Galatians 2
(1) Paul’s Message was Backed by Christianity’s Leaders
Then, 14 years after that, I went back to Jerusalem and brought Barnabas and Titus with me. The reason I went that time was because of a revelation God gave me. When I was there, I met with a few of their most reputable missionaries and laid out the good news that I had been proclaiming to the non-Israelites—but I did so in private, because I was afraid that all my efforts might have been in vain. Titus had come with me, but he didn’t even feel compelled to get circumcised even though he’s a Greek. Fake Christians secretly snuck into our midst so they could look at the freedom we have in Jesus and try to enslave us. But we didn’t yield or submit to them for even a second! That enabled the truth of the good news to stay with you. I actually didn’t gain much from their reputable leaders. (People’s status doesn’t matter much to me, because God doesn’t give special treatment to people of status.) It was actually the other way around, because they recognized how I had been entrusted to share the good news with cultures that don’t practice circumcision in the same way that Peter had been entrusted to share with the Jews who practice circumcision. (The same God who established Peter as a missionary to the Jews established me as a missionary to the non-Jews.) After seeing that, James, Peter, and John (who had reputations for being pillars of Christianity) offered me and Barnabas their right hand of partnership. They wanted us to reach the non-Jews while they reached the Jews. Their only request was for us to remember the poor—which was the exact same thing I was already passionate about doing!
(11) We’re Deemed ‘Right’ by Trusting Jesus—Not by Following Jewish Law
And when Peter came to Antioch in Syria, I actually opposed him to his face because of how self-condemning he was. Peter used to eat the same non-kosher foods as non-Jews, but after talking with James’s friends, he started withdrawing himself because he was scared of the Jewish people who embrace circumcision. Then the rest of the Jews joined Peter in acting hypocritically… and even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they weren’t walking aligned with the truth of the good news, I confronted Peter in front of everyone, saying,
“If you’re Jewish but live like a non-Jew, then why are you trying to persuade non-Jews to live like they’re Jewish?
“Because of our Jewish heritage, we don’t live in opposition to God as much as non-Jews do. Yet even as Jews, we know that no one is pronounced ‘good’ by following God’s rules—we’re pronounced ‘good’ by depending on Jesus, the Chosen One! The whole reason why we’ve trusted in Jesus is so that we’d be pronounced ‘good’ by trusting Him rather than by following Jewish law. No one’s flesh will be pronounced ‘good’ by following Jewish law.
“Let’s say you wants to be pronounced ‘good’ in the Chosen One, but somewhere in the process, it becomes evident that you’re living in opposition with God. Would that mean the Chosen One makes people oppose God? Of course not! Because if you rebuild what you already tore down, then YOU’RE the one incriminating yourself.
“Jewish law enabled you to die to Jewish law so that you might live to God. You’ve been crucified together with the Chosen One, which means that YOU’RE not the one living anymore—the CHOSEN ONE now lives in you. And this life you’re currently living in the flesh is lived by trusting in God’s Son (who cherished you and turned Himself in for you). You’re not nullifying God’s kindness, because if you could be pronounced ‘good’ by following God’s rules, then the Chosen One died for no reason.”