From the sermon preached on November 8, 2026
You are made right with God by faith alone in Christ alone, and nothing you add can improve what Jesus has already done. That is the gospel of grace the Apostle Paul defended in Galatians 2, and it is the same message Jesus preached when He called people to believe in Him. Baptism, repentance, surrender, and good works all matter in their proper place, but none of them is the gift itself.
That sounds simple until you look honestly at your own heart. Barry Mershon, Lead Pastor of Believers' Chapel in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, opened his sermon with the question beneath every other question: what must I do to be right with God? Many sincere believers carry a quiet fear that they have not done enough, felt enough, or changed enough to truly belong to Him.
In Galatians 2, Paul answers that fear in two scenes: a meeting with the apostles in Jerusalem and a hard conversation with Simon Peter at a dinner table in Antioch. Together they show that the gospel can be changed by what we teach and by how we treat people. The only safe ground is the righteousness Christ gives.
What Does It Mean to Be Justified by Faith Alone?
Barry Mershon trusted Christ when he was six years old. He knew he had lied and exaggerated when tattling on his sister, his father walked him through the Romans Road, and he believed Jesus had paid for his sin. Then he grew up, heard long lists of what real Christians do and do not do, looked at his own thoughts and desires, and concluded that no one like him could truly belong to God.
For years he went forward at every crusade and altar call, asking how he could know he was a child of God. He slipped away from the confidence of the gospel into constant self-examination, measuring himself and never measuring up. If you have felt that same pull, Galatians 2 was written with you in mind.
The churches in Galatia faced the same pressure. Teachers known as Judaizers arrived claiming to speak for the leaders in Jerusalem, saying Gentile believers must trust Jesus and also be circumcised and keep the law of Moses. So Paul traveled to Jerusalem with Barnabas, his ministry partner, and Titus, a Gentile believer who had never been circumcised.
The apostles heard Paul's message and added nothing to it. "Yet not even Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised" Galatians 2:3. If the gospel required anything beyond faith, Titus would have been the test case; instead, the leaders in Jerusalem affirmed that people are justified by faith alone.
Being justified by faith alone does not make baptism, repentance, or surrender unimportant. Barry Mershon called them beautiful and necessary things in their proper place; but the moment anything is added to faith as a condition, the gospel itself has been changed. Jesus said it plainly: "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life" John 5:24.
Today, write one honest sentence about what you are trusting in to be right with God. If anything besides Jesus is on that line, bring it to Him in prayer and rest in the truth that you are justified by faith alone in Christ alone.
How Can Legalism in the Church Quietly Change the Gospel?
The second half of Galatians 2 moves from Jerusalem to Antioch, a largely Gentile city where the church had become a shared table. Simon Peter (also called Cephas) ate freely with Gentile believers until certain men arrived from James, the half brother of Jesus. Then "he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision" Galatians 2:12.
Peter never preached a sermon against grace. He simply moved tables, and the rest of the Jewish believers followed, even Barnabas. Paul "withstood him to his face" Galatians 2:11, because Peter's behavior announced that some believers mattered more than others.
This is the form legalism in the church usually takes today. Rarely does anyone stand up and say salvation requires circumcision; instead, the message is carried by who we sit with, who we avoid, and whose approval we quietly require. The unspoken rule sounds like this: Christ accepted you, but you also need to look like me, think like me, or agree with me on secondary issues before I will.
Barry Mershon admitted how easy it is to hold people to a standard a little higher than God's. That kind of legalism in the church rebuilds the very wall Jesus tore down at the cross, the dividing wall between Jew and Gentile that Paul describes in Ephesians 2. Peter himself was the one God sent to the Gentiles in Acts 10, which is why his retreat in Antioch contradicted the gospel of grace so sharply.
Paul did not respond with silence or distance; he confronted Peter in grace and in truth. The answer to legalism in the church is to receive one another the way Christ received us, before any of us had cleaned ourselves up, while still pursuing holiness together.
This week, think of one believer you have kept at a distance because they are different from you. Invite them for coffee, ask about their story, and listen more than you talk.
Why Righteousness Through Christ Alone Is Already Complete
At the center of the chapter, Paul writes one dense sentence that holds the whole letter together: "knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ" Galatians 2:16. In that single verse he uses faith or belief three times and says three times that the works of the law justify no one. Not one person, Peter, James, John, and Paul included, will stand before God pointing to good works.
This is what righteousness through Christ alone means. To be justified is to be declared righteous, and when God looks at a believer, He sees the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ credited to them. Barry Mershon asked the obvious question: how do you improve on something that is already perfect?
He described a group of men from Renewed Life Ministries, a ministry helping men whose lives fell apart in addiction, who often attend Sunday worship at Believers' Chapel. They have trusted Jesus and are now doing the daily, hard work of rebuilding godly habits. God has delivered many of them in remarkable ways, yet that deliverance was the fruit of salvation and never its cause; they received righteousness through Christ alone by believing in Him.
That truth shapes everyday life too. "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" Galatians 2:20. The Christian life is Christ living in you by the Holy Spirit, giving you strength to obey, serve, forgive, and love.
Paul closes with a warning: "I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain" Galatians 2:21. Your law might be the Ten Commandments, or it might be a private list of expectations you hold over yourself and others. Resting in righteousness through Christ alone is how we protect the grace of God.
Borrow Barry Mershon's own habit this week: put Galatians 2:20 in the notes app on your phone. Read it each morning, work on memorizing it, and ask a friend what it means to them.
What Galatians 2 Teaches About Faith, Freedom, and the Gospel of Grace
Galatians 2 follows Paul through two scenes and one declaration that protect the gospel of grace.
1. Titus in Jerusalem
What happened: Paul brought Titus, an uncircumcised Gentile believer, before the apostles, and no one required him to be circumcised.
What it teaches: Nothing can be added to faith as a condition of salvation.
2. Peter in Antioch
What happened: Peter withdrew from Gentile believers when Jewish visitors arrived, and Paul confronted him publicly.
What it teaches: How we treat other believers can distort the gospel as surely as what we teach.
3. Paul's Declaration
What happened: Paul stated three times in one verse that people are justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law.
What it teaches: Every believer stands before God in the righteousness of Jesus.
Barry Mershon named several good things that grow out of saving faith but can never be added to it:
Baptism
Repentance and turning from sin
Surrendering every area of life to Jesus
Taking up your cross daily to follow Him
Doing your best to live a good life
A Church Home in Murfreesboro Where You Can Stop Measuring Yourself
Measuring yourself against a list you can never finish is exhausting, and keeping others at arm's length is lonely. At Believers' Chapel, an elder-led church family gathering since 1979, people are learning together to rest in grace and to receive one another as Christ received them. Whether you live near Black Fox Elementary on South Rutherford Boulevard, across Murfreesboro, or elsewhere in Rutherford County and Middle Tennessee, you are welcome to join us Sundays at 10am, jeans on and coffee ready.
Rest in the Gospel of Grace
Galatians 2 teaches that the gospel is faith alone in Christ alone, and that we can distort it both by adding to it and by withholding love from those God has accepted. Jesus did not ask anyone to clean themselves up first; He invites people to come as they are, and He does the work of washing them and living in them. As Barry Mershon prayed, may Believers' Chapel be a holy hospital where people help one another walk in the love, grace, and truth of Jesus Christ.
Come find a Bible-centered Sunday service at 10am, with secure kids check-in and fresh coffee; plan your visit here.
You do not have to figure this out alone, and our staff would be glad to sit down with you and talk through your questions about the gospel of grace; reach out here.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Jesus promised in John 5:24 that whoever believes in Him who sent Him has everlasting life now, in the present tense. Assurance rests on God's promise and Christ's finished work rather than on the strength of your feelings or performance on a given day. If you have trusted Jesus as the payment for your sin, you can stand on His word.
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No; Galatians 2 and the rest of the New Testament teach that salvation comes by faith alone in Christ alone. Believers' Chapel practices believer's baptism by immersion as an important step of obedience for those who have already trusted Christ. Baptism is a beautiful public testimony of salvation, not a condition for receiving it.
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When the Philippian jailer asked Paul and Silas this exact question, they answered, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household" Acts 16:31. Saving faith means trusting that Jesus died for your sins and rose again, and receiving eternal life as a gift. Repentance, surrender, and obedience then grow out of that new life.
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Legalism is adding rules, rituals, or personal standards to faith as a requirement for being accepted by God or by other believers. Paul refused to yield to the false teachers in Galatia even for an hour, because adding anything to faith changes the gospel itself. Legalism can show up in what a church teaches and in how its people treat one another.
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Simon Peter had been eating with Gentile believers, but he withdrew when Jewish visitors arrived, and others followed his example. Paul confronted him publicly because his actions implied that Gentile believers were second-class members of the body. The confrontation shows that correction offered in grace and truth protects both the gospel and the unity of the church.