Galatians 2

==Galatians 2:1-2==
1 Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also. 2 And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain.
Paul continues to relate his journey from Saul to Paul the apostle. In Galatians 1 he had spent 3 years in Arabia, then 15 days in Jerusalem, Paul spent 14 years in Syria and Cilicia. After that, he travels with Barnabas and Titus to Jerusalem. There, by direct guidance from the Holy Spirit, he reports to Jerusalem about preaching to the Gentiles. We see this recorded in Acts 15.
His report was to the elders and other apostles in Jerusalem alone rather than publically so as to not cause a stir and not give ammunition to those who would work against him (mainly Judaizers) to go undo what he had done among the Gentiles. At the time that he writes this letter and that Luke writes the book of Acts to talk about that meeting, those Gentile congregations are more mature and not as succeptible to the problems Paul was concerned about.
==Galatians 2:3-5==
3 But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised: 4 And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage: 5 To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you. 
The Judaizing "Christians", fakes who wanted the Gentiles to follow Moses first before Christ, demanded that Titus be circumcised according to the Law of Moses. Titus, being a non-Jew, refused the circumcision. Unlike Timothy, who was half Jewish and who chose the operation as a matter of expedience, Titus would not be forced to do so by those who did not understand the nature of the Law of Moses and its end.
These false Christians had snuck in to the church at Jerusalem and were there to "spy out" to inspect or examine close in a manner that allowed them to plot against the freedom which is in Christ Jesus (Acts 15:1). This freedom is freedom from the bondage to the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2). In Romans 7, Paul taught that there is freedom from the law of Moses for those Jews who were dead to their old man by being immersed into Christ. Titus, never a Jew in the first place, was never under such bondage, as are no Gentiles of any time period.
Paul says that he and the others did not submit to them even for a moment. In their refusal to submit to these false teachers, Paul and Titus set up a practical example for all Gentiles concerning the gospel, that this is what men are under today and should continue in, not the law of Moses.
==Galatians 2:6==
6 But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man's person:) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me: 
Here Paul points out that the Galatians might considere these elders of the congregation in Jerusalem to be some kind of superior authority to Paul. Paul is telling the Galatians that this is not so, that they are not above Paul in authority and did not add anything to what Paul was doing that the Holy Spirit had not already given him to do. This is an important verse in understanding church authority, especially in light of some of man's organizing of their religious bodies. At this point, God has every opportunity to show how the centralizing of the authority of the church was to happen. Instead, Paul says it didn't. These men were not in authority over him any more than he was in authority over them. He was simply making a report about the work, informing the church in Judaea about what was going on with the church in the Gentile heavy part of the world.
God is not a respecter of persons. He does not esteem one above another. This is exactly the opposite of what is taught in Catholicism and denominations like it with a centralized authority and hierarchical structure.
==Galatians 2:7-8==
7 But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter; 8 (For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:)
This is a very, very important verse in two different major contexts of contention. Paul declares that his mission was to the Gentiles whereas Peter's was to the Jews. This not only emphasizes Paul's equality with Peter (and the other apostles), but describes separate missionary goals and boundaries. This is not to say Paul could not or did not preach to Jews. In Acts we see this very thing in every town Paul visited for the first time. He always went to the Jews first, then to the Gentiles. This is also not to say that Peter did not teach Gentiles. The very first Gentile added to the church was converted by Peter (Acts 10-11). So these boundaries of their mission are not absolute, they are generalizations.
1) The first point to make from this in a contested context, is the idea that Peter is some kind of first Pope or head apostle. Paul explicitly says that Peter and the other apostles who were in Jerusalem were not any higher in authority than he was. Second, by arguing that Peter was given the mission field of the Jews, the idea that he went to Rome on church business -- ever -- is diminished, and that he went there to "rule" over the entire church completely denied. It wasn't his mission field set in order by the Holy Spirit. Peter was not the first Pope and the office of Pope is nowhere found in scripture.
2) The second point, and this is more in keeping with the original intent of this wiki, is that Peter was in Jerusalem, stayed in Jerusalem throughout his ministry. So when Peter writes in 1 Peter 5:13 - "The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you..." He is identifying Jerusalem implicitly as Babylon, not Rome. This goes a powerful distance in identifying the harlot called Babylon in the book of Revelation. In fact, Peter identifies himself as one of the elders among you (1 Pet. 5:1) and we see in Acts 15 what congregation he was an elder of.
==Galatians 2:9-10==
9 And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision. 10 Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do.
The apostles James, Peter (Cephas), and John were also elders of the congregation in Jerusalem (Acts 21:18; 1 Peter 5:1). These men were also "pillars" strong, sound men in the congregation. This is an important description of elders and it reflects their position as support, as servants to the congregation. Even though they are in authority (episkopos, ruler/overseer) that office is reflective of Christ in that He is King, but also came to serve man, was the best servant to mankind ever. An elder's role is to support and provide stability for a congregation on the foundation of the gospel (not perceived stability by avoiding any and all conflict) as servants to that congregation. Their service inculdes the responsibilities they must bear in leading.
These men accepted Paul (and Barnabas) as being in fellowship with them, being members of Christ's church despite Paul's background. If there is any doubt left as to Paul's authenticity, that he was accepted as a full apostle by these men, supported by the Holy Spirit, should lay that doubt to rest.
These men encouraged Paul and Barnabas to remember the poor, that is to take care of their needs while on their primary mission to preach the gospel. Paul acknowledges that this was something he already did and had a desire to do.
==Galatians 2:11-13==
11 But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. 12 For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. 13 And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation. 
Here is the famous event where Peter gives in to the Judaizing influence and withdraws from Gentile Christians when some Jews showed up. Paul is using this example to show that churches at Galatia that even the apostles were just men and capable of sin like they were. They were not to be esteemed above any other Christian and set on pedestals. Peter was an apostle and an elder and because men wrongly esteemed him higher than was proper, when Peter sinned, he influenced others to sin (offended them in the Biblical sense) including Barnabas and the Jewish Christians that had come from James to Antioch. Peter, born a Jew, is still feeling the pressure of his physical heritage, and succumbs to that. Paul condemns him for it. We, too, must condemn those who would seek to bind on us the law of Moses, we who are not even Jews by birth.
==Galatians 2:14==
14 But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?
Paul is going to spend a large portion of the letter springboarding from this incident to expound upon the difference between law of Moses (or simply the law) and the law of Christ (or simply grace, or the gospel).
His first premise, stated to Peter, is this: Peter, you are a Jew by birth, but live like a Gentile (not under the law of Moses), why are you compelling Gentiles to live like the Jews (live under the law of Moses)?
==Galatians 2:15-16==
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 the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
Peter and Paul were Jewish by birth, not of Gentile stock. Yet they, even with their birth and upbringing in the Jewish faith, with strong reasons to be Jewish religiously, knew better. They both understood that no man could be justified by obedience to the law of Moses, and never could be. Jews understood this whether they became Christians or not, before Christ or after. There was no salvation in Moses because that was not what the point of that law was. The point of the law of Moses was to look forward to the coming of the Messiah in which salvation would be found.
Paul further points out that both he and Peter knew that salvation is not in Moses but through (Greek - dia) the faith of Jesus Christ. This is not individual faith that Christians place in Christ, this is the system of faith that is the teachings/commandments of Christ. Paul differentiates with the next phrase "we have even believed..." (individual faith) that we might be justified by the faith (system) of Christ.
His ultimate conclusion is that Christians are saved by the gospel, the law of Christ, not the law of Moses. These arguments parallel the arguments from the book of Romans.
==Galatians 2:17==
17 But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid.
If Peter and Paul, who seek to be saved by Christ (and not by Moses), are found to be sinners...
This is more than just someone who sins. I believe in this context it is even more than one who is enslaved to sin. I believe that Paul is equating being a sinner as one who is once again entangled by the law of Moses. He is arguing that when Christians find themselves submitting to the law of sin and death (Moses), this does not in any way imply that Christ is advocating sumbission to the law of Moses.
It is a powerful verse that makes a distinction between the adherents to a faith and the faith system itself. Christianity must be judged independent of those who say they are followers of that system. Men can fail, fall short, corrupt. Christianity, and any faith system for that matter, must be judged apart from the actions of men. When we look at Islam, we reject Islam not because there are a bunch of men out there murdering, raping, and committing all manner of atrocities in the name of Islam. We reject Islam because the faith system itself is contradictory and flawed. Conversely, just because a bunch of Catholics committed a bunch of attrocities in the name of Christ for hundreds of years, does not mean we reject Christ. We reject those who did evil and the framework of extra-Biblical teachings that supported those attrocities, but we judge Christianity separate from that. Catholicism and the Christian faith are two distinct entities only tenuously related at best.
Christ is not a minister of sin, so if someone is found to be in sin (specifically submitting to the law of Moses in this context), that does not corrupt Christ, that just means they have (hopefully for just a brief time) rejected Christ and need to repent.
==Galatians 2:18==
18 For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.
Paul and Peter have spent much time "destroying" the edifice that is the Mosaical faith system. While they did not actually end the law of Moses (Christ did that at the cross), they did spend much of their time teaching that it no longer had any authority. If they then turn around and start teaching that folks should be under the law of Moses, they have become a lawbreaker (of the law of Christ).
==Galatians 2:19-21==
19 For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. 20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. 
According to the law of Moses, which pointed to Christ and the gospel, Paul was dead to the law of Moses. No matter how one looked at it, the law of Moses held no authority over Paul or Peter or anyone for that matter. This was done so that folks could live unto God (eternal life, relationship with God unseparated by sin).
Then the favorite memory verse, but now in context. Paul is crucified with Christ, that is he is dead to the law of Moses and that law has no more dominion over him, just as he argued in Romans 6-7. Yet though he is dead to the law, he is alive in Christ (this is spiritually speaking here) because Christ lives in him. The way he lives while physically alive is done according to the law of Christ (The faith of the Son of God) who loved Paul and gave Himself for Paul.
In living his life in this physical body according to the law of Christ, Paul does not frustrate the grace of God. Why not? Because the grace of God is Christ and His law, His gospel. They are in perfect harmony.
Just as argued in Romans 2-4, if righteousness (after one has sinned) could be regained by the law of Moses, then there is no point to the death of Christ. That death is superfluous.
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