Galatians 2:1-10
“They Added Nothing” January
29, 2006
SI: The rest of chapter 1 and most of chapter 2 called
auto-biographical section.
Paul recounts his conversion and early
Christian experience.
Visit he made to
Visit Peter made to
Purpose of these stories to
disprove the accusations of some people
in Galatian churches who were saying that that Paul out of
step with other
apostles—that he
had a different message from them.
Also using
these stories to illustrate the gospel in number of important ways.
After Paul was converted,
made a very brief visit to
got acquainted with
Peter and James—then he was away for 14 years.
Spent that time preaching to
Gentiles—ended up at most famous Gentile church—
church in
INTRO: How many of you have a Bible verse displayed somewhere
in home?
Maybe it’s copied in nice
calligraphy and framed—
or maybe it’s
handwritten and taped to your refrigerator.
We have a framed cross stitch
someone gave us of Galatians 5:22-23.
The fruit of the Sprit is love, joy, peace .
. .”
In the girls’ bathroom on the
mirror is a 3X5 card and on it Allison
has written that
verse from Proverbs 31:
“Charm is deceitful and beauty is fleeting,
but a woman who fears the Lord, she . . .”
We pick Bible verses that
speak to us.
I want to suggest a verse
from this chapter that is worthy to display in your home.
Verse 3:
“Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised,
even though he was
a Greek.”
That verse is worthy of being
copied in calligraphy and framed and hung
in a place where
you will see it every day.
Because such a vivid
expression of the Gospel and the freedom you have in Christ.
The Gospel means Good News.
The Good News is that you are
at peace, forgiven, accepted by God the Father
through Jesus
Christ plus nothing.
You bring nothing to God for
your salvation.
No religious rituals—no baptism, no
circumcision.
No morality—No feelings—No promises—No
resolutions
You simply come to God
trusting that Jesus Christ has done everything for you.
And on the basis of what He has done—
and absolutely
nothing that you have done—you are made right with God.
The rest of the Christian
life is simply understanding that,
believing it more
deeply, and working out the implications of it in every area.
That takes a lifetime.
A little child can understand the Gospel.
And a person who has known the Lord for many
decades still searches its depths.
What we have in this passage
is Paul’s account of a visit he made to
14 years after he met the risen Lord Jesus
on the road to
Paul said that he went to
Acts 11 tells us what that was.
A man in the church in
that there was
going to be a famine in
When the
Let’s take up an offering and send it to the
so that their
deacons will have money for mercy needs when famine comes.
So they took up the
collection and sent Paul and Barnabas to
But Paul went with another
reason in mind.
He went to meet with the leaders of the Jeru church—Peter, James, John—
to set before them
the Gospel he had been preaching for past 14 years.
He didn’t do this to get
their approval or because he wasn’t sure if he was right.
He did it to find out if they
were still preaching the same Gospel they had been
preaching 14 years
earlier when Paul first met them.
Paul wanted to know if they
were still saying that a person is right with God
by faith in Jesus
Christ plus nothing.
He was fearful that he would
be disappointed.
Because there was a growing
controversy in all parts of the church—
controversy led by
a party of Jews who had converted to Christianity—
who were saying
that faith in Jesus is not enough. (called Judaizers)
You also have to keep the law of Moses—
specifically, Gentiles
also have to be circumcised in order to be saved.
So Paul wondered what he was
going to find in
Would he find just Jesus or Jesus plus.
So there was this remarkable
meeting—Peter, James, John, Paul—
All the New Testament
except Matthew, Hebrews, Jude written by these four.
And what was the sum of the
meeting? “They added nothing to my
message.”
As proof that there was no misunderstanding—
Paul took along an uncircumcised Greek
Christian—Titus.
Let’s make sure we understand—what
about him? Does he have to be
circumcised?
And the answer was clear—Titus was not
compelled to be circumcised.
So the Gospel message was
re-affirmed. Jesus
plus nothing. Still
Good News.
Ponder this meeting in
Three things for you to
remember and apply when look at verse 3—
taped up on your
refrigerator read that Titus was not compelled to be circumcised.
MP#1
The church will always be pressured to add to the Gospel.
This conflict over
circumcision troubled the NT church for several decades—
until there was a
General Assembly called in
and the church
reaffirmed the Gospel of Jesus plus nothing (in Acts 15).
But until that time, there
was lots of pressure to require circumcision.
Paul says that these people—calls them false
brothers—
even spied on his
private meeting with Peter, James, John—
apparently tried to
exert some influence over them.
Circumcision is not the issue
any more.
But there is still pressure to add
requirements to the Gospel.
Some churches insist that you
must believe in Christ plus be baptized to be saved.
Some churches insist you must belong to
their church to be saved.
Some churches say you
are saved by faith in Christ alone,
but then they place
such importance on certain distinctives that those
distinctives
give a person a more certain assurance that he is a Christian—
Things like a particular
style of baptism,
or speaking in
tongues, or belief in predestination.
Some churches have strong
feelings and even rules about things like
amusements,
alcohol, smoking, dress, hair, family size, political party—
They may insist that no one
who violates these could possibly be a Christian.
Or at least they question how their
Christian commitment could be real.
These are all churches on
what we might call the conservative side.
But theologically liberal churches add to
the Gospel as well.
They do so by taking away
offensive doctrines like hell and judgment—
and that Jesus is
the only way—what that leaves them with is the message
that being good is
all that God requires.
Tim Keller points out that legalistic conservative churches
and theologically
liberal churches end up with the very same message—
Jesus Christ plus your good deeds—it’s just
that the good deeds different.
For one church the good deeds
are keeping the rules, avoiding worldliness.
For the other church good deeds are social
activism and environmental concern.
So churches across the theological
spectrum are capable of adding to Gospel.
But here’s the rub:
It’s so easy to spot additions to the Gospel
in other churches—
it’s very hard to
see them in your own.
Classic
case of the beam in your own eye.
Some of the best diagnostic
questions we can ask are these:
Do we have a sense of superiority over other
Christians, other churches?
If so, what makes us feel superior?
The Judaizers
felt superior to Gentile believers—
looked down on
Titus, looked down on
As a church, what makes us
feel superior to other churches?
That may be something that we have added to
the Gospel.
Not officially of course—but is
there something that makes us think—
however subtly—that
we are a notch above?
One thing that sometimes
worries me about Christ Covenant
are the negative
things said about Baptists.
I know that 75% of you grew
up Baptist.
Many of you came to Christ Covenant out of
theological convictions—
you fell in love
with the doctrines of grace.
Some of you suffered under
legalism.
Nothing wrong with talking
about those things—
analyzing different
beliefs an churches in Bible study, Covenant group.
Nothing wrong with jokes as
far as that goes. Humor is a good thing.
But a sense of superiority in
coming out of legalism or in understanding Calvinism
is a spirit that
says: Yes, Christ has saved us, but the
thing that has really
kicked us up a
notch as a church is our doctrine, our freedom from legalism.
Do you see how subtle that
is?
It erodes the humble amazement that comes
from believing in Jesus alone.
“Even Titus was not compelled
to be circumcised.”
Let’s remember that as we talk about other
churches.
Let’s remember that as pray
for Christ Covenant—never be a church where
Titus is compelled to be circumcised. Never be anything that we push—
through our
teachings or attitudes need to do to be right with God but Christ.
MP#2
Additions to the Gospel must be vigorously opposed.
But that’s hard to do because
those additions are often good things in themselves—
even biblical
things.
In this case it was
circumcision.
There is nothing wrong with
circumcision—it’s in the Bible.
God commanded it as a sign and seal of His
covenant with his people.
We are still obligated by the
Lord’s command circumcise.
He still requires His people to be set apart
by an outward sign—now baptism.
If this conflict over
circumcision had been a matter of understanding
the transition from
OT to NT, Paul would have treated differently.
If some of the Jewish
Christians had said:
Look, we know circumcision is not necessary
for salvation—never has been.
Abraham was saved by faith long before he
was circumcised.
But we don’t understand why
the Gentiles who believe in Christ don’t have
to be
circumcised. Why is baptism enough? Why has baptism taken place?
If that was the issue Paul
would have said: This is the
reason.
All prophecies about God’s
salvation going to nations being fulfilled in our days.
Jesus said go to all world, make disciples
of all nations.
Holy Spirit at Pentecost sign of
tongues—power to church to fulfill mission.
Circumcision has a distinctly
Jewish identity.
In fact, God used it to keep Jews separate
from nations.
Now all nations are being called to believe.
So we need a new sign of
God’s promises for a new age.
Baptism can be adopted by all nations and
cultures.
If these Jewish Christians
said: OK Paul, but is it wrong for us to
continue
to circumcise our
sons as part of our Hebrew heritage?
Paul would have said: Absolutely not. It’s a wonderful heritage.
In fact, when I took young man named Timothy
as my assistant in ministry—
I circumcised him because his mother was
Jewish—wanted to honor tradition.
Just remember—can never be
insisted on as necessary to make right with God.
If that had been the
issue—Paul would have spoken highly of circumcision—
and he would have
treated the concerns of the Jewish Christians with respect.
But that was not the
issue. It was: Gentiles have to do this to be saved.
So Paul was
not gentle at all—vigorously opposed.
The reason he brought Titus—uncircumcised
Greek Christian was so that
he would be able to
shove this man into the faces of Judaizers if
necessary
and say—Circumcision
is worthless.
In fact, it’s worse than
worthless.
If you think it helps save you then it is
actually damning you by dishonoring
Christ and keeping you from trusting him
completely.
We must always be willing to
call good things worthless—worse than worthless—
if those things
ever start to be insisted upon as necessary to be right with God.
Let me give you an example:
I took a communion wafer off
the table before the service.
When I serve communion, I treat this bread
with respect.
Point out that it is a
gift. Conduit of God’s
grace.
Eating in faith, Holy Spirit uses this as a
means to draw close to Christ.
But if a group in church
began to think that eating this bread forgave their sins—
then I would have
to say something different—would have to treat disrespectfully.
This bread is powerless to do
anything for you.
If you think your sins forgiven by eating
it—worse than worthless—
it’s an idol that
will keep you from Jesus Christ.
One reason Jesus ate with tax
collectors and sinners—
Pharisees taught right with God by staying
away from those sorts of people.
Jesus was being intentionally offensive
because Gospel at stake.
In Martin Luther’s day church
taught that true Christian life, vow of celibacy—
which he did—until
realized true Christian life is simply faith in Jesus Christ.
Then he got married—not just
for love, out of conviction.
He married Katie to spite the pope, to vex
the devil, glory heavenly father.
As much as possible ought to
honor one another’s convictions about Christian life.
In dealing with other churches, doctrinal distinctives—treat those with respect.
But if ever there are things
that are added to the Gospel able to forgive sins—
or necessary to be
right with God—we have to be willing to vigorously oppose.
Even to the point of offensiveness.
MP#3 The pure
Gospel is the only source of spiritual freedom.
The way Paul finishes his
account of the
They added nothing to my
message.
But then, before Paul left, they added
something.
“All they asked was that we should continue
to remember the poor.”
The Gospel does not mean that
Christians don’t have to obey the law of God.
You have to love your neighbor as
yourself—Lord demands it.
He demands mercy and generosity to the
poor—especially poor believers.
Christians are commanded not
to lie, steal, commit adultery and so on.
All the moral law of God is required.
Circumcision is still
required—though the form has changed.
Jesus left no option when he commanded us to
baptize.
But, the Good News of Jesus
plus nothing brings an entirely different dimension
to the commands of God and the obedience He
requires.
Without the pure Gospel of
Jesus plus nothing you cannot help seeing
your obedience to God’s commands as a
requirement to earn His favor.
It is inevitable. Remember the poor becomes—
Remember the poor or else God won’t remember
you.
And so all of your obedience
comes with this conscious or sub-conscious
account keeping—am I doing enough? Am I doing it right?
Am I doing enough and right and with the
right feelings?
And guilt and fear when you
don’t make it—
and pride when you think you do. It’s a spiritual treadmill.
The Gospel give you freedom
to obey.
That’s why Paul was able to
say about this request to remember the poor—
the very thing I was eager to do!
What if you could say that
about every one of God’s commands.
Children obey your parents in the Lord—the
very thing I was eager to do.
Wives submit to your husbands as to the
Lord—the very thing I was eager to do.
Husbands love your wives as Christ loved—the
very thing I was eager to do.
Lay aside all bitterness,
forgive brother from heart,
be content with what you have—the very thing
I was eager to do.
The faith Paul had that that
in Christ he was at peace and forgiven by God—
based on nothing he had done gave him a
delight and eagerness
at the prospect of an opportunity to keep
God’s law regarding the poor.
That’s what the Gospel
does: It enables you to use the law of
God
to please and imitate the One who has saved
you rather than to get His attention
in hopes that he will see what you are doing
and bless you.
And it goes even deeper.
Knowing that you are accepted
by God through Jesus plus nothing
makes it easier to admit your failures to
keep God’s law—
because you know He won’t cast you away or
curse you.
You can say: Lord, I have miserably failed in this
command.
I lied again. My heart wasn’t right.
I didn’t want to obey you and tell truth—wanted
to do my own thing.
Forgive me and change me.
You can be totally honest
instead of telling yourself that motives really
were good, you were in an impossible
situation, next time you will do better.
You can be honest because the
Lord does not demand you obey to earn favor—
any more than he demanded that Titus be
circumcised to be saved.
Your favor is secure in
Christ.
Now, you can freely obey—free from fear,
free from pride—
free from keeping accounts—just to please
Him and be more like him.
Is there an area of obedience
in which you have struggled?
Maybe in matter of your possessions?
Or in your attitude towards someone, actions
or words.
Do you believe at some level
that your favor with God depends on performance?
Then your motive is fear and slavery.
Dear heavenly Father, help me
to believe that my favor rests in Christ.
I admit the depth of my sinfulness in this
area.
Please give me a desire to do it for
Christ’s sake—and he will.
CONC: This week remember that Titus was not compelled to be
circumcised.
Remember it when you think of
your church—
Pray that we will now and always believe in
Jesus plus nothing.
Will be delivered from all superiority and
always be humble.
But that we will be bold, even offensive in
opposing additions to Gospel.
Remember it when you have
opportunities to obey—
either good deeds to do or temptations to
fight—
Your favor with God the
Father rests in Jesus Christ—
not in your obedience—but then use that
gratitude to serve him eagerly.
I’m sure Titus was glad he
was not compelled to be circumcised.
That should make you glad too—
because it is a confirmation that your peace
and forgiveness with God—
rests in Jesus Christ plus nothing.