Tim Keller | November 16, 1997
In this passage, Paul has confronted not just Peter, but Barnabas and all of these great Christian leaders, over what it means to live in accordance with the gospel. The word gospel or “good news” is the essential core; the thing that makes Christianity, Christianity. Here we have Paul arguing with Peter, another apostle, and all of the leaders, as to how the gospel is to be worked out, and what the gospel is.
For the first time in the book of Galatians, Paul gets into terminology. First of all, we’re going to talk about the fact that there’s a need for a vocabulary, and why we need a vocabulary. Then secondly, what that vocabulary is. There is a gospel vocabulary—let’s see how this teaches us why we need those terms, and then secondly, what they are.