Galatians 2:7
But on the contrary, when they saw that the gospel for the uncircumcised had been committed to me, as the gospel for the circumcised was to Peter
Truth to Learn
The leaders of the church can learn God given truths even from recent converts as long as they are willing to listen.
Behind the Words
The words translated “But on the contrary” are alla tounantion. The word alla, according to The Complete Word Study Dictionary, is “a particle implying in speech some diversity to what preceded. It serves, therefore, to mark opposition, antithesis, or transition.” The word tounantion is made up of the neuter definite article to (meaning “the”) and enantion, meaning “opposite.” Hence the words alla tounantion literally mean “but, just the opposite.”
The expression “gospel for the uncircumcised” is literally, “gospel of the uncircumcised.” This seems to indicate a different type of gospel message than that which has been given to the Jews. It is not a different type of gospel, however, just delivered to a different group of people. Though Paul’s ministry was primarily to the Gentiles, in his missionary travels he nearly always started with the Jews of a particular area, then expanded his ministry to the Gentiles declaring the same gospel message to all people.
Meaning Explained
In the previous verse Paul told us that the apostolic leaders of the church in Jerusalem were not able to add anything to his storehouse of knowledge regarding the topic at hand, the supposed requirement for all Christians to obey the Law of Moses and be circumcised in order to be saved.
Paul starts off this verse with a startling statement. He says, “But just the opposite.” Not only did Peter, James, and John not add anything to Paul’s knowledge, but just the opposite, that is, the apostolic leaders learned something from Paul. He had a personal audience with these leaders of the Jerusalem church in order to explain to them the false teaching that the legalizers had been spreading in Antioch. And these leaders recognized the power of God in Paul’s ministry and message, accepting him then and there as the apostle to the Gentiles.
The proof of this is in the following statement, “when they saw that the gospel for the uncircumcised had been committed to me, as the gospel for the circumcised was to Peter.” The apostolic leaders of the church in Jerusalem recognized the legitimacy of Paul’s apostleship to the Gentile world. An interesting thing to note here is that if Peter had been assigned by Christ to be the “head of the church on earth” as the Catholic popes would have the world believe, then Peter would have claimed superiority over Paul at this point. Instead, however, he recognized Paul as being on an equal level with himself and the other apostles. We will discuss more about this later in this epistle.
Application
Paul, as one proclaiming the simple truth of the gospel of Christ is not willing to change his beliefs no matter who he comes up against. And we who hold to the same simple truth of the gospel need not be dissuaded either. No matter who tries to teach us otherwise, our beliefs are based upon the Word of God, and nothing else.
In God’s service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2007 Will Krause. All rights reserved.
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