It was just the opposite! They recognized that I had been trusted with the task of preaching the good news to the Gentiles, just as Peter had been trusted with preaching to the Jews.
But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! I’ve chosen this man to do a special work for me. He will announce my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel.
I was appointed to be a messenger and an apostle to preach the good news. (I’m telling the truth; I’m not lying.) God appointed me to be a true and faithful teacher of the Gentiles.
No, we speak as people God has approved and entrusted with the good news. We’re not trying to please people; we’re trying to please God, who tests our hearts.
James, Peter, and John, who are respected as pillars in the church, recognized that God had given me this privilege. So they shook hands with Barnabas and me to welcome us as partners. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles while they went to the Jews.
Remember that while our Lord is waiting patiently to return, people are being saved. Our dear brother Paul also wrote to you about this with the wisdom that God gave him.
But when they opposed Paul and treated him badly, he shook out his clothes in protest. He told them, “God’s judgment against you will be your own fault! Don’t blame me for it! From now on, I will go to the Gentiles.”
Through him we received grace to become apostles to the Gentiles and through that grace to bring them to obedience to God by trusting in Jesus. We do this to bring glory to him.
I’m amazed that after such a short time, you’re abandoning the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ. You’re turning to a different “good news”—
When I saw that they were not acting consistently with the truth of the good news, I spoke to Peter in front of everyone. I said, “You’re a Jew, but you live like a Gentile, not a Jew. So why are you trying force the Gentiles to follow Jewish ways?