galatians 2:9

“and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.” ESV

To set the tone of what I’m about to say, you’re going to need some context since this verse is kind of random. It has a lot of important information that can easily be overlooked if we don’t understand wants happening in the verses before and after it.

Paul is traveling to Jerusalem with Barnabas and Titus after a revelation that was given to him from the Lord to go and share the gospel in this region. Paul was on a mission to explain our freedom in Christ regarding the Mosaic Law of the circumcised/uncircumcised. Paul knew he would need to remain steadfast in what scripture says and to not allow anyone to alter it. Paul is firm in what he believes and makes it know that God shows no partiality towards us and the importance of His grace and true gospel.

I really want to concentrate on the word pillar in verse 9. The definition that we’re used to it meaning is holding up a building (we’ll get back to this in a little bit). The biblical meaning of pillar is the bridge between heaven and earth. We are all called to be a part of that. To have the Lord use us to be a tiny piece in someone’s story. Everyone will hear the gospel at some point, and the Lord can and will use you to be that to someone, somewhere. He calls us to be that bridge in order to bring more people to know him, and he will do the rest.

A cross reference for this verse is Revelation 3:12, “The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.” ESV

Pillar is used here as we best know it, talking about it being a part of a temple. Mentioned in verse nine of Galatians chapter two, James, Cephas (Peter), and John were all leaders of the early church. Revelation 3:12 shows us that the Lord entrusts us with the gospel in order to rightly build up/hold up the church. The Lord needs us to be truthful in sharing his word because if we alter it in any way to our liking it becomes about us and is false. That is not what we are here for. We are here to hold fast to what the Lord has always intended for us to share so people can truly come to know, accept, and commit to Him.

The end of verse nine concludes that James, Peter, and John are accepting of the gospel Paul is preaching because it was directly revealed to him through Jesus. They were relieved and excited to know that they are not bound to the Mosaic Law and were ready to make it known to everyone that they are not either.

4-18-22