Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. 2 I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain. 3 But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. 4 Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— 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.
11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. 13 And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”
The nearest I’ve experienced someone spying out my freedom is when I had a respectful conversation with a brother pastor about worship style. Several years ago I was serving a church that already had a contemporary style worship service. By today’s standards it was quite tame – for lack of a better word. My brother pastor in the same circuit was very committed to a traditional liturgical worship style. He and I met for lunch one day to talk it over. I quoted both Galatians 5 (“for freedom Christ has set us free”), and the Formula of Concord, article X (FCX) on church ceremonies. FCX says we will not condemn one church or another because it has fewer or more ceremonies than we do.
I asked him to allow me the freedom to worship in that contemporary style. He asked me to use the freedom I had to worship with the traditional Lutheran liturgy. We agreed to disagree. He later left The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. I went on to serve St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas.
During my tenure there we added a contemporary worship service, which we called NewSong. Whenever the issue of worship styles came up, I would say, “We don’t say, ‘Oh, you never know what crazy things those NewSong people are going to do.’ Nor do we say, ‘Those Majestic Grace people are so rigid…’” We acknowledged the validity of both styles, though there were some who would find it nearly impossible to cross over to the other style. There are some pretty strong preferences in regard to this issue.
The issue Paul faced in Galatia, however, was far more significant than that of worship style. It was fellowship requirements. These events happened either before the Jerusalem Council (cf. Acts 15) or possibly during that time. In either case, the issue would be solved at that council, and the requirement of the Gentile believers for fellowship in the early church was simply that they, “abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell” (Acts 15:29).
Fifteen hundred years ago Pope Leo and Johann Eck were proffering a brand of the Christian faith that said you had to buy your way into heaven. You could purchase indulgences for a loved on who was in Purgatory, or pay to have your sins forgiven. All this was touted as a means by which people expressed their thanks for absolution, or showed their love for a departed parent or grandparent.
A man by the name of Martin Luther began to stand up against such pollution of the gospel. He insisted that our salvation was a gift of God’s grace, received by faith alone, on account of Christ alone, as testified to by Scripture alone – all to the glory of God alone. Luther asserted a freedom from the tyranny of the Pope, and church traditions that had no basis in Scripture.
There may be those who wish to throttle our freedom. And sometimes it can become messy when we encounter different practices and preferences. But I stand on Augsburg Confession Article VII, which says in part, “And to the true unity of the Church it is enough to agree concerning the doctrine of the Gospel and the administration of the Sacraments. Nor is it necessary that human traditions, that is, rites or ceremonies instituted by men, should be everywhere alike.” And I stand on Galatians 5:1, “It was for freedom that Christ has set us free.” Let no one spy out that freedom!
David Bahn - Reflections 
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