Take Great Care regarding the Initiative of Your Heart!

Galatians Ch. 2

“Fourteen years later, I returned to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas and Titus, my coworkers.  2 God gave me a clear revelation to go and confer with the other apostles concerning the message of grace I was preaching to the gentiles. I spoke privately with those who were viewed as senior leaders of the church, wanting to make certain that my labor and ministry for the Messiah had not been based on a false understanding of the gospel. 

‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭2:15‬ ‭TPT‬‬. “Always be eager to present yourself before God as a perfect and mature minister, without shame, as one who correctly explains the Word of Truth.”

‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭2:15‬ ‭NLT‬‬. “Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth.”

Paul wanted to Make sure He wasn’t ministering from a potential blind-spot!

Mathew 7:4-5 “How could you say to your friend, ‘Let me show you where you’re wrong,’ when you’re guilty of even more? You’re being hypercritical and a hypocrite! First acknowledge and deal with your own ‘blind spots,’ and then you’ll be capable of dealing with the ‘blind spot’ of your friend. 

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭11:14‬ ‭NKJV‬‬. “Where there is no counsel, the people fall; But in the multitude of counselors there is safety.”

3.Even though Titus was a Syrian, they accepted him as a brother without demanding that he first be circumcised.4. I met with them privately because false “brothers” had been secretly smuggled into church meetings. They were sent to spy on the wonderful freedom that we have in Jesus Christ. 

Paul protected the message, as well as the reputation of His fellow senior leaders.  He wasn’t going to place something precious before someone who would mishandle it.

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭7:4-6‬ ‭TPT ‬‬“Who would hang earrings on a dog’s ear or throw pearls in front of wild pigs? They’ll only trample them under their feet and then turn around and tear you to pieces!”

We don’t need to waste time with those who have poor intentions, or are unreceptive to the message we bring.

Their agenda was to bring us back into the bondage of religion. 5 But you must know that we did not submit to their religious shackles, not even for a moment, so that we might keep the truth of the gospel of grace unadulterated for you. 

They were not willing to suppress the message.

6 Even those most influential among the brothers were not able to add anything to my message. Who they are before men makes no difference to me, for God is not impressed by their reputations. 7 So they recognized that I was entrusted with taking the gospel to the gentiles just as Peter was entrusted with taking it to the Jews.

They saw the importance of position.(Fox Holes)

 8 For the same God who empowered Peter’s apostolic ministry to the Jews also flowed through me as an apostle to those who are gentiles. 9 When they all recognized this grace operating in my ministry, those who were recognized as influential pillars in the church—Jacob, Peter, and John—extended to Barnabas and me the warmth of Christian fellowship and honored my calling to minister to the gentiles, even as they were to go to the Jews. 

It’s good to honor positions God has placed in the body.

‭‭I Thessalonians‬ ‭5:12-13‬ “And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. Be at peace among yourselves.”

10 They simply requested one thing of me: that I would remember the poor and needy, which was the burden I was already carrying in my heart. 

Place honor upon those who are in your care as well!

Paul Confronts Peter

11 When Peter visited Antioch, he caused the believers to stumble over his behavior, so I confronted him to his face. 12 He enjoyed eating with the gentile believers who didn’t keep the Jewish customs—up until the time Jacob’s Jewish friends arrived from Jerusalem. When he saw them, he withdrew from his gentile friends—fearing how it would look to them if he ate with gentile believers. 

13 And so, because of Peter’s hypocrisy, many other Jewish believers followed suit, refusing to eat with gentile believers. Even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocritical behavior! 

14 So when I realized they were acting inconsistently with the revelation of the gospel, I confronted Peter in front of everyone: “You were born a Jew, but you’ve chosen to disregard Jewish regulations and live like a gentile. Why then do you force gentiles to conform to these same rules?” 

Paul’s care for Barnabas and the Message that Christ had put in his hand caused him to restrain Peter’s Hypocrisy.

‭‭Galatians‬ ‭3:3‬ ‭NLT‬‬ “How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?”

It’s easy to start in the right direction, only to take over and try to finish by our own hands. Rather than allowing Jesus to be the author and the Finisher of our faith.

Take Great Care of the Initiative of Your Heart!

Jews and Gentiles are saved By Faith

15 “Although we’re Jews by birth and not gentile “sinners,”” 16 we know that no one receives God’s perfect righteousness as a reward for keeping the law, but only by the faith of Jesus, the Messiah! His faithfulness has saved us, and we have received God’s perfect righteousness. Now we know that God accepts no one by the keeping of religious laws! 17 If we are those who desire to be righteous through our union with the Anointed One, does that mean our Messiah condones sin even though we acknowledge that we are sinners? How absurd! 18 For if I start over and reconstruct the old religious system that I had torn down with the message of grace, I would appear to be a lawbreaker. 

19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God.

20  My old identity has been co-crucified with Christ and no longer lives. And now the essence of this new life is no longer mine, for the Anointed One lives his life through me—we live in union as one! My new life is empowered by the faith of the Son of God who loves me so much that he gave himself for me, dispensing his life into mine! 

21 So that is why I don’t view God’s grace as something peripheral. For if keeping the law could release God’s righteousness to us, then Christ would have died for nothing.”

Peripheral:  relating to or situated on the edge or periphery of something.

Grace is not to be something that is sidelined in our relationship with God.  It’s something to be focused on, and pointed to!

It’s a principal matter.