Galatians chapter 2

vs 1

This sort of stuff really helps to date the book, but there are still problems. It also shows us just how long the gaps are between people doing things. In the NASB, the non-inspired title says "Council of Jerusalem" but that isn't necessarily correct, as it's not made clear in the letter. The letter could have been sent with another letter from the council, but it's unclear.
vs 2

Long verse. So Paul went to Jerusalem to meet the supposed leaders of Christianity and ask them if he could preach to the Gentiles. This is an interesting twist on what he has been saying - remember that Paul is defending the fact that the gospel he has came by revelation and not by man. He talks again about the revelation here, but then shows that he sought clarification from the church leaders.

vs 3

Their response was not a Jewish one - Titus got to keep his foreskin. This is the first open window we get into the problems that were happening in Galatia.

vs 4

False Christians actually insinuating themselves into the church. Now some people are going to read this and cry "The New Age is coming to get us! Quick, blood test all the Christians!" (how do blood tests prove you're not of the New Age? These people are stupid, that's how). But the NT always makes out that there are at least two kinds of false teachers. The ones from without (and that is always, always, ALWAYS the Judaisers - the guys who want your happy-hat) and those from within (the heretics, who come up with stupid ideas from within the church).

Don't get me wrong - I do think that there may be non-Christian groups which are trying to infiltrate the church (although it seems excessively "conspiracy theory"ist, but I can think of one real life example - communist or Islamic spies in their own countries). But this verse isn't talking about them. This is an occasional letter, and is speaking to a specific time. That also doesn't mean we can't usefully use the principles that are being espoused here - I'm just saying that it's not some sort of end-time prophecy.

So why are they infiltrating? Because they want to turn the freedom of Christ into a slavery (of works). Sounds like Judaisers to me.

vs 5

If they had given into the demands of this group, the gospel would have fled from the gentile areas of the world, like Galatia. This is a vital part of history. Christianity had to choose to be either a Jewish sect, or a worldwide force. It chose the second one, because that is God's will.

vs 6

These people who puffed themselves up with self importance (perhaps Rabbis, Scribes, or some other sort of Jewish lawmaker/teacher) were of absolutely no use to Paul. So these people who internally were going to be judged by God and found wanting as far as Paul is concerned, had nothing worth adding to Paul's message. They wanted to add a heap - lots of Jewish baggage to make the gentiles deal with and basically make them Jewish.

When I first read this verse, I thought it was making the point that Paul had no use for these people at all for any reason because they did not agree with his theology. But I actually think that he is being more specific than that. They do not agree with his theology regarding gentiles in the church, and in that instance he has not accepted their teaching. Considering Paul uses rabbinical arguments regularly in his writings, it would be unfair to say that Paul discounts everything that non-Christians say. The Jewish teachers still had positive insights into the nature of God, and so Paul uses them. But they did not have a Christian attitude towards gentiles in the church, so he did not use that particular attitude.

vs 7

So rather than Paul learning something about preaching the message from the Judaisers, they learned that he was preaching the message to the gentiles freely.

vs 8

Not just that Paul was doing the work, but they also saw that God was at work. This is a hard thing to dismiss. Remember Peter's shock when the household of Cornelius received the spirit - it had not before come on gentiles (Samaritans, yes, but that's a different kettle of fish).

vs 9

So if the pillars of the faith accepted Paul and his ministry, then who are we to argue? Who is anyone to argue?

vs 10

Finally, they just gave him some advice - to look after the poor, which they were doing in Jerusalem (and little did they know, they were going to become poor themselves) and Paul was already eager to do that (and later on, would look after the Jerusalem church by getting the gentile churches to donate money).

These verses have been a mostly history lesson - not much theology. Fast and easy to get through though.