Session 3: Paul's Agreement with Peter and James and His Confrontation with Peter in Antioch
Preparation Resources
1) Galatians 2:1-14
2) Paul for Everyone: pages 10-17
3) Tim Keller sermons
Discussion Topics
1) If Paul did not need human authorization to preach the gospel, why do you think he presented the gospel to the leaders in Jerusalem? (2:1-2)
2) Why was it very significant that Titus (a non-Jew) was not required by the Jerusalem leaders to be circumcised (2:3-5)
3) What, then, was at stake in this meeting in Jerusalem? How might "the truth of the gospel" have been lost (2:5)? How might Christianity have developed if not for the results of that meeting?
4) Paul says that the false teachers were threatening the "freedom we have in the Messiah" (2:4). How does the gospel give us freedom that traditional "earn-your-salvation" religions do not?
5) What are some common ways that people today lose the freedom of the gospel and try to add to the gospel? (2:6)
6) What do you think Paul meant when he said that Peter was not "acting in line with the truth of the gospel? How can we make the same kind of mistake - how can we fail to "eat" with other Christians? (2:14)
7) How is nationalism/racism "not in line with the gospel"? What difference does it make that Paul takes this approach rather than simply saying that it is wrong?
1) Galatians 2:1-14
2) Paul for Everyone: pages 10-17
3) Tim Keller sermons
Discussion Topics
1) If Paul did not need human authorization to preach the gospel, why do you think he presented the gospel to the leaders in Jerusalem? (2:1-2)
2) Why was it very significant that Titus (a non-Jew) was not required by the Jerusalem leaders to be circumcised (2:3-5)
3) What, then, was at stake in this meeting in Jerusalem? How might "the truth of the gospel" have been lost (2:5)? How might Christianity have developed if not for the results of that meeting?
4) Paul says that the false teachers were threatening the "freedom we have in the Messiah" (2:4). How does the gospel give us freedom that traditional "earn-your-salvation" religions do not?
5) What are some common ways that people today lose the freedom of the gospel and try to add to the gospel? (2:6)
6) What do you think Paul meant when he said that Peter was not "acting in line with the truth of the gospel? How can we make the same kind of mistake - how can we fail to "eat" with other Christians? (2:14)
7) How is nationalism/racism "not in line with the gospel"? What difference does it make that Paul takes this approach rather than simply saying that it is wrong?