To be or not to be – that is the Question!!

Galatians 2:1-10

¹ Then fourteen years later I went back to Jerusalem again, this time with Barnabas; and Titus came along, too. ² I went there because God revealed to me that I should go. While I was there I met privately with those considered to be leaders of the church and shared with them the message I had been preaching to the Gentiles. I wanted to make sure that we were in agreement, for fear that all my efforts had been wasted and I was running the race for nothing. ³ And they supported me and did not even demand that my companion Titus be circumcised, though he was a Gentile.

⁴ Even that question came up only because of some so-called believers there—false ones, really—who were secretly brought in. They sneaked in to spy on us and take away the freedom we have in Christ Jesus. They wanted to enslave us and force us to follow their Jewish regulations. ⁵ But we refused to give in to them for a single moment. We wanted to preserve the truth of the gospel message for you.

⁶ And the leaders of the church had nothing to add to what I was preaching. (By the way, their reputation as great leaders made no difference to me, for God has no favorites.) ⁷ Instead, they saw that God had given me the responsibility of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as he had given Peter the responsibility of preaching to the Jews. ⁸ For the same God who worked through Peter as the apostle to the Jews also worked through me as the apostle to the Gentiles.

⁹ In fact, James, Peter, and John, who were known as pillars of the church, recognized the gift God had given me, and they accepted Barnabas and me as their co-workers. They encouraged us to keep preaching to the Gentiles, while they continued their work with the Jews. ¹⁰ Their only suggestion was that we keep on helping the poor, which I have always been eager to do.

This passage makes me smile!!  Here is the most widely sold book of all time and a very open discussion about circumcision!  Who is and who isn’t!!  This was a “defining action and feature” distinguishing Jews and non-Jews – God’s chosen people and those who were not.

However, Jesus comes into humanity and changes everything.  He creates the pathway for Jews and Gentiles (every human being) to be accepted as part of the Kingdom of God. 

He redefines God’s people:  those who have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour and are saved by His work on the cross and are filled by the Holy Spirit.  Nothing about our physical looks makes a difference, it is all the Spirit who lives inside us.

No religious exercises can help us.  The Spirit of God used to “live in a Temple” – now we are walking “temples of the Holy Spirit”.  Brothers and sisters all over the world can attest to the power of the Spirit that lives inside them.  I love the way both Peter and Paul realise that God has different people for them to evangelise, sharing the Good News of Jesus.

Who is God asking you to share your faith with?

Lord, I pray that you would give us all a burden for those who are lost.  Those who have let the world take over their lives and who don’t truly follow you with all that they have.  Father reach into their worlds and start a fire in their hearts for You.  In Jesus name.  Amen

Written by Ps. Sue Botta