The Battle for a Free Man

By: Pastor José Flávio Macieira — 2025

The truth of the gospel is defended not only from pulpits, but in the life of every person free in Christ.

“Fourteen years later I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also. [...] This matter arose because some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. We did not give in to them for a single moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.” (Galatians 2:1, 4-5 NIV)

The greatest battles in history are not always fought on open fields with armies. Sometimes, the destiny of a nation or an idea is decided in a meeting room, in the defense of a single principle. This is exactly what happened when Paul went to Jerusalem. He did not go alone. He took with him Barnabas and, crucially, Titus, a Greek, a Gentile. Titus was not just a travel companion; he was the "test case," the living proof of the gospel Paul preached: salvation by grace through faith, without the works of the Jewish law.

The confrontation did not take long. Paul describes that "false believers" infiltrated the meeting. The language he uses is one of espionage and warfare. These men did not come to learn or to have fellowship; they came to "spy on our freedom." Freedom in Christ—freedom from the guilt of sin, from the condemnation of the law, and from the need to perform to be accepted—was a threat to their religious system. The goal of these infiltrators was clear and sinister: "to make us slaves." Legalism always presents itself as a path of greater holiness, but its true destination is slavery to a system of rules that no one can fulfill.

Faced with this pressure, Paul's reaction was unyielding and absolute: "We did not give in to them for a single moment." It would have been much easier to yield. To avoid conflict, to "keep the peace," he could have asked Titus to be circumcised. It would have been just a "small" act, a cultural detail. But Paul understood that there, in the life of that one man, the truth of the gospel for all future generations was at stake. To yield in Titus's case would be to admit that Christ's work on the cross was not sufficient. It would be to agree that grace needed a human "and...". It would, in practice, validate the false gospel.

That is why he fights with such ferocity. His intransigence was not out of pride or stubbornness. He gives us the reason: "...so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you." The battle for Titus's freedom was, in fact, a battle for our freedom today. By refusing to place the yoke of the law on one man, Paul ensured that the path of grace remained open for all of us who would come after. This teaches us a vital lesson: we must guard our freedom in Christ with zeal, rejecting any subtle teaching that tries to place us back under the burden of self-merit, for it was "for freedom that Christ has set us free" (Galatians 5:1).

Challenge

Identify an area in your life where you feel the pressure of legalism (either from others or from yourself)—a non-biblical rule, a performance, or a ritual that you feel you "need" to do to be accepted by God. Today, in prayer, declare the truth of the gospel over that area: "In Christ, I am already free and complete."

Time to Reflect

1. What does "freedom in Christ Jesus" mean to you today?

2. Can you identify in your faith community any thought or practice that, though well-intentioned, resembles that of the "false believers" who wanted to add rules to grace?

3. Why can a "small" compromise on the truth, like what was demanded of Titus, have such dangerous consequences?

4. How can we defend the truth of the gospel with Paul's firmness, while maintaining a spirit of love?

Prayer

Lord Jesus, thank you because You have set me free for a life of grace, not slavery. Give me Paul's discernment to recognize any teaching that tries to steal this freedom and his courage not to give in for a single moment. Help me to live fully in the freedom You purchased at such a high price, so that the truth of the gospel may be preserved in me and through me. In Your name, amen.

Your freedom in Christ was bought at too high a price to be sold for the low price of human acceptance.