The Gospel That Would Not Bend

You have heard me tell how Christ laid hold of me and sent me out (Galatians 1:11-24). Now hear what happened when I went up to Jerusalem again, "after fourteen years... with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me" (Galatians 2:1). I went "because of a revelation" (Galatians 2:2), and I set before the men of reputation the very gospel I preach among the Gentiles — not because I doubted it, but so that my running would not be in vain, so the church might stand together on one and the same message and not be split in two.

The test came in a man. Titus was with me, a Greek, and they did not compel him to be circumcised (Galatians 2:3). Do you see what hung on that? For "false brothers secretly brought in — who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery" (Galatians 2:4) — these wanted one small cut in the flesh, one little law added to Christ. And I will tell you what I told them: "to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you" (Galatians 2:5). Not for an hour. Because the moment you add anything to Christ as the ground of your standing before God, you have lost Christ altogether. Grace plus a requirement is no longer grace; it is a new slavery wearing the mask of piety.

And when I laid my gospel before the pillars — James and Cephas and John — "those who seemed to be influential added nothing to me" (Galatians 2:6). Nothing. There was no correction to make, no gap to fill. They saw the same grace at work and "gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me" (Galatians 2:9). One gospel, two fields — I to the Gentiles, Peter to the circumcised — and one Lord over both. They asked only one thing: "that we should remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do" (Galatians 2:10). A gospel that costs you nothing to receive will cost you your love toward the needy; freedom in Christ runs straight out to open hands.

So hear this and hold it, whether you are strong or new or still unsure. Watch for anyone — even a sincere and religious voice — who tells you Christ is not quite enough, that you must add this rule, that ritual, this proof of your worth before God will smile on you. Do not yield for a moment. Christ crucified and risen has done it all; your part is to believe and be free. And then, being free, remember the poor. That is the gospel that would not bend, and it is bending you now toward mercy.

Grace and peace to you.