Perceiving the Will of God

But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter; (Galatians 2:7)

What did the leaders of the conference perceive?

To Paul had been committed the Gospel to the Gentiles, to the uncircumcision, just as to Peter had been committed the Gospel to the Jews, to the circumcision.

The elders of Jerusalem saw that the same power that was demonstrated in Peter as he preached to the Jews was being demonstrated in Paul as he preached to the Gentiles.

There is an important principle here, a principle that should be determining our understanding of the will of Christ for today. We need to learn to look for the flow of the anointing of the Holy Spirit, of the power of God. We must learn to work with the Spirit and not in terms of our understanding—even our understanding of the Scriptures.

The Scriptures are infallible. They shall stand intact when the heavens and earth pass away. The promises of God are faithful to every person who trusts in them.

Nevertheless the sons of God are led by the Spirit, not by the Scriptures (Romans 8:14). The mistake made by the Pharisees was that they blinded their eyes with the letter of the Scriptures when the Lord God was working miracles in their Presence.

So it is today. God is moving. If we wish to do so we can ask the Lord to show us what He is doing. If we then will abandon our own schemes to build the "Kingdom of God" (when in reality we are constructing our own little kingdom although we may not realize it) and look to see what Jesus is doing, we can enter the wonderful joy of working alongside Jesus in the building of the true Kingdom of God.

The elders of Jerusalem were not seeking their own glory. Therefore they were able to perceive that God was working in Paul even though he was not requiring that the Gentiles be circumcised. The elders ruled in favor of what God manifestly was accomplishing, not in favor of their own limited understanding of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. They were true men of God. (from A Study Guide for the Book of Galatians)