How Paul Was Accepted by the Apostles in Jerusalem

1Then fourteen years later, I again went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus with me. 2I went in response to a revelation, and in a private meeting with the reputed leaders, I explained to them the gospel that I’m proclaiming to the gentiles. I did this because I was afraid thata I was running or had run my life’s raceb for nothing. 3But not even Titus, who was with me, was forced to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. 4However, false brothers were secretly brought in. They slipped in to spy on the freedom we have in the Messiahc Jesus so that they might enslave us. 5But we did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might always remain with you.

6Now those who were reputed to be important added nothing to my message.d (What sort of people they were makes no difference to me, since God pays no attention to outward appearances.) 7In fact, 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. 8For the one who worked through Peter by making him an apostle to the circumcised also worked through me by sending me to the gentiles. 9So when James, Cephas,e and John (who were reputed to be leaders)f recognized the grace that had been given me, they gave Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship, agreeing that we should go to the gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10The only thing they asked us to do was to remember the destitute, the very thing I was eager to do.

Paul Confronts Cephas in Antioch

11But when Cephasg came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly wrong.h 12Until some men arrived from James, he was in the habit of eating with the gentiles, but after those meni came, he withdrew from the gentilesj and would not associate with them any longer, because he was afraid of the circumcision party. 13The other Jews also joined him in this hypocritical behavior, to the extent that even Barnabas was caught up in their hypocrisy. 14But when I saw that they were not acting consistently with the truth of the gospel, I told Cephask in front of everyone, “Though you are a Jew, you have been living like a gentile and not like a Jew. So how can you insist that the gentiles must live like Jews?”

Jews, Like Gentiles, are Saved by Faith

15We ourselves are Jews by birth, and not gentile sinners, 16yet we know that a person is not justified by doing what the Law requires,l but rather by the faithfulness of Jesusm the Messiah.n We, too, have believed in the Messiaho Jesus so that we might be justified by the faithfulness ofp the Messiahq and not by doing what the Law requires, for no human beingr will be justified by doing what the Law requires. 17Now if we, while trying to be justified by the Messiah,s have been found to be sinners, does that mean that the Messiaht is serving the interests of sin? Of course not! 18For if I rebuild something that I tore down, I demonstrate that I am a wrongdoer. 19For through the Law I died to the Law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with the Messiah.u 20I no longer live, but the Messiahv lives in me, and the life that I am now living in this body I live by the faithfulness of the Son of God,w who loved me and gave himself for me. 21I do not misapply God’s grace, for if righteousness comes about by doing what the Law requires, then the Messiahx died for nothing.