Suppose that you wish to travel to a certain place. If there is only one path by which you can reach that place, it is obvious that anyone who points you to a different way is leading you astray. If you follow what they say, you will not reach your destination. This is why the Apostle Paul got so upset with people who taught a different message of salvation than he did. Their teaching led to condemnation instead of eternal life.
In the first chapter of his letter to the churches in the Roman province of Galatia, the Apostle Paul explained that, contrary to the accusation that he taught an inferior gospel, he had received the gospel directly by revelation from Christ. To prove this, Paul pointed out the he had not even met the other Apostles from whom he could have learned the gospel until three years after he became a follower of Christ.
Paul’s accusers raised another question: They claimed that what Paul taught was different than the gospel of the other Apostles. In order to refute this, Paul writes in chapter 2, verses 1 through 10, “Then after a period of fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus also with me. I went up by revelation, and I laid before them the Good News which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately before those who were respected, for fear that I might be running, or had run, in vain. But not even Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. This was because of the false brothers secretly brought in, who stole in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage; to whom we gave no place in the way of subjection, not for an hour, that the truth of the Good News might continue with you. But from those who were reputed to be important (whatever they were, it makes no difference to me; God doesn’t show partiality to man) – they, I say, who were respected imparted nothing to me, but to the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the Good News for the uncircumcision, even as Peter with the Good News for the circumcision (for he who appointed Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision appointed me also to the Gentiles); and when they perceived the grace that was given to me, James and Cephas and John, they who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcision. They only asked us to remember the poor – which very thing I was also zealous to do.”
The contention of Paul’s accusers was that in order to be saved from sin, it is necessary to keep the Law of Moses as well as follow Christ. According to the Law, unless a male was circumcised, he was excluded from the covenant relationship with God which the Jewish people enjoyed. Paul taught that Jesus Christ had fulfilled the Law. Therefore, when someone became a follower of Christ, he was no longer obligated to keep the Law or be circumcised.
In order to settle this matter, God directed Paul to go to Jerusalem to confer with the other Apostles. Along with Barnabas, he took another follower of Christ, named Titus, with him. Titus was not a Jew and he had not been circumcised. The leaders in Jerusalem fully supported Paul’s teaching and regarded Titus as a true follower of Christ even though he had not been circumcised.
Paul writes that he set the gospel he preached before the leaders of the Jerusalem church out of concern that his ministry might have been in vain. Paul did not need the approval or authorization of Jerusalem for what he taught. No, he had received his gospel directly from Christ. But, a lack of harmony and agreement between Paul and the Jerusalem leaders would have divided the church and been disastrous. Therefore, it must have been a great comfort to Paul to find that the Apostles in Jerusalem agreed with him on all points. They did not try to bind the Mosaic Law on Titus or, therefore, on any other non-Jewish follower of Christ. As for those people who tried to force the Law on converts, Paul calls them false brothers who had infiltrated the church. In other words, though they had the name, in reality, they were not followers of Christ and were trying to destroy the freedom of those who did follow Christ.
In addition to the private meeting which Paul had with the leaders in Jerusalem, the book of Acts, chapter 15, records that the matter of whether non-Jewish followers of Christ were required to keep the Law of Moses was brought before the entire church. Not only the leaders, but the entire church agreed with Paul. They sent a letter to the other churches to confirm the decision that followers of Christ do not have to keep the Law as well.
Since the church in Jerusalem had already issued a ruling on the question, why didn’t Paul simply refer the churches to the letter which Jerusalem had sent? No doubt that would have answered the false teachers and reassured the churches which were falling under their influence. Perhaps the reason Paul did not do this is that he was more concerned about principle than one specific case. In the rest of his letter Paul points out that salvation is not obtained by following law but by faith. To free people from keeping the Law of Moses by using the verdict of the Jerusalem church as a law would merely exchange one form of law for another. Paul wanted people to realize that following Christ frees us from trying to keep a system of law altogether. Salvation does not depend on our efforts, but what Christ has done for us.
In verse 6, Paul writes that the leaders in Jerusalem did not add anything to his message. They were already in total agreement. When the Jerusalem leaders recognized this, they welcomed Paul and Barnabas as full equals. The only difference was that Christ had given them different tasks. Paul was to preach to non-Jewish people while their role was to preach to the Jews. They did not ask Paul and Barnabas to change their message in any way. They only requested them to remember the poor. This was not so much a plea for financial aid as it was a plea for unity between the Jewish and non-Jewish parts of the church. This was what Paul already desired.