Paul’s Fellowship With Those in Jerusalem

2 Then, after fourteen years, I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, also taking Titus with me. ² I went up in keeping with a revelation, and I laid before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did this privately before those who were considered important, in order to make sure that I was not running—or had not run—in vain. ³ But Titus, who was with me, was not compelled to be circumcised, even though he is Greek. ⁴ This was an issue because of the false brothers, who slipped in under false pretenses to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus. Their goal was to make us slaves. ⁵ We refused to give in to them even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel would continue with you.

⁶ But as for those who were considered to be important (what sort of people they once were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality), indeed, those who were considered to be important added nothing to my gospel. ⁷ On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcised, just as Peter was entrusted with the gospel for the circumcised. ⁸ For God, who worked effectively in Peter to serve as an apostle to the circumcised, also worked effectively in me to serve as an apostle to the Gentiles. ⁹ And because James, Cephas, and John, who were considered to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship. They agreed that we were to go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. ¹⁰ The only thing they asked was that we remember the poor, the very thing that I was also eager to do.

Paul Opposed Cephas (Peter)

¹¹ But when Cephas^[a] came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly wrong. ¹² For before some people came from James, he ate with the Gentiles. But when those people came, he drew back and separated himself, because he feared those from the circumcision group. ¹³ And the rest of the Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. ¹⁴ But when I saw that they were not acting according to the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of all of them, “If you, a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, why do you compel the Gentiles to live like the Jews?”

Justified Through Faith!

¹⁵ “We are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners. ¹⁶ We know that a person is not justified by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. So we also believed in Christ Jesus that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because no one^[b] will be justified by the works of the law. ¹⁷ But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves were also found to be sinners, then is Christ a servant of sin? Certainly not!

¹⁸ “In fact, if I build up again those things that I destroyed, I bring on myself the judgment of being a lawbreaker. ¹⁹ Indeed, through the law I died to the law that I might live for God. ²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I am now living in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. ²¹ I do not regard the grace of God as nothing. As a matter of fact, if righteousness is through the law, then Christ died for nothing!”