We will not negotiate with terrorists (Galatians 2:1-10)

Live video and notes for my message at Central Church of Christ in Stockton, CA for September 12, 2021.

The preaching text was Galatians 2:1-10, and the message primarily focused on v5: We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.

Acts 11:27-30 was also read in worship, to give context for Paul’s reason for going to Jerusalem.

Occasionally I like to remind readers of the resources I am using as I preach through Galatians. They are:

J.V. Fesko, Galatians, The Lectio Continua Expository Commentary on the New Testament, ed. Jon D. Payne (Powder Springs, GA: Tolle Lege Press, 2012).

Martin Luther, Commentary on St. Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians (1535): Lecture Notes Transcribed by Students & Presented in Today’s English, trans. Haroldo Camacho (Irvine, CA: 1517 Publishing, 2018).

Philip Graham Ryken, Galatians, Reformed Expository Commentary, ed. Richard D. Phillips and Philip Graham Ryken (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian & Reformed, 2005).

John R.W. Stott, The Message of Galatians: Only One Way, The Bible Speaks Today (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1968).

Live video of the message is below. Sermon notes are below that.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Paul would not negotiate over the Gospel

There’s a catchphrase you’ve probably heard: We will not negotiate with terrorists.

It comes from the 1997 movie, “Air Force One,” starring Harrison Ford as the President of the United States. It’s not exactly what he said, but it’s close.

Twenty years ago—just after the horrors of 9/11—“we don’t negotiate with terrorists” was stated as official foreign policy. 

But these days, you’re just as likely to hear it used in social contexts. It means that you’re not going to let a toxic or abusive person dictate terms to you. You’re not going to let them disrespect your boundaries.

In Galatians 2:1-5, Paul was dealing with spiritual terrorists, whom he called false believers. According to Paul, these men hated the freedoms we have in Christ, and would send us back into spiritual slavery if we let them.

But Paul said: We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved, v5.

Paul refused to negotiate with spiritual terrorists. He refused to give in to their demands. 

The Gospel that we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone, is the hill Paul was willing to fight and die on. 

Because without it, we are dead. Spiritually, we would still be dead in our sins and trespasses.

And if we let the enemies of the Gospel take that hill—future generations will die and be lost.

Paul wouldn’t budge on the Gospel. Neither will I. Neither should you.

Anti-Gospel terrorists gate-crashed the Apostles’ meeting

So let’s go a little deeper into the story Paul tells in Galatians 2:1-5.

Remember—Paul wrote the letter to the Galatians because troublemakers had come in and were convincing the young Christians there that Paul had preached an incomplete Gospel to them, that could not saved them. 

Paul’s opponents were Jewish Christians who demanded that non-Jewish converts needed to be circumcised and live by the Law of Moses in order to be saved. 

So Galatians is Paul defending his Gospel—No matter who you are, Jew or Gentile—you are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, period. 

And what he’s doing now—all the way through the end of chapter—is telling stories from his ministry. He’s saying: Look, these people have been going around bad-mouthing me for years. All the other Apostles know about it, and every time these guys have given me trouble, I’ve always come out on top.

So in Galatians 2:1-5, Paul is telling a story about his second visit to Jerusalem, fourteen years into his ministry.

Paul says in v2 that he went up to Jerusalem in response to a revelation. This is important, because he’s saying: I didn’t go to Jerusalem to defend my Gospel because the other Apostles were questioning it. I went because the Lord sent me.

Acts 11 tells us what this revelation was that sent Paul to Jerusalem. A prophet from the Jerusalem church was visiting Paul and Barnabas’ home base in Antioch. And he prophesied that a great famine was about to sweep over the world.

In response to this prophecy, Acts 11:29-30 tells us that the believers in Antioch decided to provide help for the brothers and sisters living in Judea. This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.

So Saul and Barnabas were actually going to Jerusalem to meet with the Apostles there about famine relief—not to have a theological argument. 

And they also brought their friend and coworker Titus along with them.

Here’s why Titus is going to be so important to Paul’s argument going forward. Paul, Barnabas, and all the Apostles in Jerusalem were Jewish. They were all circumcised—as the Law of God commanded—and were careful to observe the Jewish purity and dietary laws around their fellow Jewish believers.

But Titus was a Gentile—a non-Jew. A Greek. He was not circumcised, and did not observe the Jewish purity laws.

And as far as Paul was concerned—he didn’t need to. Because God accepts us on the basis of Christ’s finished work, not because of anything we do. 

Now I want you to pay attention to a couple of things in vv2 and 4. Paul says while he was in Jerusalem he met privately with those esteemed as leaders—that is, the other Apostles, like Peter and John, and the Lord’s brother James—and he presented to them the gospel that [he preached] among the Gentiles.

Now, that wasn’t the reason he came to Jerusalem. But a situation arose while he was there. Paul tells us that some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves, v4.

He’s talking about the troublemakers who’d been following his around, causing confusion among new believers, telling them they weren’t really saved if they didn’t get circumcised and follow the Jewish purity laws. 

That’s what he means by they were trying to make us slaves. The Gospel is that we are saved by grace through faith, on the basis of what Christ has done. We obey God now from a place of freedom from fear or shame. Saved people want to obey God out of gratitude.

So when you tell somebody—You must have faith In Christ to be saved; but also you must be doing this thing, and that thing—that’s putting them back under spiritual slavery.

You end up undermining their security and freedom, because now they’re always wondering if they’re doing enough to be saved. That’s spiritual terrorism. 

And you gotta feel for Paul here, too. Because he can’t even meet with his fellow Apostles and church leaders in peace to discuss famine relief without these bullies barging in and giving him a hard time.

But here’s what Paul said happened at that meeting: 

Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek.

Galatians 2:3 NIV

In other words, when these guys who kept following Paul around complaining about the disciples he made not being circumcised, the other Apostles and leaders in the church backed Paul up. 

Titus—an uncircumcised Gentile Christian—was there with Paul and the other Apostles, and none of them told Titus he had to be circumcised to be a Christian.

So here’s how Paul sums up the outcome of this dustup, v5. He says:

We—we means Paul, Barnabas, and all the Apostles and elders—We did not give in to them for a moment.

Paul and his fellow Apostles didn’t negotiate with these spiritual terrorists who were undermining the Gospel. They didn’t budge an inch, and they didn’t compromise.

Our response to any attack on the Gospel has long-lasting consequences

And here’s something else I love in v5. Paul said the reason they didn’t back down for even a minute was so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved—not only for the Galatians, but for you and me all these centuries later.

Paul understood that how he and his fellow Apostles responded to these enemies of the Gospel in the moment would have long-lasting consequences.

If they gave in to those anti-Gospel terrorists at any point, if they negotiated, if they hemmed and hawed, if they allowed God-appointed boundaries to be redrawn by even an inch, if they even said: Look, let’s just agree to disagree on this circumcision thing—the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ alone would be lost.

Paul wasn’t going to agree to that, he wasn’t going to let that happen, and to their credit—Peter and James and John and Barnabas weren’t going to stand for it either.

Paul supported and defended the Gospel of Christ against all enemies, whether foreign or domestic.

In other words, he was willing to go toe-to-to with anyone who was hostile to the Gospel of Christ, whether they were unbelievers, from outside the church; or Christians—or at least who claimed to be Christians—inside the church.

I mean, what did he say in v4? Some false believers had infiltrated our ranks. Those men would’ve told everybody they were the real Christians. But Paul called them false believers, and he wasn’t going to sign a peace treaty with them.

The Gospel of Christ is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (Rom. 1:16). That’s why it was the hill Paul was willing to die on, because we’re all dead without it.

How to defend the Gospel (1 Peter 3:15; 2 Timothy 2:24-25)

And that’s the challenge for you and me today: Are we willing to defend the Gospel like Paul? 

Are we willing to stand for the truth of the Gospel against all enemies? Both the ones in the world, who hate Christ and who hate our faith; and the ones who claim to be Christians, but preach a twisted Gospel?

You know—we can’t let people who say they’re Christians off the hook, and let them slide when they try and redefine the Gospel. Otherwise—the truth of the Gospel will not be preserved for our children, or future generations of believers.

Paul stood his ground on the Gospel—and so must we.

So what can we do to make sure the truth of the Gospel is preserved?

First, 1 Peter 3:15 tells us to: Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.

This is important, because fighting for the Gospel isn’t just a matter of intellectual debate, or knowing all the answers to the Big Questions. 

Yes, you should put your mind to work defending the Gospel. Peter also tells us to add knowledge to our faith (2 Peter 1:5). You should be learning the facts of scripture, and you should be learning theology.

But here Peter says that it’s the hope we have in us that we must always stand ready to share … and to defend.

John Newton was a former slave ship captain who believed the Gospel, left his life of sin, became a preacher, and wrote the song, “Amazing Grace.” 

You see, John Newton’s life is a testimony to God’s amazing grace, and the power of the Gospel to save and transform even the worst of sinners.

And here’s how John Newton described the hope that was in him. He said:

How unspeakably wonderful to know that all our concerns are held in hands that bled for us.

Wow! Now see, that’s being able to give an answer for the hope that’s in you. The hope of the Gospel is that whatever you face in this life—suffering, loss, trauma, depression, rejection, even your ongoing struggles with sin—you are are held tightly in the grip of your crucified and resurrected Savior.

So you can serve the Lord without fear or shame in this life, and you are sure of an eternal life with God to come.

So Peter tells us to always be ready—like John Newton was—to give the reason for your hope. Hint: It’s Christ alone.

But he also instructs us to do this with gentleness and respect.

Defending the Gospel doesn’t mean that we have to fight every battle, or that we’re allowed to fight dirty, as long as we’re fighting dirty for the Lord.

You can present evidence, you can even engage in debate, without it disintegrating into pridefulness and personal attacks.

Because remember—you’re not trying to destroy your opponent. You’re defending the Gospel. You’re advocating for the hope you have, and you’re fighting to preserve that hope for others.

G.K. Chesterton once said that: The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.

Paul, Peter, and the other Apostles didn’t stand firm against opponents of the Gospel because they hated those men. 

They stood their ground and fought for the truth that salvation is found in Christ alone, by grace alone, through faith alone, because they had a deep love for their brothers and sisters in the church, and for generations of believers still to come. 

They fought to defend and preserve the Gospel so that others could have the same hope in Christ that they did. And that’s also why we contend for the faith.

And that brings me to the third aspect of defending the Gospel like Paul and his fellow Apostles did in Galatians 2:1-5.

We’re coming back to Paul. 2 Timothy 2:24-25. Paul says:

The Lord’s servant must not quarrel, but must be gentle to everyone.

This doesn’t mean that you never get feisty for the Gospel. It doesn’t mean that you never call out false teachers, or twisted Gospels.

Again, Paul had no problem calling the men who were adding circumcision to the Gospel—anyone who would teach Jesus plus anything as the way to be saved—he had no problem calling them false believers. That means he was saying: They’re not really Christians because they’re messing with the Gospel.

He had no problem warning other Christians about false teachers and abusers and predators in the church by name.

He also had sharp words for unbelievers who stood in the way of the Gospel.

But you must be discerning. Is this person a wolf who’s come to devour Christ’s little lambs, or are they just confused or immature? The only way you can know is to lead with gentleness.

Instead of always being ready for a fight, Paul says we should be able to teach, and patient, instructing [our] opponents with gentleness.

Cornelius Van Til was one of the most brilliant defenders of the faith in the twentieth century. And I love what he said about this passage. 

He said it means you don’t budge one inch on any truth of the Gospel. But you do keep buying another round of coffee for your opponent, so you can keep the conversation going as long as they’ll listen.

Because again—you want to preserve the Gospel. But you also hope that person will also come to believe the truth, and have the same hope you do. 

And that’s where Paul lands in v25. We must be bold in defending the Gospel, but as patient and gentle as we can be, because: Perhaps God will grant them repentance leading them to the knowledge of the truth.

By the way—that also takes so much pressure off of us. Nobody is convinced of the truth of the Gospel because we were so smart, or because we used just the right words.

Only God can open a heart to the Gospel. God grants people repentance. You and I are just the crooked sticks God is using to draw a straight line to Himself.

The Gospel is the hill on which Christians must be willing to die

But what we must never do is give in, even for a moment—not one inch—to anyone who would seek to steal the grace and peace and hope we have in the Gospel.

Whether they’re unbelievers in the world who are insisting that God is not real; that Jesus is not who He said He is; or that we can’t base our lives on an outdated old book like the Bible.

Or they’re people who claim to be believers but are twisting the Gospel so that it’s bad news—or even just okay news—instead of Good News.

Like Paul, we must be willing to die on the hill of the Gospel. Because we have no life and no hope without it.

And by the way: the hill of the Gospel, where we boldly plant our flag that says: Grace alone, faith alone, Christ alone, and never retreat—is the very hill of Golgotha, where Christ was crucified to save us from our sins.

We stand on that hill, in the shadow of the cross, in the shadow of Christ’s wings where He gathers us up and protects us—and we point everyone to His cleansing blood.

We show them the cross, where God’s justice and mercy met and kissed one another, and His forgiveness pours out freely on all who believe.

We show them the cross, where Christ cried out, It is finished!—because His death had fully paid for all our sins and guilt.

And standing on that hill, under the shadow of the cross, we point them to Christ’s empty tomb—His promise to everyone who believes that one day He will return, and our graves will also be found empty.

And from this hill—that beautiful, mysterious, scandalous hill of the Gospel—we glorify God, and we enjoy God—now and forever.