In the name of Jesus there is glorious liberty!
Jesus Brings Precious Liberty
Galatians 2:1 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and also took Titus with me. 2 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. 3 Yet not even Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. 4 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), 5 to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.
Galatians is a book written for a zeal for the purity of the gospel not to be compromised. In Galatians 1 Paul talked about what he preached came by first hand revelation from Jesus. After Paul had preached Jesus Christ and Him crucified he went and seen Peter and a few of the other apostle in Jerusalem . Now in Galatians 2 Paul said he went again after fourteen years to Jerusalem . Paul was preached a glorious liberty could be found in Christ alone. False brethren came by stealth to spy out the liberty the gentile believers were partakers of.
Stealth: 1 the action of doing something slowly, quietly, and covertly, in order to avoid detection. 2 secretive, dishonest or cunning behavior or actions.
Paul was preaching a liberty in Christ Jesus and not everybody was happy about it.. Many of the Jewish believers were very zealous for the law and tried in many ways to get the Gentile believers to practice their faith by serving under the law. Paul said he was not going to yield submission even for an hour! The Jerusalem church is on record of being very zealous for the law. Read Acts 15 and Acts 21
Acts 15:24 Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, "You must be circumcised and keep the law"; to whom we gave no such commandment;
Acts 21:24 "Take them and be purified with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads, and that all may know that those things of which they were informed concerning you are nothing, but that you yourself also walk orderly and keep the law. 25 "But concerning the Gentiles who believe, we have written and decided that they should observe no such thing, except that they should keep themselves from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality."
In Acts 15 & 21 is the proof the Jewish Christians were expected to live by a different standard that the Gentile Christians. Paul said there should not be a submission to those who want to walk away from the liberty found in Jesus Christ. Here we are in Galatians 2, 17 years into the ministry of Paul , some were trying to bring practices of the law to the believers. How does that apply to the church today? False teachers are still trying to move the believer away from the liberty found exclusively in Jesus Christ. Rather it is the practices of the law of Moses or the practices of the traditions of men the liberty found in Jesus Christ is stripped away.
Hebrews 8:6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.
You and I have been birthed in the kingdom of God based upon the second covenant. It is the covenant Jesus Christ came with; it is the covenant of grace and truth. Mixing the covenant causes the loss of liberty in Jesus Christ. In the name of Jesus there is glorious liberty. What you believe about Jesus determines your destiny for today and your eternity for tomorrow.
Galatians 2:6 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. 7 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 8 (for He who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to the circumcised also worked effectively in me toward the Gentiles), 9 and when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace 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. 10 They desired only that we should remember the poor, the very thing which I also was eager to do.
In this meeting in Jerusalem the early apostles of Christ gave Paul the right hand of fellowship. They acknowledged that God had committed the gospel of Jesus Christ to Paul for the Gentiles.
Galatians 2:11 Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; 12 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. 13 And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.
Men came from James’ church and caused Peter to play the hypocrite with the Gentile believers. This is the church we read about in Acts 21 who were very zealous for the law. Not too many preach about Paul ’s rebuke to Peter; yet it is powerful and necessary if we are to preach the grace of Jesus Christ without compromise. When the believer’s liberty is put in jeopardy it is a big deal. It is time to stand up and rebuke those trying to bring bondage to the body of Jesus Christ. What is the truth that bring such great liberty and what is the lie bringing bondage to the body of Christ?
Galatians 2:14 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?
Here is one of the secrets revealed in the word of God. Peter had learned to live like a Gentile believer walking in the liberty found exclusively in Jesus Christ. Paul asked Peter, “If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel the Gentiles to live as Jews?” In Paul ’s words Peter was playing a hypocrite and dragged some of the Jewish brethren to do the same thing.
Galatians 2:15 "We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, 16 "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 the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.
Men gain their freedom from sin and bondage by faith in Jesus Christ alone, and there is not another way to gain liberty from sin and bondage. It is not the tradition of men, or the law of Moses, but the precious blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses a man and brings him complete liberty. The law of Moses points to Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ is the substance of our freedom.
Galatians 2:17 "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!
Paul ’s rebuke gets very strong here; if we are trying to be justified by Christ outside of God’s divine order do we make Christ a minister of sin? The answer is certainly not! We must ever keep the object of our faith in Jesus Christ alone.
Galatians 2:18 "For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. 19 "For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God.
If ever I try to be justified before God by any other means beside the cross I make myself a transgressor. One has to die to the law or any other tradition so that we might live to God.
Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and 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. 21 "I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain."
The precious liberty in jeopardy is found in the crucified Christ. Christ in me is the hope of glory and there is no other means of experiencing His glory. If any other means is implemented for righteousness we declare Christ died in vain. Liberty is found in Jesus Christ alone. He is the one who loved us and gave His life for us on Calvary . Do not set aside the grace of God for some tradition of man or trusting in your own performance of the law of Moses. Let it be said of every believer. “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.
2 Corinthians 3:6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. 7 But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, 8 how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? 9 For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. 10 For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels. 11 For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious.
Paul indeed was the minister of the new covenant. Here by the Spirit of God Paul calls the ministry of the law of Moses the ministry of death and the ministry of condemnation. When the law of Moses is compared to the second covenant birthed by the Spirit it pales in comparison. The greater glory is found in the ministry of the Spirit which Jesus Christ brings. The new covenant is based on better promises, with a better Mediator. It is the greater glory the body of Christ is looking for. Depending on the ministry of death and condemnation is to rob the believer of the glorious liberty found exclusively in Jesus Christ alone.
2 Corinthians 3:12 Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech; 13 unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away. 14 But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. 15 But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. 16 Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
The veil that hides the truth is taken away in Jesus Christ alone. When one turns exclusively to Jesus Christ the veil is taken away. Where the Spirit of the Lord is , there is liberty. This is where the glory of the Lord is revealed. Transformation is only found in the revelation of Jesus Christ. Changed from glory to glory by the Spirit of the Lord.
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