Galatians 2:8
8 (For [gar] he that wrought
effectually [energeo] in Peter [Petros] to [eis] the apostleship [apostole] of the circumcision, [peritome] the same [kai] was mighty [energeo] in me [emoi] toward [eis] the Gentiles: [ethnos])KJV-Interlinear
8 (for He who effectually worked
for Peter in his apostleship to the circumcised effectually worked for me also
to the Gentiles), NASB
He, here refers to God the Holy Spirit.
Signs and wonders were performed by all of the
apostles from time to time in order to establish their credentials as apostles
and legitimate messengers from God.
And here Paul states emphatically that those signs
that God worked through Peter, came through Paul likewise by means of that same
God, namely the Holy Spirit, Acts 15:12; 14:14-15.
God the Father is said to have authored the divine
plan. God the Son is said to carry out
that plan. God the Holy Spirit is said
to reveal and sustain that plan.
The arrangement of the Father, Son, Spirit concept
is to eliminate all other religions that define man as able to achieve equality
with God. Satan wanted to be like the
most high, the Father. He rejected the
Son and Spirit as factors in truth.
Most religions reject the Son as they try to
achieve acceptance from the Father or some high form of deity without going
through any intermediary. They depend on
mans works, and not on Gods work in Christ or on Gods sustaining power in the
Spirit. Man, in religion, looks to his
own resources and work.
And here, the apostles received their power by means
of the indwelling of the Spirit which occurred universally for all believers for
the first time in history at the Feast of Pentecost, which was fifty days after
Passover (the Cross). The Spirit is the
helper that Christ sent to us, in His absence.
We are the first dispensation to have the universal
indwelling of the Spirit, and actually we are indwelled by all three members of
the Trinity, which indwelling begins at the moment of when you first believed
in Christ. See the Blessings study in
the Special Study library on the bible study web site.
So, when the apostles considered Pauls views, they
saw that they were compatible with their own, and therefore truth, but also
they recognized that Paul received his instruction direct from Christ, in the same
manner as they did.
Their emphasis was toward the Jewish peoples, while
Pauls emphasis or mission was to be toward the gentiles. Thus God is making the gospel available to
all people everywhere.
