An Exploration of Galatians: Bondage of the False Gospel
Galatians 2:3-5 - Beware of false brethren who can infiltrate churches and mislead believers.
“But not even Titus, who was with me, though he was a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. But it was because of the false brethren secretly brought in, who had sneaked in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to bring us into bondage. But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.”
Galatians 2:3-5 NASB1995
Paul continues his explanation to the Galatians of the historical events behind his declaration of the Gospel being free of the influence of those who were demanding compliance with Mosaic law, particularly circumcision. In the last devotional, we learned about Barnabas, who accompanied Paul on this journey. Titus was also with them. So, who was Titus? Gotquestions.org has a nice overview of this early church Gentile leader; I’ve extracted some of the relevant points from their article:
Titus was a Gentile (Galatians 2:3) who was led to faith in Christ by Paul (Titus 1:4). He was drawn to the ministry and became a co-worker with Paul, accompanying him and Barnabas from Antioch to Jerusalem (Titus is included in the “other believers” of Acts 15:2). At the Jerusalem Council, Titus would have been a prime example of a born-again Gentile Christian. Titus was living proof that the rite of circumcision was unnecessary for salvation (Galatians 2:3).
Later, Titus went to Corinth to serve the church there (2 Corinthians 8:6, 16-17). On Paul’s third missionary journey, which took place from A.D. 53 to 57, Paul arrived in Troas and expected to meet Titus there (2 Corinthians 2:12-13). Not finding his friend, Paul left for Macedonia. Titus rejoined Paul in Philippi and gave him a good report of the ministry in Corinth (2 Corinthians 7:6-7, 13-14). When Titus returned to Corinth, he hand-delivered the Epistle of 2 Corinthians and organized a collection for needy saints in Jerusalem.
Several years later, Titus and Paul traveled to the island of Crete, where Titus was left behind to continue and strengthen the work. Titus’s task was administrative, mostly: he was to maintain sound doctrine and “straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town” (Titus 1:5). When Artemas and Tychicus arrived in Crete to direct the ministry, Paul summoned Titus to join him in Nicopolis, a city in the province of Achaia in western Greece (Titus 3:12).
The last mention of Titus in the Bible indicates that he was with Paul during Paul’s final Roman imprisonment. From Rome, Titus was sent to evangelize Dalmatia (2 Timothy 4:10), an area which later became known as Yugoslavia and is now called Serbia and Montenegro.
The apostles in Jerusalem knew Titus and accepted him, so Paul reasoned that they would know that a born-again Gentile believer would not need circumcision (or obedience to other rabbinical laws) to be a saved follower of Christ.
Paul does not mince words, describing the “false brethren” who had secretly been brought in to the churches, sneaking in to spy on the liberty that they had in Christ Jesus, and to bring people into bondage. Doing a little word study, the phrase “false brethren” comes from the Greek word ψευδάδελφος or pseudadelphos, which is used only twice in the NT (the other usage is in 2 Corinthians 11:26). This is a strong phrase and it means one who ostentatiously professes to be a Christian, but is destitute of Christian knowledge and piety. Paul, who was a Jewish convert, was not against circumcision nor did he consider it a sin. He WAS vehemently against the Judaizers who insisted on this action for all Gentiles before they could be considered “approved” believers and saved. Here is a good summary of Paul’s concerns from Enduring Word:
And this occurred because of false brethren: Yet, the lack of circumcision in Titus became an issue because of false brethren who attempted to bring Paul and other Christians into bondage.
It is significant that Paul calls these men false brethren – a severe title. Of course, they did not think of themselves as false brethren. They thought of themselves as true brethren. But because they opposed and contradicted the gospel revealed to Paul by Jesus Christ, they really were false brethren, according to the standard of Galatians 1:6-9.
It is significant that Paul says these men secretly brought in and came in by stealth. They did not come in with name badges that said, “False Brother.” They did not come in with a purpose statement that said, “We have come to spy out your liberty in Jesus, and to bring you into bondage.” These men probably had the best of intentions, but they were still dangerous men who had to be confronted.
[John] Stott on secretly brought in: “This may mean either that they had no business to be in the church fellowship at all, or that they had gate-crashed the private conference with the apostles.”
It is significant that Paul says these men might bring us into bondage. For Paul, this wasn’t just an issue between the false brethren and Gentiles. It might be easy for Paul to say, “This doesn’t affect me. After all, I am a Jew and have been circumcised under the Law of Moses. I’ll let Titus or other Gentiles deal with this problem, because these false brethren have a problem with them, not me.” Paul realized that if the message of the gospel was compromised, it wasn’t just bondage for the Gentiles, but it was bondage for everyone who named the name of Jesus.
We did not yield submission even for an hour: In response, Paul remained steadfast. Some might react this way out of pride or just plain stubbornness. But Paul did it so that the truth of the gospel might continue with you (the Gentile Christians like those in Galatia).
“If they had asked for it on the plea of brotherly love, Paul would not have denied them. But because they demanded it on the ground that it was necessary for salvation, Paul defied them, and prevailed. Titus was not circumcised.” (Martin Luther)
“The passage is grammatically difficult… Clearly Paul was deeply moved when he wrote this and was not greatly concerned with the niceties of grammar.” (Henry Morris)
We need to be on guard for false brethren who have infiltrated so many churches NOW. They have brought a “social justice” Gospel that has little or nothing to do with the true saving grace of our Lord, but everything to do with obeisance to popular progressive causes. I also have to agree with that last comment that this passage in Galatians is grammatically difficult, which is true of many passages that Paul wrote, requiring lots of analysis and research to try and understand what he was saying. But it IS clear that Titus himself was the evidence that Paul needed to present to the apostles in Jerusalem to admonish them that the growing number of Gentile believers did not have to be circumcised.
It’s amazing to me looking back at 2000 years of church history to know how many conflicts like this factored into the development of Christianity, starting only a few years after the death and resurrection of Jesus. There have been schisms and reformations and wars over doctrine, as humans are apt to do when disagreements become hostilities. As we will see soon in Galatians 2, Paul has no problem directly confronting Peter in front of others. I believe Paul was selected by God for his ability to communicate the truth given directly to him and to be unafraid to argue his points even with those who were present with Jesus on Earth. Although Peter is a strong church leader, as evidenced over and over again in Acts, we also know from the Gospels that he had a weakness for being influenced by others, whether it was in the denial of Jesus or in his inability to understand that his Lord had to suffer and die.
My next devotional examines Galatians 2:7-10, where Paul continues this discussion about his conversations with the leaders in Jerusalem.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - Please help me to be discerning about your Word and to be on the lookout for false brethren who try to put us in bondage. Amen.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Enduring Word commentary by David Guzik is used with written permission.
Gotquestions.org was accessed on 11/11/2023 to find the answer to “Who was Titus?”.