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"Remember the poor..."

Text: Galatians 2:10a

DIFFERENT AREAS OF MINISTRY

The ministry to the Gentiles would of course be distinctly different from the ministry to the circumcised. Some of the differences may be highlighted here:-

1. Gentile ministry

a) No insistence on circumcision as part of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

b) No dietary laws.

c) No emphasis on keeping Jewish customs and festivals.

2. Ministry to the circumcised

a) Traditional practice of circumcision would be maintained.

b) Dietary laws would be carefully observed.

c) Jewish customs and festivals would be kept.

AN IMPORTANT COMMON CONCERN

The apostles to the circumcised shared an important concern with the apostles to the Gentiles.

“They desired only that we should remember the poor,
the very thing which I also was eager to do.”

Galatians 2:10

1. “They desired”

a) This is written in italics (in the NKJV).

b) This phrase represents the input of the translators.

c) Paul did not actually use the word “desire”.

d) A literal translation of the text would read as follows:-

“Only that we should remember the poor…”
Galatians 2:10a

2. Remembering the poor

a) This was very much a Jewish concern and practice.

b) This was enjoined by Moses when he gave Israel the law (Deuteronomy 15).

c) This practice would be a very special common bond between the two different ministries.

3. “The very thing which I also was eager to do”

a) Paul was in full agreement with this emphasis.

b) He personally believed in this.

c) He was eager that Gentile believers should also learn how to be mindful of the poor and to care for them as a natural expression of their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.