Galatians 2:10

When Paul talks about helping the poor, this matches the story in Acts 11:30; 12:25. The Christians in Judea experienced many years of severe poverty. Paul wanted the non-Jewish churches to help ease this hardship and create unity with the Jewish church (see Romans 15:25–27; 1 Corinthians 16:1–4; 2 Corinthians 8:1–9:15).

Paul's message agreed with the Jerusalem apostles, but their approval did not give Paul his authority (1:12, 16–20).

When Paul visited Jerusalem for the second time, the other apostles agreed that what he was teaching was correct. According to tradition, Paul was writing about the important meeting of church leaders described in Acts 15:1–41. However, it is more likely that Paul was talking about his earlier visit to Jerusalem (Acts 11:30; 12:25; see Galatians Book Introduction, "Date of Writing").

The Judaizers (people who insisted on following Jewish customs) came to Galatia. They preached that both faith and circumcision were necessary. They questioned Paul's authority as an apostle and tried to discredit his message. Paul defended his authority by showing that past events proved his message was the true good news.

Some people were against Paul and questioned whether he was a true apostle. They did not believe he was honest and did not think he had the right to be a leader in the church. So Paul begins his letter by explaining that he really was an apostle with authority from God.