Part five of our Galatians series ...
Galatians 2:3-5
(3) But not even Titus, who was with me, though he was a Greek, was not compelled to be circumcised (4) because of false brothers smuggled in (who slipped in to spy out our freedom which we have in Christ Jesus in order to enslave us), (5) to whom we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.
Paul Refuses to Compromise on Circumcision
In the first two chapters of Galatians, Paul has so far been concerned to show that his gospel message and his apostolic commission are directly from God rather than mediated through humans and thus subject to the almost inevitable corruption of human interest. He also has made a point of showing that in his time serving Jesus he has actually avoided easy and obvious opportunities to ingratiate himself with Church leadership in Jerusalem. It would have made sense for him to spend more than two weeks in Jerusalem and to more intentionally rub shoulders with Church leaders, but he didn’t. If he had wanted to move up in the organization’s ranks, he probably should have spent more than just two weeks in Jerusalem during the first 15 or so years of his Christian life.
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