Galatians 1 – 2
Contents
- Introduction and Salutation (1:1-5)
- The Strong Rebuke (1:6-10)
- The History of Paul’s Conversion and Commission (1:11-17)
- First Encounter with Peter: Paul’s Harmony with the Apostles (1:18-24)
- Second Encounter with Peter: Paul’s Understanding of the Truth (2:1-10)
- Third Encounter with Peter: Paul’s Authority to Rebuke (2:11-21)
Introduction and Salutation (1:1-5)
The Strong Rebuke (1:6-10)
The History of Paul’s Conversion and Commission (1:11-17)
- 1st Encounter (Gal. 1:18-24)…. Showing Paul was in harmony with Peter and the other apostles.
- 2nd Encounter (Gal. 2:1-10)….. Showing Paul’s complete understanding of the Christian revelation.
- 3rd Encounter (Gal. 2:11-13)…. Showing that Paul had sufficient authority to rebuke another apostle.
First Encounter with Peter: Paul’s Harmony with the Apostles (1:18-24)
Second Encounter with Peter: Paul’s Understanding of the Truth (2:1-10)
Third Encounter with Peter: Paul’s Authority to Rebuke (2:11-21)
Peter’s Failure in Antioch (vv.11-13)
Paul’s Public Response to Peter (vv.14-21)
Paul Develops Peter’s Inconsistency (vv.14-16)
The Effect of Teaching Justification by Law (v.17)
The Effect of Teaching Law as a Rule of Life (vv.18-20)
- A new life – the life of Christ in us. This life was in Christ inherently, but we have it in us derivatively, like a leaf gets its life from a tree.
- A new principle to live by – faith as opposed to works. This life is displayed practically by the fruit of the Spirit.
- A new object – the Son of God as opposed to ourselves; the law makes me focus on myself. It is “the faith of the Son of God”, the faith that has the Son of God as its object
- A new motive – love instead of fear.
The Net Result of Legalism (v.21)
The reason why Paul had Timothy circumcised and not Titus is given to us; "because of the Jews which were in those quarters: for they knew all that his father was a Greek" (Acts 16:3). The issue with Timothy was that one parent was Jewish, and so it would raise distracting questions about his ethnicity among the Jews. Paul used his Christian liberty, so that "unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law" (1 Cor. 9:20). Paul did not compromised his principles with Timothy, but had rather used his Christian liberty bring an end to the issue. What the Jews wanted was to reject Timothy because of his mixed background, so Paul had him circumcised! The case of Titus (Gal. 2:3), whom Paul did not compel to be circumcised, made Paul's position very clear. Titus did not pose the same issue. Both the parents of Titus were Gentiles, and Paul would not compel him to take up with Jewish ceremony.