Paul returns to Jerusalem after another absence, this time it is an absence of fourteen years. This is only his second trip recorded and it becomes quite obvious that the apostles were not with whom Paul spent any time. He had only met with Peter once in all these years and he had only spent fifteen days with him.
So during the space of about eighteen years Paul did not spend any time with the apostles and was away preaching the gospel to the gentiles. When he returns to Jerusalem along with Barnabas and Titus, he says he communicated to them the gospel which he preached amongst the gentiles. What is this gospel he is talking about and who does he mean by “them” that he preached to when he went back to Jerusalem? The gospel he is talking about is the gospel of grace and peace and the “them” are the apostles that were before him in Jerusalem.
He was going back to preach the gospel to those that had walked with Jesus and were the apostles of Jesus Christ. What do you suppose he could reveal to the apostles that had been followers of Jesus while He was here on earth? He was actually going to them and preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Does this not sound a bit odd that Paul would go back to Jerusalem and preach to the apostles and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ at that?
It is not odd or strange at all because it is quite clear by reading the entire book of Galatians that they did not know the gospel of grace and peace which is what Paul preached and this is the gospel that was revealed in Paul on the road to Damascus. Paul makes it clear he went back and preached to the disciples. Why would he need to preach to the disciples if they knew the gospel? I am not saying they never knew the true gospel but it is quite obvious they had started preaching some other gospel which is not the gospel at all.
In verse 2 of Galatians 2 it says that Paul preached to those of reputation that he preached to. Who were those of reputation he is talking about? He is again talking about the apostles that were in Jerusalem. He talked to them in private because he saw they were not preaching the gospel of grace and peace. He was trying to show them where they had strayed and had returned again under law.
Paul believed if the gospel was going to be set right for the generations to come, the apostles of Jesus had to be reached with the gospel of grace and peace. I know this sounds a bit odd to some but if you follow through the whole book of Galatians, you will see this is plainly stated. You will see later on in the book that he did publicly what he had done with the apostles privately. We have to remember Paul preached nothing but Christ and Him crucified. He was not at all interested in preaching anything else.
When he heard the apostles had gone back under law, I believe that is when he decided it was time to return to Jerusalem and preach the true gospel to them. He did this when he received a revelation (v2) of what was transpiring in Jerusalem. Paul saw it was necessary to go back and warn them about the error they had started preaching and like we have seen, he did this privately at first. I am sure some of us can relate to this and have met privately with some leaders to try and make them see the revelation the Lord has given regarding this gospel of grace and peace. This is what Paul was trying to do as well.
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