcision. ¹³ The rest of the Jews joined him in that hypocrisy—even Barnabas got caught up in it. ¹⁴ When I saw they weren’t conforming to the true message, I said to Cephas, “If you’re a Jew but live like a Gentile, how is it that you require Gentiles to live like Jews? ¹⁵ We’re naturally Jews, not Gentile sinners. ¹⁶ We know that no person’s made good by doing the Law, but by trusting in Christ. We’ve put trust in Christ Jesus so trusting him can justify us. What people do under law doesn’t make them good. ¹⁷ But if while we’re trying to be good in Christ, we turn out to be sinners, does that make Christ a minister of sin? Goodness, no! ¹⁸ If I rebuild what I used to tear down, I make myself a sinner. ¹⁹ By the Law I died to law so I could live to God. I’ve been crucified with Christ. ²⁰ It’s not me that’s living, but Christ that’s living in me. What I live now in the flesh, I live by trusting God’s Son, who loved me and gave himself for me. ²¹ I don’t cancel out God’s grace. If law can make us good, there was no reason for Christ^Messiah to die.                                                                                                                                            

Gal 2:11-21