The right hand of fellowship, Galatians 2:1-10

Galatians 2 begins with Paul telling the Galatians about a visit that he made to Jerusalem. This visit was to meet with some of the apostles, leaders of the church there. We read in verse 9, “James, Peter and John, those reputed to be pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the Jews.” Good solid Christian fellowship is so valuable and extremely beautiful. I have come across 7 keys to good solid Christian fellowship in these verses.

Humility, Vs. 1,2 Paul is telling the Galatians about his second visit to Jerusalem which happened to be 14 years after his first visit. We see his humility expressed in verse 2, “I went in response to a revelation and set before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did this privately to those who seemed to be leaders, for fear that I was running or had run my race in vain.” When Paul uses the phrase “for fear that I was running or had run my race in vain” he was saying I wanted to be sure that I was getting it right. It takes humility to do an evaluation of yourself.

Diversity, vs. 3 This diversity involves Titus who Paul had taken along with him to Jerusalem. Titus was an uncircumcised Greek. His being with Paul gave to them a personal example of the effects of his ministry to the Gentiles. Titus this uncircumcised Gentile was not compelled to be circumcised. Diversity does not mean compromise. There are black areas. There can be little diversity in the black areas. There are white areas. There can be diversity in how you and I move in the white areas. There are gray areas. The greatest diversity lies in those gray areas. Diversity is a part of the path that solid Christian fellowship walks on.

Loyalty, vs. 4,5 There were Judaizers who came in the form of false brothers and infiltrated the ranks in the churches in Galatia. They concealed their real motives. and their hidden addenda. They gained access to the church. They were spying on the freedom that we had in Christ. They were sneaking around seeing what they could learn. Paul makes a bold statement that they wanted to take our freedoms away and make us slaves. They saw that we weren’t obeying the law and the traditions of men so they wanted to put us back under that bondage. “We did not give in to them for one moment” vs. 5. Paul is saying that we remained loyal to the Gospel. We want the truth of the gospel to remain with you.

We will visit the other 4 keys tomorrow. Remember that Humility, Diversity, and Loyalty are vital keys to good solid Christian fellowship.