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]").
, 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
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