QT 16 Sep 16, Gal 2:5-10, The gospel is God's idea, not man's

Galatians 2:5–10 (ESV) — 5 to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. 6 And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me. 7 On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised 8 (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), 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. 10 Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.

NOTE: My reason for underlining certain portions of the above text is to emphasize a key truth about Christianity, the lack of hierarchical leadership. While the positions existed (influential, pillars), Paul again and again emphasized that he was not under their authority, "did not yield in submission." God is in charge of the church, not people or popes, bishops or church leaders, elders or deacons. We have responsibilities, yes, but we do not exercise control. God is ultimately in charge of his body, not people. We have leaders whose charge is to be servant-leaders. Yes, church leaders do have authority, but their authority is not absolute, and can be challenged when it disagrees with the teaching of scripture (Paul gives an example in chapter 2 in regards to Peter). His point is that our message is directly from God and not man-made. That is why we can't disagree with men who run counter to the teaching of scripture no matter their position of authority. The gospel is God's idea, not man's idea. We obey God, not man.