Other Apostles Accepted Paul

2 [^LThen] After fourteen years I went to Jerusalem again, this time with Barnabas [Acts 4:36; 9:26–27; 11:22, 25, 30; 13:2–4; 15:36–39]. I also took Titus [2 Cor. 2:13; Titus 1:4–5] with me. ² I went because ·God showed me I should go [^Lof a revelation]. There I met in private with ·the leaders of the church [or those who seemed to be leaders; or the prominent/influential ones] and I ·told [presented to; set before] them the ·Good News [Gospel] that I preach to the Gentiles. ·I did not want my past work and the work I am now doing to be wasted [^L…to make sure I was not running or had run in vain]. ³ Titus was with me, but he was not ·forced [compelled] to be circumcised [Gen. 17], even though he was a Greek. ⁴ ·We talked about this problem [This issue arose] because some false ·believers [^Lbrothers] had come into our group secretly. They came in ·like spies to overturn [to sabotage; ^Lto spy on] the freedom we have in Christ Jesus. They wanted to make us slaves. ⁵ But we did not give in to ·those false believers [^Lthem] for a minute, so that the truth of the ·Good News [Gospel] would ·continue [be preserved; not be compromised] for you.

⁶ Those leaders who ·seemed to be important [or were prominent/influential] did not ·change the Good News that I preach [or add anything to my message]. (It doesn’t matter to me if they were ·“important” [prominent; influential] or not. To God everyone is the same.) ⁷ But these leaders saw that I had been ·given the work of telling the Good News [^Lentrusted with the Gospel] to the ·Gentiles [non-Jewish people; ^Luncircumcised], just as Peter ·had the work of telling the Jews [^Lto the circumcised]. ⁸ [^LFor] ·God [^LThe one] who gave Peter the power to work as an apostle for the ·Jewish people [^Lcircumcised] also gave me the power to work as an apostle for the Gentiles. ⁹ James, Peter, and John, who seemed to be ·the leaders [^Lpillars], ·understood [recognized; acknowledged] that God had given me this special grace, so they ·accepted [shook hands in partnership with; ^Lgave the right hand of fellowship/partnership to] Barnabas and me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles and they would go to the ·Jewish people [^Lcircumcised]. ¹⁰ The only thing they asked us was to remember to help the poor [^Cmeaning especially the poor believers in Jerusalem; Acts 11:27–30]—something I ·really wanted [myself was eager/zealous] to do.

Paul Shows that Peter Was Wrong

¹¹ [^LBut] When ·Peter [^LCephas; ^CPeter’s name in Aramaic; 1:18] came to Antioch, I challenged him to his face, because he ·was wrong [^Lstood condemned]. ¹² [^LFor; Because] ·Peter [^LHe] ate with the Gentiles until ·some Jewish people [^Lcertain people] sent from James [1:19] came to Antioch [^Ca major city in Syria]. When they arrived, Peter ·stopped eating with those who weren’t Jewish [^Lbacked off; withdrew], and he separated himself from them. […because] He was afraid of the ·Jews [circumcised; or the pro-circumcision group]. ¹³ Then the rest of the ·Jewish believers [^LJews] joined him in this hypocrisy. Even Barnabas was ·influenced [swept along; carried away] by their hypocrisy. ¹⁴ [^LBut] When I saw they were not ·following [acting in line with] the truth of the ·Good News [Gospel], I spoke to ·Peter [^LCephas; v. 11] in front of them all. I said, “You are a Jew, but you are living like a Gentile and not a Jew. So how can you now try to force Gentiles to live like Jews?”

¹⁵ We were not born as Gentile “sinners,” but as Jews. ¹⁶ Yet we know that a person is ·made right with God [justified; declared righteous] not by ·following [^Lthe works of] the law, but by ·trusting in [faith in; or the faithfulness of] Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus, that we might be ·made right with God [justified; declared righteous] ·because we trusted in [through faith in; or because of the faithfulness of] Christ. It is not ·because we followed [^Lby the works of] the law, because no ·one [human being; ^Lflesh] can be ·made right with God [justified; declared righteous] by ·following [^Lthe works of] the law.

¹⁷ ·We Jews came to Christ, trying to be made right with God, and it became clear that we are sinners, too [or But if we ourselves, also, by seeking to be justified in Christ, were found to be sinners…]. Does this mean that Christ ·encourages [^Lis a servant/minister of] sin? ·No [Absolutely not; May it never be]! ¹⁸ But I would ·really be wrong [or prove myself to be a lawbreaker/sinner] ·to begin teaching again those things that I gave up [^Lif I rebuild those things I tore down; ^Cdependance on the law for salvation]. ¹⁹ ·It was the law that put me to death [or Trying to keep the law condemned me to death; ^LFor through the law I died to the law], and I died to the law so that I can now live for God [^Cno longer depending on the law for salvation, Paul now depends on God’s grace]. ²⁰ I ·was put to death on the cross [^Lhave been crucified] with Christ, and I do not live anymore—it is Christ who lives in me. I still live in my ·body [flesh], but I live ·by faith in [or because of the faithfulness of] the Son of God who loved me and gave himself ·to save me [^Lfor me; on my behalf]. ²¹ By saying these things I ·am not going against [^Ldo not set aside/nullify] God’s grace. ·Just the opposite [^LFor…], if the law could make us right with God, then Christ’s death would be ·useless [in vain; for nothing].