The Great Debate

Scripture – Galatians 2:1-5: ¹Fourteen years later I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also. ²I went in response to a revelation and set before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did this privately to those who seemed to be leaders, for fear that I was running or had run my race in vain. ³Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. ⁴This matter arose because some false brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. ⁵We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might remain with you.

Reflection: – After fourteen years of successful ministry among the Gentiles, Paul felt led to check in again with the leaders of the Jerusalem church. He set before them the basic gospel he was preaching, and it was approved.

The reference to circumcision touches on a great point of debate in the early church. A lot of people believed a person had to become a Jew first before they could come to Christ. They thought people had to submit to the Jewish law before they could be saved. The major argument Paul is making in Galatians is precisely the opposite. People can come to Christ as they are, where they are. That’s God’s grace at work. Titus was an example.

What extra regulations do people try to put on you? What ones might you try to put on others?

An Invitation: For anyone interested in sharing their personal reflections from this week’s readings, you are invited to come by the Tim Hortons donut shop at Dix-Toledo and Northline in Southgate tomorrow morning at 9:45am. We’ll have a cup of coffee and see what the Lord has been teaching us this week.

Reading for Sunday, May 4:

Scripture – Galatians 2:6-10: ⁶As for those who seemed to be important—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not judge by external appearance—those men added nothing to my message. ⁷On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as Peter had been to the Jews. ⁸For God, who was at work in the ministry of Peter as an apostle to the Jews, was also at work in my ministry as an apostle to the Gentiles. ⁹James, Peter and John, those reputed to be pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the Jews. ¹⁰All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.