Galatians 2:6
But from those who seemed to be something—whatever they were, it makes no difference to me; God shows personal favoritism to no man—for those who seemed to be something added nothing to me.
Truth to Learn
Just because someone has a position of authority or advanced education does not mean they are always right.
Behind the Words
The words “those who seemed to be something” are translated from a form of dokeō, which means “to think, imagine, or appear.” Hence, Paul is referring to those who, on the surface, appear to be authorities.
Meaning Explained
This is a very confusing verse to many so let’s take it one piece at a time. Paul starts this verse off with, “But from those who seemed to be something.” This is a reference to the leaders of the apostles at Jerusalem. Paul is not implying that they were trying to be something that they weren’t. He is simply showing the Galatian Christians that even the most eminent apostles in Jerusalem had no greater authority over their message than Paul did over his.
Remember that the false teachers in Antioch had claimed either apostolic authority or angelic authority for their false teaching. Paul claims that the authority of his teaching came directly from God himself. And as Paul is describing the private meeting that he had with the apostolic leaders in Jerusalem he is pointing out that they had no “privilege of rank” over Paul.
The next part of this verse, “whatever they were, it makes no difference to me: God shows personal favoritism to no man,” indicates that Paul was not impressed nor intimidated by their position. This is because he knows from the Scripture that God is not a respecter of persons, therefore neither is Paul. This is not saying that Paul didn’t respect their position within the church just that he was not intimidated or necessarily obliged to take what they said as authoritative.
Finally, and this is the crux of this verse, Paul says, “for those who seemed to be something added nothing to me.” Again, let me say that with the phrase, “those who seemed to be something,” Paul is not being insolent or sarcastic regarding the apostolic leaders. He is saying that those who appeared to be the leaders, those who seemed to be the authoritative ones, were not able to give anything to Paul (in terms of insight or new information) that he didn’t already have.
He is defending the fact that his message came directly from Christ himself and the apostolic leaders did not dispute his message or attempt to dissuade him from the doctrine he was teaching. He will make this point clearer in the following verses.
Application
The thing we need to take with us from this verse is the fact that no matter how hallowed or revered a person seems to be, if his message is contrary to the Word of God, then we have no reason to believe him or her. And if we are teaching the truth from the Word then we need not bow to any argument or persuasion from anyone no matter how authoritative they are or how many degrees they have earned.
We stand on the Word of God and on the Word of God alone!
In God’s service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2007 Will Krause. All rights reserved.
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