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Please turn with me in your Bibles 
to Galatians chapter 2. Galatians chapter 2, as we continue 
to work our way through the Apostle Paul's letter to the churches 
of southern Galatia, those visited on his first missionary journey. 
The city of Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, Derbe. Those were the 
churches that made up the southern Galatia region. And I want to 
read beginning in Galatians chapter 2 at verse 1. that after 14 years 
I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas and also took Titus 
with me. And I went up by revelation and 
communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, 
but privately to those who were of reputation, lest by any means 
I might run or had run in vain. Yet not even Titus, who was with 
me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. And this occurred 
because of false brethren secretly brought in. who came in by stealth 
to spy out our liberty, which we have in Christ Jesus, that 
they might bring us into bondage, to whom we did not yield submission 
even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue 
with you. But from those who seemed to 
be something, whatever they were, it makes no difference to me. 
God shows personal favoritism to no man. For those who seemed 
to be something added nothing to me. But on the contrary, when 
they saw that the gospel for the uncircumcised had been committed 
to me, as the gospel for the circumcised was to Peter, for 
he who worked effectively in Peter, for the apostleship to 
the circumcised also worked effectively in me toward the Gentiles. And 
when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived 
the grace of God that had been given to me, they gave me and 
Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles 
and they to the circumcised. They desired only that we should 
remember the poor, the very thing which I also was eager to do. 
Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, 
because he was to be blamed. For before certain men came from 
James, he would eat with the Gentiles. But when they came, 
he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the 
circumcision. And the rest of the Jews also 
played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried 
away with their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were 
not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to 
Peter before them all, If you, being a Jew, live in the manner 
of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to 
live as Jews? We who are Jews by nature and 
not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified 
by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we 
have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by 
faith in Christ and not by works of the law. For by the works 
of the law no flesh shall be justified. But if, while we seek 
to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, 
is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not. For if 
I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a 
transgressor. For I through the law died to 
the law that I might live to God. I have been crucified with 
Christ. It is no longer I who live, but 
Christ lives in me. In the life which I now live 
in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved 
me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace 
of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ 
died in vain. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our 
Father, we thank You for this wonderful epistle to the Galatians, 
and we thank You for the great truth that it sets forth, that 
we receive forgiveness of sins, that we receive the righteousness 
of Christ by Your grace through faith alone. And our Father, 
we pray that You would help us to think these things clearly, 
help us to understand the glorious Gospel, knowing that our lives 
depend upon it. We may have varied opinions on 
a whole host of issues, God, if we get the Gospel wrong, we 
die and go to hell. And I pray that would not be 
the case for any here. I pray that Your Holy Spirit 
would be at work in our hearts. I pray that You would set forth 
Jesus Christ in all of His supremacy and all of His sufficiency and 
excellency as the one Savior for sinners. We pray that You 
would cleanse us afresh from all unrighteousness and help 
us to take every thought captive to the obedience of Jesus. And 
we pray in His most blessed name, Amen. Well, as we have had cause 
to note, the apostle Paul here in Galatians 1 and 2 is defending 
his place as an apostle and showing forth, or demonstrating, that 
his gospel is divine in its origin. We saw that this was true by 
his assertion in chapter 1, verses 11 and 12. He says, I make known 
to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not 
according to man. For I neither received it from 
man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation 
of Jesus Christ. What had happened is the Judaizers, 
those who were adding works to faith in order for justification, 
had come behind the apostle and had undermined his authority 
as an apostle. They had tried to usurp what 
he had said. They said it was good that Paul 
insists that you believe on Jesus, but you must also fulfill the 
ceremonies of Moses. Specifically, you must undergo 
circumcision in order to be saved. And so in order to discredit 
his message, they had to discredit the messenger. And that's why 
Paul spends two chapters essentially showing forth the divine origin 
of his apostolic ministry and the divine origin of His gospel. We see that this is evident in 
His life prior to His conversion. Verses 13 and 14. He was not 
raised in Sunday school. He was not raised in the church. 
He was not taught the gospel from His youth. He had some understanding 
of it, to be sure. And that enraged him and it made 
him furious and made him want to destroy the church with every 
fiber of his being. But it was not as if he was brought 
up by the apostles in Jerusalem. The Judaizers were saying, we're 
really of James and of Cephas and of Peter. Not you Paul, you're 
a second-rate guy. You're not really the real deal 
here. So Paul is highlighting these 
truths in his life. And then he says that when he 
was converted, his early Christian career, verses 15-24, he didn't 
immediately consult with flesh and blood, but rather he began 
to preach and he meditated and he was taught by God those things 
which are according to the Scripture. And then after three years from 
his conversion, according to verse 18, he went on his first 
post-conversion visit to Jerusalem. He spent 15 days there with Peter, 
and he also saw James, the Lord's brother. Now, more than likely, 
what he did in those 15 days was learn about Jesus' earthly 
ministry. Paul received the Gospel by revelation. He went and conversed with Peter 
and with James to learn more about the earthly Christ, to 
learn about His resurrection, to learn about His mighty miracles 
and deeds. They were filling in or giving 
him some information that he did not have beforehand. Not 
Gospel truth, however. And then we come now to his second 
post-conversion visit to Jerusalem, verses 1-10. And I want to consider 
verses 1-10 under three main considerations. First, the visit 
to Jerusalem, verses 1 and 2. Secondly, the example of Titus 
in verses 3-5. And then thirdly, the assessment 
of the Jerusalem leadership in verses 6-10. Now notice first 
his visit to Jerusalem, verse 1 of chapter 2. We have to do 
a little bit of history here. It's important for us to see 
or locate our place with reference to the book of Acts. There are 
various theories concerning this particular visit. Actually, there 
are two theories. The first theory is that this 
is the visit recorded in Acts 15, what has been known as the 
Jerusalem Council. The other theory, the theory 
that I believe is the case, is that this is the famine relief 
visit. His second post-conversion visit 
to Jerusalem is the famine relief visit recorded in Acts 11, verses 
27 to 30. We'll look at that in just a 
moment. But I believe that Paul wrote Galatians before the Jerusalem 
Council in A.D. 49. that the events that he speaks 
of later in chapter 2, specifically with Peter, happened on the eve 
of the Jerusalem Council. And if you would, just for a 
moment, turn to Acts 11. We can locate our place in the 
book of Acts. Again, there are compelling pieces 
of evidence for both of these constructions, but I believe 
this one has the weight of the book of Acts. It fits chronologically 
and it makes sense of all that we find in Galatians chapter 
2. Notice Acts chapter 11, beginning 
in verse 27. It says, And in these days prophets 
came from Jerusalem to Antioch. Then one of them, named Agabus, 
stood up and showed by the Spirit that there was going to be a 
great famine throughout all the world, which also happened in 
the days of Claudius Caesar. Then the disciples, each according 
to his ability, determined to send relief to the brethren dwelling 
in Judea. This they also did, and sent 
it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul." That's 
Paul the Apostle. And so, Paul is in his home church, 
if you will, in Antioch, and he goes down to Jerusalem, or 
up to Jerusalem. Everything was always up. It 
didn't matter where you were. It was going up to Jerusalem. 
So he and Barnabas went up to Jerusalem with this monetary 
gift to bring relief for the churches of Judea. And then he 
spends some time in Jerusalem. If you go to Acts 12, verse 25, 
we see Barnabas and Saul return from Jerusalem when they had 
fulfilled their ministry, and they also took with them John, 
whose surname was Mark. And it was then that they were 
sent out on their first missionary journey. It was then that they 
went and preached to the churches of southern Galatia. And so this 
second visit, recorded in Galatians 2, 1-10, seems best to be interpreted 
alongside of Acts 11, 27-30, the famine relief visit. Now notice the reason why Paul 
went, now that we've done some history here. It's good for us 
to see where we're at in the life and ministry of Paul with 
reference to the book of Acts. Good for you to understand that 
Acts provides a great link between the Gospels and Jesus' great 
commission to go and make disciples of all the nations, to baptize 
them and to teach them to observe all that He has commanded. That's 
what the book of Acts records. The apostles going out, engaged 
in disciple making, engaged in church planting. And it links 
us to these letters wherein now the apostles have to deal with 
issues that have arisen within the churches that they founded. 
So it's very important to have that historical backdrop as you 
read through these epistles, so you know what's going on. 
Just like it's important to know something of Israel's history 
when you're reading the Old Testament, so that you know what's going 
on. You shouldn't read the Bible simply to satisfy a requirement. 
You shouldn't read the Bible simply to check something off 
in your daily calendar. You should read it to learn. 
You should read it to know about God. To see His mighty works 
in the history of Israel. To see His mighty works in the 
history of the church. to learn more of Him. For isn't 
this what eternal life is all about? Jesus defined eternal 
life in John 17 in verse 3. He said, This is eternal life, 
that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ 
whom Thou hast sent. If that's what's going to occupy 
us forever and ever, it ought to take a place of priority in 
our lives right now. We ought to want to see God at 
work in the history of Israel and in the history of the church. 
We ought to want to see Him flexing His mighty right arm before the 
nations in displaying His salvation. And so, do not be a stranger 
to biblical study, but take and read, as Augustine learned. Take 
the Scriptures and understand so that you may know that truth 
that has saved you and you may know that blessed Savior and 
may witness effectively for him." But notice, Paul specifies the 
reason why he went to Jerusalem. Notice in verse 2. He's got Barnabas 
and he's got Titus with him. It says in verse 2, I went up 
by revelation. Now it could have been the revelation 
that we just read up in Acts 11. Remember? Agabus was speaking 
by the Spirit. He said there's going to be a 
famine in Judea. Paul could be referring to that 
revelation, or he could be referring to a revelation that he directly 
received from God. Either way, the implication is 
obvious. Remember that he is fighting 
against Judaizers. He is fighting against those 
who are saying that he is second-rate, that he's not as good as James 
and Peter and John. He's not as solid as those men. He says, I went by revelation. 
I wasn't summoned by headquarters. I was not called to the carpet. 
I was not asked to come and defend my position. I did not go to 
them so that they could affirm me in my calling. Remember, the 
origin of Paul's religion is divine. He doesn't need men to 
say, yes, this is the real deal. It is the real deal. It is self-attesting. It is authenticated by the risen 
Christ Himself and by that wondrous transformation that took place 
on the road to Damascus. So, Paul is not going there in 
order to convince the Jerusalem apostles that he is really teaching 
the truth. Notice what he does. I went up 
by revelation and communicated to them that gospel which I preached 
among the Gentiles, but privately to those who were of reputation, 
lest by any means I might run or had run in vain." He did not, 
again, do this in order to be affirmed. Machen says this, Paul 
conferred with the leaders of the Jerusalem church, not because 
he needed to receive any commission from them or through them, since 
his commission came to him directly from Christ, but in order to 
stop the propaganda of the Judaizers who had falsely appealed to the 
original apostles against Paul. You see, Paul is defending himself 
here, not because Paul thinks he's great. He's defending himself 
because he knows that his Lord is great. And the integrity of 
Paul's message jeopardizes what people think about Jesus. Because you see, if Jesus is 
only a Savior that helps you save yourself, in other words, 
if you can look to Jesus but complete it by physical circumcision, 
He's really not that great. If you can supplement the finished 
work of Jesus Christ, it really wasn't finished. He really didn't 
mean on the cross that it is finished. If what is really true 
is that we have to get circumcised, or we have to keep the law, or 
we have to go to this church, or we have to wear these clothes, 
or we have to cut our hair in this fashion, or we have to... 
You see? It jeopardizes the glory of Jesus 
when we add works to justification. It jeopardizes the glory and 
sufficiency of our Lord. That's why in Galatians 2.21, 
with that thunderbolt, he says, I do not set aside the grace 
of God. For if righteousness comes through 
the law, then Christ died in vain. Why do we need a bloodied, 
beaten, bruised Savior who would rise from the dead if we have 
our ability to choose for Jesus, to do for Jesus, or to place 
ourselves in God's good favor? So Paul is defending himself 
because the integrity of the Gospel is at stake. That's why 
he's doing what he's doing. Notice how he refers to the leaders 
in Jerusalem. He says the ones who were of 
reputation. He had a private audience with 
them. These are the same ones identified in verse 6 as those 
who seem to be something and those who are named in verse 
9, James, Cephas, and John. Paul is not saying bad things 
about these men. He's not saying these guys think 
they're all that, but they're really not. He's answering the 
Judaizers. He's speaking against those Judaizers 
who said, James and Cephas and John, you really need to listen 
to these men. Even though as we work our way 
through Galatians, we'll find out James, Cephas and John, they 
didn't sanction what these Judaizers were saying. They were not teaching 
you have to be circumcised in order to be saved. The bare reading 
of the text makes that clear, doesn't it? What happens when 
they have private counsel with Paul? They extend to him the 
right hand of fellowship. They don't say, look, Paul, you 
need to go and add circumcision. In fact, he says that. They added 
nothing to me. They didn't tell him or plead 
with him. Paul, you're getting these Gentiles into the right 
place, but you need to give them circumcision in order to send 
them over. In order to make the deal stead. No. So these men, these Judaizers, 
what Paul calls false brethren, are liars too. It's a general 
rule. Heretics and false brethren aren't 
truth tellers. Heresy is the opposite of truth. 
Right? Is that the case? That's what 
Paul's doing here. Calvin said, Paul is not discussing 
the real work of the apostles, but the idle boasting of his 
adversaries. In order to support their own 
unfounded pretensions, they talked in lofty terms of Peter and James 
and John and took advantage of the veneration with which they 
were regarded by the church for accomplishing their earnest desire 
of degrading Paul. It's like siding with an authority. It's an appeal to authority. 
We're of James and Cephas and John. There's Paul, 2nd Ray. 
What he's preaching is okay, but you need to become Jews and 
Christians. You need to be circumcised in 
order to be genuinely saved. Later on, after the Jerusalem 
Council, when they write their decree to the Gentile churches, 
they say, we never sanctioned these men. They speak in very 
clear terms. They are all preaching the same 
law-free gospel. And by law-free gospel, I mean 
justified by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. There is law in the Christian 
life in terms of sanctification, in terms of our going forth in 
the fear of God, seeking to honor and obey Him and letting our 
conduct be worthy of the Gospel. But there is no introduction 
whatsoever of law with reference to justification. That's what 
the Judaizers were doing, and that's what Paul is fighting 
against. And then notice the specific concern here that he 
mentions in verse 2, lest by any means I might run or had 
run in vain. Now, it might sound like Paul 
needs their affirmation. He needs their acceptance. He 
needs their camaraderie. He needs them to sign off that 
what he is doing is true. I don't think that's what's in 
view at all. He already knows he's been called and commissioned 
by the Lord Jesus. He already knows what he's preaching 
is true. He's already been engaging in it. He is seeing sinners converted 
by grace through faith. He is seeing lives changed. He 
is seeing people transformed. He is seeing men who used to 
beat their wives or their children are now fearing God and serving 
God and coming to church. He is seeing the fruits of having 
preached justification by grace alone through faith alone. What 
he is doing here when he says, lest by any means I might run 
or had run in vain, I think it is best summarized by Bruce. 
He said what Paul was concerned about was not the validity of 
his Gospel of which he had divine assurance, but its practicability. Putting it into practice. If 
he had a problem with the Jerusalem church, that would affect practice, 
wouldn't it? If they were like this together, 
then it would have been as if he had run in vain. Bruce goes 
on to say, his commission was not derived from Jerusalem, but 
it could not be executed effectively except in fellowship with Jerusalem. Paul is a peacemaker. Contrary 
to much modern opinion, Paul was a great guy. A lot of people 
paint him as the enemy of women, the enemy of peace, the enemy 
of this, the enemy of that. Paul was a gracious, loving, 
godly man who lived to serve his Lord and serve people. That's 
Paul. You hear anything else, it's 
of the pit. The Paul that we have in 1 Corinthians 13 is not 
the Paul fabricated by modern scholarship. The Paul of the 
epistles, the Paul of Acts, is a God-fearing, Christ-exalting 
man who loves people and wants them to go to heaven. Bruce goes 
on to say, a cleavage between his Gentile mission and the Mother 
Church would be disastrous. Christ would be divided and all 
the energy which Paul had devoted and hoped to devote to the evangelizing 
of the Gentile world would be frustrated. That's his point. He's not coming to be taught. 
He's not coming to learn the Gospel. He's not coming to be 
affirmed. He's not coming to have his certificate signed off. 
He is coming so that whatever differences they may have, they 
will bring together, they will talk them through, they will 
strategize as they do later on. They dispatch Paul to be the 
Apostle to the Gentiles and Peter to the circumcised or to the 
Jews. That's the point. That's what's 
going on. Now notice the example of Titus. Verses 3-5 are a bit 
of a digression. If you just read verse 2 and 
then verse 6, it would flow perfectly. But I think the mention of Titus 
in verse 1 causes the Apostle to record what happened in verses 
3-5 with reference to Titus. Titus was a godly man. Titus 
was a Gentile. Paul said, we didn't compel him, 
or they didn't compel him to be circumcised. He was not circumcised. Remember. And for those of you 
who are new with us, those of you who are not too savvy with 
reference to the book of Galatians, this is the point. Paul said, 
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Judaizers 
came. These were men that thought like 
Jews and tried to be Christians. They said, believe on the Lord 
Jesus Christ and be circumcised and be saved. Some modern equivalents 
of this might be, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and do 
everything our church tells you to do, and you will be saved. 
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and do this, what we tell you 
to do, and then you'll be saved. Those are some modern equivalents 
of the Galatian heresy. We see it in Roman Catholicism. 
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Do the seven sacraments of the 
church, and you will be saved. We see it in our Reformed circles. 
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and do this with your kids, or 
do this with your wife, or do this with your person, and then 
you'll be saved. We all in our hearts are always either licentious 
or legalistic. There are two enemies we always 
have to fight against, being a licentious man or being a legalistic 
man. This is what Paul is doing here. 
Paul is concerned for souls. He knows that physical circumcision 
does not make one a Christian. He did not have Titus circumcised 
even though they were in Jerusalem. Now, the language of verses 4 
and 5 in this whole section is a bit difficult. On either theory, 
whether it's referring to the famine relief visit or it's referring 
to the Jerusalem Council of Acts 15, verses 4 and 5 are difficult 
to locate. Is it that Paul is having a private 
conversation with James and Cephas and John, and then these false 
brethren stealthily come in and they say, we want to see that 
Titus is circumcised? It's very tough to sort of put 
it in the history. I don't think it's a stretch 
to say this could have happened in Antioch before Paul ever came 
to Jerusalem. But we do know this, that there 
was some external pressure put on Paul to have Titus circumcised. That's what he's pointing out. 
Notice in verse 3, Yet not even Titus, who was with me, being 
a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. And this occurred 
because of false brethren, secretly brought in, who came in by stealth 
to spy on our liberty, which we have in Christ Jesus, that 
they might bring us into bondage, to whom we did not yield submission 
even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue 
with you. As I said before, Paul is a gracious 
man. Paul is the one who authored 
1 Corinthians 9 when he says, to the Jew I became a Jew, to 
the Greek I became a Greek. In Acts 16, verse 3, you'll read 
something interesting about Paul's other young ministerial assistant. His name was Timothy. His father 
was a Greek. So, Timothy was uncircumcised. But when they were going into 
Jewish regions, Paul had him circumcised. You say, is this 
Paul fickle? Does he not know whether to accept 
circumcision or not? Was it Timothy, dare I say, unlucky 
day? Titus drew well and Timothy, 
it's too bad for you? That's not it at all. Here's how Paul viewed circumcision. If a Jew by custom wanted to 
get circumcised, more power to you. If a Jew said that circumcision 
was necessary to be saved, anathema to you. If Paul could take Timothy and 
have him circumcised so that they went into Jewish regions 
and it wouldn't be upsetting to people, it would facilitate 
free movement, it would make everybody happy, but it wouldn't 
compromise the Gospel, Timothy, you're getting circumcised. Become 
all things to all men that we might save some It's a very important 
principle there. As long as we are not compromising 
the truth of the Gospel and we are not sinning, we ought to 
be all things to all men. I don't think that means that 
we have to go do everything they do. They shoot heroin. We don't 
shoot heroin because we want to be all things to all men. 
That would be sinning. But on the same token, If what 
we are doing calls into question the integrity of Gospel truth, 
even if it's something like eating, then we must not do it. Right? Isn't that what Paul goes on 
to do with Peter? Galatians 2? Peter was eating with the Gentiles. Everything was great. But when 
certain men came from James, meaning from the Jerusalem church, 
Peter said, I'm not going to hang out with you Gentiles anymore. 
What's Paul say? That calls into question the 
Gospel. You're telling Gentiles they're not as good as you. You're 
telling Gentiles that they ought to have something like you in 
order to be full-fledged citizens of the Kingdom of God. That's 
why Paul said, I wish stood into his face. Brethren, if you are 
not compromising the truth of the Gospel, you are not sinning 
against the Lord God. Be all things to all men. The 
moment you begin to compromise the integrity of the Gospel, 
Paul's pronouncement of anathema rests upon your head. Notice 
that. That's what he's saying here. 
That's what's going on here. Timothy's circumcision did not 
undermine the truth of the gospel. It facilitated relations between 
Jew and Gentile. Here, however, if when Paul takes 
Titus to go to Jerusalem, he has him circumcised, what are 
the Judaizers going to say? They're going to say, you see, 
Paul knuckled under pressure. Paul knew he was going to go 
stand before James and Cephas and John, and he didn't want 
to be standing there next to an uncircumcised Greek. So what 
did he do? He did what he should have done. 
And the Judaizers would have triumphed. They would have went 
to the southern churches, the Galatian churches, and they would 
have said, Paul the Apostle had Titus circumcised. Therefore, 
you need to be circumcised. That's what he's doing. That's 
what he's arguing against. He's saying, I went to Mecca 
itself. Not really Mecca, I'm just using that as we use it. 
I went to the Jerusalem church. I was going to have counsel with 
James and Cephas and John. And I took Titus, and he wasn't 
circumcised. Not that I think he sounds like 
I'm about to sound here, but he's probably like, what do you 
think of that, Judaizers? What do you think about that? 
I go into the church central hub itself with the men who were 
with Jesus, the men who were called as apostles, one who was 
born and raised in the same home as Jesus, his half-brother James, 
and I had Titus standing there with me in all of his uncircumcised 
glory. You know what Galatian church 
is? It didn't offend them. It wasn't an offense to them. 
It didn't cause them to add anything to me. They didn't tell me to 
go out and get him circumcised. They didn't send me down to the 
local moil. They didn't send me over there to have him go 
through the procedure. That's not it at all. You see, 
the whole point is apologetic in nature. He is defending his 
practice. He is defending his Gospel. He 
is showing the integrity of truth. He is saying to each and every 
one of us today, again, we don't think in terms of circumcision. 
That's not our issue. But we have our issues, as we'll 
see in just a moment. We have our addendums to the 
Gospel of free grace. We have our additions. We have 
our shibboleths. We have our preferences that 
we oftentimes elevate to the place of law. And we use them 
to browbeat other people that don't see things the way we do. 
And if you don't see things the way I do, you're going to go 
to hell. We may not be so vociferous. We may not be as loud as these 
Judaizers, but in our heart of hearts, when we spy someone doing 
something a little bit differently than we, The suggestion comes, 
how could they ever call themselves a Christian? You know how we 
can call ourselves a Christian? Because we've been washed in 
precious blood. I love that statement in Revelation 
14, a descriptor of the followers of the Lamb. They are redeemed. I love that language. What are 
you? I'm redeemed. Not a performer, not a doer, 
not an accomplished one. I'm redeemed. The idea there 
is to bring glory to the Redeemer. You don't glorify the redeemed. 
Wow, you did a great job in being bought out of the slave market. No, you glorify the Redeemer. 
That's the whole design of the Gospel. It's the whole power 
of God unto salvation for everyone who believes. To the Jew first 
and also to the Greek. You are here this morning. Your 
temptation may not be circumcision. It probably isn't. It probably 
isn't at all. But there's something. You've 
got some idea of what it means to be a Christian. You know what 
it means to be a Christian? It means to look to Jesus in 
faith, to believe the gospel. Isn't that beautiful? Cheesy 
church sign on my road. It said, it's more important 
that you live a Christian life, or it's more important that people 
see your Christian life than the words that you speak. While 
we should appreciate that sentiment, we ought to be holy, we ought 
to be godly, it undermines the Gospel. Isn't it interesting 
that men, always in the Scripture, are saved in connection to believing 
the truth? Not in watching Christians. Remember 
Jesus' words in John 13, 35, By this all men will know that 
you are My disciples. Not by this all men will become 
Christians. When we have love for one another, 
we display that we belong to the Lord Jesus. But unless we 
tell men of blood atonement, unless we tell them of Calvary, 
unless we point them to the cross and say, look and live, we are 
doing a severe injustice to their souls. We are teaching them that 
the entrance to the Kingdom of God is by law and not by grace. You perform the way I do, you 
deal with your children the way I do, you love your wife the 
way I do, and things will be well for you in heaven. God have 
mercy on the professing church today that preaches that gospel. 
If not verbally, practically. We go to heaven by grace alone, 
through faith alone, in Christ alone. We need to preach that 
truth. We need to call people to believe 
that truth. Now, I'm not suggesting live 
like the devil. I hope you know that. I am suggesting, 
however, that if the devil spoke the true gospel, there would 
be more profit in that than my perfect life. I know that may 
rock your world. And I don't ever suspect that 
the devil will speak the true Gospel. Let's use a dog. The 
dog speaks the true Gospel to someone and says, believe on 
the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. A sinner has 
far more blessed chance there than watching me live my life. It is about creeds. It is about 
truth. It is about believing the right 
stuff. Christianity is not a system 
of performance. It's not just morals. Do you 
realize that Mormons and Catholics and Jews and Muslims could all 
bandy together and learn how to be better citizens together? 
There's nothing Christian about that. What is Christian is the 
power of God. to call a dead sinner out of 
the grave and to cause him to believe the gospel of Jesus Christ 
and be saved. That's the supernaturalism that 
is Christianity. And notice in this passage, legalists 
hate that. The Judaizers hate that. Notice 
Paul's language here in verse 4. He said, "...this occurred 
because of false brethren, secretly brought in, who came in by self 
to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that 
they might bring us into bondage." Notice, the false brethren. You 
might be tempted to say, what's the big deal? Okay, so he said, 
believe, and they said, be circumcised. A little extra won't hurt anything, 
will it? Right? A little extra? Let's just pat 
ourselves and inoculate ourselves. If this is important, then that. 
And I remember when I first got converted, just to sort of illustrate 
this point, my brother-in-law led me in the sinner's prayer. 
And every time I would read a Gospel tract and the sinner's prayer 
would be worded differently, I'd pray that one too. Didn't 
want to miss anything. Didn't want to get shortchanged. 
Give me every gospel tract. If there's a few words different, 
I'm going to put them in there so that I can really be justified. You might be tempted to think 
that. What's the big deal? Throw some circumcision in there. 
Throw a few sacraments in there. Throw a hat in there. Throw some 
trousers in there. Throw some non-makeup in there. 
Throw some homeschooling in there. Throw whatever in there. What's 
the big deal? What is the big deal? Paul calls it being a false brother. That's the big deal. Revelation 
2.21 thing, if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ 
died in vain. Are you prepared to stand up 
on the Day of Judgment and say, yeah, He helped me here? He helped 
you here? He helped you here? No, Jesus doesn't help you here. 
Jesus saves, to the uttermost, all who draw near to God through 
Him. That's what Hebrews says. He's 
not a helper. He's not our big buddy. He's not our big friend. He is 
the Savior for sinners. Now, He is a friend of sinners, 
to be sure. He's not our chum. He's not our 
life coach. He's not the one who integrates 
us. He is the one who redeems us through His doing and dying 
and rising again. He was delivered up because of 
our offenses. And He was raised up because 
of our justification. Everything is taken care of by 
Him. When false brethren come in and 
throw circumcision into the mix, they indicate that they're not 
saved. They indicate that they stand under the apostolic anathema. Paul says, if anyone preaches 
a gospel contrary to what we have preached, may God's wrath 
and curse fall upon him. It's very serious. That's why 
we're spending time in Galatians. Pastor Cam and I realize there's 
a lot of doctrine out there that's so easily accessible with one 
or two clicks on your mouse that will teach you a hellish Galatian 
heretical doctrine. That people are sucking in. People 
are swallowing and drinking. We're justified by grace alone, 
through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. Paul is fighting 
for that here. Paul is the real deal here. Notice what they do. It says, 
"...who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we 
have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage." 
Your works, the law, your performance, that isn't an extra step of somehow 
spiritual progression. That's bondage. It's a bear trap 
on your leg. Because you know what you're 
tempted to do? To look at that. What happens when you get down 
and depressed? You might say, I don't get down and depressed. 
Well then, tune out for just a moment. Because the rest of 
us get down and depressed. The psalmist got down and depressed. What are we supposed to look 
to? I didn't read my Bible. I didn't pray. I miss church. 
That's our tendency. To look inward. To be introspective. When God's method is extra-spective. Look to Christ. Yea, though I 
walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear 
no evil." Why? Because you're with me. He doesn't 
deny the valley of death. Christianity isn't just a zippity-doo-dah, 
sing and whistle, and everything's always so good. Sometimes I see 
the church, you know, we're all just running around like, everything's 
great. We're hurt, man. We're messed 
up. We've got issues. We've got problems. 
We've got trials. So did the psalmist. He doesn't 
deny the existence of the valley of the shadow of death, but he 
has this certain confidence that when I go through it, and I will 
go through it, thou art with me. Thy rod, thy staff, they 
comfort me. I can't look to my doing. I can't 
look to my performance. That psalmist later on in Psalm 
32 says, how blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven. 
You don't go to heaven because you've done or performed or obeyed. You go to heaven because Jesus 
has done and performed and obeyed. Remember that blessed statement 
of Westminster's Sword of Catechism 33. Justification is an act of 
God's free grace wherein He pardons all our sins and accepts us as 
righteous in His sight only for the righteousness of Christ imputed 
to them and received by faith alone. There's no greater help 
in this world than that statement. which accurately reflects what 
the Bible teaches. Paul says it in Romans 5.1, Therefore, 
having been justified by faith, we have peace with God. You're 
not going to make it because you do something well. If that 
were the case, then you'll stand before heaven and you'll have 
some glory for yourself. I perform well. My covenantal 
faithfulness, my ability, my doing, my this has supplemented 
and fulfilled this calling that God has put on my life. Then 
Christ died in vain, according to Galatians 2.21. Machen said, 
it was the liberty which a man has when he gives up the vain 
effort to establish his own righteousness before God and trusts only in 
the atonement which Christ accomplished on the cross. That liberty was 
being attacked by the Judaizers when they asked Gentile converts 
to keep the ceremonial law. But it is also being attacked 
in the modern church when men seek by their own efforts to 
attain salvation by exhibiting the spirit of Jesus in their 
lives. Now, as always, true liberty is to be obtained only when a 
man depends for his salvation unreservedly on the grace of 
God. The freeness of the grace of 
God makes legalistic people unhappy. You know what they say? If you 
preach this, if you tell sinners they'll be justified by grace 
alone, through faith alone and Christ alone, they'll go out 
and live like the devil. If they ever accuse you of that, at least 
you're in good company. because they accused Paul of 
preaching that. You know what Romans 6 says? What shall we 
say? Shall we continue in sin that 
grace may abound? You don't think Paul heard this 
in the back of the synagogue? You don't think when Paul stood 
up and said, look to Christ and you will be forgiven. Look to 
Christ and you will have justification. justified from all things that 
the law of Moses could never justify. I'm sure that when he 
walked from the pulpit to the back of the synagogue there, 
if you say that, then we're going to go out and we're going to 
live like the devil. People accuse you of that, you're 
in good company. In fact, if they never accuse you of that, 
check your gospel preaching. The Gospel of Jesus Christ and 
the justification wrought by grace alone, through faith alone 
and Christ alone, always results in sanctification. Always results 
in fruit. By this all men will know that 
you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. This 
is not the way you become disciples. This is the way you demonstrate 
discipleship. That's what James 2 is all about. You say you have faith, but you 
have no words. Can that faith save you? Brethren, 
we need to understand this truth for holy living. So Paul is dealing 
with the Judaizers. We're not going to get to verses 
6 to 10. Some of you might be doing the math right now. If 
he keeps going, we're probably going to be here a long time. 
That's not what we're going to do. We're going to finish at 
verse 5 this morning. A couple of things, and then we close. 
Notice their desire. They came in by stealth to spy 
out our liberty, which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might 
bring us into bondage. Isn't that amazing? That they might bring us into 
bondage. That's probably not how they 
preached it. They probably didn't say, come 
on up and get circumcised because we want to enslave you. Who's 
going to go for that? But Paul is rightly interpreting 
the activity. Coming up and being circumcised 
in order to supplement Christ's gospel is to put yourself in 
bondage. It is to go back to slavery. 
It is to separate from the One alone who can make you free. 
When you try to add to His finished work, you destroy that work. When you try to supplement what 
Christ has done by your performance, you are rejecting Christ's work. It's slavery. Notice what he 
says in chapter 1 verse 7, which is not another, but there are 
some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. Again, whether they came and 
said, look, we want to pervert the gospel of Christ. That's 
not the point. What they were preaching and 
doing did pervert the gospel of Christ. I like going to the 
thrift stores because you can find books there. And I've made 
this observation that books that say a Bible study on whatever 
or a biblical study on whatever doesn't necessarily mean it is. 
Some of the greatest heresy in the history of the church has 
been promoted as a Bible study. Right? Just because it says it's 
a Bible study doesn't mean it's right. Pastor Cam read the Tentation 
of Jesus. What happened? The devil quotes 
Scripture. He misapplies it. He misinterprets 
it. He's got a bad hermeneutic. That's what these guys are doing. 
By adding to it, they are distorting and perverting the truth of justification 
by grace alone. Notice in chapter 4, verse 29, 
speaking about the two sons, Isaac and Ishmael, verse 29, 
But as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted 
him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now. We think of persecution as men 
in the Middle East getting their tongues cut out if they profess 
faith in the Lord Jesus, or people being in prison. And that is 
persecution. I don't want to downplay that. 
But a Judaizing attempt to add to our salvation is persecution. It is an attempt to cause us 
to reject Christ, to look to ourselves, to look to some performance. Persecution, he says. Notice 
in chapter 5. Notice in chapter five, verse 
10, he says, I have confidence in you, in the Lord, that you 
will have no other mind, but he who troubles you shall bear 
his judgment, whoever he is. And I, brethren, if I still preach 
circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Then the 
offense of the cross is ceased. I could wish that those who trouble 
you would even cut themselves off. That is strong language. That's offensive language. You 
know what he's saying? Literally? It's a little bit much for our 
delicate ears. I wish they'd emasculate themselves. They want to boast in your foreskin? 
I want them to mutilate themselves. He's not a sicko, serial herder 
of people. He's showing the gravity of the 
situation. They're that caught up in a piece of skin? Would 
that they go emasculate themselves and leave my sheep alone. Go somewhere else. He's not playing 
games. Chapter 6, verses 12 and 13. 
As many as desire to make a good showing in the flesh, these would 
compel you to be circumcised, only that they may not suffer 
persecution for the cross of Christ. For not even those who 
are circumcised keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised 
that they may boast in your flesh. Look at verse 6 of chapter 5 
for just a moment. I'm sorry, verse 3. It says, 
I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that 
he is a debtor to keep the whole law. That's the rub. That's the 
issue. Adding a little circumcision means coming out from under the 
reign of grace and putting yourself under the reign of law. It's 
not just circumcision. The law is a demanding taskmaster. 
You don't just get circumcised. You do everything else. If you 
don't do everything else, you will not be rewarded. If you 
do not fulfill completely, you will not be saved. Do you want 
that? Is that really what you want? 
Or do you want to come to Christ? Do you want that grace of God? 
Do you want that blood that washes and cleanses you from all sin? 
And then notice finally what Paul says in verse 5. This is 
beautiful and amazing. He says, to whom we did not yield 
submission even for an hour. Do you love that? I'm not having 
Titus circumcised. Get out of here. Go away. I'm not going to do what you 
say. I'm not going to jeopardize the Gospel. I'm not going to 
put these dear sheep on the line. I'm not going to make Titus think 
that by circumcision he can somehow have standing with God. I didn't 
yield to them for one hour. This is that fighting aspect 
of this epistle that Machen speaks of. We need to be like this. 
The attacks, the assaults, the onslaught against the Gospel 
of Jesus Christ ought to have each and every one here saying, 
I will not yield. I will not. I will not comply 
with the heretics. I will not entertain anything 
that deviates from this written Word. I will not for a moment 
begin to entertain that I can add a little bit unto my justification. Be like Paul. Dare to be a Paul 
in these days of doctrinal compromise. Dare to be a Paul in these days 
when there are so many attacks on the doctrine of justification 
by faith. Dare to be a Paul when people 
want us to join arms with people who are heretical. I know it's 
not always popular. I know people will look at you 
like you're narrow and you're this and you're that. You know 
what? In all things being equal, I love people. I want to be with 
people. People are great. But if they jeopardize the truth 
of the gospel, we can't. It's unacceptable. We betray 
with our actions what we speak with our words. We've got to 
be careful. And then notice what Paul says 
here at the end of verse 5, "...to whom we did not yield submission, 
even for an hour, that..." Here's the point. "...that the truth 
of the gospel might continue with you." Hey Paul, what do 
you want from the church? I want them to continue in the 
truth of the gospel. Paul, what do you want from the church? 
I want them to wear Che Guevara t-shirts and go out and be revolutionaries. 
What do you want from the church? I want them to be like Bono, 
but really spiritual guys. Just read a little meditation 
in the last hour on that sort of thing. What do you want from 
the church, Paul? I want every single one of them 
to be a revolutionary for Jesus. I want them to continue in the 
truth of the Gospel. Not meet everybody's needs, though 
you should try to help people. Not be a place of entertainment. 
Not be a place of, wow, this is so dazzling. Continue in the 
truth of the Gospel. Don't stop. Never give up. Never give up. Never give up. 
It's a long road to plow, but you must keep faithful. Lives 
are at stake. Souls are at stake. Your eternal 
well-being is at stake. When the onslaught comes, when 
the assaults happen, here's what Paul wants from the church. It's 
not romantic. It's not glamorous. It's not 
dazzling. It's quite mundane. It's quite 
ordinary. It's quite strange. But it's what Paul, under the 
inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wants. Paul says, I did this. I didn't have Titus circumcised. 
I knew these false brethren were up to no good. And here's what 
I was thinking. You Galatians. That's who he's 
talking to. See, the sad thing in all of 
this is that they started giving ear to these Judaizers. Later on he says, when I first 
came to you, you received me as an angel out of heaven. You 
would have taken your own eyes and given them to me. This is 
why Bible scholars believe that Paul had a problem with his eyes. 
Why would the Galatians take their eyes out and give them 
to Paul? Probably because his eyes were messed up. Probably 
because when he writes the last letters, he would use a secretary 
to actually write what he would dictate to him. But toward the 
end, when he writes the greetings, he says, see with what large 
letters I write these words. Why do you write large letters? 
You can't see that well. These people on Paul's visit 
would have plucked their own eyes out and put them in his 
head so he could see better. And now they're listening to 
false brethren who are coming and telling them that Jesus needs 
you to be circumcised so that He can really save you. Don't 
do it. Don't listen to them. I want 
you to continue in the truth of the Gospel. I want you to 
persevere. You may not be world revolutionaries. 
You may not be a Spurgeon. You may not be an Edwards. You 
may not be an Amy Carmichael. You may not be the Christian 
businessman who devotes millions to the cause of Jesus, but if 
you are a faithful brother attending a faithful church, continuing 
in the truth of the Gospel, you've got the smile of God Most High 
shining down upon you. Isn't that beautiful? Isn't that 
the way it's supposed to be? Well, brethren, the desire of 
the Apostle Paul was first and foremost for the purity of the 
Christian gospel and the well-being of the churches. The desire of 
the legalist was to add works to faith in order to bring bondage 
and slavery and to spread their misery. You ever heard that? A legalist is somebody who fears 
that at some place, someone is having a good time. Can't have 
that. I've got to get circumcised. 
You've got to get circumcised. If I had to go through this, 
you've got to go through this. There's some churches that teach 
you've got to go through some motions. You've got to go through some 
eras or some periods before you can close with Christ. Where's 
that in the Bible? It's thrown in there. It's added to it. We're suspicious 
if you actually believe the Gospel. Oh, I've heard that about Archer. 
Oh, it's easy believism there. People go there and they believe 
and they get saved. Oh, that's horrible. With the God that everybody 
who walks in here believes and gets saved. You can believe and 
be saved. That's what the Scripture says. Legalists don't want that. Legalists 
want to add. And it's legalism not only individually, 
it's legalism familially. I don't know if that's a word, 
but our families, we can have a way or a preference of doing things. 
And if other people don't match up, they're not in, they're not 
saved, they're not going to heaven. We need to understand that about 
our church life as well. As I've said before, and we'll 
say it again, every church has a culture. But we want to make 
sure that people do not think that in order to come to Christ, 
they have to assimilate into our culture. They have to be 
like us. No. Don't be like me. Look to Jesus and live. That's 
the gospel. That's what Paul fought for. That's what Paul died for. That's 
what Paul lived for. And that's what we likewise must 
do. And Luther beautifully captures 
the essence of this section when he speaks about the law and the 
gospel. He says, but no law. And I want 
you to listen to this. If you're not a believer this 
day, I want you to listen. I also want to say, if you want 
to read something excellent, read your Bible and read Luther 
on Galatians. He'll sit you down and talk to 
you about your soul. Beautiful. Look, I'm sitting 
there with a man who's talking to me about my soul. And if you're 
not a believer, he explains the gospel so beautifully and perceptibly 
as he expounds this letter to Galatians. It's amazing. Great. Here's what he says, and 
I want you to listen to this, because if you are not a believer, 
you probably don't want to go to hell, and that's a great thing. 
You probably want to go to heaven, and that's a great thing. But 
you're probably thinking, in order to go to heaven, I've got 
to this, I've got to this, I've got to this, I've got to that. 
In order to go to heaven, you have to believe the gospel of 
Jesus Christ. Here's what Luther says, no law, 
no matter how divine or holy, has the right to tell me that 
I obtain justification in life through it. I will grant that 
it can teach me that I should love God and my neighbor and 
live in chastity, patience, etc. But it is in no position to show 
me how to be delivered from sin, the devil, death and hell. The 
law is good, 1 Timothy 1.8, if one uses it lawfully. Legalists 
don't use it lawfully. Christians are to know and use 
it lawfully. He goes on to say, for this I 
must consult the Gospel and listen to the Gospel, which does not 
teach me what I should do. So that is the proper function 
of the law. But it teaches me what someone 
else has done for me. Namely, that Jesus Christ, the 
Son of God, has suffered and died to deliver me from sin and 
death. The answer to you today, if you 
are not a Christian, is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And 
you will be saved. No additions, no preservatives, 
no additives. Just pure and simple. Look to 
Jesus and He will save you from your sins. Let us pray and rejoice 
in our God for the freeness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ our 
Lord. Father, we give You praise and 
glory and thanksgiving for this wonderful news that Jesus came 
and lived in obedience to the law and died as a sacrifice and 
a substitute at Calvary and that He rose again. And that all who 
look to Him in faith will have everlasting life. I pray that 
You would just bless Your people with fresh reminders of this 
great truth and cause us to rejoice and worship and praise You. And 
God, for those who do not know Jesus Christ, we pray that You 
would do that work in their hearts, which You alone can do. We pray 
to a sovereign God. We pray to a God who is powerful, 
that is able to call men forth and to give them the ability 
to respond. And we pray that here and elsewhere You would 
cause a great many sinners to believe the truth this day and 
to give glory and honor and praise unto Christ. And we ask in Jesus' 
name, Amen.