1 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along also.
2 And I went up because of a revelation, and I laid out to them the gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but I did so in private to those who were of reputation, lest somehow I might be running, or had run, in vain.
3 But not even Titus, who was with me, though he was a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised.
4 But this was because of the false brothers secretly brought in, who had sneaked in to spy out our freedom which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to enslave us.
5 But we did not yield in subjection to them for even a moment, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.
6 But from those who were of high reputation (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—well, those who were of reputation contributed nothing to me.
7 But on the contrary, seeing that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised
8 (for He who worked in Peter unto his apostleship to the circumcised worked in me also unto the Gentiles),
9 and recognizing the grace that had been given to me, James and Cephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so that we might go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.
10 Only they asked us to remember the poor—the very thing I also was eager to do.
Scriptures Referenced:
Romans 7:6
2 Corinthians 3:17
John 8:36
Romans 6:17-18
1 Peter 2:16
Quotes:
“They that can give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” (Ben Franklin)
“It was not, we may be sure, that he had any personal doubts or misgivings about his gospel and needed the reassurance of the other Jerusalem apostles, for he had been preaching it for fourteen years; but rather lest his ministry, past and present, should be rendered fruitless by the Judaizers. It was to overthrow their influence, not to strengthen his own conviction, that he laid his gospel before the Jerusalem apostles.” (John R. W. Stott)
“He is simply indicating that, although he accepts their office as apostles, he is not overawed by their person as it was being inflated by the Judaizers.” (John R. W. Stott)
“The right hand of fellowship was more than just a handshake. It was a symbolic gesture of partnership in the gospel. It showed that in the division of their labor, the other apostles endorsed Paul’s mission to the Gentiles.” (Dr. Philip Graham Ryken)