Galatians 2.1-10

In 2009, a church pastor, who actively denied the objective truth of the Bible with this statement, “I don’t take the stories from the scripture literally. I don’t believe in the doctrine of atonement (that Jesus died for our sins, for example),” and who also denied the Trinity, Hell and the Resurrection in their teaching, interviewed Christopher Hitchens, one of the most famous atheists of our time. 

Hitchens, the atheist, didn’t believe in God or an afterlife. Hitchens died of cancer in December 2011 but at the time of the interview he was riding a wave of popularity from his best-selling book God is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.

In a very interesting moment during the interview, the renowned atheist Christopher Hitchens said to the Bible denying church leader, “I would say that if you don’t believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and Messiah, and that he rose again from the dead and by his sacrifice our sins are forgiven, you’re really not in any meaningful sense a Christian.”

As we have been hearing from the Apostle Paul in his letter to the  churches in Galatia, there were, and continue to be, Pastors, Bible study facilitators, Seminary professors, and people claiming to be Christian, that do not believe or teach the truth of the Bible.

In this morning’s section of the Biblical book of Galatians, we hear about the Apostle Paul traveling to the city of Jerusalem to meet with Jesus’ original disciples to compare the messages about Jesus that they were sharing with the world around them.

The Apostle Paul was always concerned that false teaching in the churches was taking the spotlight off of Jesus and giving people false hope through a false message that had nothing to do with God’s Word and God’s Will.

Let’s hear about this interview that the Apostle Paul held with Jesus’ original disciples now.

Galatians 2.1-10 tells us this:

[1] Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. [2] I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain. [3] But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. [4] Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery—[5] to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. [6] And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me. [7] On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the 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), [9] and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. [10] Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do. (ESV)

In this piece of autobiographical information from the Apostle Paul, we hear that after 14 years of traveling around the Mediterranean region he went to Jerusalem to visit with Jesus’ original disciples, the OGGs (The Original Gospel Gangstas).  Before going to Jerusalem on this trip, Paul spent one and a half decades preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ.  As people received the message of Christ as their Savior and repented of their Sin, Paul started Christian churches where the believers could gather together for encouragement and support.

However, the time had come for Paul to show unity with the disciples in order for the Good News of Jesus to keep spreading.

As Paul was preaching to the Gentiles, meaning the non-Jewish population, and the disciples were preaching to the Jewish population, people started to notice their different fields of work.

So, in order to show the world that both he and the disciples were sharing the same Good News—that forgiveness of Sin and eternal life in Heaven comes by faith alone, never by good deeds to please God—Paul traveled to Jerusalem to promote the unity that Jesus Christ brings across ethnic groups, socio-economic groups, gender groups, etc. 

As the Apostle Paul will say later in this letter to the churches in the region of Galatia during the 1st Century following Christ’s birth, death, and resurrection,

[26] for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. [27] For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. [28] There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. [29] And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. (Galatians 3:26–29, ESV)

How did the Apostle Paul know that Jesus’ original disciples were preaching and teaching the exact Gospel message that Jesus gave to them?  

Well, the Apostle Paul used what I like to call, “The Titus Test.”

When the Apostle Paul went up to Jerusalem to compare the Good News of Jesus that he was sharing with the Good News of Jesus that the original disciples were sharing, the Apostle Paul took Titus with him.

Titus was a Gentile, meaning not Jewish.

If the disciples, with their Jewish background, insisted that Titus be circumcised, in order to follow the Jewish Law, before he could be fully acceptable to God the Father in Heaven, Paul would know immediately that their message was false because they were adding human works and human traditions to simple faith in Jesus Christ.

However, Paul finds assurance that they are true brothers in Jesus Christ because Titus “was not forced to be circumcised.”  Even though they had Jewish backgrounds and were preaching to the Jewish population, they believed and taught that works of the Law saved no one.  For the message of both Paul and the disciples was the Good News of Jesus Christ that forgiveness and salvation come by faith alone.

The true Gospel that both the Apostle Paul and Jesus’ original disciples were proclaiming was that Jesus is your Savior.

The true Gospel proclaims reality.  

Reality is that every man, woman, and child is dead in Sin from the moment of conception.  We are birthed into this world an enemy of God choosing the selfish option, the self-centered choice, and in pride, declaring our self-righteousness with no need for God in our life.

Reality is that in order for you and me to have hope in a life with God, the Creator of the Universe, on our side, we need someone to breathe life into us, rescue us, and provide forgiveness of Sin so that God can be present with us and us with God.

Reality is that the person, who provides a way for us to be forgiven of Sin and rescued from God’s wrath and punishment that we fully deserve because of Sin, the One promised shortly after the creation of all that has and will ever exist, is none other than the God-Man, Jesus.

The overly famous Bible text of John 3:16–17 tells us this truth when we hear,

[16] “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (ESV)

The Gospel, meaning, “Good News,” is that God’s love transcends human brokenness.  Despite every human’s defiance to God’s rules for life and love, God demonstrates nothing but grace and mercy towards us.

Because of this, we cannot tell people that Jesus is their mascot, cheering them on as they do whatever makes them feel good in he moment.

That is not the true Gospel.

We cannot tell people that Jesus is one option among many and that all roads lead to God in Heaven.  

That is not the true Gospel.

We cannot tell people that Jesus is just a good teacher.

That is not the true Gospel.

We cannot tell people that Jesus is their therapist giving them good advice to follow in order to better themselves and forge a healthier existence in this world. 

That is not the true Gospel.

We cannot tell people that Jesus is the giver of bling, existing to make them healthy and wealthy.

That is not the true Gospel.

We cannot tell people that Jesus is their National Patriot fighting for and defending only their people group.

That is not the true Gospel.

We cannot tell people that Jesus is just a social justice warrior.

That is not the true Gospel.

We cannot tell people that Jesus is just a moral example to be used with the mantra, “What Would Jesus Do?”

That is not the true Gospel.

We cannot tell people that Jesus is a mystic—a spiritual guru who wants them to look inward and be led by their feelings and “vibes.”

That is not the true Gospel.

We cannot tell people that Jesus is a new form of Moses—the giver of a new set of rules and laws to follow the will make you worthy of God’s love and forgiveness.

That is not the true Gospel.

God did not step off the throne in Heaven and enter this world in the person of Jesus Christ for the silly business of being your mascot, one option among many for you, a good teacher, a therapist, or a giver of bling.

The innocent and blameless Jesus did not die through the excruciating and humiliating death on a cross so that he could simply be your national patriot, a social justice warrior, a moral example, a vibe giving mystic, or the giver of new rules and laws.

Jesus walked this earth, lived daily like you and me (except without sin), died on the cross and rose from the grave to be your Savior.  

Jesus did all of this for you to give you eternal hope by reconciling you God the Father in Heaven through the forgiveness of your Sin.

The true Gospel that both the Apostle Paul and Jesus’ original disciples were proclaiming was that Jesus is your Savior.

While doing relief work in Haiti following the devastating earthquake there on January 12, 2010, Palmer Chichen observed firsthand the tragedy of building a house with a lot of sand and not enough steel:

There was a problem in Haiti. Houses were built with too much sand and not enough steel. Sand is cheap, so because of poverty, when many Haitians built their cement-block homes, they used more sand than they should have in their mortar mix. And because steel is expensive, they didn’t use enough steel in the columns and ring beams. So when the ground quaked, homes crumbled; there was too much sand and not enough steel. It was a tragedy of poverty.

In our own poverty of spirit, we try to build lives this way:

We build marriages with too much anger and not enough love … and they crumble. We build reputations on too much pride and not enough humility … and they crumble. We build families on too much busyness and not enough time … and they crumble. We build friendships on too much criticism and not enough grace … and they crumble.

We build our hope on false Christs and false gospels…and that faith crumbles when we experience suffering or when we don’t get what we think we deserve in this life. 

Knowing how attractive false gospels and false Christs are to our human nature, Jesus gives this warning in Matthew 7:15–29:

[15] “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. [16] You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? [17] So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. [18] A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. [19] Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. [20] Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

[21] “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. [22] On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ [23] And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

[24] “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. [25] And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. [26] And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. [27] And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

[28] And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, [29] for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes. (ESV)

And, then, Jesus makes the true Gospel, the Only Good News, explicitly clear to you, as He did to His original disciples and the Apostle Paul, when He says:

[6] “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. [7] If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” (ESV)

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

February 16, 2025.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, 

You are our great King. We are eager to declare our willingness to go where you command and follow wherever you lead. Yet we confess that we are very weak and fickle. We are easily distracted, constantly diverted from your ways, and quick to follow our own sinful hearts instead. As we plan our futures, we think more of our safety, comfort, and financial profit than we do of laying down our lives for the sake of your kingdom. We are eager to please our families and friends, and slow to consider your calling and your glory our highest goal. 

Thank you, Lord Jesus, that you did not guard your own interests, but chose to leave the comfort and richness of heaven for us. When you came to earth, you did not build a secure and comfortable home for yourself, but camped out in the open air or lived in the homes of others. Your first bed on earth was a dirty feeding trough; your last bed, a stone slab in a cold tomb. You made yourself vulnerable, not only to the harsh elements of nature, but also to the foul hatred of those you had come to save. You even gave up the precious fellowship you had shared with your Father from all eternity, to make your rebellious enemies into your redeemed brothers and sisters. Your obedient, joyful self-sacrifice now enables us to stand before our Father, forgiven of our self-centeredness and clothed in your obedience. 

Teach us what it means to take up our cross daily and follow you. Help us put to death our overwhelming desires to control our own lives in the present and future. Show us the emptiness of owning nice things, the shallowness of the praise of others, and the offensiveness of our enormous pride. Fill us with such a burning passion for your glory that we will suffer any loss, ridicule, inconvenience, or cost, in order to hear your name praised in every land, from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets. Change our selfish hearts. Enlarge them with a love and gratitude toward you so immense and powerful that following you will be our greatest joy and delight. Amen.

Benediction:

Go, in Peace today.  Jesus is your Savior. Period. The end.