What do Acts 15 and the first two chapters of Galatians have in common? They both talk about the first big debate over ethnic identity in the church. Some of the early Christians said you had to be circumcised and assimilate into the Jewish culture in order to be a true disciple of Jesus. They debated the topic in Acts 15 in Jerusalem. The Apostle Paul was very opposed to this teaching. That's what he's talking about in his letter to the Galatians. This PowerPoint will walk through the backstory of Paul's life in Acts in order to understand the context for Acts 15 and the letter to the Galatians. You can download this PowerPoint and image pack and use it for your own preaching and teaching. Use one slide, a few slides, or all of them. Whatever works for you.

2. Acts 8:1 (NRSV)
1 And Saul approved of
their killing him.

6. Saul’s Conversion
Acts 9:1-30

22. 20 and immediately he began to
proclaim Jesus in the synagogues,
saying, “He is the Son of God.”
Most people are freaked out by
this radical transformation. He
escapes to Jerusalem…

23. Acts 9:28–30 (NRSV)
28 So he went in and out among
them in Jerusalem, speaking
boldly in the name of the Lord.
29 He spoke and argued with the
Hellenists; but they were
attempting to kill him. 30 When
the believers learned of it, they
brought him down to Caesarea
and sent him off to Tarsus.

24. Acts 11:25–26 (NRSV)
25 Then Barnabas went to Tarsus
to look for Saul, 26 and when he
had found him, he brought him
to Antioch. So it was that for an
entire year they met with the
church and taught a great many
people, and it was in Antioch
that the disciples were first
called “Christians.”

32. The Jerusalem Council
A look at Acts 15 and Galatians 2

33. Acts 15:1-35
15 Then certain individuals came down
from Judea and were teaching the brothers,
“Unless you are circumcised according
to the custom of Moses, you cannot be
saved.” 2 And after Paul and Barnabas had
no small dissension and debate with them,
Paul and Barnabas and some of the others
were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to
discuss this question with the apostles and
the elders. 3 So they were sent on their way
by the church, and as they passed through
both Phoenicia and Samaria, they reported
the conversion of the Gentiles, and
brought great joy to all the believers.

34. Acts 15:1-35
4 When they came to Jerusalem,
they were welcomed by the church
and the apostles and the elders,
and they reported all that God had
done with them. 5 But some
believers who belonged to the sect
of the Pharisees stood up and said,
“It is necessary for them to be
circumcised and ordered to keep
the law of Moses.”
6 The apostles and the elders met
together to consider this matter.

35. Acts 15:1-35
7 After there had been much debate,
Peter stood up and said to them, “My
brothers, you know that in the early
days God made a choice among you,
that I should be the one through whom
the Gentiles would hear the message of
the good news and become believers.
8 And God, who knows the human
heart, testified to them by giving them
the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us;
9 and in cleansing their hearts by faith
he has made no distinction between
them and us.

36. Acts 15:1-35
10 Now therefore why are you putting
God to the test by placing on the
neck of the disciples a yoke that
neither our ancestors nor we have
been able to bear? 11 On the contrary,
we believe that we will be saved
through the grace of the Lord Jesus,
just as they will.”

37. Acts 15:1-35
12 The whole assembly kept silence,
and listened to Barnabas and Paul
as they told of all the signs and
wonders that God had done through
them among the Gentiles (the story
of Acts 13-14).

38. Acts 15:1-35
13 After they finished speaking,
James replied, “My brothers, listen to
me. 14 Simeon has related how God
first looked favorably on the Gentiles,
to take from among them a people
for his name.

39. Acts 15:1-35
15 This agrees with the words of the
prophets, as it is written,
16 ‘After this I will return,
and I will rebuild the dwelling of
David, which has fallen;
from its ruins I will rebuild it,
and I will set it up,
17 so that all other peoples may
seek the Lord—
even all the Gentiles over whom
my name has been called.
Thus says the Lord, who has been
making these things 18 known from
long ago.’
Amos 9:11-12

40. Acts 15:1-35
19 Therefore I have reached the
decision that we should not trouble
those Gentiles who are turning to
God, 20 but we should write to them
to abstain only from things polluted
by idols and from fornication and
from whatever has been strangled
and from blood. 21 For in every city,
for generations past, Moses has had
those who proclaim him, for he has
been read aloud every sabbath in
the synagogues.”

41. Acts 15:1-35
28 For it has seemed good to the
Holy Spirit and to us to impose
on you no further burden than
these essentials: 29 that you
abstain from what has been
sacrificed to idols and from
blood and from what is strangled
and from fornication. If you keep
yourselves from these, you will
do well. Farewell.”
The Letter Sent to Antioch

42. Galatians Written

43. Galatians 1:1-10

44. Galatians 1:1–5 (NRSV)
1 Paul an apostle—sent neither by human commission
nor from human authorities, but through Jesus Christ
and God the Father, who raised him from the dead—
2 and all the members of God’s family who are with me,
To the churches of Galatia:
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the
Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to set
us free from the present evil age, according to the will
of our God and Father, 5 to whom be the glory forever
and ever. Amen.

45. Galatians 1:6-10 (NRSV)
6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one
who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a
different gospel— 7 not that there is another gospel, but there
are some who are confusing you and want to pervert the
gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven
should proclaim to you a gospel contrary to what we
proclaimed to you, let that one be accursed! 9 As we have said
before, so now I repeat, if anyone proclaims to you a gospel
contrary to what you received, let that one be accursed!
10 Am I now seeking human approval, or God’s approval? Or
am I trying to please people? If I were still pleasing people, I
would not be a servant of Christ.

46. Galatians 1:11-24

47. Galatians 1:11–17 (NRSV)
11 For I want you to know,
brothers and sisters, that the
gospel that was proclaimed
by me is not of human
origin; 12 for I did not receive
it from a human source, nor
was I taught it, but I received
it through a revelation of
Jesus Christ.

48. 13 You have heard, no
doubt, of my earlier life in
Judaism. I was violently
persecuting the church of
God and was trying to
destroy it. 14 I advanced in
Judaism beyond many
among my people of the
same age, for I was far
more zealous for the
traditions of my ancestors.

49. 15 But when God, who had set
me apart before I was born and
called me through his grace, was
pleased 16 to reveal his Son to
me, so that I might proclaim him
among the Gentiles, I did not
confer with any human being,
17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to
those who were already apostles
before me, but I went away at
once into Arabia, and afterwards
I returned to Damascus.

50. Galatians 1:18–24 (NRSV)
18 Then after three years I did go up to Jerusalem to
visit Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days; 19 but I
did not see any other apostle except James the
Lord’s brother. 20 In what I am writing to you, before
God, I do not lie! 21 Then I went into the regions of
Syria and Cilicia, 22 and I was still unknown by sight
to the churches of Judea that are in Christ; 23 they only
heard it said, “The one who formerly was persecuting
us is now proclaiming the faith he once tried to
destroy.” 24 And they glorified God because of me.

51. Galatians 2:1-10
Remember that Acts had
not been written yet when
Paul wrote this letter to
the churches in Galatia.

52. Galatians 2:1-10
2 Then after fourteen years I went up
again to Jerusalem with Barnabas,
taking Titus along with me. 2 I went
up in response to a revelation. Then I
laid before them (though only in a
private meeting with the
acknowledged leaders) the gospel
that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in
order to make sure that I was not
running, or had not run, in vain. 3 But
even Titus, who was with me, was
not compelled to be circumcised,
though he was a Greek.

53. Galatians 2:1-10
4 But because of false believers
secretly brought in, who slipped in to
spy on the freedom we have in Christ
Jesus, so that they might enslave
us— 5 we did not submit to them
even for a moment, so that the truth
of the gospel might always remain
with you. 6 And from those who were
supposed to be acknowledged
leaders (what they actually were
makes no difference to me; God
shows no partiality)—those leaders
contributed nothing to me.

54. Galatians 2:1-10
7 On the contrary, when they saw that
I had been entrusted with the
gospel for the uncircumcised, just
as Peter had been entrusted with the
gospel for the circumcised 8 (for he
who worked through Peter making
him an apostle to the circumcised
also worked through me in sending
me to the Gentiles),

55. Galatians 2:1-10
9 and when James and Cephas and
John, who were acknowledged
pillars, recognized the grace that had
been given to me, they gave to
Barnabas and me the right hand of
fellowship, agreeing that we should
go to the Gentiles and they to the
circumcised. 10 They asked only one
thing, that we remember the poor,
which was actually what I was eager
to do.

56. Galatians 1:11-2:10
Summarized
Jesus taught me the Gospel,
I’m a legit apostle. You can
trust me.

57. Galatians 2:11-21
(This story is not in Acts.)

58. Galatians 2:11-14
11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I
opposed him to his face, because he stood
self-condemned; 12 for until certain people
came from James, he used to eat with the
Gentiles. But after they came, he drew
back and kept himself separate for fear of
the circumcision faction. 13 And the other
Jews joined him in this hypocrisy, so that
even Barnabas was led astray by their
hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that they were
not acting consistently with the truth of the
gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If
you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and
not like a Jew, how can you compel the
Gentiles to live like Jews?”

59. Personal Testimony is Finished
It’s time for some theology!

60. Galatians 2:15–16 (NRSV)
15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not
Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person
is justified not by the works of the law but
through faith in Jesus Christ. And we have
come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we
might be justified by faith in Christ, and not
by doing the works of the law, because no
one will be justified by the works of the law.

61. Galatians 2:15–16 (NRSV)
15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not
Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person
is justified not by the works of the law but
through faith in Jesus Christ. And we have
come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we
might be justified by faith in Christ, and not
by doing the works of the law, because no
one will be justified by the works of the law.
What does it mean to
be justified?

63. δικαιόωc; δικαίωσιςb, εως f; δικαίωμαc, τος n:
the act of clearing someone of transgression—‘to acquit,
to set free, to remove guilt, acquittal.’
In a number of languages the process of acquittal takes
the form of a direct statement, for example, ‘to say, You
are not guilty’ or ‘…, You no longer have sin’ or, as
expressed idiomatically in some instances, ‘…, Sin is no
longer on your head’ or ‘…, Your sins are now given back
to you.’
Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic
Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 556.

72. Galatians 2:17–18 (NRSV)
17 But if, in our effort to be justified in Christ,
we ourselves have been found to be
sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin?
Certainly not! 18 But if I build up again the
very things that I once tore down, then I
demonstrate that I am a transgressor.

73. Galatians 2:17–18 (NRSV)
17 But if, in our effort to be justified in Christ,
we ourselves have been found to be
sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin?
Certainly not! 18 But if I build up again the
very things that I once tore down, then I
demonstrate that I am a transgressor.
This is the accusation Paul’s
opponents are bringing against him.

74. Galatians 2:17–18 (NRSV)
17 But if, in our effort to be justified in Christ,
we ourselves have been found to be
sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin?
Certainly not! 18 But if I build up again the
very things that I once tore down, then I
demonstrate that I am a transgressor.
If I force Gentiles to be circumcised.

75. Galatians 2:19–21 (NRSV)
19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I
might live to God. I have been crucified with
Christ; 20 and it is no longer I who live, but it is
Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in
the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who
loved me and gave himself for me.

76. Galatians 2:20 (NA26INT)
20ζῶ δὲ οὐκέτι ἐγώ, ζῇ δὲ ἐν ἐμοὶ Χριστός· ὃ δὲ νῦν ζῶ ἐν
σαρκί, ἐν πίστει ζῶ τῇ τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ
ἀγαπήσαντος με καὶ παραδόντος ἑαυτὸν ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ.
Live but no longer I Lives but in me Christ What but now I live
in flesh in trust (faith) I live in [the faith] of the son of God
the one having loved me and having given himself over for me.

77. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God;
for if justification comes through the law,
then Christ died for nothing.

78. How do I know
when I BELONG?

79. Galatians 2:15-16

80. Galatians 2:15-16

81. Galatians 2:15-16