Paul continues to stress that the gospel that he preached to the Galatians was from God and was *complete*. It was not missing anything, such as the need for circumcision or the need to convert to Judaism. No, the salvation in Jesus does not require these things, and Paul has already condemned this teaching strongly (1:8, 1:9).
As part of his argument, Paul says that he made a trip to Jerusalem with Titus, a Greek, and the leaders of the Jerusalem church did not compel him to be circumcised (v3) and they did not try to change the gospel that Paul was taking to the gentiles (v10). Why is this matter so important? See verse 5: the teaching of the false brothers is a challenge to the freedom that the believer has in Christ. This is the difference between being free in Christ, to live for him, to serve him, to be filled with his joy and peace, to be sanctified in him, and being a slave to the law, which cannot save and cannot bring joy, peace, and sanctification.
In this context, I am struck by the message in verse 10, "All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do". It strikes me that God wants his people, whether Jew or Gentile, to be identified with this activity. Whoever we are in Christ, God desires that we remember the poor.
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