That Gospel Truth Be Preserved

As Paul contends with legalistic Jewish Christians -- who were requiring circumcision and other law acts for salvation -- he writes: "We didn't give in to them for even a moment."

Yet the greatest mistake we could make as students of Galatians today is to think that because we don't require circumcision then we have already mastered the point, and so we are on Paul's side!

If we were at this same Jerusalem counsel with Paul and insisted on anything other than salvation by grace through faith in Christ, Paul would stand against us!

And so here is the two-fold mission with which we are confronted in this passage: to labor graciously and boldly to maintain 1) essential gospel truth, and 2) essential gospel unity. This is still the job of every Christian today.