Galatians 2

The Apostles Accept Paul

1Then fourteen years later I went back to Jerusalem again, this time with Barnabas; and Titus came along, too. 2I went there because God revealed to me that I should go. While I was there I met privately with those considered to be leaders of the church and shared with them the message I had been preaching to the Gentiles. I wanted to make sure that we were in agreement, for fear that all my efforts had been wasted and I was running the race for nothing. 3And they supported me and did not even demand that my companion Titus be circumcised, though he was a Gentile.#2:3 Greek a Greek.

4Even that question came up only because of some so-called believers there—false ones, really#2:4 Greek some false brothers.—who were secretly brought in. They sneaked in to spy on us and take away the freedom we have in Christ Jesus. They wanted to enslave us and force us to follow their Jewish regulations. 5But we refused to give in to them for a single moment. We wanted to preserve the truth of the gospel message for you.

6And the leaders of the church had nothing to add to what I was preaching. (By the way, their reputation as great leaders made no difference to me, for God has no favorites.) 7Instead, they saw that God had given me the responsibility of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as he had given Peter the responsibility of preaching to the Jews. 8For the same God who worked through Peter as the apostle to the Jews also worked through me as the apostle to the Gentiles.

9In fact, James, Peter,#2:9 Greek Cephas; also in 2:11, 14. and John, who were known as pillars of the church, recognized the gift God had given me, and they accepted Barnabas and me as their co-workers. They encouraged us to keep preaching to the Gentiles, while they continued their work with the Jews. 10Their only suggestion was that we keep on helping the poor, which I have always been eager to do.

Paul Confronts Peter

11But when Peter came to Antioch, I had to oppose him to his face, for what he did was very wrong. 12When he first arrived, he ate with the Gentile believers, who were not circumcised. But afterward, when some friends of James came, Peter wouldn’t eat with the Gentiles anymore. He was afraid of criticism from these people who insisted on the necessity of circumcision. 13As a result, other Jewish believers followed Peter’s hypocrisy, and even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.

14When I saw that they were not following the truth of the gospel message, I said to Peter in front of all the others, “Since you, a Jew by birth, have discarded the Jewish laws and are living like a Gentile, why are you now trying to make these Gentiles follow the Jewish traditions?

15“You and I are Jews by birth, not ‘sinners’ like the Gentiles. 16Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.”#2:16 Some translators hold that the quotation extends through verse 14; others through verse 16; and still others through verse 21.

17But suppose we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ and then we are found guilty because we have abandoned the law. Would that mean Christ has led us into sin? Absolutely not! 18Rather, I am a sinner if I rebuild the old system of law I already tore down. 19For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God. 20My old self has been crucified with Christ.#2:20 Some English translations put this sentence in verse 19. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.

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Galatians 2

Paul Accepted by the Apostles

1Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. 2I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those #ver. 6, 9who seemed influential) the gospel that #1 Tim. 3:16I proclaim among the Gentiles, #ch. 4:11; 1 Thess. 3:5in order to make sure I was not running or had not #Phil. 2:16run in vain. 3But even Titus, who was with me, #[Acts 16:3]was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. 4#Acts 15:24; 2 Cor. 11:26; [ch. 5:12] Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who #[2 Pet. 2:1; Jude 4] slipped in to spy out #See ch. 5:1our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, #ch. 4:3, 9, 24, 25; 2 Cor. 11:20; [Rom. 8:15]so that they might bring us into slavery— 5to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that #ver. 14; [ch. 4:16; 5:7; Titus 1:14; 2 John 1]the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. 6And from those #ver. 2, 9; [ch. 6:3; Acts 5:36]; See 1 Cor. 3:7who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; #See Deut. 10:17God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential #[2 Cor. 11:5; 12:11]added nothing to me. 7On the contrary, when they saw that I had been #1 Thess. 2:4; 1 Tim. 1:11; See 1 Cor. 9:17entrusted with #ch. 1:16; See Acts 9:15the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised 8(for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), 9and when James and Cephas and John, #[See ver. 6 above] who seemed to be #Jer. 1:18; Rev. 3:12pillars, perceived the #See Rom. 1:5grace that was given to me, they #[2 Pet. 3:15]gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10Only, they asked us to remember the poor, #See Acts 24:17the very thing I was eager to do.

Paul Opposes Peter

11But #[Acts 15:1, 35] when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him #Job 21:31to his face, because he stood condemned. 12For before certain men came from James, #Acts 11:3; [ver. 14; Acts 10:28]; See Luke 15:2he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing #See Acts 11:2the circumcision party.#2:12 Or fearing those of the circumcision 13And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14But when I saw that their #Heb. 12:13conduct was not in step with #See ver. 5the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas #1 Tim. 5:20before them all, “If you, though a Jew, #See ver. 12live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

Justified by Faith

15We ourselves are Jews by birth and not #ver. 17; [Eph. 2:3, 12]Gentile sinners; 16yet we know that #ch. 3:11; See Acts 13:39a person is not justified#2:16 Or counted righteous (three times in verse 16); also verse 17 by works of the law #See Rom. 9:30but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, #Rom. 3:20; [Ps. 143:2]because by works of the law no one will be justified.

17But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found #ver. 15to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. 19For through the law I #See Rom. 6:2; 7:4died to the law, so that I might #Luke 20:38; Rom. 6:11; 14:7, 8; 2 Cor. 5:15; 1 Thess. 5:10; Heb. 9:14; 1 Pet. 4:2live to God. 20I have been #ch. 5:24; 6:14; Rom. 6:6crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives #See John 17:23in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, #See Rom. 8:37who loved me and #See ch. 1:4gave himself for me. 21I do not nullify the grace of God, for #[ch. 3:21; Heb. 7:11] if righteousness#2:21 Or justification were through the law, #[ch. 5:4]then Christ died for no purpose.

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