Galatians 2:1-2 Then after an interval of fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along also. It was because of a revelation that I went up; and I submitted to them the gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but I did so in private to those who were of reputation, for fear that I might be running, or had run, in vain.
Consensus is a good thing. Paul went up to Jerusalem to speak with the elders of the Church to be certain that the gospel which he had preached and was preaching among the Gentiles was indeed the true gospel of Jesus Christ. He had preached among many Gentiles by this time and had certainly seen many accept his gospel. If he had preached to them a gospel that was unfaithful to the truth about Christ, then he had preached to them in vain, and had probably done more harm than good.
However, as Paul maintains, the gospel which he preached was in line with that preached by the Church elders. They only asked him to remember the poor (v. 10). With the Jerusalem council behind him, Paul can assert his gospel as the true gospel and has the witness of the Church behind him. This is exactly what he is doing here in his epistle to the Galatians. Since they were not readily accepting him but had rejected his gospel for that of the Judaizers, Paul appeals to the accord of the Jerusalem elders with his gospel. If the Galatians will not accept him upon his revelation of Christ alone, surely they would not be able to deny him if he is backed by the Jerusalem council.
In the same way, do not seek to stand upon your own merits and just upon what the church you grew up in believes. The primary authority in all matters is Scripture; so your appeal should first be there. Yet do not just seek your own interpretation of Scripture; that is rarely, if ever, safe. “Know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation” (2 Peter 1:20). This is true of Paul and this is true of us today as well. If you are not in agreement with the true Church on an issue, then there is more than likely a problem on your side. Do not think that what you say is infallible. Rather, check it against the reliable sources of the Church through the ages.
It is important to be in agreement both with the Church today and with the Church through the ages. While you will find that there were many doctrinal errors that slowly got worked out as heresies arose through the ages (take for example the Trinity, predestination, and church polity), as the Church fathers wrestled with issues, they came to proper understandings (take for example Athanasius, Augustine and Calvin, and modern Baptist views (though they may not line up with historical Church polity, it is probably the closest we can get considering the modern make-up of the church). Read from these sources, as many are still extant, and seek to line up with them in as much as they say lines up with Scripture. This is a great witness to have in agreement with you, as the Church has never ceased to stand as the pillar of Light to this sinful world (cf. Matthew 16:18).
It will be a horrible day on the day of the Lord for many who find out they have run in vain. They will see everything burn up before their eyes. Many of them will not even see heaven because they preached a false gospel, though a few will be “saved, yet so as through fire” (1 Corinthians 3:15), because they laid rubbish upon the proper foundation. Seek to be certain that you are not running in vain, for on the day of judgment it will be too late to change. The only way to do this is to make sure that what you preach lines up with Scripture and to weigh it against the witness of the Church fathers through the ages. If Paul was not above being certain he was preaching the true gospel so that he did not run in vain, you are not either.
If you have run in vain or you still are, do not continue in sin. Repent of it. You have never continued so long to count it as loss as Paul did (and he had a lot of rubbish—cf. Philippians 3:3-11), or even as Nicodemus, who questioned how someone as old and as caught-up in traditions as himself could turn to serve Christ (John 3:4-8). If you continue, even more of what you do will be burnt up in the fire, and you may even prove yourself to be a complete fraud. However, if you start preaching the true gospel, you will store for yourself treasures in heaven. Choose for yourself today whom you will serve!
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