A summary of Chapter 2 of the Book of Galatians

Chapter 2 of Galatians, according to the Amplified Classic (AMPC) version, continues Paul's defense of the Gospel of grace and his apostolic authority. Paul starts the chapter by narrating how he went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas and Titus fourteen years after his conversion. He took the trip in response to a revelation, and there he set before the influential church leaders the Gospel he had been preaching among the Gentiles Galatians 2:1-2, AMPC: "Then after [an interval] of fourteen years I again went up to Jerusalem, [this time] with Barnabas, taking Titus along with [me] also. I went because it was specially and divinely revealed to me that I should go, and I put before them the Gospel [declaring to them that] which I preach among the Gentiles. However, [I presented the matter] privately before those of repute, [for I wanted to make certain, by thus at first confining my communication to this private conference] that I was not running or had not run in vain [guarding against being discredited either in what I was planning to do or had already done]"). Paul points out that Titus, a Greek, wasn't compelled to be circumcised, even though there were some false believers who infiltrated their ranks to spy on their liberty in Christ. This shows Paul's stance against the Judaizers who insisted that Gentile believers must follow the Jewish law to be saved (Galatians 2:3-5, AMPC: "But [all went well!] even Titus, who was with me, was not compelled [as some had anticipated] to be circumcised, although he was a Greek. [My precaution was] because of false brethren who had been secretly smuggled in [to the Christian brotherhood]; they had slipped in to spy on our liberty and the freedom which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might again bring us into bondage [under the Law of Moses]. To them we did not yield submission even for a moment, that the truth of the Gospel might continue to be [preserved] for you [in its purity]").

Paul then mentions that the reputed pillars of the church (James, Cephas, and John) gave him and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, acknowledging the grace given to him and agreeing that they were to go to the Gentiles while the pillars were to go to the circumcised Galatians 2:9, AMPC: "And when they knew (perceived, recognized, understood, and acknowledged) the grace (God’s unmerited favor and spiritual blessing) that had been bestowed upon me, James and Cephas (Peter) and John, who were reputed to be pillars of the Jerusalem church, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, with the understanding that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised (Jews)". The chapter concludes with an account of a confrontation between Paul and Peter in Antioch, where Peter had been eating with Gentile Christians until some people came from James. Feeling pressured, Peter began to withdraw and separate himself, which led to other Jewish Christians also acting hypocritically. Paul rebuked Peter for his hypocrisy and emphasized that justification is through faith in Christ and not by the works of the law. Galatians 2:15-16, AMPC: 15 - "We [Jewish Christians] are Jews by birth and not sinners from among the Gentiles [Gentile Christians],” 16 - “Yet we know that a man is justified or reckoned righteous and in right standing with God not by works of the Law, but [only] through faith and [absolute] reliance on and adherence to and trust in Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One). [Therefore] even we [ourselves] have believed on Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the Law [for we cannot be justified by any observance of the ritual of the Law given by Moses], because by keeping legal rituals and by works no human being can ever be justified (declared righteous and put in right standing with God)".

An Overview of Galatians Chapter Two

Click below to read a full page summary of each Chapter.

Click below to read a full page summary of each Chapter.