And from those who seemed to be influential…they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me…
Galatians 2:1-10
In Galatia, the Judaizers, false teachers/preachers, spread many rumors about the various trips Paul took to Jerusalem following his conversion. Their seemingly incessant talk of these trips gave Pail reason for spending much of his writings telling his audience why he went there. The Judaizers were trying to prove that the apostles, not Christ Himself, commissioned Paul by highlighting Paul’s visits with Peter, James, and John. On Paul’s second visit to Jerusalem, Peter, James, and John recognized Paul as a fellow apostle. But, from our verses today, Paul was not seeking the pillars of the church to sanction his message when he went to Jerusalem because Jesus Himself initiated this trip, appearing to the apostle and telling him to go to the Jerusalem church. Barnabas, Paul’s co-laborer at the time, and Titus, a Gentile convert who was like a son to Paul, went along with the apostle on this visit. Paul vigorously defended his independent calling as an apostle and the approval of the Jerusalem church upon his ministry was granted. Gentile Christians would get confused about salvation and Paul’s ministry would be hindered if there was any misunderstanding about Paul’s work outside of Judea. Therefore, at the command of Jesus Christ, Paul went to clarify his teaching so that no slander from his enemies could stand and make the other apostles question Paul’s gospel. Many of the problems we have in the church arise from misunderstandings we have about other Christians and the work they are doing. Teachers, especially, can run into difficulties when their words and intentions are misrepresented. As Christians we should follow Paul’s example and work to make sure that we clearly explain ourselves to others. We should also be willing to give others the benefit of the doubt lest we give ear to gossip and thereby sin against God.
Source: S C Ball January 10, 2024
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