Dual Panel1THEN AFTER [an interval] of fourteen years I again went up to Jerusalem. [This time I went] with Barnabas, taking Titus along with [me] also.
2I went because it was specially {and} divinely revealed to me that I should go, and I put before them the Gospel [declaring to them that] which I preach among the Gentiles. However, [I presented the matter] privately before those of repute, [for I wanted to make certain, by thus at first confining my communication to this private conference] that I was not running or had not run in vain [guarding against being discredited either in what I was planning to do or had already done].
3But [all went well!] even Titus, who was with me, was not compelled [as some had anticipated] to be circumcised, although he was a Greek.
4[My precaution was] because of false brethren who had been secretly smuggled in [to the Christian brotherhood]; they had slipped in to spy on our liberty {and} the freedom which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might again bring us into bondage [under the Law of Moses].
5To them we did not yield submission even for a moment, that the truth of the Gospel might continue to be [preserved] for you [in its purity].
6Moreover, [no new requirements were made] by those who were reputed to be something--though what was their individual position {and} whether they really were of importance or not makes no difference to me; God is not impressed with the positions that men hold {and} He is not partial {and} recognizes no external distinctions--those [I say] who were of repute imposed no new requirements upon me [had nothing to add to my Gospel, and from them I received no new suggestions].
7But on the contrary, when they [really] saw that I had been entrusted [to carry] the Gospel to the uncircumcised [Gentiles, just as definitely] as Peter had been entrusted [to proclaim] the Gospel to the circumcised [Jews, they were agreeable];
8For He Who motivated {and} fitted Peter {and} worked effectively through him for the mission to the circumcised, motivated {and} fitted me {and} worked through me also for [the mission to] the Gentiles.
9And when they knew (perceived, recognized, understood, and acknowledged) the grace (God's unmerited favor and spiritual blessing) that had been bestowed upon me, James and Cephas (Peter) and John, who were reputed to be pillars of the Jerusalem church, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, with the understanding that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised (Jews).
10They only [made one stipulation], that we were to remember the poor, which very thing I was also eager to do.
11But when Cephas (Peter) came to Antioch, I protested {and} opposed him to his face [concerning his conduct there], for he was blameable {and} stood condemned.
12For up to the time that certain persons came from James, he ate his meals with the Gentile [converts]; but when the men [from Jerusalem] arrived, he withdrew {and} held himself aloof from the Gentiles and [ate] separately for fear of those of the circumcision [party].
13And the rest of the Jews along with him also concealed their true convictions {and} acted insincerely, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy (their example of insincerity and pretense).
14But as soon as I saw that they were not straightforward {and} were not living up to the truth of the Gospel, I said to Cephas (Peter) before everybody present, If you, though born a Jew, can live [as you have been living] like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how do you dare now to urge {and} practically force the Gentiles to [comply with the ritual of Judaism and] live like Jews?
15[I went on to say] Although we ourselves (you and I) are Jews by birth and not Gentile (heathen) sinners,
16Yet we know that a man is justified {or} reckoned righteous {and} in right standing with God not by works of the Law, but [only] through faith {and} [absolute] reliance on {and} adherence to {and} trust in Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One). [Therefore] even we [ourselves] have believed on Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the Law [for we cannot be justified by any observance of the ritual of the Law given by Moses], because by keeping legal rituals {and} by works no human being can ever be justified (declared righteous and put in right standing with God).
17But if, in our desire {and} endeavor to be justified in Christ [to be declared righteous and put in right standing with God wholly and solely through Christ], we have shown ourselves sinners also {and} convicted of sin, does that make Christ a minister (a party and contributor) to our sin? Banish the thought! [Of course not!]
18For if I [or any others who have taught that the observance of the Law of Moses is not essential to being justified by God should now by word or practice teach or intimate that it is essential to] build up again what I tore down, I prove myself a transgressor.
19For I through the Law [under the operation of the curse of the Law] have [in Christ's death for me] myself died to the Law {and} all the Law's demands upon me, so that I may [henceforth] live to {and} for God.
20I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
21[Therefore, I do not treat God's gracious gift as something of minor importance and defeat its very purpose]; I do not set aside {and} invalidate {and} frustrate {and} nullify the grace (unmerited favor) of God. For if justification (righteousness, acquittal from guilt) comes through [observing the ritual of] the Law, then Christ (the Messiah) died groundlessly {and} to no purpose {and} in vain. [His death was then wholly superfluous.]