Galatians 2:1-5
Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. 2 I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain. 3 But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. 4 Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— 5 to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.
Paul's second visit to Jerusalem was marked by conflict and tension. This arose because of the insistence made by certain disciples (J.B. Phillips calls them 'pseudo-Christians') who insisted that Titus should be circumcised. Paul, however, refused to yield to their pressure, and insisted on the liberty of the gospel. Paul has often been charged with being a bigoted dogmatist (and this is understandable in an age when an uncompromising stand on anything is the surest way to become unpopular, and the only way to be acceptable is to subscribe to the doctrine that nobody's feelings are to be hurt, and harmony must be maintained!). Yet, as has already been pointed out, in Acts 16:3 the Apostle had Timothy circumcised. This is not inconsistency on his part, but rather discernment to see when principle is at stake and when it is not. On that occasion, principle was not at stake, and Paul was therefore prepared to go to any lengths to accommodate the Jews. But here, it was crucial, and Paul took his stand, as he says, 'that the truth of the gospel might continue with you'. When the sacred deposit of divine truth was at stake, then Paul was implacable in his hostility against anything that deviated from it, and no strictures were too strong for him to use in his determination to withstand error.