Galatians 2:14a – The Inspector’s Dog

When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel …

Summary: If you are building a road, you need a plan. If the plans are not followed, the road might not work.

In one of my past lives, I was a field inspector for a municipal engineering department. My job was to visit construction sites and “inspect.” The tools I used most often were the site plans, a tape measure, and a level.

Checking construction is mostly a matter of ensuring that materials are finished “to grade.” When building roads, the ground is excavated to a specified elevation. Using the surveyor’s grade stakes, my tape measure, and level, it is easy to check the elevation against the plans.

Making a good road requires building on solid soil, and then adding the specified thickness of crushed rock. Once the rock has been spread over the road grade, it is impossible to tell how thick it is without digging it up. The solution is to measure the elevation of the soil before the rock goes down and then subtract that number from the elevation of the top of the rock.

When a contractor wants to save money on a job, they don’t dig down all the way, so they don’t have to use as much rock to get to the finished grade. If the inspector catches them doing this, it is our job to point out the error to the contractor. Sometimes, they apologize and fix the problem right away. Sometimes, they want to argue.

Paul was doing the same thing. Instead of a level and a tape measure, Paul was equipped with the “truth of the gospel.” He knew God’s plan, and he understood what it meant. He didn’t need a measuring tape or a level to know that adding something to God’s plan changed the plan.

Like any good inspector, Paul noted the discrepancy, told the contractor, and stood his ground. He “saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel.” In the next few passages, Paul will describe what he said to them. In these passages, he calls out Peter’s error and points to God’s plan, showing Peter how he is varying from God’s plan. In the following chapter, Paul does the same thing with the Galatians. In effect, Paul cries out, “You foolish Galatians! How could you mess this up?” (My paraphrase.)

Being an inspector isn’t fun. Correcting people is no way to win friends. I guess that is why inspectors have this saying, “If you want a friend, get a dog.” When it comes to serving God, the saying might well be, “If you want a friend, trust God.”

Application: Stick to the plan. Trust God.

Food for Thought: How would you describe the “line” that defines the gospel?