Click here for Galatians 2:4-6 Podcast
4 This matter arose because some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. 5 We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. 6 As for those who were held in high esteem—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism—they added nothing to my message. (Galatians 2:4-6)
The Apostle Paul and his friends went to Jerusalem to confront some false teachers who were teaching the idea that circumcision was a requirement for salvation (for background see Acts 15:1f). If circumcision or any other human behavior were a requirement of God for forgiveness of sin, then that would be saying that Jesus' sacrifice was not enough to guarantee salvation for anyone.
Of course, the preponderance of scripture teaches that salvation is by faith alone. And, the issue isn't the quality of one's faith, that which saves us is the object of said faith.
In v.5, it is clear that Paul recognized the gospel would have been threatened had he not opposed this false teaching. There would be no gospel, no good news, if Paul gave in to the demand for circumcision. The good news is that God has totally paid the penalty of our sin through the death of Christ on the cross of Calvary.
Like these early Christians, we are tempted to believe we need Jesus plus something else to be accepted by or justified before God. The reason we do this is due to the fact that we project our thinking upon God. Most of us require others to perform in a certain way before we accept them. It is called the BIG LIE in the book Search for Significance by Robert McGee. The BIG LIE says, "my performance plus others' acceptance of my performance equals my value."
This type of thinking is seen in all walks of our lives. We live in a world where we achieve everything. It is not so with our rightness before God (Justification). This can not be, because we can not perform well enough to gain God's favor. We can not even earn a little of God's favor.
Then there are those who demand that we perform a certain way in order to maintain God's acceptance. They call it "cheap grace" if we take advantage of the grace of God. Well, it is NOT grace if we can not take advantage of it. This is bad theology, but the good news is this is not taught in the Bible. God has never expected us to earn or maintain our rightness (justification) before Him. As Paul points out in Romans 4, long before Abraham did anything meritorious, he was pronounce a son of God by God.
I love the words of Paul in v.6, "God does not show favoritism." Paul writes this because we are of the mindset that we earn God's favor. And, this is Paul's way of saying, no one earns God's favor. In the words of Brennan Manning, "God loves us as we are, not as we should be."
We will never be able to achieve God’s approval by trusting anything else but what Jesus Christ has done for us. All that’s needed is Jesus, and He and His work on the cross is enough. At the cross Jesus did everything that was needed in order for us to be made right with God. Jesus plus something else is a lie that kills and robs us of the truth of the gospel.
Having said all of that, should we obey God? Should we think His thoughts and follow in His ways? Absolutely! But not to gain His acceptance. We think God's thoughts and we walk in His ways because His thoughts and ways are the truth. It would be crazy for us to do otherwise.
There is another quote in Robert McGee's book worthy of quoting at this point. It is: “The focus of the Christian life should be on Christ, not on self-imposed regulations. Our experience of Christ’s lordship is dependent on our moment-by-moment attention to His instruction, not on our own regimented schedule.”
To invest in BYM, click here
