Galatians 2

Chapter 2 of Galatians forms the latter part of an autobiographical section in which Paul defends his gospel and his apostleship as not having come from man. It continues the account of his conversion and first visit to Jerusalem in Galatians 1. In its closing section (verses 15–21), it turns to the argument concerning justification, which carries on into Galatians 3.

Outline

• Verses 1–5 Fourteen years later, Paul goes up to Jerusalem by revelation with Barnabas, taking Titus along, and privately sets before those of reputation the gospel he preaches among the Gentiles. Titus, a Greek, is not compelled to be circumcised, and Paul's party does not yield even for an hour to the false brethren who had slipped in.
• Verses 6–10 James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, add nothing to Paul. They recognize that Paul has been sent to the Gentiles and Peter to the circumcision, and they give him the right hand of fellowship. They ask only that he remember the poor.
• Verses 11–14 At Antioch, Cephas has been eating with Gentiles, but when certain men come from James, he withdraws out of fear of the circumcision party. When the other Jews and even Barnabas are carried away by this hypocrisy, Paul rebukes Cephas before them all.
• Verses 15–21 Paul states that a person is justified not by the works of the law but by faith in Christ. He has died to the law and been crucified with Christ, and if righteousness came by the law, then Christ died in vain.

Key verses

• Galatians 2:16 "for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified" — one of the most concise statements in the Pauline epistles on justification (God's declaring a sinner righteous).
• Galatians 2:20 "yet not I, but Christ liveth in me" — widely quoted as an expression of the believer's life in union with Christ.
• Galatians 2:21 "I do not frustrate the grace of God" — the conclusion of the argument that seeking to be justified by the law nullifies grace and the death of Christ.

People and places

• Paul — the author of the letter and the narrator of the account.
• Barnabas — Paul's coworker, who went up with him to Jerusalem. At Antioch he is recorded as having been carried away by the hypocrisy.
• Titus — a Greek who accompanied Paul. He is cited as an example of a Gentile believer who was not compelled to undergo circumcision.
• James — called a pillar of the Jerusalem church. He is understood to be the "James the Lord's brother" mentioned in 1:19.
• Peter — referred to in the text mainly by his Aramaic name, Cephas. He is presented as the apostle to the circumcision.
• John — one of the three regarded as pillars.
• Jerusalem — where Paul met with the apostles.
• Antioch — a city in Syria. It was home to a church in which Jewish and Gentile believers ate together, and it was where Paul rebuked Cephas.

Interpretive considerations

• Timing of the visit Some identify the Jerusalem visit of verses 1–10 with the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15), while others identify it with the famine-relief visit at the end of Acts 11. Interpreters also differ on whether the "fourteen years" are counted from Paul's conversion or from his first visit.
• Works of the law The Reformation tradition reads this phrase as referring broadly to deeds by which one seeks to earn merit before God. Martin Luther, in his commentary on Galatians, made this chapter a central foundation for justification by faith. Scholars of the so-called "New Perspective on Paul," which emerged in the late twentieth century (including N. T. Wright), regard the phrase as referring to markers that set Jews apart, such as circumcision, food laws, and the Sabbath, and hold that the point at issue is that Gentiles belong to the people of God without them.
• "Faith in Christ" The traditional view reads the original expression as "faith in Christ," and Korean Bibles generally translate it this way. Some scholars, however, read it as "the faith (faithfulness) of Christ."
• Outcome of the Antioch incident The text does not say how Cephas responded to Paul's rebuke.
• Relationship to James 2 The Protestant tradition holds that the two passages address different questions and harmonizes them as emphasizing a faith that shows itself in works.

In the Korean church

Verse 16 is frequently used as a text for sermons on justification by faith, especially on Reformation Sunday. Verse 20 is widely used in sermons on life in union with Christ and as a Scripture memorization verse.