In verses 4 and 5 Paul continues, “And it was because of the false brothers, brought in secretly, who stole in to spy out our freedom which we have in Christ Jesus that they might bring us into slavery; to whom we yielded in subjection not even for an hour.” The false brothers were the Judaizers who perverted the gospel of Christ by smuggling the observances of the law into the church and who troubled the genuine believers in Christ (1:7). The freedom Paul speaks of here is freedom from the bondage of the law. Slavery here refers to slavery under the law.
The false brothers to whom Paul refused to be subject were spreading the concept that believers had to be circumcised in order to be saved. Paul stood against this and did not yield even for an hour. He would not be subject to those who sought to damage our freedom in Christ and to bring us into slavery. To be free in Christ is to enjoy liberation from the bondage of the law with its requirement of circumcision. All the believers are now free from obligation to the law, especially from the obligation to be circumcised. In order to maintain this freedom, Paul refused to have Titus circumcised or to yield in subjection to the Judaizers.
Paul refused to yield in subjection to the false brothers so that the truth of the gospel might remain with the believers. All that Paul did, he did on behalf of the believers so that, for their sake, the truth would remain clear.
In verse 6 Paul says, “But from those who were of reputation as being somewhat (whatever they were, it means nothing to me; God does not accept man’s person), for to me those who were of reputation imparted nothing.” Here we see that Paul did not receive anything from those of reputation. Peter, John, and James did not have anything to teach Paul. Rather, Paul had much to teach them. More of the New Testament was written by Paul than by anyone else. In his second Epistle, Peter even admitted that in Paul’s writings “are some things hard to be understood” (2 Pet. 3:16).
We have pointed out that in Paul’s Epistles a number of great items are covered that are not found elsewhere. For example, Paul speaks of the new man, a matter not even hinted at in the Gospels. Furthermore, in his Epistles Paul presents a thorough analysis of our regenerated being. He describes our regenerated spirit, renewed heart, transformed soul, renewed mind, and the condition of our physical body. Neither Peter nor John speaks of these things in such a full way. Consider the picture Paul presents in Romans 8. What a view we have in this chapter of our regenerated being! According to this chapter, to have a regenerated being is to have divinity mingled with our humanity. This means that the element of divinity has been added to our humanity. No other New Testament writer presents this matter in the way Paul does. This indicates that Paul had a great deal to teach other believers. But although Paul knew more and had more, he was not proud.
In Jerusalem there was a lack of the proper atmosphere for Paul to present what he had within him. From a careful reading of Acts 15 we can realize that in Jerusalem there was an atmosphere of superiority. To some extent at least, the apostles there regarded themselves as superior to Paul and Barnabas. Paul and Barnabas were apostles to the uncircumcision, to the Gentiles, whereas those in Jerusalem were apostles to the circumcision. Spiritually speaking, however, Paul was superior to Peter, John, and James. The attitude of superiority that prevailed in Jerusalem was a factor that contributed to the destruction of that city in 70 A.D., about fifteen years after Paul went up to Jerusalem as recorded in Galatians 2.
Paul had seen more than Peter, James, and John had. They had seen the Lord in the flesh and had come to know Him according to the flesh. But Paul knew Him in a spiritual way. In 2 Corinthians 5:16 Paul says, “Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.” We should seek to know Christ not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. Because Paul knew Christ in spirit, he had seen more and had more than Peter, John, and James.
This shows us that we should not trust in age or seniority. Peter, John, and James were older than Paul and were apostles when he was still a young man persecuting the followers of the Lord Jesus. But after his conversion, Paul came to see more of Christ and of God’s economy than anyone else. The book of Romans, for instance, indicates the depth of Paul’s knowledge. Paul certainly had a great deal to teach those in Jerusalem. But the atmosphere was not right for him to do so. Therefore, he did not teach them anything; nevertheless, he did not receive anything from those of reputation.