Galatians 2

Galatians 2:1

Continue to Believe the Truth An EasyEnglish Bible Version and Commentary (2800 word vocabulary) on Paul’s Letter to the Galatians www.easyenglish.info Roy Rohu This commentary has been through Advanced Checking.

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Chapter 2 v1 Fourteen (14) years later, I went back to Jerusalem. Two men, Barnabas and Titus, went with me.

This was Paul’s third visit to Jerusalem. The first visit was after he had trusted in Jesus (Acts 9:26; Galatians 1:18-19). The second visit was to take gifts (Acts 11:29-30; 12:25). The third one was to talk to the other *apostles (Acts 15:1-4). You can read about Paul’s fourth visit in Acts chapter 21. That was his last visit of all to Jerusalem.

v2 It was God who sent me to the *church leaders. I showed them how I tell the *good news to *non-Jews. I wanted to see if they agreed with my work.

Paul was very wise. He knew that troubles were coming. All the *apostles must agree together about the true *good news.

v3 Titus was not a *Jew, so nobody had *circumcised him. The *church leaders did not ask me to *circumcise him.

At this time, the *church leaders really believed the *good news. They could see that *circumcision does not make a person right with God. And to try to obey the laws does not make him right either.

v4 Some people who pretended to be Christians were there. They wanted to find out about the freedom that Jesus has given us. But they only wanted to make us obey their rules. v5 We did not listen to them. In that way, we kept the true *good news safe for you.

v6 Now, God does not prefer one person to another person. But some people did seem important. They did not try to add to my *good news. v7 Actually they knew that God was sending me to take his *good news to *non-Jews. They already knew that God was sending Peter to the *Jews. v8 God, who made Peter an *apostle to the *Jews, made me an *apostle to the *non-Jews.

v9 James, Peter and John, the important people, saw that this was true. So they accepted Barnabas and me as friends. They did it to show that we could tell the *good news to the *non-Jews. They would tell it to the *Jews.

v10 They did ask us to be kind to poor people. We always wanted to do that anyway.

It is not always right to agree with people. It is important to know what the Bible teaches. Then you will know what is right. And you will know what is wrong.

v11 On one occasion, Peter came to Antioch. I told him that he was wrong. v12 Some strict people from James had come to us, and Peter would not eat with the *non-Jews any longer. He was afraid about what the people from James would think.

v13 The rest of the *Jewish Christians were afraid also. Even Barnabas joined them.

These people were strict about the *Jewish laws. They came from the church in Jerusalem, where James was a leader. And they persuaded Peter not to eat with the *non-Jews. Peter should have realised that God accepted these *non-Jews as Christians. And Peter too should have accepted them.

Some people think that Peter was the most important *church leader. These verses show that Peter could make serious mistakes, like all of us. Barnabas was a good Christian but he did something wrong. Christian leaders must be especially careful about their words and their actions. If Christians do wrong things, trouble is the result. Other people do the same things.

v14 I saw that they were not true to the *good news. So I told Peter, ‘You were born a *Jew. But you have lived like a Christian who is not a *Jew. You cannot ask *non-Jews to live like *Jews.’

Good Christians can tell each other when they have done something wrong. Paul and Peter both loved God. They both wanted what is right. So they remained friends.

v15 I also said to Peter, ‘You and I were born *Jews, not *non-Jewish *sinners. v16 We know that the laws of Moses do not give a person *peace with God. We trusted Jesus and now we have *peace with God. We have *peace with God because we trust Jesus. We do not have *peace with God because we obey the laws. Nobody can have *peace with God just because that person obeys the laws. v17 We have *peace with God by trusting Jesus. But perhaps people will see that we are “*sinners”, no different from *non-Jews. This certainly cannot mean that Jesus encouraged us to *sin!’

We do not have *peace with God because of our efforts. It is Jesus himself who gives us *peace. Our trust may be a weak thing. But Jesus is able to save completely all who come to God by him (Hebrews 7:25).

Paul no longer trusted in the laws to have *peace with God. Jesus put away Paul’s *sins on the cross. Now Paul trusted in what Jesus had done. He knew that no person can make himself right with God. That might make people call him a ‘*sinner’. But that would not mean that Jesus had caused him to *sin. ‘That cannot be true’, said Paul. ‘Jesus does not cause people to *sin.’

v18 I should not go back to the things that I have refused. If I do, I was wrong to refuse them at the start. v19 I tried to obey the laws in order to please God. But I failed. So the law says that I deserve to die. Now, because of Jesus, I am alive to God. v20 It is as if I died with Jesus on the cross. Jesus now lives in me. Yes, I still live in a *human body. But my real life is to trust the Son of God. He loved me and he died for me. v21 I will not refuse the *grace of God to me. If the laws make a person right with God, then Jesus died in vain.

Jesus died instead of me. He died for me. I died to my own way when I trusted in him. Someone has called verse 20 ‘the whole point of the *good news’. Any honest person who can say verse 20 is a real Christian.

© 1997-2005, Wycliffe Associates (UK)

This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level B (2800 words).

December 2005

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