2 Corinthians 2

CHAPTER 2

 

Paul Accepted by the Apostles (2:1-10)

1 Many Bible scholars believe that the journey to Jerusalem mentioned in this verse is the same as the journey described in Acts 15:1-29.⁸ One of Paul’s companions on this journey was Barnabas, a close colleague who had accompanied Paul on his first missionary journey (see Acts 9:27; 11:22-26; 13:2-3). The other companion, Titus, was a younger colleague of Paul, who is mentioned in 2 Corinthians 7:67,13; 8:16-17,23. Later, Paul wrote to him the New Testament letter called “Titus.”

The reason for this trip to Jerusalem is clearly described in Acts 15:1-2. In Paul’s time a major disagreement arose between those Christians who had originally been Jews and those Christians who were Gentiles. The Jewish Christians argued that it was necessary for the Gentile Christians to obey the Jewish law, the law of Moses (Acts 15:1,5). But Paul, taking the side of the Gentile believers, strongly opposed the teaching of the Jewish Christians. He argued that the Gentile Christians should not be forced to follow the Jewish law. Therefore, when Jewish Christians from Jerusalem and the surrounding province of Judea came to Galatia and began to teach the Gentile Galatian believers that they must obey the law of Moses, Paul decided to go to Jerusalem to refute their false teaching before the leaders of the Jerusalem church.

2 Paul went to Jerusalem in response to a revelation; that is, he had received a revelation from the Holy Spirit indicating that he should go to Jerusalem. Throughout his life, Paul was frequently guided in major matters by special revelations from the Holy Spirit (see Acts 16:6-10; 22:1718; 27:23-26).

Paul set before the leaders of the Jerusalem church the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. What Gospel was that? It was the Gospel of the grace of Christ, which states that man is saved not by observing the Jewish law but rather by grace alone, received through faith. If the Jewish Christian leaders in Jerusalem did not accept Paul’s teaching, then indeed his preaching would be to no avail. He would truly be running … his race in vain.

Paul spoke privately to the leaders of the Jerusalem church. He did not want to stir up any unnecessary commotion or opposition among the ordinary Jewish Christians of that city.

3 Paul’s meeting with the Jerusalem leaders was successful. One of the main points at issue was whether or not Gentile Christians had to be circumcised⁹ according to the Jewish law. The Jewish Christians said it was necessary, and Paul said it was not. In the end, the leaders of the Jerusalem church took Paul’s side. As evidence of this, they did not force Titus to be circumcised. (Titus was a Greek¹⁰ Gentile, not a Jew.) They accepted him as a full Christian brother even though he was not circumcised.

To us today this seems like a small matter. But in the history of the Christian religion, this meeting in Jerusalem was an event of great importance. Because from that time on it was officially established by the entire church—both Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians—that man is not saved by the observance of any law or man-made ritual, but only by grace through faith. This is the Christian Gospel. This is what makes the Christian religion different from all the other religions of the world. According to the teaching of all other religions, man must perform certain duties and observe certain customs and regulations in order to be saved. These religions are based on obtaining merit by one’s own efforts. But the Christian religion is totally different. According to the Gospel of Christ, no one can earn salvation by his own works. Salvation is a free gift of God’s grace, received through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

4 Those who were teaching that observance of the Jewish law was necessary for salvation Paul calls false brothers. They were not true Christians. Paul writes: they had infiltrated our ranks; that is, they had slipped into the churches like spies. They were like wolves dressed in sheep’s clothing (Matthew 7:15). They were servants of Satan. They were trying to force new Christians who had only recently escaped from Satan’s kingdom to again become slaves of Satan. They were trying to take away the new Christians’ freedom and bring them again into bondage to the law. Satan knows he can never take away our salvation (John 10:27-29). Therefore, he tries to take away our freedom and our joy instead.

How can we recognize false brothers, or false prophets and teachers? There are two ways. First, we can recognize them by what they say (1 John 4:1-3). Anyone who acknowledges by faith that Christ is the Son of God and that He has come in the flesh is a true brother (see Romans 10:9). Second, we can recognize false brothers by what they do—that is, by their fruit, by their work (Matthew 7:16-18).

Is it possible for true brothers to fall into erroneous thinking? Yes, of course it is. Peter himself, Jesus’ chief disciple, together with Barnabas, was later led astray by these same false Jewish teachers (verses 11-13). Yet Peter and Barnabas did not become false brothers just because they were in error on one point.

In this matter we must exercise great caution. It is our duty to correct a brother when he falls into error, but we must not be quick to call him a false brother. We may only call false brothers those who deny that Jesus Christ is God come to earth in the flesh.

Nevertheless, there are always some in the church who are ready at once to label a brother false if any disagreement arises between them. We must not judge our brother in this way (Matthew 7:1). In the end, it is only God who knows a man’s heart (see Matthew 13:24-30).

5 Paul stood firm in his opposition to the false teaching of the Jewish brothers. He defended the truth of the Gospel, so that that truth might be preserved, not only among the Galatians but among all generations of Christians.

6 When Paul went to Jerusalem, those who seemed to be important—that is, the leaders of the Jerusalem church—added nothing to Paul’s message. They accepted Paul’s position. They did not insist that Gentile Christians follow the Jewish law.

Notice here that Paul does not consider these Jerusalem leaders and apostles to be above himself. Paul did not receive his apostolic authority from them. He received his authority directly from God. They perhaps seemed to be important in the eyes of men, but that doesn’t mean anything to Paul. God looks on men according to their inner spiritual state, and not according to their outward position in the world.

Paul is not teaching here that we don’t have to obey and respect our leaders. Rather, Paul is asserting that he himself is a leader and apostle, equal to Peter, James, and the other apostles in Jerusalem. Therefore, he is not obliged to follow their decisions. However, we ordinary Christians are expected to obey our leaders. We must obey not only our leaders within the church, but we must also obey our employers and government leaders in the places where we live and work (see Romans 13:1-2; 1 Peter 5:5).

7-8 Just as Peter and the other Jerusalem leaders had been entrusted with the Gospel, so likewise had Paul. Just as the Jerusalem apostles had been appointed to preach among the Jews,¹¹ so had Paul been appointed to preach among the Gentiles.¹² Therefore, in the same way that God was working through the other apostles, He was working also through Paul. Paul and the others preached the same Gospel, not two gospels.

9 Happily, the Jerusalem church leaders fully accepted the apostleship of Paul and Barnabas, and extended to them the right hand of fellowship.¹³ Paul says: … they recognized the grace given to me—that is, the grace of apostleship (see Ephesians 3:7-8).

The chief leaders of the Jerusalem church at that time were James, Peter (Cephas), and John. These were the ones who Paul said were reputed to be pillars of the church. John was known as Jesus’ beloved disciple; he later wrote the Gospel of John and the three New Testament letters bearing his name.

These Jerusalem leaders also agreed that Paul and Barnabas should work mainly among the Gentiles, and that the Jerusalem apostles should work mainly among the Jews. This was a completely reasonable arrangement. Some Christians are called to one kind of work, while others are called to a different kind of work. We each have a different assignment from God. Where He sends us, there we must be prepared to go.

10 The Jerusalem church leaders made only one request of Paul: namely, that he would continue to remember the poor. The leaders meant by that the poor believers in Jerusalem. We know from reading elsewhere in the New Testament that Paul indeed spent much time and effort in raising collections among the Gentile churches to send to the needy believers in Jerusalem (see Acts 11:29-30; Romans 15:25-26).

Paul Opposes Peter (2:11-14)

11 When Peter came to Antioch,¹⁴ I opposed him to his face. In this section we read about a major disagreement between Paul and Peter. Let us notice that Paul opposes Peter to his face, not behind his back. Let us likewise, in the event of any disagreement with a brother, be sure always to speak directly with him face to face. Let us never fall into the sin of speaking against a brother behind his back.

Peter was in the wrong. He stood condemned—that is, self-condemned. His error was obvious to all—even to himself.

12 The disagreement between Paul and Peter was not primarily over doctrine; it was mainly about social behavior. Peter had already agreed that the Gentile Christians did not need to obey the Jewish ceremonial regulations. In fact, Peter, a Jew himself, was not following Jewish customs. Indeed, he had been living like a Gentile (verse 14).

In what way was Peter wrong? Simply, he had stopped eating with the Gentile Christians at Antioch. And why had he done this? Because some Jewish “brothers” from Jerusalem had come to Antioch, saying that it was not right for Jews to eat with Gentiles. These men belonged to the circumcision group. That is, they were Jews; they taught that to be saved a man had to be circumcised. And Peter, for fear of these men, began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentile Christians.

In the Jews’ mind, Gentiles were unclean. Therefore, the Jews supposed that by eating with Gentiles they themselves would become unclean. Even after a Jew became a Christian, such wrong ideas did not immediately vanish away. Peter knew that he was wrong to separate himself from Gentile Christians. He knew that Jewish and Gentile Christians were equal in God’s sight; they were one in Christ (see Acts 10:27-28; 15:7-9; Galatians 3:28; Colossians 3:11). But Peter’s old fears and customs overcame him, and he fell into error. We, too, sin against Christ if we refuse to associate or eat with a fellow Christian because of his caste or the color of his skin.

13 The other Jewish Christians at An-tioch also joined Peter’s hypocrisy. It was hypocrisy because in their speech they said that Jews and Gentiles were one in Christ, but in their actions they treated the Gentile Christians as if they were inferior and unclean.

From this sad incident let us learn how easy it is for us also to be led astray in various ways. Even great leaders like Peter and Barnabas can fall into error. And when leaders fall into error, they lead many others into error also. How important it is for leaders to set good examples—especially for the sake of new Christians (Mark 9:42).

14 According to Acts 15:13-14,19, the Jerusalem leaders agreed that it was not necessary for Gentile Christians to follow the Jewish law. The truth of the gospel is that both Jews and Gentiles are saved by grace through faith in Christ. Peter had agreed with this (Acts 15:7-11). What’s more, he had even been living like a Gentile. But now he was again refusing to eat with the Christian Gentiles because they were incurcumcised and ritually “impure.” By his behavior Peter was saying to the Gentiles, “If you do not follow the Jewish law, I will not eat with you.” In this way he was, in effect, forcing the Gentile Christians to follow Jewish customs.

The Failure of the Jewish Law (2:15-21)

15-16 Paul here continues to speak to Peter and to the other Jewish Christians in Galatia. He says, “Yes, we are Jews, and not Gentile sinners.” (The Jews considered all Gentiles to be sinners because they did not follow the Jewish law. Paul is here talking in the manner of the Jews.) “But,” Paul goes on to say, “even we Jewish Christians know that a man is not justified by observing the LAW.” Jews also, together with Gentiles, are justified—that is, declared RIGHTEOUS—only by FAITH in Jesus Christ (see Acts 15:11). This is the true Gospel that from the beginning Paul had taught to the Galatians. Having already been justified by faith in Christ alone, how can these Galatians now believe that to be justified it is necessary to obey the Jewish law? Let this not be!

At this point it is well for us to review exactly what is necessary for a man or woman to obtain salvation. The first and most important thing to remember is that all good things come from the grace of God. Because of God’s grace, that is, because of His love, Christ came to earth to save men and women (John 3:16). All men are sinners, whether Jew or Gentile (Romans 3:910); therefore all men equally need a Savior to save them from the punishment for their sins, which is eternal death (Romans 6:23). While we were still undeserving sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:6,8). Because Christ took upon Himself the punishment for our sins, we who believe in Him no longer stand condemned, but are declared righteous in God’s sight (Romans 3:2324). All this is the result of God’s grace.

What, then, does a person have to do in order to be saved? He must believe in Christ—that’s all. He must receive—appropriate—God’s grace. God holds out His hand, but we must take the gift from His hand. Faith is the simple act of reaching out and taking God’s gift of grace. This is why Paul wrote to the Ephesians: For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8). Both our faith and God’s grace are necessary for our salvation.

When we believe in Christ, we receive His righteousness; that is, we are declared innocent, we are justified (Romans 5:1-2). Therefore, it is no longer necessary for God to punish us for our sins. Instead, He pardons us and makes us His children. At the instant we are justified we obtain our salvation (Romans 5:9-10). And with salvation, we receive eternal life.

Therefore, to be saved we must first be declared righteous—justified. To be justified we must believe in Christ. In order to believe in Christ, we must first have received the grace of God. God has called us from before the creation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). Our salvation, our justification, our faith, our calling all begin in the infinite depths of God’s grace. All this is one great work of grace (see General Article: Way of Salvation).

Therefore, let us never attempt to obtain salvation by following any law or man-made custom. We cannot gain salvation by accumulating merit. It will never work. Whenever we seek to obtain salvation through our own works, we are in effect denying Christ’s work of grace (see Romans 3:20,28).

Paul says at the end of verse 16 that by observing the law no one will be justified (declared righteous). Why is that so? Because no one can faithfully keep every point of the law all the time. James wrote: For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it (James 2:10). What is the one commandment, in particular, that we can never fully obey? You shall not covet (Exodus 20:17). We perhaps can obey the first nine of the ten commandments, but we cannot always obey the tenth. You shall not covet essentially means that we must have no evil desires. Who has ever fully obeyed that command? No one! Therefore, no one can ever be justified by obeying the Jewish law, or any other law; it is impossible (see Romans 7:6-11).

17 Here Paul is still talking to Jewish believers. The Jewish Christians feared that if they stopped following the Jewish religious regulations their sins would surely increase. If this were true, then it would appear that faith in Christ only leads to more sinfulness. In other words, it would appear that Christ promotes sin. But this is not so, says Paul; indeed, the opposite is the case. If they stop seeking to be justified through faith in Christ alone, then in God’s sight they will be even greater sinners. The only means of being made holy and pure is to put faith in Christ and receive His righteousness.

18 To put reliance on the law will make us worse sinners, says Paul. Paul will not rebuild what he has destroyed. In other words, Paul will not set up laws and regulations again which he has “torn down”—that is, declared unnecessary. If he were to set these laws up again, he would be rendering the “law of grace” of no account. He would be denying the work and sacrifice of Christ, by which alone man can be justified. He would be giving up the righteousness of Christ and looking to be justified by the law, the ineffective law. If he were to do this, he would surely become a lawbreaker in God’s eyes, because by observing the law no one can be justified (verse 16).

19 The law cannot give sinful man new life; all it can do is to condemn man. The law gave Paul the death sentence. Paul says: For through the law I died. But when he died, he became free of the law. Once a judge gives the sentence, his work is finished. His power over the criminal ends. By serving his sentence, the criminal becomes “free” of the judge. In a similar way, Paul has become free of the law; Paul has died to the law. Having given Paul the death sentence, the law can no longer touch him. Paul is like a slave who through death becomes free of his master. And now, being free of his old master, the law, Paul is free to serve Christ, to live for God (see Romans 7:4,6-7; 8:1-2 and comments). Not only is Paul now free to live for God, but he also has the power to live for God, because Jesus Christ now dwells within him (verse 20).

20 I have been crucified with Christ. What a deep and amazing testimony Paul gives here! Before anyone can receive new spiritual life, he must first die. That is, his old self must die; it must be placed on the CROSS (Romans 6:6). To be crucified with Christ means that our old sinful self dies. Then Christ’s nature and character can fill our lives. His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, enters us, and through the Holy Spirit we receive power to lead holy and righteous lives. But it is not we—that is, our old self—that is living; it is Christ who is living in us. Our old sinful self is dead. We are free of it. We are no longer under the power of our sinful nature (see Romans 6:3-8 and comment).

Paul says: I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. Can we also say that about ourselves? Let each of us ask ourselves: Who is living in my body? Is it my old self, or is it Christ? Can we say with Paul: Christ lives in me?

This is the real meaning of the Christian life: It is Christ living in the believer. We don’t have to live our lives on our own. Instead, through faith we let Jesus live in us. Jesus said: “Remain in me, and I will remain in you” (see John 15:4-5). Because Jesus lives in us we shall be able to live like Jesus. Then other people will be able to see Christ in us, and want to become Christians too.

Paul says: The life I live in the body,¹⁵I live by faith in the Son of God. The Son of God is Jesus Christ, who came to earth to die for our sins, so that we might receive salvation and eternal life (see Mark 10:45 and comment).

21 I do not set aside the grace of God. That is, Paul will not again attempt to gain salvation by the works of any law. If man could be saved by the law without faith in Christ, then Christ would certainly have died for nothing!

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